making connections dimensions of student engagement 2009 findings

Making ConnectionsDimensions of Student Engagement

2009 Findings

CCSSE Overview

CCSSE: A Tool for Improvement

CCSSE helps us:

Assess quality in community college education

Identify and learn from good educational practice

Identify areas in which we can improve

Center for Community College Student Engagement

CCSSE: A Tool for Community Colleges

CCSSE data analyses include a three-year cohort of participating colleges.

The 2009 CCSSE Cohort includes more than 400,000 community college students from 663 institutions in 48 states, British Columbia, the Marshall Islands, Nova Scotia, and Ontario.



Quantitative

CCSSE

CCFSSE

SENSE

Qualitative

Initiative on Student Success / Starting Right


CCSSE: A Tool for Accountability

CCSSE:

Provides reliable data on issues that matter

Reports data publicly

Is committed to using data for improvement

CCSSE opposes the ranking of colleges.ranking


CommunityCollege Students


“I’m a divorced, single mother. I can and need to do this. If I fall down, my kids are going to fall down. If I’m standing, they will be there, right beside me.”

Giving Voice to Students

Carolina Villamar (left) and classmate Luisa Castano.

26-year-old single mother of a 6-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter

Key Demographics, Enrollment, and Attendance

Most Students Are Enrolled Part-Time

Many Full-Time Students Work Close to Full-Time

Source: IPEDS, fall 2007. Source: 2009 CCSSE Cohort data.


Part-time students

Full-time students

who work more than

30 hours per week

Key Demographics, Enrollment, and Attendance

Many Students Take Evening Classes

Many Students Take Classes Online

Source: 2009 CCSSE Cohort data. Source: Data from American Association of Community College and Allen, I.E. & Seaman, J. Analysis by CCSSE .


Students who take evening classes

Students who have taken an

online class

Community College Students’ Plans

When asked when they plan to take classes at this college again, 22% of students had no plan to return or were uncertain about their future plans.

Source: 2009 CCSSE Cohort data.


Barriers to Returning to CollegeHow likely is it that the following issues would cause you to withdraw from class or from this college?

In addition, 48% of respondents say that transfer to a four-year college or university is a likely or very likely reason they would not return to this college.


Percentage of students responding likely or very likely



Least Engaged Students*

*This analysis does not include students who hold degrees. Source: 2009 CCSSE Cohort data.

The least engaged community college students are:Part-time students

Traditional-age students (those 24 and younger)

Students not seeking credentials

Students who have not completed 30 or more credits

Male students

Financially independent students (those using their own income or savings as the major source of tuition)

Students who work more than 30 hours per week

Students who have not taken developmental courses

Students who have not taken study skill courses

Students who have not participated in orientation

Students who have not participated in learning communities

CCSSE Benchmarks


CCSSE Benchmarks for Effective Educational Practice

The five CCSSE benchmarks are:

Active and Collaborative Learning

Student Effort

Academic Challenge

Student-Faculty Interaction

Support for Learners


CCSSE Benchmarks for Effective Educational Practice

CCSSE Example Community College 2009 Benchmark Scores


Benchmarking — and Reaching for Excellence

The most important comparison:

where you are now,

compared with

where you want to be.


Reaching for Excellence at [XX College]

This is an opportunity to customize one or more slides for your college. Slide and discussion ideas include:

Show how your college is reaching for excellence by discussing how your college is using CCSSE data to better understand and improve its practices.

Compare yourself to the national average (the 50 mark).

Measure overall performance against performance by your least-engaged student groups.

Gauge your work in the areas your college strongly values (e.g., the areas identified in your strategic plan).

Contrast where you are with where you want to be.

Building aCulture of Evidence


Start with the Truth

“We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we

really stop to look fear in the face…

We must do that which we think we cannot.”

— Eleanor Roosevelt


Understand the Facts

21% of part-time students versus 32% of full-time students say they often or very often talk about career plans with an instructor or advisor.

36% of part-time students versus 23% of full-time students say they never have those conversations.



Understand the Facts

Part-time students are less likely to:

Work with other students on projects during class

Make class presentations

Participate in a community-based project as part of a course


Share the Facts andAct on What You’ve Learned

“Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule.”

— Charles Dickens (1812–1870) Great Expectations

Using CCSSE Results


The Inarguable Fundamentals

1. The center of community college work is student learning, persistence, and success.

2. Every program, every service, every academic policy is perfectly designed to achieve the exact outcome it currently produces.


Using CCSSE To Assess, Inform, and Act

1. Identify key areas (e.g., the areas identified in your strategic plan).

2. Identify survey items that address these priorities.



3. Start with the benchmarks.

4. Look at individual survey items.

5. Disaggregate the data and identify the least engaged student groups.



6. Involve the college community.

7. Design strategies and set targets.

8. Share the data and plans to address them.



9. Track progress by measuring outcomes.

10. Scale up efforts that are working. Modify or discontinue those that are not.

11. Repeat.

Build Connections, Build Success



Personal Connections:

The unanticipated success factor



How can institutions foster

stronger and more diverse connections

with—and among—students?



Distinguish between

communicating information

and

connecting.

The Connected College



Language and actions communicate the belief that all students can succeed.

Everyone on campus is committed to facilitating student success.



The commitment to building connections is:

Evident across campus groups.

Carried through all policies and procedures.

Visible in every contact with a student or potential student.



The commitment to building connections is:

Cognizant of and relevant to student needs.

Apparent in all communications—face-to-face, print, and electronic.



The connected college meets students

where they are

—literally, figuratively, and virtually—

and helps them get to

where they need to be.

Cultivating Connections



The twofold challenge:

Use data to understand the status quo—which students need to be better engaged

Find ways to use each interactive medium to create meaningful, lasting connections



Connections in virtual space

Connections in the classroom

Connections on campus

Connections beyond the campus


Connections in Virtual Space

FACT: Students increasingly use social media and other virtual tools to interact.

FACT: Students value personal connections at their colleges.


Connections in Virtual Space

Use online and social networking tools to

cultivate relationships

that help students feel connected and

encourage them to persist in their studies.

Use of Social Networking ToolsFor any purpose

Traditional-Age Students

Nontraditional-Age Students

Source: 2009 CCSSE data.


Use of Social Networking ToolsTo communicate about coursework

Traditional-Age Students

Nontraditional-Age Students

Source: 2009 CCSSE data.



Use of Social Networking Tools

Some use of social networking tools is related to increased engagement

But there is a point of diminishing returns.


Online Learning: Strong Outcomes

Online enrollments are growing faster than classroom enrollments.

The highest growth rates are in two-year colleges.

Students learning online have better-than average outcomes.

Blended, or hybrid, instruction has best outcomes.


Online Learning and Developmental Education

The devil is in the details.


Making the Most of Connections in Virtual Space

Sharing information using social media is not necessarily connecting with students.

The medium must be suited to the service the college is providing.


Making the Most of Connections in Virtual Space

Create online experiences that lead to personal—or even in-person—connections.


Connections in Virtual Space at [XX College]This is an opportunity to customize one or more slides for your college. Slide and discussion ideas include:

Provide your college’s data for survey items related to use of technology and the special-focus items about social networking and discuss the results.

Provide examples of what you plan to do with the information (for example, replacing online orientation with mandatory live tours, or expanding a successful online tutoring program).

Compare your college’s performance on these items with the performance of a group of similar colleges (without naming the colleges, of course) or to the full CCSSE population.

Give examples of initiatives that your college has developed (or plans to develop) to strengthen connections in virtual space on your campus(es).


Connections in Virtual Space at [XX College]The previous slide suggests ways you can create a student effort slide customized for your college. This slide show an example of the type of chart you can create to execute these suggestions.

[XX College] Focused on Improving Connections in Virtual Space


Connections in the Classroom

Students who say they often or very often work with classmates outside of class

22%

Students who say they often or very often work with classmates during class

47%


Making the Most of Connections in the Classroom

Use engaging instructional approaches that emphasize active learning and building connections

Build additional engagement opportunities into the classroom experience


Connections in the Classroom at [XX College]This is an opportunity to customize one or more slides for your college. Slide and discussion ideas include:

Provide your college’s data for survey items related to connections in the classroom and discuss the results.

Provide examples of what you plan to do with the information (for example, providing professional development that focuses on engaging instructional approaches or building academic advising, study skills training, and other engagement opportunities in to the classroom).


Give examples of initiatives that your college has developed (or plans to develop) to strengthen connections in the classroom on your campus(es).


Connections on Campus

Students who say they never worked with other classmates outside of class to prepare class assignments

41%

Students who report that they never discussed ideas from their readings or classes with instructors outside of class

47%


Connections on Campus: Orientation

Students who

attended a college

orientation

Have you attended an orientation program or course?



Connections on Campus: Student Services

Often Rarely/never

Academic advising/planning 13% 35%

Career counseling 5% 51%

Peer or other tutoring 3% 46%

Skill labs (writing, math, etc.) 15% 37%

Financial aid advising 17% 32%

Student organizations 5% 45%

How often do you use the following services? How important are the following services?

Very Not at all

Academic advising/planning 62% 10%

Career counseling 50% 21%

Peer or other tutoring 39% 29%

Skill labs (writing, math, etc.) 44% 25%

Financial aid advising 61% 21%

Student organizations 24% 41%



Making the Most of Connections on Campus

Make outside-the-classroom engagement inescapable.

Require students to participate in educational experiences that are important tot heir success.

Make student services mandatory and/or integrate them into coursework.


Connections on Campus at [XX College]This is an opportunity to customize one or more slides for your college. Slide and discussion ideas include:

Provide your college’s data for survey items related to connections on campus and discuss the results.

Provide examples of what you plan to do with the information (for example, making study groups mandatory, requiring students to participate in projects with faculty members or other students outside the classroom, or requiring students to attend an appointment with a career counselor).


Give examples of initiatives that your college has developed (or plans to develop) to strengthen connections on campus at your college).


Connections Beyond the Campus

In your experience at this college during the current school year, about how often have you done each of the following?

Often/Very often

Never

Participated in a community based project as part of a regular course

7% 77%

Discussed ideas from your classes outside of class (with students, family members, co-workers)

50% 12%


Connections Beyond the Campus

Will you have an internship, field experience, co-op experience, or clinical assignment while attending this college?



Making the Most of Connections on Campus

Require service projects or other experiential learning opportunities.


Connections Beyond the Campus at [XX College]This is an opportunity to customize one or more slides for your college. Slide and discussion ideas include:

Provide your college’s data for survey items related to connections beyond the campus and discuss the results.

Provide examples of what you plan to do with the information (for example, making hands-on learning mandatory or strengthening professional development related to experiential learning).


Give examples of initiatives that your college has developed (or plans to develop) to strengthen connections on campus at your college).

The Connection Gap


The Connection Gap

60% of community college students attend college part-time.

67% of community college faculty teach part-time.


The Connection Gap

After controlling for income and other demographics, NCES found:

15% of part-time students earned a degree or certificate in six years — compared with 64% of full-time students

73% of part-time students left college without earning a degree— while 72% of full-time students persisted


The Connection Gap

Part-time faculty typically teach what percentage of all community college course sections?

50% - 66% (half to two-thirds)


The Connection Gap: Part-Time FacultyHow many hours do you spend in a typical 7-day week doing each of the following?

Percentage of CCFSSE respondents who indicate zero hours.

Part-time faculty

teaching 9-12 hours/week

Full-time faculty

teaching 9-12 hours/week

Advising students 40% 15%

Working with students on activities other than coursework 82% 50%

Involved in other interactions with students outside the classroom 47% 22%

Coordination and/or administrative activities 71% 23%

Participating on college committees or task forces 78% 8%


Closing the Connection Gap

Make the most of the hours part-time students spend on campus. For example:

Make support services accessible.

Link student success courses to developmental courses.

Require orientation, advising, and participation in study groups.

Provide professional development for part-time faculty members.


Closing the Connection Gap at [XX College]This is an opportunity to customize one or more slides for your college. Slide and discussion ideas include:

Provide your college’s data for survey items related to the connection gap and discuss the results.

Provide examples of what you plan to do with the information (for example, providing support services at times convenient to part-time students, integrating services into coursework, making orientation and advising mandatory, and providing professional development to part-time faculty members).


Give examples of initiatives that your college has developed (or plans to develop) to close the connection gap at your college).

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