| Matthew Wawrzynski
Indiana University, Bloomington
Institutional characteristics and faculty behaviors and their relationship to student learning and student engagement
FINAL REPORT:
Despite the call by higher education organizations and policy centers to create new ways to measure and monitor the quality of undergraduate education, little new knowledge has been generated about indicators of educational practice that predict student engagement or the approaches that faculty take to effective educational practices. We know a good deal about how faculty spend their time, what instructional methods they use, and their satisfaction with teaching (Menges, 2000). We know much less about how these variables influence student engagement. Data from the 1999 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF-99) and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) were merged and subjected to factor analysis to develop more parsimonious variables. Reliability analyses revealed a range of alpha scores from .73 to .91for the NSOPF:99 factors and from .76 to .93 for the NSSE factors. The factors were subjected to Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) to examine how faculty practices, and institutional characteristics effect student engagement and student learning. By estimating parameters at both levels simultaneously through an iterative procedure, HLM is able to assign variance to the individual or institutional level as appropriate with the same analytic framework. The hierarchical linear modeling analyses reveal that after implementing level one controls (race, gender, transfer status, enrollment, and on campus living) and level two controls (Carnegie type, selectivity, undergraduate FTE, and sector) faculty satisfaction, faculty experience, academic challenge, and percentage of time allotted to teaching/research effect student engagement (higher order thinking, academic related faculty-student interactions, student-faculty interactions outside of class, active learning, perception of a supportive campus environment, enriching educational experiences, and overall institutional commitment). While all of the variables had some level of statistical significance, a consistent theme in the results of this research is the impact of the amount of time that faculty spend on teaching or research. The time spent on teaching and the affect it has on student learning was strongly evident in this study. In fact, no other institutional variables had as much impact on student engagement as the teaching and research variable. While faculty derive satisfaction from teaching, faculty need to do a better job connecting research and teaching. Also noteworthy is the positive impact that high academic expectations have on student engagement. Knowing which pedagogical methods predict the greatest gains in student learning will help anyone responsible for teaching. Finally, when administrators and faculty are being held accountable for demonstrating student outcomes, this study provides evidence of institutional characteristics and faculty practices that enhance student learning.
Back to Funded Postdoctoral Fellows Page |