Academic Behaviors: Cognitive and Behavioral ...

OFFICE OF PLANNING, RESEARCH, AND ACCREDITATION

Academic Behaviors: Cognitive and Behavioral Characteristics of Saddleback Students

Research Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

During a time when global economic challenges have imposed new constraints on higher education institutionsi, the undergraduate student population has changed to include more part-time students. This has elevated the importance of community collegesii. However, a growing number of students are called away from higher education institutions, citing financial and work obligations as hurdles to gaining full-time enrollment. The implications for community colleges are far-reaching. This study was designed to unpack the rich ways in which students engage their peers and faculty, in addition to exploring differences, if any, between part-time and full-time students on measures of habits of mind. This work also looks at indicators of academic success. Broader interpretations and implications are offered for Saddleback College faculty and students.

Methodology

During the Fall 2012 term, the Office of Planning, Research, and Accreditation (OPRA) developed and implemented the first Saddleback College survey related to students' academic behaviors. The survey was distributed via email to a random sample of over 6,000 students from a list of 22,523. A total of 496 students took the survey, resulting in a 10% response rate, roughly. The instrument consists of 42 items, which cover the four general areas of students' background, behavior, support, and outcomes. Data were analyzed using several descriptive and inferential tools.

Findings

This investigation turned first to in-class behaviors and discovered that over a third to two thirds of Saddleback students indicate building a presentation for class (40.6%), preparing several drafts of an assignment prior to submission (55.9%), and integrating ideas or information on a course assignment using multiple sources (67.5%). Students report engaging their instructors through e-mail (70.5%) more frequently than not at all (6.7%) and over a third of students frequently discuss their career plans with their instructor or advisors (43.1%). Other findings indicated that part-time students made class presentations less often than their fulltime counterparts, prepared fewer drafts of assignments prior to submission, and came to class more often without completing readings or assignments. Evidence highlighted that, while parttime students and full-time students tended to differ across a variety of behavioral outcomes related to their academic effort, they differed less across measures of habits of mind. Findings also revealed that part-time students were more likely than full-time students to have lower cumulative grade point averages.

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INTRODUCTION

During a time when global economic challenges have imposed new constraints on higher education institutionsiii, including shrinking financial support, the undergraduate student population has changed to include more part-time students. Indeed, the number of part-time undergraduates in higher education doubled between 1970 and 1998 (from 2.8 million to 6 million)iv, which has increased the importance of community collegesv. Part-time students experience several hurdles, including more financial difficulty than full-time students, more student loan debt, and less participation and engagement with the collegevi. There is a belief that the incidence of outside employment for students is increasing, causing detrimental effects on academic performancevii, an empirically supported assertionviii, ix, x.

What's more, certain student outcomes are found to share strong, positive relationships with life-long learning and life success. As students continue to flock to community colleges in pursuit of transfer to four-year institutions and to complete a degree or certificate program, exploring such outcomes is imperative. This is especially important as legislators have responded to public demands for evidence of student success by increasing measures of accountability.

One such outcome, labeled by investigators as "habits of mind," refers to a

way of thinking that enables students to efficiently identify patterns, experiment with ideas, effectively describe complex processes, visualize alternative solutions, and become innovatorsxi. When students become active practitioners of habits of mind, they tend to persist, manage impulsivity, practice understanding and empathy, reflect on their thinking (metacognition), and strive for accuracy, in addition to engaging in many other documented positive behaviorsxii. Skills like these, which may also relate to students' academic success, are cultivated through their interactions with peers and faculty and are practiced through course-related assignments.

At the same time, while we know that students are becoming increasingly reliant on funding sources outside of higher education, less is known about how parttime community college students compare to their full-time counterparts across measures of engagement and ways of thinking. This study was designed to unpack the rich ways in which students engage their peers and faculty, in addition to exploring differences, if any, between parttime and full-time students on measures of habits of mind. Finally, this work looks at indicators of academic success, while controlling for a variety of student background characteristics. Broader interpretations and implications are offered for Saddleback College faculty and students.

Office of Planning, Research, and Accreditation

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METHODS

January of 2013. Following the initial email invitation to participate, three reminder

Instrument. During the Fall 2012 term, the Office of Planning, Research, and Accreditation (OPRA) developed and implemented the first Saddleback College survey related to students' academic behaviors. The development and administration of the instrument was spearheaded by the Office of Planning, Research, and Accreditation (OPRA). The initial construction of the instrument was

emails were distributed in November and December of 2012 and January of 2013. Exclusion criteria included zero registered units or if a student had withdrawn. A total of 496 students took the survey, resulting in a 10% response rate, roughly. The instrument consists of 42 items which cover the four general areas of students' background, behavior, support, and outcomes.

supported by a review of several other fundamental measures, which helped form this survey's core themes. In addition to fueling the college's strategic planning efforts, the instrument was designed to holistically understand students' academic experiences and collected information surrounding perceptions, academic

Sample. Survey respondents were primarily traditional college age students. Indeed, 45.3 percent of the sample was between the ages of 18 and 24. The remaining respondents were evenly distributed across age categories. It should be noted that, for the purposes of analyses

in this report, students over the age

of 59 (Emeritus students) were

In addition to fueling the college's strategic planning efforts, the excluded from the sample. See

instrument was designed to holistically understand students' academic Figure 1 for a full break down of experiences and collected information surrounding perceptions, respondents by age.

academic behaviors, and outcomes.

Figure 1. Respondents' Age

behaviors, and outcomes. Specifically, the survey included items geared toward understanding the population of students at Saddleback College, including their backgrounds, strategies for learning, academic experiences, and intentions.

The survey was distributed via email to a random sample of over 6,000 students from a list of 22,523. The survey response period was open from November 2012 to

7.6% 3.1% 10.7%

Under 18 18-24

11.6%

45.3%

25-29 30-39 40-49

11.6% 10.1%

50-59 Over 59

While nearly 40 percent of survey respondents indicated enrollment in at

Office of Planning, Research, and Accreditation

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least 12 units, the majority of participants were part-time students at Saddleback College. What's more, the majority of respondents were female (68.4%), white (63.2%), and native English speakers (82.7%), with grade point averages between 3.0 and 4.0 (71.5%). Although the ethnic composition of respondents was primarily white, other represented groups were Hispanic/Latino (12.3%), and Asian (7.7%)1. See Figure 2 for descriptive information on students' ethnicity2.

Figure 2. Respondents' Ethnicity

White Asian/Pacific Islander Other (non-white)

6.7% 8.3%

African-American Hispanic/Latino More than one ethnicity

12.3%

8.3% 1.2%

63.2%

Descriptives of the study's sample were compared with the population parameters of Saddleback students to explore potential threats to generalizability. Specifically, the age, ethnicity, cumulative GPA, and gender of the sample were

1 For the purpose of describing the initial sample, these figures include emeritus students. 2 The study's sample was compared to the demographic information of the population. No noteworthy compromises to the representativeness of the sample were found.

compared with the population. Comparisons did not reveal differences in regard to ethnicity or age. However, the proportion of women in the sample is much higher than the population and the disparity is further exaggerated by the fact that men were underrepresented. Consequently, results may be biased only in regards to participants' gender. What's more, a higher percentage of academically successful students (GPA 3.01 ? 4.00) composed the sample, such that the proportion of academically successful students was nearly double in the sample than in the Saddleback population. This is to be expected, however, as GPA was a selfreported measure.

In summary, while our findings might not have threats to external validity by age and ethnicity, we can reasonably conclude that the generalizability of the study is skewed toward academically successful, female students. This further confounds the study's initial findings and offers support to the argument that differences between part-time and full-time students were underestimated, which is presented later in the report. However, GPA was self-reported and such measures are frequently overestimated when students are asked to rate themselves. The disparity between the measures of grade point average might actually be less than estimated here, since one measure of GPA is not self-reported. See Tables 1, 2, 3, and 4 for a full comparison of sample descriptives with population parameters.

Office of Planning, Research, and Accreditation

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