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Pan-Canadian Study of First Year College Students - Report 1 Student Characteristics and the College Experience - August 2007
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12. College Academic Experiences during the First Term
The end of term survey assessed the academic experience of students at colleges and institutes during the first term by looking at the degree to which they felt they needed support services and their receptivity to using such services, difficulties experienced during the first term, interactions with peers and faculty, and students' perceptions of faculty and their institution as a whole. Some of the results from the end of term survey will be compared to college entry survey results in the cases where both areas were examined, in particular in the needs and use of support services.
12.1 Students Perceptions on Needs and Use of Support Services at Colleges and Institutes
The end of term survey results on skills-proficiency were consistent with the college entry survey results in that significant percentages of students could benefit from extra support to enhance study and test taking skills, as well as basic skills such as writing, mathematics, and reading skills. Similarly, the end of term results were consistent with the college entry survey results in terms of students perceived needs for support services and their receptivity to using such services. However, the end of term survey went a little further by asking students to report on actual use of support services.
The tables summarizing students' responses to areas of perceived benefit from extra support, their receptivity to college support services and their reported use of such services during the first term are provided in Appendix 5.
12.1.1 Needs for Support Services and Receptivity to using College/Institute Services
After having experienced college life for about three months, students were asked to indicate the degree to which they believed they could benefit from special support in a variety of areas in order to be successful in their program of studies, as well as how likely they would be to access college/institute services to address these needs. Table 12 shows the areas where students reported they would benefit from extra support paralleled with the highest levels of receptivity to college support services. In addition, it is clear from this table that, as with the college entry survey, the end of term results show that, in most needs areas, a greater percentage of respondents said they could benefit from special support from college services than reported they would likely use these services. At the end of the first term, once again, it was evident that more college and institute students recognized the need for extra help and support services than were open to using such services.
In the area of basic and learning skills, up to 79 percent of respondents reported they needed help in improving their study habits and 73 percent indicated they would likely access such services. This is similar but slightly lower than respondents from the college entry survey results, when about 84 percent of respondents indicated a need for such support and 78 indicated they were receptive to using college/institute support services. A significant proportion of respondents (73 percent) also confirmed they would benefit from support to improve test taking skills and 69 percent indicated they would likely access such services.
Another significant area of support, confirmed by almost three quarters of respondent students was financial aid, as was the case with the results of the college entry survey.
As shown in Table 12, a relatively high number of students could use extra help in improving their writing, math and reading skills. Up to 62 percent confirmed a need for support in writing skills and 61 percent for math skills, and almost equal numbers indicated they would likely use college/institute support services in these areas. This is similar, but once again slightly lower than respondents from the college entry survey.
A significant proportion of students are also thinking about continuing on in postsecondary education as 72 percent of respondents also confirmed that they are seeking support to plan for future studies. It is interesting to note that 65 percent reported they would benefit from and use support in selecting a career. So, while many students had committed to a career-oriented program, a significant proportion appeared to be uncertain about what the career would be exactly. Not surprisingly, given that survey respondents were just beginning their program, significantly fewer respondents indicated that they could benefit from support in choosing a course or program at their college or institute.
At the end of first term, more students confirmed they would benefit most from support to enhance their study and test taking skills.
The end of term survey also had similar results as the entry survey for students reporting support needs for dealing with a disability or with child care issues in that the percentage of respondents who said they could benefit from support and would be receptive to college services was essentially identical.
12.1.2 Actual Use of Support Services during the First Term
The end of term survey was able to substantiate further students' willingness to use support services offered by colleges and institutes by confirming whether students had actually used such support services.
The results indicate that few first-term students make use of these services with any regularity. Despite the fact that many students indicated that they would benefit from extra support in the areas of study skills (79 percent of respondents) and test taking (73 percent of respondents), 82 percent confirmed that they had never used learning skills services offered by their college or institute. Math skills development was also identified as a need for a significant percentage of students however 85 percent of respondents confirmed they never used math skills services offered by their college or institute.
The service most frequently used was the library with less than one-third of respondents reporting they had never made use of the facility. The second most frequently used service involved the provision of information on college/university course and programs and was utilized by about two in five respondents.
| Area of Development | Confirmed Benefit for Extra Support (%) | Likely to Access Extra Support (%) |
| Study Habits | 79 | 73 |
| Financial Aid | 74 | 72 |
| Test Taking | 73 | 69 |
| Planning for Future Studies | 72 | 69 |
| Selecting Career | 65 | 65 |
| Writing Skills | 62 | 58 |
| Math Skills | 61 | 58 |
| Reading Skills | 53 | 48 |
| Choosing Course/Program | 35 | 38 |
| Improve in Language of Instruction | 37 | 36 |
| Improve in a Second Language | 36 | 35 |
| Disability | 20 | 20 |
| Child Care | 17 | 18 |
| Source: End of Term Survey, 2005 | ||
As with student responses on the college entry survey, significant percentages of respondents indicated they could benefit from college support services to deal with a variety of academic, learning skills and personal needs. Similar percentages expressed willingness to use these services if offered on campus. However, when students were asked to report on the services used during the first term, in general, far fewer students actually availed themselves of college services than declared they could benefit from them. This is consistent with findings from other research (Dietsche, 1999; Kuh and Pace, 1998).
12.2 Difficulties Experienced during the First Term
By the end of the first semester, students have had sufficient experience at their college or institute to make judgments on the difficulties they have encountered with their program and campus life. Figure 6 shows the areas students reported finding quite or very difficult during the first term at their college/institute. As shown in this figure, three areas stand out as presenting the most difficulty for new students and share a time management theme. More students reported they found it quite or very difficult to find time to work and study and balance demands of school and family as confirmed by 41 percent of respondents, as well as dealing with program workload, confirmed by 39 percent of respondents.
In contrast, the actual content of college courses was assessed as quite or very difficult by only one-quarter of the students. At the same time, however, one-third indicated that knowing how to improve their grades was quite or very difficult.
Over one-quarter (27 percent) said that identifying a clear career path was quite or very difficult and the remaining areas were considered to be of equal difficulty by approximately one-in-five respondents.
These results parallel students' responses to an open-ended question on the end of term survey asking students to identify the biggest challenge they faced during the first term. Although a full qualitative analysis of the students' verbatim comments on their challenges has not yet been completed, an initial review of the comments has confirmed that the vast majority of comments were related to the time management related difficulties identified above. Students expressed concerns with balancing and juggling homework, studying, work and family responsibilities. They also expressed concern about time management issues and coping with heavy workloads. Other challenges of note included financial issues and having to work while going to school to pay for their college/institute program, moving away from home, adjusting to studying again after being in the workplace, commuting and transportation challenges, mature students' issues of being in classes with younger high school entrants, and adjusting to the change from university to college approaches to learning. Some examples of students' comments are provided below.
12.3 Social Integration during the First Term
Tinto's theory of student departure emphasizes the role of social integration on campus. The greater the level of social integration the more likely a student is to persist. In line with this theory, the end of term survey measured social integration by examining students' interactions with peers and faculty.
12.3.1 Interaction with Peers
Light (2001) has found that students who met in small groups of four to six, even just once a week, to discuss their homework were far more engaged, better prepared and learned significantly more. The end of term survey provides insight into students' experiences with peers during the first term, in particular with regards to the frequency with which students studied with one or more of their colleagues per week. The results show that over one-third (38 percent) had never studied with peers on a weekly basis. The largest percentage (18 percent) studied with peers twice a week on average. Only one in ten respondents studied five to nine times per week equal to once or twice a day for a typical week. Overall, few students spent time studying with their peers which is not uncommon given that colleges and institutes are in many cases commuter institutions.
12.3.2 Interaction with Faculty
Pascarella and Terenzini (1991) have reported that student-faculty non-classroom contact significantly influenced persistence. Student interaction with faculty was measured by the frequency of out-of-class conversations of ten minutes or more over the course of the first semester. The findings in this area are similar to those obtained for frequency of peer interactions. Over one quarter of respondents (28 percent) indicated they had never interacted with faculty outside of the classroom for ten minutes or more. Of those who did, the largest percentage (15 percent) reported having done so twice since they started classes, and 29 percent had met with faculty five times or more since they started classes.
Since the survey was conducted during the month of November, respondents had been on campus for almost three months. Clearly, there was little interaction with faculty beyond the classroom. However, as shown in section 12.2 only 17 percent of students reported having difficulty meeting with faculty outside of class. This suggests that many, for whatever reason, chose not to do so.
The low levels of peer and faculty interaction reported in this study suggest a significant percentage of students new to colleges and institutes are minimally engaged. This finding is not completely unexpected, however, given previous results. As was discussed, many students have commitments to part-time jobs and family members who are dependent upon them. Consequently, students have to balance many demands on their time, and as the findings discussed above indicate, this is very difficult for many and results in little time spent interacting with peers and faculty on campus. In spite of this, those who did interact with faculty, reported positive interactions.
12.4 Students' Perceptions of Faculty
While the results on students' interactions with faculty suggest that students did not frequently engage with faculty outside the classroom, it is clear that it is the group they have the most interaction with on campus, typically within the classroom context. Faculty, therefore, have a profound impact on the student experience in college and student perceptions of faculty are critical.
Based on students' experience over the first term, the results provide insights on student perceptions of faculty in terms of their interactions with students, the teaching methods and evaluation practices faculty use, and an overall assessment of teaching.
12.4.1 Faculty Interactions with Students
As shown in Figure 7, student perceptions of their interactions with faculty are uniformly positive. Up to 78 percent of respondents said that most or all of faculty they interacted with showed an interest in helping students, 73 percent perceived that most or all faculty was available to meet students outside of class and 72 percent felt most or all faculty had a good relationship with their students. In addition, slightly more than one in two (56 percent) indicated that most or all faculty they encountered asked for student feedback during their courses.
12.4.2 Faculty Teaching Methods
Students' perceptions on faculty teaching methods were measured by asking students about the use of active or passive teaching methods by faculty. As illustrated in Figure 8, generally, faculty appear to be engaged in the use of active teaching methods since three-quarters of students reported that most or all faculty encouraged student participation in class and almost two-thirds indicated most or all faculty provided students with opportunities to practice and apply new learning. The use of group work seemed to be less prevalent, however, since just over one-half of respondents reported most or all or their faculty utilized this technique. Similarly, the lecture method continued to be widely used as almost two-thirds of the sample indicated that most or all faculty did this.
Most students had very positive perceptions of college/institute faculty —75 percent of respondents confirmed that faculty were very good teachers and had a good relationship with students.
12.4.3 Evaluation Methods used by Faculty
Student responses on their perceptions of the evaluation methods used by college/institute faculty confirmed that the majority of faculty used a variety of techniques, as shown in Figure 9. Students reported that most or all included student presentations (43 percent), practical demonstrations/ projects (49 percent), written assignments (50 percent) and multiple-choice tests (52 percent). The majority of faculty also appeared to provide evaluation results in a timely fashion as four in five students said that most or all of their faculty provided test results within two weeks and one-half reported they provided regular feedback on their progress in courses.
Overall, students' perceptions of faculty, both in terms of their inter-personal interactions and pedagogy, were very positive. Up to 75 percent of students felt their faculty were very good teachers and had a good relationship with their students. The results indicated that most college faculty utilized a variety of instructional methods including lecture, group work and demonstrations or projects. This is well advised given the diversity of the college/institute student population. Evaluation methods were also varied and included student presentations, written assignments and multiple choice tests. In the latter case, approximately equal percentages of students reported that 'all' faculty used written assignments and multiple choice tests, indicating a balance in the use of assessment techniques.
12.5 Students' Perceptions of their College/Institute
The end of term survey also examined students' perceptions of their college or institute, in particular how the institution interacted with students and provided resources, programs and services that promote student success. Figure 10 shows the percentage of respondents who indicated that their college or institute "quite a bit" or "very much" provided the resources, services and had the institutional characteristics which promote student success. It is clear that overall, students' perceptions of their institution were very positive.
In terms of how colleges and institutes are promoting student success, up to 82 percent of students confirmed that their college or institute is "quite at bit" or "very much" interested in helping students succeed, and more than three quarters of respondents confirmed that their college or institute has the necessary services to support student learning. In general, towards the end of their first term of college studies most students seemed happy with the services provided as almost three quarters of respondents felt that their institution makes sure that students have the resources they need to learn and provides services to students so that using them is easy. In addition, 63 percent confirmed that their institution provides sufficient space for students to study in groups. Fewer students (60 percent) reported that their college has specific programs or strategies to help students adjust to college studies. The results of the Pan-Canadian Inventory of Exemplary Practices in Learning at Colleges and Institutes (2005) showed that most colleges do in fact offer such services. It could be therefore that many students were not aware of these opportunities.
82 percent of students felt their college or institute is interested in helping students succeed.
A key approach used by colleges and institutes to integrate students into the learning culture is to encourage interaction between students and faculty. At the end of term, up to 62 percent of respondents, slightly less than two in three, believed their college or institute tries "quite a bit" or "very much" to help students and faculty interact regularly. Few students felt that their institution treats students like a number and almost one-half felt that their college included student views when creating policy.
Overall, student responses indicated they believed their institution was not only concerned about their success but also provided the necessary resources. They neither perceived their college as being highly selective nor felt that they were treated 'like numbers in a book'. The picture that emerges is one of Canadian colleges and institutes as institutions that are student and success centred.
Is interested in helping students succeed Has the necessary services to support student learning Makes sure students have the resources they need to learn Provides services to students so that using them is easy Provides sufficient space for students to study in groups
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