Creating a Culture for Graduation: Analysis of Institutional Dimensions Based on Active and Collaborative Learning

• In Event: Student Learning Environments

Abstract

Recently, a wide array of organizations have placed high priority on significantly increasing the numbers of Americans who graduate from postsecondary education programs over the next 20 years. This quantitative study analyzed five years of institutional National Survey of Student Engagement data measuring active and collaborative learning to better understand student self-reports of important aspects of the institutional culture for graduation. Initial data analysis results indicated that first-year student perceptions of the culture for ‘Academic Rigor’ and ‘Active and Collaborative Learning’ slowly increased over the 5-year time period. Given recent media attention to the number of institutions that collect NSSE data but do not use it, this study represents one strategy to use data for institutional improvement.

Authors

• John A. Kuykendall, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

• Jim Vander Putten, University of Arkansas at Little Rock