| 1. |
- Brogt, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Interpreting differences between the United States and New Zealand university students’ engagement scores as measured by the NSSE and AUSSE
- 2012
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Ingår i: Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1469-297X .- 0260-2938. ; 38:6, s. 713-736
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Press releases concerning the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) results warn that university students in Australia and New Zealand are less engaged than their peers at United States institutions. Such warnings about student engagement and interactions then become targets for improvement on Australasian universities’ strategic plans. In considering New Zealand university students’ survey responses, we examined AUSSE and the US National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data for 2009 and 2010 with respect to all items that load on the five scales these instruments share. We argue that most of the observed differences in responses, response distributions and subsequent scale scores can be attributed to differences in educational pathways and cultures between the USA and New Zealand. Consequently, considerable caution in these trans-Pacific comparisons is warranted, particularly when formulating policy and practices to improve student engagement in New Zealand based on methods that have been employed in different educational contexts.
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| 2. |
- Brogt, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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Using Institutional Research Data on Tertiary Performance to Inform Departmental Advice to Secondary Students
- 2011
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Ingår i: Australasian Association for Institutional Research (AAIR) Journal. - 1443-2110. ; 16:2, s. 26-41
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article examines the use of institutional research data on tertiary academic success of students in the first-year Biology program at the University of Canterbury in relation to their secondary school performance in English, Mathematics with Statistics, Biology and Chemistry. This study was commissioned by the School of Biological Sciences to examine the validity of the advice they gave to secondary students considering studying biology at university and was carried out as a joint venture between institutional researchers and departmental academics. We found that students with higher overall first-year university biology performance were more likely to also have taken Chemistry at secondary school. Controlling for overall performance, students taking both Chemistry and Biology as domains for the New Zealand University Entrance qualification (UE) did significantly better in two out of three first-year biology courses than those who had taken only one or neither subject as a domain. The extent of the advantage depended on the type of course; being greatest in the biochemistry-related course and least in ecology-related. We concluded that the advice the School of Biological Sciences had been giving students in secondary school as to the best preparation for (first-year) university studies in biology (emphasising the need to take both the subjects of Biology and Chemistry) was consistent with the institutional performance data of first-year students at university.
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| 3. |
- Comer, Keith, 1959, et al.
(författare)
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Marked for Success -- Secondary School Performance and University Achievement in Biology
- 2011
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Ingår i: Australasian Association for Institutional Research (AAIR) Journal. - 1443-2110. ; 16:2, s. 42-53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Building on Shulruf, Hattie and Tumen (2008), this work examines the capacity of various National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA)-derived models to predict first-year performance in Biological Sciences at a New Zealand university. We compared three models: (1) the ’best-80‘ indicator as used by several New Zealand universities as a predictor of grade point average (GPA); (2) the ’best-80‘ as a predictor of outcome grade in biology courses and (3) ’domain status‘ in biology and chemistry as a predictor of outcome grade. These models span quantity, quality and competency measures in examining student performance and success at both university-wide and specific disciplinary levels. Results show that the models explain between 25 and 45% of the variance, which may present challenges if one of these models were to become the sole determinant for enrolment and limitation of entry policies, but can be useful in an advisory capacity.
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| 4. |
- Comer, Keith, 1959, et al.
(författare)
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Student Engagement in Relation to their Field of Study
- 2011
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Ingår i: Student Engagement in New Zealand’s Universities. - 9780473195892 ; , s. 11-21
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Students’ field of study is one of the largest sources of variation in levels of student engagement. The programmes undertaken by students influence many aspects of students’ university experience, including the way in which students are taught and how they engage in study. There are also some notable differences in the demographics of students who enrol in particular fields of study, the most obvious of which is differences in the proportions of female and male students studying particular fields of study. However, there are also differences in the proportion of international students, mature-aged students and students of different ethnic backgrounds.
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| 5. |
- Comer, Keith, 1959, et al.
(författare)
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Using University Level Data for Institutional Research: Possibilities and challenges
- 2010
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Ingår i: HERDSA.
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Universities collect student data for a variety of purposes and stakeholders, from student secondary school records to determine who will gain entrance, to student grades for academic progression and graduation, or student engagement and teaching surveys to assess the quality of education. Combining these data sets can yield a richer picture of the institution, programs of study, departments or even individual papers. Resulting analyses can also inform the research on teaching and learning in tertiary settings and be used for professional development purposes and to improve the student learning experience. This poster offers examples of institutional research with combined data sets that has helped university departments develop better pictures of what types of students enter their program, how they progress, what curricular issues were encountered by students, where those issues originated and how they could be effectively addressed. In clarifying this, we will illustrate (a) how using New Zealand National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) data can used to predict success in first year courses, and (b) how grade variability analyses (performance of the same students in different courses) can identify curricular "cake-walks" or bottlenecks. We present the benefits of these approaches for particular departments or lecturers, such as more accurate information for secondary student advising, improved use of prerequisites, or revision of assessment practices. In addition, there are also challenges in data management and data consistency as well as legal and ethical implications for using existing student data for research purposes that need to be addressed.
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