National Survey of Student Engagement: Aboriginal student …€¦ · student engagement, with over 1200 institutions participating throughout its 10‐year history (including 47

February2009

NationalSurveyofStudentEngagement:Aboriginalstudentsubgroup

ThompsonRiversUniversityIPA|NSSE:AboriginalStudentsSubgroupReport >Page1

TABLEOFCONTENTS

ExecutiveSummary.............................................................................................................................................3

Studentsatisfaction ........................................................................................................................................3

Areasofhighandlowengagement ...............................................................................................................3

NSSEbenchmarks............................................................................................................................................3

IntroductiontoNSSE...........................................................................................................................................4

Purpose ............................................................................................................................................................4

Methods...........................................................................................................................................................4

ProcedurefortheidentificationofAboriginalrespondents............................................................................5

Responserate ......................................................................................................................................................5

MeasuresofOverallSatisfaction .......................................................................................................................7

HighandLowScores ...........................................................................................................................................9

FirstYear ..........................................................................................................................................................9

FourthYear ....................................................................................................................................................11

BenchmarkScores .............................................................................................................................................13

IntroductiontoBenchmarkScores ..............................................................................................................13

AcademicChallenge......................................................................................................................................13

ActiveandCollaborativeLearning ...............................................................................................................13

Student–FacultyInteraction .......................................................................................................................13

EnrichingEducationalExperiences ..............................................................................................................14

SupportiveCampusEnvironment ................................................................................................................14

FirstYear ........................................................................................................................................................15

FourthYear ....................................................................................................................................................16

Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................................17

AppendixA:DetailedCompositionofBenchmarkScores..............................................................................18

AppendixB:ExpectedFrequencies..................................................................................................................23


LISTOFTABLES

Table1:RespondentCharacteristics..................................................................................................................5

Table2:RespondentsbyYearandDivision.......................................................................................................6

Table3:RespondentsbyYearandAgeGroup..................................................................................................6

Table4:FrequenciesforSatisfactionwithEntireEducationalExperience.....................................................7

Table5:FrequenciesforChoosingthisInstitutionAgain.................................................................................7

Table6:StandardSatisfactionComparisonforAboriginalandAllStudents ..................................................8

Table7:TopScores,FirstYear............................................................................................................................9

Table8:LowScores,FirstYear .........................................................................................................................10

Table9:TopScores,FourthYear......................................................................................................................11

Table10:LowScores,FourthYear ...................................................................................................................12

Table11:FirstYearBenchmarkScores............................................................................................................15

Table12:FourthYearBenchmarkScores........................................................................................................16

Table13:BenchmarkComponents‐LevelofAcademicChallenge................................................................18

Table14:ActiveandCollaborativeLearning...................................................................................................19

Table15:Student–FacultyInteraction..........................................................................................................20

Table16:EnrichingEducationalExperiences ..................................................................................................21

Table17:SupportiveCampusEnvironment....................................................................................................22

Table18:AboriginalDemographics,ALL1st&4thYearBaccalaureates,TRU ...............................................23

Table19:ExpectedSurveySampleFrequencies .............................................................................................23

Table20:ActualSurveySampleFrequencies..................................................................................................23


EXECUTIVESUMMARYThis reportwill examine the2008 groupofThompsonRiversUniversityAboriginal respondents to theNational Survey of Student Engagement. The unique experience of Aboriginal students in postsecondaryeducationnecessitatesthein‐depthexaminationofthissubgroup.Thedemographicsofthisgroupwillbeexamined,anditwillbedeterminedthatthissamplegroupisstatisticallyrepresentativeofallfirstandfourthyearAboriginalbaccalaureatestudents,withtheexceptionofahigherthanexpectedproportionoffemaleandfourthyearstudents. Thereportexaminesoverallsatisfactionscores,whicharederivedfromtwooverarchingquestionsontheNSSE.

STUDENTSATISFACTIONOneachquestionofoverallsatisfaction,Aboriginalandnon‐Aboriginalstudentsrespondedsimilarly,asdidfirstandforthyears:

• 73%ofAboriginalstudentssaidthattheywouldratetheiroveralleducationalexperienceatTRUaseither“good”or“excellent”

• 81%saidthattheywouldattendTRUagainifgiventhechancetostartover.

AREASOFHIGHANDLOWENGAGEMENTHighest‐scoringquestionsforAboriginalstudentsinclude:

• relationshipswithstudentsandfaculty,• academicadvising,• intentionorcompletionofcommunityservice,and• examinationchallenge.

Lowest‐scoringquestionsinclude:

• hoursperweekspentworkingforpayoncampus,• spiritualdevelopmentand• participationinelections.

NSSEBENCHMARKSIn general, Aboriginal students responded very similarly to non‐Aboriginal students. Eachbenchmarkcategorywas scored similarly, andonlyminor differences exist for individual questions. Aswell, firstand fourth year Aboriginal students tend to respond similarly, despite the general assumption thatfourth year students score higher than first year students. This study concluded that first and fourthyearAboriginalrespondentsscoressimilarlyoneachofthefivebenchmarks.


INTRODUCTIONTONSSETheNationalSurveyofStudentEngagementwasfirstpilotedin1999,andhasgrowntobeaninternationally‐recognized method of measuring student engagement, with over 1200institutionsparticipatingthroughoutits10‐yearhistory(including47inCanadain2008)1.NSSEwasdesignedtomeasureitemsthatarenotexplicitlyacademicbutwhichresearchhasshownare intrinsically linked to overall student success in post secondary education. Afterexamination ofmultiple studies on theNSSE, TRUdetermined that participation in theNSSEwouldservethevaluestatementslaidoutintheStrategicPlan,particularythosethatrelatedtolearnercenteredness,qualityofeducationandservice,andaccountability.

PURPOSETheNSSE isnota traditional student satisfaction survey.Rather, it seeks tomeasurestudentengagement on multiple levels, as these factors are understood to heavily influence overallstudent success in post secondary education. The survey asks over 100 questions, rangingfromacademicpracticestodemographicinformationtospiritualhealth.34ofthesequestionscanbegrouped intofiveBenchmarkcategories:1)LevelofAcademicChallenge2)ActiveandCollaborativeLearning3)Student‐FacultyInteraction4)EnrichingEducationalExperiencesand5)SupportiveCampusEnvironment.Formoreinformationoneachbenchmark,seeAppendixA. Because the desired outcomes for each benchmark differ depending on an institution’smandateandareasubjectivemeasure,theNSSEcommunitydoesnotrecommendthattheybeused for ranking purposes. The survey should be used as ameasure for self‐reflection thathelpsstakeholdersunderstandthestrengthsandweaknessesofeachfactorattheirparticularinstitution.

METHODSThe survey is administered to both 1st year and 4th year baccalaureate students, with theunderstandingthateachgrouptendstoanswerthequestionsverydifferently.1061studentswere asked to participate in this online survey, resulting in a robust response rate of 41%overall. The questions and structure of the NSSE survey have been validatedwithmultipleanalysesacrossdifferentyears.

1NationalSurveyofStudentEngagement.“OurOriginsandPotential.”2008http://nsse.iub.edu/html/origins.cfm


PROCEDUREFORTHEIDENTIFICATIONOFABORIGINALRESPONDENTSAboriginal students were identified through two methods: survey self‐identification andinstitutional student records. All respondents were cross‐referenced with ethnic identityinformationpresentintheuniversitystudentinformationsystem,andAboriginalstudentswereidentified inthisway. Additionally, respondentswereaskedto identifytheirethnicityonthesurvey, with a choice of 15 cultural groups. Studentswho self‐identified as “First Nations”,“Metis”,or“Inuit”wereconsideredtobeAboriginalstudents. Thecombinationofthesetwoidentification exercises resulted in 42 students being self‐identified as Aboriginal. For theremainderofthisreport,“respondents”willrefertothisgroupof42students.

RESPONSERATEAboriginalstudentscomprised9.6%ofallNSSEsurveyrespondentsin2008.ThispercentageisproportionatetotheoverallTRUpopulationpercentageof8.6%(basedonacountof542firstandfourthyearbaccalaureateAboriginalstudentsintheacademicyearof2007‐082).Asampleofatleast36studentscanbeconsideredrepresentativeinthiscase.Table 1 refers to the demographic information of respondents. There is a slight over‐representation of fourth year students in this sample, as well as an over‐representation offemale students3 (for a table of expected frequencies, see Appendix B). Therefore, thefollowing analysis has been conducted with a sizably representative sample that is slightlyweightedwithfemaleandfourthyearstudents.Table1:RespondentCharacteristics

Male FemaleGrandTotal

FirstYear 7 19 26FourthYear 6 10 16GrandTotal 13 29 42

2CountsofAboriginalstudentswhoself‐identifiedinK‐12and/orpostsecondary:CentralDataWarehouse,“CDWOct2008ProgramLevel”2008.3ibid


Table2givestherespondentcountbydivision.ThelargestgroupofrespondentswasenrolledintheFacultyofArts(14ofwhomwereinfirstyear)andwasfollowedby13respondentsfromtheFacultyofScience(7ofwhomwereinfourthyear).TheSchoolsofTourism,EducationandSocialWorkandHumanServiceswerenotrepresentedinthissample.Table2:RespondentsbyYearandDivision

Division FirstYear FourthYearGrandTotal

FacultyofArts 14 4 18FacultyofScience 6 7 13SchoolofAdvancedTechnology&Mathematics ‐ 1 1SchoolofBusiness&Economics 6 2 8SchoolofNursing ‐ 2 2GrandTotal 26 16 42

Table 3 gives the age breakdown of respondents by age groups. The largest group ofrespondents (16) was aged 18 and under, all of whom were in the first year of theirbaccalaureate programs. Six students were aged 19 & 20 (all in first year as well) and 10studentswereaged21to24(3studentsinfirstyear,7studentsinfourthyear).Atotalof10studentswereaged25orolder.Table3:RespondentsbyYearandAgeGroup

AgeGroup FirstYear FourthYearGrandTotal

18andunder 16 ‐ 1619&20 6 ‐ 621to24 3 7 1025to29 ‐ 5 530to39 1 2 340andover ‐ 2 2GrandTotal 26 16 42


MEASURESOFOVERALLSATISFACTIONTwoquestionsontheCanadianNSSEinstrumentarecommonlyconsideredasindicatingoverallsatisfaction:“Howwouldyouevaluateyourentireeducationexperienceatthisinstitution”and“Ifyoucouldstartoveragain,wouldyougotothesame institutionyouarenowattending”?FrequencyresultsforthesetwoquestionsaredisplayedinTable4andTable5.

Table4:FrequenciesforSatisfactionwithEntireEducationalExperienceHowwouldyouevaluateyourentireeducationalexperienceatthisinstitution?

AboriginalRespondents AllRespondentsAnswer

Frequency ValidPercent ValidPercent

Excellent 11 26.8 22.9

Good 19 46.3 57.9

Fair 10 24.4 17.5

Poor 1 2.4 1.7

Total 41 100.0 100

Missing 1

GrandTotal 42

Table5:FrequenciesforChoosingthisInstitutionAgain

Ifyoucouldstartoveragain,wouldyougotothesameinstitutionyouarenowattending?

AboriginalRespondents AllRespondentsAnswer

Frequency ValidPercent ValidPercent

DefinitelyYes 11 26.8 31.8

ProbablyYes 22 53.7 49.6

ProbablyNo 4 9.8 14.4

DefinitelyNo 4 9.8 4.2

Total 41 100.0 100

Missing 1

GrandTotal 42


Thestandardizedaveragescoresofeachsatisfactionquestion(i.e.4=100,1=25)aredisplayedinTable6andare comparedtothosescoresofallTRUNSSE respondents in2008. Althoughsome slight variation does exist, Mann‐Whitney U tests indicate that Aboriginal studentsanswersimilarlytootherstudents,andthatnostatisticallysignificantdifferencesexistbetweenthescoresofeachgroup.Table6:StandardSatisfactionComparisonforAboriginalandAllStudents

Question SubGroup N ScoreStat.Sig.

Difference?

Aboriginal 41 74.4Howwouldyouevaluateyourentireeducation

experienceatthisinstitution? Non‐Aboriginal36

575.6

‐

Aboriginal 41 74.4Ifyoucouldstartoveragain,wouldyouattendthe

sameinstitutionyouarenowattending? Non‐Aboriginal36

877.6

‐


HIGHANDLOWSCORES

FIRSTYEARTable7displays the top tenstandard scores for first year respondents in this sample. Thesescoreshavebeencomparedtothoseofnon‐Aboriginalrespondents(usingMann‐WhitneyUtoguard against Type 1 error) and significant differences between the two scores have beennoted. Inthecasewherenostatisticallysignificantdifferencehasbeennoted,theremaybeslight differences in the standard scores, but these differences will not necessarily remainconsistentonfuturesurveys.Table7demonstratesthatAboriginalrespondentsansweredtheirtoptenquestionssimilarlytonon‐Aboriginal respondents. However, Aboriginal students returned a lower score than non‐Aboriginal students on the quality of their relationships with faculty members, despite thisquestionbeinginthetoptenoftheAboriginalrespondents’scores.Table7:TopScores,FirstYear

Question AboriginalNon‐Aboriginal

Stat.Sig.Difference?

Qualityofyourrelationshipswithotherstudents? 72.6 78.2 ‐Theextenttowhichyourexaminationsduringthecurrentschoolyearchallengedyoutodoyourbestwork?

71.4 74.3 ‐

Qualityofyourrelationshipswithfacultymembers? 69.3 77.9 yesQualityofyourrelationshipswithadministrativepersonnelandoffices?

63.7 66.6 ‐

Hoursperweekspentpreparingforclass(studying,reading,writing,doinghomeworkorlabwork,analyzingdata,rehearsing,andotheracademicactivities)?

50.5 47.8 ‐

Hoursperweekspentrelaxingandsocializing(watchingTV,partying,etc.)?

45.3 49.7 ‐

Numberofassignedtextbooks,books,orbook‐lengthpacksofcoursereadings?

64.0 66.4 ‐

Howoftenhaveyouworkedonapaperorprojectthatrequiredintegratingideasorinformationfromvarioussources?

78.0 77.7 ‐

Haveyoudone,ordoyouplantodo,communityserviceorvolunteerwork?

77.0 75.1 ‐

Overall,howwouldyouevaluatethequalityofacademicadvisingyouhavereceivedatyourinstitution?

77.0 75.8 ‐


Table 8 displays the lowest ten standard scores for first year respondents in this sample.Aboriginalstudentsreturnedsimilarscorestonon‐Aboriginalstudentsforthesequestions.Table8:LowScores,FirstYear

Question AboriginalNon‐

AboriginalStat.Sig.

Difference?Hoursperweekspentworkingforpayoncampus? 12.5 14.4 ‐Howoftenhaveyouparticipatedinacommunity‐basedproject(e.g.servicelearning)aspartofaregularcourse?

29.8 35.0 ‐

Hoursperweekspentparticipatinginco‐curricularactivities(organizations,campuspublications,studentgovernment,fraternityorsorority,intercollegiateorintramuralsports,etc.)?

17.3 20.8 ‐

Howoftenhaveyouparticipatedinactivitiestoenhanceyourspirituality(worship,meditation,prayer,etc.)?

35.5 42.8 ‐

Howoftenhaveyouworkedwithfacultymembersonactivitiesotherthancoursework(committees,orientation,studentlifeactivities,etc.)?

39.5 38.9 ‐

Institutionalcontributiontoyourknowledge,skills,andpersonaldevelopmentindevelopingadeepenedsenseofspirituality

39.5 40.2 ‐

Numberofwrittenpapersorreportsof20pagesormore? 33.6 31.4 ‐Howoftenhaveyoututoredortaughtotherstudents(paidorvoluntary)?

42.3 41.8 ‐

Institutionalcontributiontoyourknowledge,skills,andpersonaldevelopmentinvotinginlocal,provincial,orfederalelections

43.3 42.5 ‐

Institutionalcontributiontoyourknowledge,skills,andpersonaldevelopmentincontributingtothewelfareofyourcommunity?

44.0 52.6 ‐


FOURTHYEARAnidenticalcomparisonprocesswasappliedtothehighandlowstandardscoresoffourthyearAboriginalrespondents.Table9showsthatAboriginalfourthyearstudentsansweredthesetoptenquestionssimilarlyto non‐Aboriginal students. One exception that shows significant statistical difference is aquestionrelatingtotheextenttowhichexaminationschallengedthestudentstodotheirbestwork. Aboriginal students scored this question significantly lower than non‐Aboriginalstudents.Table9:TopScores,FourthYear


AboriginalStat.Sig.

Difference?Qualityofyourrelationshipswithotherstudents? 83.9 78.8 ‐Qualityofyourrelationshipswithfacultymembers? 77.1 78.0 ‐Qualityofyourrelationshipswithadministrativepersonnelandoffices?

68.6 67.5 ‐

Theextenttowhichyourexaminationsduringthecurrentschoolyearchallengedyoutodoyourbestwork?

61.6 75.8 yes

Hoursperweekspentpreparingforclass(studying,reading,writing,doinghomeworkorlabwork,analyzingdata,rehearsing,andotheracademicactivities)?

50.9 46.6 ‐


70.0 64.0 ‐


68.0 72.4 ‐

Workedonapaperorprojectthatrequiredintegratingideasorinformationfromvarioussources?

83.3 79.5 ‐

Institutionalcontributiontoyouknowledge,skills,andpersonaldevelopmentinthinkingcriticallyandanalytically?

80.0 75.2 ‐

Howoftenhaveyouusede‐mailtocommunicatewithaninstructor?

79.8 75.2 ‐


Table 10 displays the lowest ten scores for fourth year Aboriginal respondents, and alsocomparesthemtothestandardscoresthatnon‐Aboriginalstudentsgavetoeachquestion.Thetwogroupsansweredequivalentlyforeachquestion.Table10:LowScores,FourthYear


AboriginalStat.Sig.

Difference?Hoursperweekspentworkingforpayoncampus? 15.0 18.3 ‐Participatinginco‐curricularactivities(organizations,campuspublications,studentgovernment,fraternityorsorority,intercollegiateorintramuralsports,etc.)?

18.4 22.3 ‐

Numberofwrittenpapersorreportsof20pagesormore?

30.0 31.0 ‐

Howoftenhaveyouparticipatedinactivitiestoenhanceyourspirituality(worship,meditation,prayer,etc.)?

39.0 40.7 ‐

Howoftenhaveyouparticipatedinacommunity‐basedproject(e.g.servicelearning)aspartofaregularcourse?

40.8 35.1 ‐

Institutionalemphasisonprovidingthesupportyouneedtothrivesocially?

41.8 52.0 ‐

Howoftenhaveyouworkedwithfacultymembersonactivitiesotherthancoursework(committees,orientation,studentlifeactivities,etc.)?

42.3 38.8 ‐

Howoftenhaveyoututoredortaughtotherstudents(paidorvoluntary)?

42.3 42.4 ‐

Institutionalcontributiontoyourknowledge,skills,andpersonaldevelopmentindevelopingadeepenedsenseofspirituality?

43.3 50.2 ‐

Institutionalemphasisonhelpingyoucopewithyournon‐academicresponsibilities(work,family,etc.)?

43.3 43.3 ‐


BENCHMARKSCORES

INTRODUCTIONTOBENCHMARKSCORESBenchmarksaresummarymeasuresthat focusoneachof fivethemes inoftheNSSEsurvey:AcademicChallenge,ActiveandCollaborative Learning, Student‐Faculty Interaction, EnrichingEducationalExperiences,andSupportiveCampusEnvironment. Formore informationon theconstitutionofeachbenchmarkcategory,pleaseseeAppendixA. The followingparagraphswilloutline the theoretical framework for each benchmark, as described in “Benchmarks of EffectiveEducationalPractice”bytheCenterforPostsecondaryResearch.

ACADEMICCHALLENGEChallenging intellectualandcreativeworkiscentraltostudentlearningandcollegiatequality.Colleges and universities promote high levels of student achievement by emphasizing theimportanceofacademiceffortandsettinghighexpectationsforstudentperformance.The Academic Challenge category measures the students’ required academic activities, withquestions such as “Howmany textbooks or book‐length course packswere you required toread?”and“Howmuchtimedoyouspendpreparingforclass?”Thissectionalsoexploreshowmanyandwhatkindofassignmentsstudentsareaskedtocomplete,whichmentalactivitiesareemphasized (i.e. memorizing, analyzing, etc) and how much time they need to spend onhomework.ACTIVEANDCOLLABORATIVELEARNINGStudents learnmorewhen they are intensely involved in their education and asked to thinkabout what they are learning in different settings. Collaborating with others in solvingproblemsormasteringdifficultmaterialpreparesstudentsforthemessy,unscriptedproblemstheywillencounterdailyduringandaftercollege.The Active and Collaborative Learning category measures the students’ engagement inacademic activities, with questions such as “How often do you ask questions in class?” and“How often have you discussed ideas from your readings or classes with others outside ofclass?”Thissectionalsomeasurestheamountofcommunityprojects(i.e.servicelearning)andgroupprojectsinwhichthestudentsareengaged.

STUDENT–FACULTYINTERACTIONStudents learn firsthandhowexperts thinkaboutand solvepracticalproblemsby interactingwithfacultymembersinsideandoutsidetheclassroom.Asaresult,theirteachersbecomerolemodels,mentors,andguidesforcontinuous,life‐longlearning.The Student‐Faculty Interaction category measures the amount and quality of interactionbetweenstudentsandfaculty.Itasksquestionssuchas“Howoftenhaveyoureceivedpromptoralorwrittenfeedbackfromyourinstructor?”and“Howoftenhaveyouworkedwithfacultymembersonactivitiesotherthancoursework?”Thisareaalsoexploresadvisingoncareerandfutureplansorindiscussionofideasfromclass–outsideofclasstime.


ENRICHINGEDUCATIONALEXPERIENCESComplementary learning opportunities enhance academic programs. Diversity experiencesteach students valuable things about themselves and others. Technology facilitatescollaboration between peers and instructors. Internships, community service, and seniorcapstonecoursesprovideopportunitiestointegrateandapplyknowledge.TheEnrichingEducationalExperiencescategorymeasuresthestudents’ involvement inextra‐academicactivities,askingquestionssuchas“Howoftenhaveyouexercisedorparticipatedinphysicalfitnessactivities?”and“Howoftenhaveyouparticipatedinactivitiestoenhanceyourspirituality?” This section also explores the broadening of intellectual and social boundarieswith questions such as “How often have you had serious conversation with students of adifferentraceorethnicityofyourown?”

SUPPORTIVECAMPUSENVIRONMENTStudentsperformbetterandaremoresatisfiedatcollegesthatarecommittedtotheirsuccessandcultivatepositiveworkingandsocialrelationsamongdifferentgroupsoncampus.TheSupportiveCampusEnvironmentcategorymeasuresthestudents’overallexperienceswiththe institution, asking questions such as “What is the quality of your relationships withadministration personnel and offices?” and “Overall, how would you rate the quality ofacademic advising you have received?” This section also explores the campus’ role inpromotingsocialdevelopment.


FIRSTYEARBecause first and fourth year students tend to score differently on each benchmark index,scoreshavebeenseparatelyreportedforfirstyearandfourthyearrespondents.Table 11 gives the overall first year Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal standard scores for eachbenchmarkcategory,andcomparesthescoresofthesetwogroups.According to the standard significancemeasureused throughoutNSSE analysis, there are nostatisticallysignificantdifferencesbetweenbenchmarkscoresforfirstyearAboriginalandnon‐Aboriginalrespondents.However,ifaslightlymoreliberallevelisapplied(.10ratherthan.05)itcanbesaidthatthisgroupofAboriginalstudentsscoredTRUsignificantlylowerintheareaofenrichingeducationalexperiences.Whenmoreyearsofdataarecollected,thecertaintyofthisrelationshipcanbedetermined.Table11:FirstYearBenchmarkScores

CategoryFirstYear

SubgroupN Mean

Stat.Sig.

Difference?

Aboriginal 25 50.5LevelofAcademicChallenge

NonAboriginal 236 51.7‐

Aboriginal 26 39.4ActiveandCollaborativeLearning


Aboriginal 26 28.7Student–FacultyInteraction


Aboriginal 24 22.7EnrichingEducationalExperiences


Aboriginal 24 52.5SupportiveCampusEnvironment



FOURTHYEARTable12displaysthesamedataasTable11,forfourthyearstudents.Therearenosignificantdifferencesinthestandardbenchmarkscoresforeachfourthyeargroup.Unlikethefirstyearcomparison,allofthesescoresareveryclearlystatisticallyequivalent.Table12:FourthYearBenchmarkScores

CategoryFourthYear

SubgroupN Mean

Stat.Sig

Difference?

Aboriginal 16 46.6LevelofAcademicChallenge


Aboriginal 16 38.4ActiveandCollaborativeLearning


Aboriginal 16 32.3Student–FacultyInteraction


Aboriginal 16 28.0EnrichingEducationalExperiences


Aboriginal 16 49.3SupportiveCampusEnvironment



CONCLUSION

This report has summarized the results of the National Survey of Student Engagement forAboriginal respondents. The survey includes on campus, baccalaureate students in first orfourthyear.73%oftherespondentgroupof44students,whichisweightedtowardsfemalesand fourthyear students, stated that theyconsidered their overall educationalexperienceatTRUtobeeithergoodorexcellent.81%statedthat,givenachancetostartover,theywouldeitherprobablyordefinitelyattendTRUagain.When the responses of Aboriginal first year studentswere compared to those of Aboriginalfourth year students, this study found that first year students felt TRU placed a strongeremphasisonprovidingthemwiththehelptheyneededtothrivesocially.When the responses of Aboriginal students were compared to those of non‐Aboriginalstudents, this study found that non‐Aboriginal students reported a higher quality of facultyrelationshipsandalsoreportedthatexamschallengedthemmoretodotheirbestwork.With only one year of survey data available, this study is limited to comparisons betweendifferent respondent groups. When more years of data are available, an additional,chronologicaldimensionwillbeaddedtothisanalysis.


APPENDIXA:DETAILEDCOMPOSITIONOFBENCHMARKSCORESTable13:BenchmarkComponents‐LevelofAcademicChallenge

Question Year N MeanStat.Sig.

Difference?

FirstYear 25 64.0Numberofassignedtextbooks,books,or

book‐lengthpacksofcoursereadings? FourthYear 16 70.0‐

FirstYear 25 33.6Numberofwrittenpapersorreportsof20

pagesormore? FourthYear 16 30.0‐

FirstYear 25 48.8Numberofwrittenpapersorreportsbetween5

and19pages? FourthYear 16 48.8‐

FirstYear 25 56.0Numberofwrittenpapersorreportsoffewer

than5pages? FourthYear 16 52.5‐

FirstYear 2569.0

Courseworkemphasisonanalyzingthebasic

elementsofanidea,experience,ortheory,

suchasexaminingaparticularcaseorsituation

indepthandconsideringitscomponents?FourthYear 16

78.1

‐

FirstYear 2561.0

Courseworkemphasisonsynthesizingand

organizingideas,information,orexperiences

intonew,morecomplexinterpretationsand

relationships?FourthYear 16

70.3

‐

FirstYear 2563.0

Courseworkemphasisonmakingjudgments

aboutthevalueofinformation,arguments,or

methods,suchasexamininghowothers

gatheredandinterpreteddataandassessing

thesoundnessoftheirconclusions?FourthYear 16

70.3

‐

FirstYear 25 74.0Courseworkemphasisonapplyingtheoriesor

conceptstopracticalproblemsorinnew

situations? FourthYear 16 75.0

‐

FirstYear 26 61.5Timesyouhaveworkedharderthanyou

thoughtyoucouldtomeetaninstructor's

standardsorexpectations? FourthYear 16 62.5

‐

FirstYear 2650.5

Hoursperweekspentpreparingforclass

(studying,reading,writing,doinghomeworkor

labwork,analyzingdata,andotheracademic

activities)?FourthYear 15

50.8

‐

FirstYear 26 76.0Institutionalemphasisonspendingsignificant

amountsoftimestudyingandonacademics? FourthYear 15 71.7‐


Table14:ActiveandCollaborativeLearning


Difference?

FirstYear 26 71.2Howoftenhaveyouaskedquestionsinclassor

contributedtoclassdiscussions? FourthYear 15 66.7‐

FirstYear 26 56.7Howoftenhaveyoumadeaclasspresentation?

FourthYear 15 58.3‐

FirstYear 26 55.8Howoftenhaveyouworkedwithother

studentsonprojectsduringclass? FourthYear 15 55.0‐

FirstYear 26 59.6Howoftenhaveyouworkedwithclassmates

outsideofclasstoprepareclassassignments? FourthYear 15 63.3‐

FirstYear 26 42.3Howoftenhaveyoututoredortaughtotherstudents(paidorvoluntary)? FourthYear 16 42.2

‐

FirstYear 26 29.8Howoftenhaveyouparticipatedina

community‐basedproject(e.g.servicelearning)

aspartofaregularcourse?FourthYear 16

40.6

‐

FirstYear 25 67.0Howoftenhaveyoudiscussedideasfromyour

readingsorclasseswithothersoutsideofclass

(students,familymembers,co‐workers,etc.)?FourthYear 16

65.6

‐


Table15:Student–FacultyInteraction


Difference?

FirstYear 26 57.7Howoftenhaveyoudiscussedgradesor

assignmentswithaninstructor? FourthYear 15 63.3‐

FirstYear 26 51.0Howoftenhaveyoutalkedaboutcareerplans

withafacultymemberoradvisor? FourthYear 16 54.7‐

FirstYear 26 49.0Howoftenhaveyoudiscussedideasfromyour

readingsorclasseswithfacultymembers

outsideofclass? FourthYear 16 51.6

‐

FirstYear 26 67.3Howoftenhaveyoureceivedpromptwrittenor

oralfeedbackfromfacultyonyouracademic

performance? FourthYear 16 65.6

‐

FirstYear 2639.4

Howoftenhaveyouworkedwithfaculty

membersonactivitiesotherthancoursework

(committees,orientation,studentlifeactivities,

etc.)?FourthYear 16

42.2

‐

FirstYear 26 45.0Haveyou,ordoyouplanto,work(ed)onaresearchprojectwithafacultymemberoutsideofcourseorprogramrequirements? FourthYear 15 55.0

‐


Table16:EnrichingEducationalExperiences


Difference?

FirstYear 26 65.4Howoftenhaveyouusedanelectronicmedium

(listserv,chatgroup,Internet,IM,etc.)to

discussorcompleteanassignment? FourthYear 16 64.1‐

FirstYear 26 66.3Howoftenhaveyouhadseriousconversations

withstudentsofadifferentraceorethnicity

thanyourown? FourthYear 16 62.5‐

FirstYear 26 60.6Howoftenhaveyouhadseriousconversations

withstudentswhoareverydifferentfromyou

intermsoftheirreligiousbeliefs,political

opinions,orpersonalvalues?FourthYear 16 67.2

‐

FirstYear 26 64.4Haveyou,ordoyouplanto,participate(d)ina

practicum,internship,fieldexperience,co‐op

experience,orclinicalassignment? FourthYear 15 61.7‐

FirstYear 26 76.9Haveyou,ordoyouplanto,participate(d)in

communityserviceorvolunteerwork? FourthYear 15 78.3‐


learningcommunityorsomeotherformal

programwheregroupsofstudentstaketwoor

moreclassestogether?FourthYear 15 56.7

‐

FirstYear 26 58.7Haveyou,ordoyouplanto,take(n)

courseworkinaforeignoradditionallanguage? FourthYear 15 65.0‐

FirstYear 26 50.0Haveyou,ordoyouplanto,study/iedabroad?

FourthYear 15 63.3‐

FirstYear 26 54.8Haveyou,ordoyouplanto,participate(d)inan

Independentstudyorself‐designedmajor FourthYear 15 55.0‐


culminatingseniorexperience(capstone

course,seniorprojectorthesis,etc.)? FourthYear 15 51.7‐

FirstYear 26 34.6Hoursperweekspentparticipatinginco‐

curricularactivities(organizations,campus

publications,studentgovernment,fraternityor

sororityorintramuralsports,etc.)? FourthYear 15 36.7

‐

FirstYear 26 65.4Institutionalemphasisonencouragingcontact

amongstudentsfromdifferenteconomic,

social,andracialorethnicbackgrounds? FourthYear 15 53.3‐


Table17:SupportiveCampusEnvironment


Difference?

FirstYear 26 56.7Institutionalemphasisonprovidingyouwith

thesupportyouneedtothrivesocially? FourthYear 15 41.7Yes

FirstYear 26 74.0Institutionalemphasisonprovidingthesupport

youneedtohelpyousucceedacademically? FourthYear 15 63.3‐

FirstYear 26 51.0Institutionalemphasisonhelpingyoucopewith

yournon‐academicresponsibilities(work,

family,etc.)? FourthYear 15 43.3

‐

FirstYear 26 72.4Qualityofyourrelationshipswithother

students? FourthYear 15 83.6‐

FirstYear 26 69.1Qualityofyourrelationshipswithfaculty

members? FourthYear 15 77.0‐

FirstYear 26 63.6Qualityofyourrelationshipswith

administrativepersonnelandoffices? FourthYear 15 68.4‐


APPENDIXB:EXPECTEDFREQUENCIESTable18displaysthedemographicfrequenciesthatwerecollectedfromtheCentralDataWarehouseProgramLevelpivottable,filteredforbaccalaureateAboriginalstudentswhoidentifiedinK‐12and/oridentifiedinpostsecondaryschool.Table18:AboriginalDemographics,ALL1st&4thYearBaccalaureates,TRU

Gender FirstYear FourthYear TotalFemale 150 69% 50 89% 200Male 66 31% 6 11% 72GrandTotal

216 100% 56 100% 272

Table19liststheexpectedsurveysamplefrequenciesthatwerecalculatedusingtheCentralDataWarehouseProgramLevelpivottable,Table19:ExpectedSurveySampleFrequencies

Gender FirstYear FourthYear TotalFemale 18 69% 14 89% 32Male 8 31% 2 11% 10GrandTotal

26 100% 16 100% 42

Table20:ActualSurveySampleFrequencies

Gender First Year Fourth Year Total Female 19 73% 10 63% 29 Male 7 27% 6 38% 13 Grand Total 26 100% 16 100% 42

Documents

National Survey of Student Engagement: Aboriginal student …€¦ · student engagement, with over 1200 institutions participating throughout its 10‐year history (including 47