George D. Kuh

Unmasking the Effects of Student Engagement on First-Year College Grades and Persistence

This study examines the relationships between student engagement, college GPA, and persistence for 6,000 students attending 18 baccalaureate-granting institutions. Data sources included student-level information from the National Survey of Student Engagement, academic transcripts, merit aid, and ACT/SAT score reports. Engagement had positive, statistically significant effects on grades and persistence between the first and second year of study for students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Equally important, engagement had compensatory effects for historically underserved students in that they benefited more from participating in educationally purposeful activities in terms of earning higher grades and being more likely to persist.

What We're Learning About Student Engagement From NSSE: Benchmarks for Effective Educational Practices

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The Effects of Student-Faculty Interaction In the 1990s

This study examined the effects of student-faculty interaction on student satisfaction and on a range of self-reported learning and personal development gains associated with attending college of 5,409 full-time undergraduates from 126 four-year colleges and universities. Findings show that the frequency of student-faculty interaction increased from first year through the senior year. Although its net effects were trivial, such interactions had substantial positive effects on studentsÕ efforts in other educationally purposeful activities, which had non-trivial effects on their estimated gains and satisfaction.

What Student Affairs Professionals Need to Know About Student Engagement

In a 1992 Calvin and Hobbs cartoon (Watterson), 6-year-old Calvin asks his teacher whether he is being adequately prepared for the challenges of the 21st century. He wants to know if he will have the skills and competencies that will allow him to succeed in a tough, global economy. In response, the teacher suggests he start working harder because what he will get out of school depends on how much effort he puts into it. Calvin ponders this advice for a moment and says, “Then forget it.” The exchange between Calvin and his teacher gets right to the point about what matters to student learning and personal development. Indeed, one of the few unequivocal conclusions from How College Affects Students (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005) is that the amount of time and energy students put forth—student engagement—is positively linked with the desired outcomes of undergraduate education. Unfortunately, Calvin’s response is all too common, if not according to what students say, then by what they do or do not do. In this paper, I summarize the role and contributions of the scholarship and institutional research about student engagement and its relevance for student development professionals and others committed to enhancing the quality of the undergraduate experience. The presentation is organized into four major sections. First, I briefly describe the evolution of the student engagement concept and explain its importance to student development. Then, I summarize findings from research studies about the relationships between student engagement and selected activities including participation in high-impact practices, employment, and some other experiences of relevant a relevance to the current generation of undergraduates. Next, I discuss some topics that warrant additional investigation to better understand how to further potential and utility of student engagement research and institutional policies and practices that the findings suggest. I close with some observations about the implications of student engagement research for student affairs professionals and others on campus committed to improving the quality of undergraduate education.

First- and Second-Generation College Students: A Comparison of Their Engagement and Intellectual Development

Students who are the first in their family to attend college are less likely to graduate compared to students with one or both parents who have baccalaureate degrees. However, surprisingly little is known about the college experiences of first-generation students. This study examined the self-reported college experiences of 1,127 first-year students at a variety of four-year colleges and universities. First-generation students tended to be less engaged and gained less from college than their counterparts with college-educated parents did. These differences were primarily due to first-generation students having lower educational aspirations and living off campus.

Being (Dis)Engaged in Educationally Purposeful Activities: The Influences of Student and Institutional Characteristics.

The self-reported experiences of 50,883 undergraduates at 123 institutions were analyzed using a multinomial hierarchical model to identify individual and institutional characteristics associated with varying levels of student engagement in educationally purposeful activities. Parental education and student academic preparation were positively associated with higher levels of engagement. White students were generally less engaged than students from other racial and ethnic groups whereas men were more likely to be either disengaged or highly engaged compared with women. Students at public institutions and research universities were less engaged than their counterparts at private colleges and other institutional types. Individual student perceptions of certain aspects of the institutional environment affected engagement in complicated ways.

A Comparison of International Student and American Student Engagement in Effective Educational Practices.

This study compares engagement of a national sample of international undergraduate students and their American counterparts. Overall, international students were more engaged in effective educational practices, especially during the first year of college. The ethnic/racial background of international students and their density on campus had mixed effects on student engagement.

In Their Own Words: What Students Learn Outside the Classroom

In most college impact models, student and institutional characteristics have substantial effects on student learning (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). The purpose of this study was to discover the impact of out-of-class experiences on outcomes of college attendance considered important by students. From interviews with 149 seniors at 12 colleges and universities, 14 categories of learning and personal development were distilled. These categories subsequently were reduced to five outcome domains: Personal Competence, Cognitive Complexity, Knowledge and Academic Skills, Practical Competence, and Altruism and Estheticism. Contrary to the literature on college impact, student background characteristics were not related to differences in outcomes; however, students attending small, private colleges with liberal arts missions more frequently reported changes in Cognitive Complexity, Knowledge and Academic Skills, and Altruism and Estheticism.

Diversity Experiences and College Student Learning and Personal Development

Using responses to The College Student Experience Questionnaire (CSEQ) from 53,756 undergraduates at 124 American four-year colleges and universities, this study examines the effects of interactional diversity experiences on a range of desirable outcomes for White students and students of color in different types of higher education institutions. Though White students had less contact with students from different backgrounds, such experiences positively affected the self-reported gains for both Whites and students of color at all types of colleges. These effects differed in magnitude, however, for White students and students of color, depending on the respective outcome measure and institutional type.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROCESS INDICATORS TO ESTIMATE STUDENT GAINS ASSOCIATED WITH GOOD PRACTICES IN UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, the development of psychometrically sound process indicators of student performance is described. Second, the results are reported of a test of the utility of these indicators with six samples of men and women students (n = 911 in each group) from 19 baccalaureate, 27 masters, and 29 doctoral-granting institutions. Process indicators represent behaviors associated with desired outcomes of college and estimate the extent to which students are engaged in these activities. Selected items from the College Student Experiences Questionnaire were used to create measures of three good educational practices: faculty-student contact, cooperation among students, and active learning. Active learning and cooperation among students in that order were the best predictors of gains for both women and men at all three types of institutions. Student background characteristics had only trivial influences on educational gains. Implications are discussed for institutional policy and further research.