Alexander C. McCormick

Making College Count: An Examination of Quantitative Reasoning Activities in Higher Education

Findings from national studies along with more frequent calls from those who employ college graduates suggest an urgent need for colleges and universities to increase opportunities for students to develop quantitative reasoning (QR) skills. To address this issue, the current study examines the relationship between the frequency of QR activities during college and student and institutional characteristics, as well as whether students at institutions with an emphasis on QR (at least one QR course requirement for all students) report more QR activity. Results show that gender, race-ethnicity, major, full-time status, firstgeneration status, age, institutional enrollment size, and institutional control are related to the frequency of QR activities. Findings also suggest that such activities are indeed more common among institutions

Refocusing the Quality Discourse: The United States National Survey of Student Engagement

This chapter reports on work conducted with nearly 1,500 bachelors degree-granting colleges and universities in the USA to assess the extent to which their undergraduates are exposed to and participate in empirically proven effective educational activities. The chapter begins with a discussion of the prevailing quality discourse in the USA. It then explores the conceptual and empirical foundations of student engagement and the origins of NSSE as both a response to the quality problem and as a diagnostic tool to facilitate improvement. The chapter also discusses tensions between internal improvement and external accountability efforts, and NSSE’s role in the assessment and accountability movements. It concludes with a discussion of challenges that confront the project going forward.

Here's Looking at You: Transparency, Institutional Self-Presentation, and the Public Interest.

Accountability figures prominently in the higher education policy discourse these days. Critics of higher education (for instance, members of the Spellings Commission) argue that colleges and universities need to be more “transparent” to justify support by taxpayers, payers of tuition, and other funders. To better inform prospective students and other stakeholders, we are being asked to go public about our programs, educational processes, and results.

Introduction: Student Engagement—A Window into Undergraduate Education

This chapter provides an introduction to the ideas and concepts that fuel the subsequent analyses of student engagement. The chapter introduces the book and positions the discussion within the context of higher education quality assurance and the development of student engagement indicators. We introduce the seven system-level chapters and the final chapters on the nature and contribution of student engagement research. We then offer a brief sketch of the underpinning conceptual territory and examine the persuasive value of these ideas. This introductory chapter concludes by looking forward and offering this book as an invitation to expand and improve student engagement in higher education, and thereby to elevate the quality of student learning and development.

Emerging Trends and Perspectives

As the millennium turned, student engagement emerged as a new and compelling approach to assessing and improving the quality of undergraduate education. An important measure of its appeal is the rapidity with which it has been embraced in a range of national contexts through the implementation of the surveys documented in this volume. These implementations represent an international network of collaborating researchers who are simultaneously building knowledge, promoting educational improvement and focusing quality discourses away from crude measures and rankings in favour of critical matters of educational practice. Rather than slavishly adopting a fixed vision of student engagement, these adaptations respect the importance of national context. Although multinational inquiry into student engagement is in its infancy, a number of important lessons have already emerged that can guide educational improvement efforts at both institutional and governmental or ministerial levels.