December 17, 2004
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Undergraduates Study Much Less Than Professors Expect, Survey of Student ‘Engagement’ Says
By ERIC HOOVER
HEADLINES
Undergraduates study much less than professors expect, survey of student “engagement” says
U.S. education secretary is expected to step down
Online-education survey finds boom in enrollment and broad satisfaction with courses
Job prospects look brighter for class of 2005, survey finds
U. of North Carolina system takes control of finances on campus criticized in state audit
Only about 11 percent of full-time students say they spend more than 25 hours per week preparing for their classes — the amount of time that faculty members say is necessary to succeed in college. Forty-four percent spend 10 hours or less studying.
Yet students’ grades do not suggest that they are unprepared for their academic work: About 40 percent of students say they earn mostly A’s, with 41 percent reporting that they earn mostly B’s.
Those are among the major findings of the latest National Survey of Student Engagement, a summary of which is being released today. In its fifth year, the survey covered 163,000 freshmen and seniors at 472 four-year colleges and universities.
The survey’s organizers measure “engagement” — the level of student involvement in academics and campus activities — to provide colleges with a better understanding of their quality than is found in popular rankings, like those of U.S. News & World Report.
The new data on individual colleges are not available to the public. Participating institutions receive detailed reports about how their students’ opinions and performances compare with those of students at other colleges. Many of the colleges refuse to release those findings.
Since the inception of the survey — known as “Nessie,” after its initials, NSSE — college administrators have hoped that they could use the findings to improve student engagement on their campuses. This year, the survey’s organizers reported that at least some aspects of students’ experience had improved over the past five years.
For instance, seniors reporting that campus administrators were helpful, considerate, and flexible rose to 63 percent from 48 percent. Over the same period, students who said they had held serious conversations with peers espousing different social, political, and religious views increased to 55 percent from 45 percent. Students participating in service learning rose to 19 percent from 12 percent.
“We’re pleased to see some more-than-modest bumps,” said George D. Kuh, director of the survey and a professor of higher education at Indiana University at Bloomington. “There’s been a lot of attention given by campuses to becoming more student-friendly.”
Some of the survey’s findings, however, suggest that many students are not taking full advantage of their academic opportunities. Two-fifths of freshmen and a quarter of seniors said that they never discussed ideas from their classes or readings with a faculty member outside of class.
The survey also found that:
- About 90 percent of students rated their college experience as “good” or “excellent.”
- Approximately 60 percent of seniors and 37 percent of freshmen did volunteer work.
- Only 10 percent of students said that newspapers or magazines were their primary source for local and national news, while more than half said they relied on television for such information.
- More than 25 percent of students said they had not attended an art exhibit or play during the current academic year.
- Twenty percent of students spent no time exercising.
Among the new items in this year’s survey was an assessment of “deep learning”: the extent to which students engage in self-reflection, the integration of knowledge and different skills, and activities that require higher levels of mental activity than rote memorization. Students who scored higher on this scale spent more time preparing for class, working on campus, and participating in co-curricular activities than students with lower scores.
The NSSE study, “Student Engagement: Pathways to Collegiate Success,” is scheduled to be posted online today.
Background articles from The Chronicle:
- Student ‘Engagement’ in Learning Varies Significantly by Major, Survey Finds (11/14/2003)
- Homework? What Homework? Students Seem to Be Spending Less Time Studying Than They Used To (12/6/2002)
Copyright © 2004 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
- About 90 percent of students rated their college experience as “good” or “excellent.”
