The relationship between student engagement and selected desirable outcomes in the first year of college

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Date

2006-05-17

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Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum

Abstract

This study examines the relationships between student engagement in the first year of college and three desirable outcomes of undergraduate education. Student engagement is a domain of constructs that measures both the time and energy students devote to educationally purposeful activities and how students perceive different facets of the institutional environment that facilitate and support their learning. The three outcomes represent a portion of what is meant by success in the first year experience, namely obtaining good grades, acquiring intellectual skills that are important for future academic achievement and success in the professional world, and gaining knowledge of a general nature in step with the commonly embraced liberal arts mission of the general curriculum. The study is a secondary analysis of existing data utilizing two primary data sources: student responses to the fourth edition of the College Student Experiences Questionnaire and student records maintained by Indiana University Bloomington. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to model the complex relationships between the students' precollege characteristics, engagement behaviors and perceptions, and the outcome variables. The findings point to four conclusions: (a) different forms of engagement are precursors to different outcomes, (b) different forms of engagement interact to contribute to desired outcomes, (c) high expectations coupled with adequate support are requisite conditions for learning and development in the first college year, and (d) grades do not necessarily represent how much students believe they have learned. Implications for research, policy and practice are also offered.

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Presented at the 2006 Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum in Chicago, IL.

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Presentation