• NAMETAGS

Using Student Engagement As A Lens for Course Evaluation

Participants should be able to:

1. Remember and understand student engagement, NSSE / CLASSE, course evaluation, EBP

2. Design data collection procedures for gauging student engagement.

3. Interpret the data

4. Take appropriate actions

Outline

Pre-assessment

Course evaluation

Student engagement

Examples

Post assessment

Pre-assessment

Define: student engagement, NSSE, CLASSE , course evaluation, evidence-based practice.

Explain how you would assess student engagement in your course.

Evaluate the course featured in the data on pages 8 – 10 in the handouts.

Suggest changes to your course that would enhance student engagement.

Course Evaluation

Evaluators’ perspective:

• A judgment about the worth or merit of something

Course Evaluation at the U of C

1. Identify merit.

2. Identify criteria and standards.

3. Collect data.

4. Make judgment.

5. Take action.

USRI:Syllabus contained sufficient detail?

Course was consistent with syllabus?

Course content was well organized?

Instructor was responsive?

Treated students with respect?

Evaluation methods were fair?

Course Evaluation

• Instructors’ perspective

Student Engagement as Merit?

• The extent to which students participate in activities with established correlations to deep and meaningful learning

– Active and collaborative learning

– Student to faculty contact

– Academic challenge

– Enriching educational activities

– Supportive campus environment

Student Engagement Correlates

• GPA

• Persistence

• Academic development

• Knowledge acquisition

• Analytical and problem solving skills

• Self-esteem

• Deep learning

• General education

• Personal development

• Practical competence

Measuring Student Engagement

• National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

U of A 2008

U of C 2008

Canada Average

U of A Rank

U of C Rank

Active and collaborative

42 44 50 45/52 40/52

Student –Faculty

30 31 41 48/52 41/52

Academic Challenge

52 53 56 50/52 45/52

Enriching experience

35 34 40 28/52 26/52

Campus environment

48 n/a n/a n/a n/a

Problems with NSSE for Course Evaluation?

• Purely descriptive: Now what?

• General: Blame is diffuse

• Interpretability of data: “quite a bit?” “rarely?”

• Imposed

• “Supportive campus environment?”

• “Enriching educational activities?”

From NSSE to CLASSE

• Purely descriptive: Explanatory

• General: Local

• “Quite a bit?” “rarely:” 0, 1-2, 3-4, 5 or more

• Imposed: Voluntary

Course Evaluation With the CLASSE

1. Identify merit: Student engagement

2. Identify criteria: active, collaborative, challenging

3. Set standards: norms, pre-post,

4. Collect data: CLASSE

5. Make judgments: Compare data with standards

6. Revise course:

Student Engagement and Narrative Pedagogy

Aggregate student engagement by course. n = 39, 44. Mean rank = 30.23, 52.43, Mann-Whitney U = 399, p < 0.01.

Engagement Activities subscale. Mean rank = 33.94, 55.61, Mann-Whitney U = 522.5, p < 0.001.

Other educational practices subscale. Mean rank = 38.55, 54.27, Mann-Whitney U = 711.50, p = 0.05.

Cognitive skills subscale: Mean rank = 43.91, 53.59. Mann-Whitney U = 939, p > 0.05.

Class atmosphere subscale. n = 45, 47, Mean rank = 51.94, 41.29, Mann-Whitney U = 812.500, p > 0.05.

Student Engagement and Study Abroad

Student Engagement and Study Abroad: Higher Order Learning Items

% of students responding often and very often

Activity On campus Study Abroad

Analyzed concepts 50 68

Synthesized information 50 68

Made judgments 36.6 68

Applied concepts 22.7 55

Effect size 0.72

Student Engagement and Study Abroad: Reflective Learning Items

% of students responding often and very often

Activity On campus Study Abroad

Examined my views 50 77

Examined others’ views 60 86

Changed understanding 63 86

Applied to personal life 55 82

Comfort with ambiguity 54 64

Effect size 0.85

Student Engagement and Study Abroad: General Education Items

% of students responding quite a bit and very much

Activity On campus Study Abroad

Acquired a general edu 68 91

Work related K S A 23 90

Critical thinking 50 63

Working with others 37 81

Independent learning 55 60

Effect size 0.72

Evaluate Your Course For Engagement

• (In pairs) select / revise items from the CLASSE to evaluate your course.

• Set standards.

• Interpret the data.

• Revise the course to enhance engagement.

Post assessment

Define: student engagement, NSSE, CLASSE , course evaluation, evidence-based practice.

Explain how you would assess student engagement in your course.

Suggest changes to your course that would enhance student engagement.