Student Engagement and Academic Performance: Identifying Effective Practices to Improve Student Success Shuqi Wu Leeward Community College Hawaii Strategy Institute March 7 & 8, 2014

What is Student Engagement? Student engagement is the time and energy students devote to educationally purposeful activities.

What Do We Know about Student Success and Engagement? When students are engaged academically and socially, the likelihood for them to learn and to persist increases. Institutions need information about students’ experiences to design programs

What Does the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) Measure? Active and Collaborative Learning Academic Challenge Student Effort Student-Faculty Interaction Support for Learners

Understanding CCSSE Benchmarks in Terms of Selected Survey Items Active and Collaborative Learning o Asked questions in class or contributed to class discussion o Made a class presentation o Tutored or taught other students o Discussed ideas from your readings or classes with others outside of class

Understanding CCSSE Benchmarks, cont’d Academic Challenge o Analyzing the basic elements of an idea, experience, or theory o Synthesizing and organizing ideas, information, or experiences in new ways o Making judgments about the value or soundness of information, arguments, or methods o Using information you have read or heard to perform a new skill o Number of assigned textbooks, manuals, or books o Number of written papers or reports of any length

Understanding CCSSE Benchmarks, cont’d Student Effort o Came to class without completing reading or assignments o Number of books read on your own for personal enjoyment or academic enrichment o Preparing for class o Using peer or other tutoring o Using skills labs (Writing, Math, etc.)

Understanding CCSSE Benchmarks, cont’d Student-Faculty Interaction o Talked about career plans with an instructor or advisor o Discussed ideas from your readings or classes with instructors outside of class o Received prompt feedback from instructors on your performance

Understanding CCSSE Benchmarks, cont’d Support for Learners o Using academic advising/planning o Using career counseling

Rationale for using CCSSE data Enables institutions to benchmark against similar and aspirational groups Offers longitudinal evidence Helps pinpoint areas of strength and need for improvement

Purpose of this Study To identify areas where the college could increase student engagement and improve student success. o To what degree were CCSSE benchmark scores associated with Student’s GPA?

Student Engagement Benchmarks and Academic Performance Correlations (Sample Size: n = 455)GPA (Semester) Active and collaborative learning0.22*** Academic challenge0.20*** Student effort0.23*** Student-faculty interaction0.18*** Support for learners0.10 * * p < 0.05 ** p < 0.01 *** p < 0.001

Student Engagement Benchmarks and Academic Performance, cont’d Regression Analysis EstimateSEt Intercept Demographic variables Female Hawaiian * Full-Time Mother with an Associate Degree Father with an Associate Degree First Year Student *** Age * Student Perceived Engagement Active & Collaborative Learning * Student Effort Academic Challenge Student-Faculty Interaction Support for Learners Interaction Student Effort * First Year Student * * p < 0.05 ** p < 0.01 ***p < 0.001

Student Engagement Benchmarks and Academic Performance, cont’d Once we controlled for demographic information (gender, ethnicity, enrollment status, parents’ education, age)... The level of active and collaborative learning was associated with GPA. The level of student effort had a significant impact on GPA for the first year students.

Student Engagement Benchmarks and Academic Performance, cont’d Correlations for Items Related to Active and Collaborative Learning GPA Asked questions in class or contributed to class discussion 0.19 *** Made a class presentation0.12 * Worked with classmates outside of class to prepare class assignments 0.15 ** Tutored or taught other students0.19 *** Discussed ideas from your reading or classes with others outside of class 0.21 *** * P <0.05, ** P <0.01, *** P <0.001

Student Engagement Benchmarks and Academic Performance, cont’d Correlations for Items Related to Student Effort GPA Worked on a paper or project that required integrating ideas or information from various sources 0.13 ** Came to class without completing reading or assignments *** Preparing for class0.28 *** Using peer or other tutoring0.17 *** Using skills labs (writing, math, etc.)0.09 * * P <0.05 ** P <0.01 *** P <0.001

Discussion and Implications Student engagement is positively related to academic outcome as represented by students’ GPA. o Institutions can influence student behaviors with well-designed teaching practices and interventions. o First year students benefit more from early interventions.

Discussion and Implications, cont’d For first-year students o Create a supportive and challenging classroom environment that motivates students to participate in discussions o Create a campus culture that encourages spending more time outside the classroom in academic preparation o Help students get tutoring

Discussion and Implications CorrelationsAcademic Challenge Active and Collaborative Learning Student Effort Student- Faculty Interaction Active and Collaborative Learning 0.53 *** Student Effort0.55 ***0.48 *** Student-Faculty Interaction 0.58 ***0.65 ***0.46 *** Support for Learners0.43 ***0.34 ***0.35 ***0.49 *** * p < 0.05 ** p < 0.01 *** p < 0.001

Discussion and Implications Different forms of engagement interact to contribute to student academic performance