Student Engagement and Liberal Arts at Truman State University

1. Student Engagement and Liberal Arts at Truman State University Analyzing Faculty/Student Perceptions Spring 2006 Assessment Internship Chris Roberts and Rebecca Maddox Internship Advisor: David Gillette

2. Assessment at Truman • The Interview Project • 2003-2004 Project

3. Our Project: Overview • Looking beyond student perceptions • Comparing faculty and student ideas of student engagement and liberal arts

4. Our Project: Method • Faculty interviews • Compared with 2003-2004 student interviews • Campus-wide survey

5. Student Engagement and Liberal Arts Survey • Students and faculty were asked to evaluate a number of characteristics within 10 questions • Response Range: • Not at all important, of minor importance, somewhat important, important, very important, and extremely important • In addition, participants were asked to respond to 2 open-ended questions

6. Significant Differences • Likert-scale range converted to a scale of 1 to 6, with 6 being “extremely important” • Group means were analyzed with a t-test • Equivalent means were rejected with p-values less than .05 • 61 of 137 questions had statistically significant differences between faculty and students

7. Importance of Class Experiences in Contributing to a Good Liberal Arts Education Faculty more value: • Group Projects • Independent thinking • Speeches and presentations • Writing papers (.966 greater than students) • Discussions • Hands-on labs • Interdisciplinary connections • Research

8. Importance of Class Experiences in Contributing to a Good Liberal Arts Education Students more value: • Wide range of classes • Interesting subject matter • A good professor

9. Differences in Responses Regarding Options to Strengthen Student’s Liberal Arts Education Students believe there should be: • More choices (.977 mean difference) • Greater consistency and higher standards across professors (.549) • More interdisciplinary courses (.634) • More connections from LSP courses to major courses Faculty were generally indifferent to mentioned options

10. Faculty Indifference Towards Options to Strengthen Liberal Arts Program

11. Faculty Values Research • As an in-class experience that contributes to a good liberal arts education • As an out-of-class experience that contributes to a good liberal arts education • As an out-of-class experience that enhances college experience and individual growth • As a student/faculty interaction that contributes to a liberal arts education

12. Students Value Positive Faculty Characteristics In describing a successful educator and distinguishing good educational experiences, students value: • A higher level of comfort and friendship • Sociable and friendly faculty • Professor enthusiasm • Outgoing attitude • Availability outside of class • Willingness to hear students’ opinions • Varied teaching abilities

13. Graphical Trends • Of the 10 major subjects, each one had highest valued and lowest valued questions. • These highs and lows were similar amongst students and faculty

14. Describing a Liberally Educated Person General academic knowledge, little expertise Ability to think and reason well Ability to communicate and interact well with others

15. Highly Valued Out-of-Class Experiences Contributing to a liberal arts education • Cultural events • Study abroad Enhancing college experience and growth as individuals • Meeting new people • Living away from home • Study abroad

16. Least Valued Out-of-Class Experience Greek Life

17. Options to Strengthen Students’ Liberal Arts Education Real-life application Eliminate foreign language requirements Encourage faculty/student interaction Additional requirements

18. Distinguishing a Successful Student Takes responsibility for own work Good Grades

19. Gender Differences Student females more value • Religious organizations • Residential life • Student employment • Volunteer and service • Study abroad Faculty had 11 of 137 statistically significant mean differences, compared to 79 between students and 70 between faculty and students.

20. Open-Ended Question: Student/Faculty Interactions • Where do most valued interactions take place? • In the classroom and in professors’ offices • Labs, before and after class, research • Small numbers vs. discussion • Students placed high importance on faculty members knowing their names

21. Faculty Valued Interactions

22. Student Valued Interactions

23. Student Engagement and Liberal Arts at Truman State University • Chris Roberts and Rebecca Maddox • Internship advisor: David Gillette Thank you for attending! for further information, please contact: Chris Roberts at cgr131@truman.edu, Rebecca Maddox at rkm634@truman.edu, or David Gillette at gillette@truman.edu