 | |
| Vol. 17, No. 29 | April 30, 1998 |
| |
| Vol. 17, No. 29 | April 30, 1998 |
When asked to comment on their experiences at UD, a multiyear study indicates that, as freshmen, students show excitement about the University and, as seniors, they leave with a very good feeling and are optimistic about their future.
This is just some of the information that Karen Bauer, institutional research and planning, discovered about Delaware students through a four-year study of how they grow, learn and change their opinions during their years on campus.
This study, Bauer explained, offers a wealth of information regarding what high school students are looking for when they enter UD and what they can discover after they arrive.
In the study, Bauer found what the responding students considered the essential goals of their undergraduate education: nearly 71 percent responded that they wanted to learn career knowledge and skills; 41.4 percent wanted to learn more about themselves; 37.6 percent wanted to learn analysis and creative thinking; 23.6 percent wanted a broad liberal arts education; and nearly 8 percent responded that they wanted to learn about other cultures.
After four years at UD, the group that participated in all of the surveys showed an extremely high level of satisfaction. Asked if they would choose to come to UD again, 81 percent said "Yes"; 13 percent were unsure; and only 6 percent said "No."
When focusing on the general areas of academic performance, confidence in test taking and academic work and satisfaction with their intellectual development, the responses all were positive and improved over the four-year period from freshman to senior year.
Bauer said she believes the information provided by the study has tremendous potential for different campus offices and organizations. She said colleges and departments, as well as housing and residence life units, will find information that will help make decisions.
"I'm interested in seeing what the implications might be and how the survey can be used to help students," Bauer said. "The ultimate goal is for us to learn more about our students and make appropriate improvements or perhaps notice some areas that may need study or attention."
The University of Delaware Longitudinal Study began in 1993, during New Student Orientation, with a survey placed in each student's packet. According to Bauer, more than 1,600 of the 3,000 attendees returned the first questionnaire.
Questions sought a wide range of demographic information-from background information, personal values and expectations of University-offered activities and services, to the respondent's opinion about the importance of activities, satisfaction with financial aid offerings and the level of confidence for academic success.
Each spring thereafter, Bauer sent previous participants a new, follow-up survey through campus mail. She said the first year only 53 percent of the original group returned the survey-the universal downside to a longitudinal study.
"The other side of the coin," she said, "is that this is the first time anyone at the University has tried to do something like this-a survey over an extended period of time-and we were able to learn quite a bit about our students."
Over the next three years, the overall response rate for subsequent surveys improved-to 77 percent in 1995, 74 percent in 1996 and 73 percent in 1997. From the fall 1993 to spring 1997, 270 students completed every survey.
"We cannot generalize our findings to all undergraduates, since this is not truly a random sample," Bauer explained. "However, by following one group over an extended period, we gathered some valuable information for use in admissions and recruitment and other purposes."
Bauer has presented findings from the UD longitudinal study at regional and national conferences, and she said this type of study has always been something she had wanted to pursue. After studying longitudinal projects as a graduate student at the University of Maryland, Bauer said she knew that, eventually, she would conduct a similar study.
"My love is to learn how college really affects a student," she said. "Students are our customers. They invest a great deal to come here, and we need to know how the University affects them. We need to know what impact we are having on our students.
"One of the most exciting things is that this data makes us rethink the notion of freshman year and how critical it is," she said. "We can also look at what seniors think and what opinions sophomores and juniors have."
Bauer said she plans to do the entire study again-with another incoming class-as soon as possible. And, while there will be some changes, much of the core of the project will be retained.
"And when we do it again," she said, "we can use this study to make modifications and make the new one that much better."
-Heather Miller
Photo by Robert Cohen
