Surveying the Freshman Class Eva Fernández Center for Teaching & Learning September 16, 2011

Freshman Year Initiative New model, fall 2010 : Two classes: English 110 (College Writing) linked to a general education Perspectives course Learning communities sometimes also involved a thematic links: e.g., Environment English 110 courses standardized with carefully selected readings and sets of assignments (assessment currently underway) Technology infused curriculum: blogs, netbooks, video assignments, etc. Fall 2011: almost all freshmen in FYI

Freshman Survey 11 questions on demographics 75 questions, 7 different question types, on: active/collaborative learning, general education, home life and values, quantitative reasoning, student-faculty contact, study skills, supportive and diverse campus community, use of technology, writing 2 questions on long-term plans for degree September: 46 sections, 766 respondents December: 42 sections, 556 respondents 365 respondents completed survey twice (311 FYI, 54 non-FYI) – Demographics very similar to QC population at large and to larger samples

For 75 scalar-response questions, mean difference between answers in September and December Negative change Positive change

How important to you is…? Learning process, contact with others, specific skills, etc. (20 questions) Developing strong critical thinking and analytic skills Making a life-long commitment to learning Developing time management and organizational skills Attending campus events and activities … Having contact with people from different backgrounds Becoming a community leader

HS-college comparison: in high school/during the current semester, how often did you…? Making a class presentation Coming to class having read assignments Working with others on projects in / out of class Discussing assignments with faculty Talking about career plans Participating in co-curricular activities … Writing long papers or reports Using e-medium for an assignment Including diverse perspectives Discussing ideas outside of class …

Evidence of impact? Questions about writing (N=6) Questions about technology (N=4)

Next moves… ePortfolios to address the negatives: – Second semester seminars: general education courses, where gen ed ePortfolios are introduced – Support group beyond class: student ePortfolio showcases – Linkage to majors that use ePortfolios

Limitations Not enough non-FYI respondents (54 out of 365) No identifying information collected, so not possible to correlate responses to survey with indicators of academic achievement (past and future grades, e.g.) Design including eclectic question types; scales too narrow to elicit fine-grained judgments Procedure to administer very labor-intensive

Recommendations Use data like this, and other data we routinely collect (NSSE, alum surveys, evaluations, etc.) to learn more about our students Continue to build well-supported and coherent institutional programming Foster engagement in our future freshmen by continuing to pay attention to their diversity and through the development of programs with experiential education components