The role of precollege data in assessing and understanding student engagement in college

Abstract

Students do not enter college tabula rasa. They come with a variety of high school academic experiences, exposure to college information, and family socioeconomic and educational influences, all of which help shape expectations and attitudes of what it is like to be an enrolled college student. Research studies show that high school experiences, engagement, and academic achievement, as well as entering expectations and attitudes, are important predictors of student success. Therefore, to better understand first-year student engagement, it makes sense to consider the backgrounds and precollege characteristics of entering college students.This chapter has two goals. The first is to clarify conceptually the relationship between precollege characteristics and high school engagement, first-year student engagement expectations, and subsequent first-year engagement and experience. The second is to provide examples of how academic affairs and student affairs use data on precollege student characteristics and student expectations to enhance student learning and personal development. We provide examples from institutions that have used the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE), the precollege companion to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). 55 4

The Mediating Effects of Approaches to Learning on the Academic Success of First-Year College Students

“…Academic satisfaction is related to academic involvement and success, as well as low levels of stress and attrition (Cole, Kennedy, & Ben-Avie, 2009;Credé & Niehorster, 2012;Jackson, Pancer, Pratt, & Hunsberger, 2000;Smith & Miller, 2005). Literature suggests that students start HE with high and often unrealistic levels of expectations.…”

“…Literature suggests that students start HE with high and often unrealistic levels of expectations. Sometimes the discrepancy between initial expectations and academic experiences introduces significant levels of dissatisfaction, which have a negative impact on academic motivation, learning, and achievement (Braxton, Vesper, & Hossler, 1995;Cole et al, 2009;Jackson et al, 2000;Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie, & Gonyea, 2008;Smith & Miller, 2005).…”

Investigating Student Engagement in First-Year Biology Education: A Comparison of Major and Non-Major Perception of Engagement Across Different Active Learning Activities

“…Furthermore, these studies are focused on courses specifically for non-biology majors (Bernot & Metzler, 2014;Weasel & Finkel, 2016). Considering that a student's background can affect their response to course material, including their feelings of engagement and how much they learn (Cole, Kennedy, & Ben-Avie, 2009), it is important to understand how students with such different backgrounds and interests that they have chosen different majors will be affected by modern teaching approaches in their biology courses.…”

Propiedades psicométricas del Cuestionario de Percepciones Académicas para la evaluación de las expectativas de los estudiantes de primer año en Enseñanza Superior

“…A su vez, los estudiantes que acceden por primera vez a la ES presentan una gran diversidad de características respecto a su nivel de conocimientos y aptitudes cognitivas (Almeida, Guisande y Paisana, 2012; Deaño, García-Señorán y Sepúlveda, 1997), a sus niveles de motivación (Deaño, Gómez y García-Señorán, 1997) y proyectos vocacionales, a su madurez psicológica, y a su autonomía y bienestar psicológico (Salanova, Martínez, Bresó, LLoréns y Grau, 2005;Soares, Guisande y Almeida, 2007). De entre este conjunto amplio de variables personales de los estudiantes, sus expectativas académicas iniciales son las que centran la atención de este artículo, en la medida en que son una variable importante en su adaptación al contexto universitario Cole, Kennedy y Ben-Avie, 2009;Howard, 2005;Soares, Almeida y Guisande, 2011).…”