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   from the issue of December 9, 2004

     
 
Research: UNL students are engaged in their studies

 UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

A national engagement survey of 163,000 first-year and senior students at 472 four-year colleges and universities shows that UNL students are as academically engaged as their peers at other major research universities.

"We know that students who have successful collegiate experiences are those who become active participants in the intellectual and social life of the campus," said Rita Kean, UNL dean of undergraduate studies. "Engagement is key to a successful undergraduate experience at a research university such as UNL."

The National Survey of Student Engagement released Nov. 15, "Student Engagement: Pathways to Collegiate Success," gives colleges and universities an idea of how engaged their undergraduate students are in a variety of good educational practices.

A summary of key findings relating to UNL students:

First-year students: The 2004 data show in several categories UNL first-year students were as engaged or more engaged than expected, given the characteristics of UNL students (gender, race/ethnicity, age) and institutional characteristics (institutional classification, admissions selectivity, and undergraduate enrollment):

• Level of Academic Challenge: First-year UNL students received significantly more writing assignments than students attending peer institutions.

• Enriching Educational Experiences: A higher proportion of first-year UNL students were involved in a practicum, internship or field experience, independent study/self-designed major, learning community or community service/volunteer work compared to peers.

• Active and Collaborative Learning: UNL students participated in a community-based project as part of coursework more frequently than peers.

UNL first-year students scored below what was expected in the categories of Student and Faculty Interaction and Supportive Campus Environment. However, the results also show improvement from the 2002 survey in this category for first-year students. On the 2004 survey, there was an increase in how much UNL first-year students believe the university supports students academically and in providing help in coping with their non-academic responsibilities.

Seniors: The study shows in several categories UNL seniors were more engaged than was expected.

• Student-Faculty Interaction: A higher percentage of UNL seniors worked on research with faculty outside of course or program requirements, worked with faculty on non-course activities such as committees, and talked about career plans with faculty or adviser more often than students at peer institutions.

• Enriching Educational Experiences: A higher proportion of UNL seniors were involved in a learning community or independent study/self-designed major than peers.

• Active and Collaborative Learning: UNL seniors engaged more often in making class presentations and were more involved in working with classmates outside of class to prepare class assignments than peers.

UNL seniors scored below what was expected in the categories of Level of Academic Challenge and Supportive Campus Environment.

In addition to the improvements in Supportive Campus Environment for first-year students the data also shows UNL's improvement from the 2002 survey in the following areas:

• First-year students are spending more time in a typical week participating in co-curricular activities such as organizations or intramural sports.

• First-year students are participating more in community-based projects as part of their courses.

• Seniors are being asked more frequently to make judgments about the value of information, arguments or methods in their courses.

Kean said she was pleased with the study results, particularly that progress is being made in the category of Supportive Campus Environment for freshmen. An important goal of the Office of Undergraduate Studies is to improve support for undergraduate students through the coordination of undergraduate programming, she said.

"These positive results reflect our continuing commitment to improving the undergraduate experience," Kean said.


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