Student Experience

Two Cultures: Undergraduate Academic Engagement

Steven Brint
Allison M. Cantwell
Robert A. Hannerman
2008

Using data on upper-division students in the University of California system, we show that two distinct cultures of engagement exist on campus. The culture of engagement in the arts, humanities and social sciences focuses on interaction, participation, and interest in ideas. The culture of engagement in the natural sciences and engineering focuses on improvement of quantitative skills through collaborative study with an eye to rewards in the labor market. The two cultures of engagement are strongly associated with post-graduate degree plans. The findings raise questions about...

From Diversity to Educational Equity: A Discussion of Academic Integration and Issues Facing Underprepared UCSC Students

Holly Gritsch de Cordova
Charis Herzon
2007

While the positive effects generated by student-faculty interaction associated with multiple student outcomes are well-documented, little is known about how various student subgroups experience student-faculty interaction differently. Among studies that have investigated this issue, some demonstrate that the levels and effects of student-faculty interaction may differ by student gender, race, and major field. The current project improves our understanding of the conditional effects of student-faculty interaction by examining different patterns of student- faculty interaction for...

Different Patterns of Student-Faculty Interaction In Research Universities: An Analysis by Student Gender, Race, SES, and First-Generation Status.

Young K. Kim
Linda J. Sax
2007

This study examined the conditional effects of student-faculty interaction in a large research university system, based on various student characteristics including gender, race, and socio-economic and first-generation status. The study utilized data from the 2006 University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES), a longitudinal survey of UC undergraduate students based at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley. Cross-tabulations with Chi-square statistics and blocked separate regression analyses were employed as analytical methods. The study found...

Multiple Goals, Satisfaction, and Achievement in University Undergraduate Education: A Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Project Research Paper

Heinke Roebken
2007

This study examines the relationship between student goal orientation and student satisfaction, academic engagement, and achievement. A variety of studies has shown that the type of goal orientation determines students’ cognitive and behavioral reactions as well as their educational performance. Using data on 2309 college students from the University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES), this study analyzes the relationship between different types of goal orientations and student behavior and academic outcomes. Three questions are addressed in this paper: First, it...

Report: Promoting Civic Engagement at the University of California: Recommendations from the Strategy Group on Civic and Academic Engagement

John Aubrey Douglass
Jodi Anderson
2005

The University of California is the nation’s largest and most prestigious public research institution. As such, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to assume a leadership role in an emerging national movement within higher education, translating our identity as a land grant institution into 21st century terms.

On June 10, 2005, over 70 faculty, students, and administrators, representing all 10 University of California campuses as well as the Office of the President, met to discuss this timely and significant topic. This meeting provided an opportunity to examine current...

Virtualpolitik: Obstacles to Building Virtual Communities in Traditional Institutions of Knowledge

Elizabeth Losh
2005

Digital collaborations are often stymied because institutions of higher education are increasingly divided between two cultures: the culture of knowledge and the culture of information. Campuses primarily remain institutions of knowledge, although practices of information acquisition can no longer be ignored, especially since the advent of networked computing and study with digital texts. Yet the traditional division of labor and the ownership of intellectual property within the academy are threatened by digital collaborations; and the claims of information theory, which is...

The Educational Benefits Of Sustaining Cross-Racial Interaction Among Undergraduates

Mitchell J. Chang
Nida Denson
Victor Saenz
Kimberly Misa
2005

This study examined whether or not students who either had higher levels of cross-racial interaction during college or had same-institution peers with higher average levels of this type of interaction tend to report significantly larger developmental gains than their counterparts. Unlike previous quantitative studies that tested cross-racial interaction using single-level linear models, this study more accurately models the structure of multilevel data by applying Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The general pattern of findings suggests that higher individual levels of cross-...

Report: Learning And Academic Engagement In The Multiversity - Results Of The First University Of California Undergraduate Experience Survey

Richard Flacks
Gregg Thomson
John Aubrey Douglass
Kyra Caspary
2004

During the Spring of 2002 and 2003, a team of faculty and institutional researchers conducted an innovative web-based survey on the undergraduate experience at all eight undergraduate campuses of the University of California. This report provides the first formal presentation of preliminary findings from that survey and discusses potential areas of relevance to policy for further research.

New Directions For Student Outreach: The University Of California's School-University Partnerships

Thomas Timar
Rodney Ogawa
Marie Orillion
2002

In academic year 1998-99 the University of California launched an unprecedented campaign to enhance its outreach to the state’s K-12 public education system. While the University has long been involved in outreach programs that provide tutors, mentors and campus visits to middle and high school students, the current campaign added a new dimension to its educational outreach portfolio: partnerships between the University and educationally low performing high schools. The program aimed to improve the overall academic performance of targeted high schools and their feeder middle and elementary...

The Role Of Advanced Placement And Honors Courses In College Admissions

Saul Geiser
Veronica Santelices
2004

This study examines the role of Advanced Placement (AP) and other honors-level courses as a criterion for admission at a leading public university, the University of California, and finds that the number of AP and honors courses taken in high school bears little or no relationship to students’ later performance in college. AP is increasingly emphasized as a factor in admissions, particularly at selective colleges and universities. But while student performance on AP examinations is strongly related to college performance, merely taking AP or other honors-level courses in...