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Interdisciplinary Studies Students' Academic and Social Engagement: A Quantitative Study

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Date Issued:
2011
Abstract/Description:
This study explored interdisciplinary studies students' academic and social engagement. As the review of literature demonstrated, student engagement and satisfaction are important to retention and institutions can adopt policies and practices to foster student engagement. Because interdisciplinary studies programs often struggle to maintain relevance, fostering student engagement is one way to ensure maximum student satisfaction and retention. This study identified factors of student engagement that were positively related to satisfaction and confirmed that requiring core interdisciplinary studies courses had a positive impact on engagement.A quantitative instrument, the Interdisciplinary Studies Student Engagement Survey, was adapted from the National Survey of Student Engagement questionnaire to collect self-reported responses. The following eight factors of student engagement were found to be relevant: (a) diversity-related activities, (b) shared understanding and experiences, (c) interaction with peers, (d) interaction with faculty members, (e) active and collaborative learning, (f) integrated learning, (g) out-of-class experiences, and (h) academic challenge. Respondents reported the most frequent participation in integrated learning and the least frequent participation in out-of-class experiences. It was determined that students with nontraditional characteristics tended to participate more frequently in academic engagement, whereas students with traditional characteristics tended to participate more in social engagement. In addition, enrollment in mandatory interdisciplinary core courses was found to positively influence engagement in seven of the eight identified factors. Enrollment in core courses was also positively related to satisfaction. Finally, all eight engagement factors positively correlated with satisfaction to some degree.
Title: Interdisciplinary Studies Students' Academic and Social Engagement: A Quantitative Study.
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Name(s): Simmons, Jessica, Author
Boyd, Tammy, Committee Chair
Cintron Delgado, Rosa, Committee Member
Beverly, Monifa, Committee Member
Hampton, Michael, Committee Member
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2011
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: This study explored interdisciplinary studies students' academic and social engagement. As the review of literature demonstrated, student engagement and satisfaction are important to retention and institutions can adopt policies and practices to foster student engagement. Because interdisciplinary studies programs often struggle to maintain relevance, fostering student engagement is one way to ensure maximum student satisfaction and retention. This study identified factors of student engagement that were positively related to satisfaction and confirmed that requiring core interdisciplinary studies courses had a positive impact on engagement.A quantitative instrument, the Interdisciplinary Studies Student Engagement Survey, was adapted from the National Survey of Student Engagement questionnaire to collect self-reported responses. The following eight factors of student engagement were found to be relevant: (a) diversity-related activities, (b) shared understanding and experiences, (c) interaction with peers, (d) interaction with faculty members, (e) active and collaborative learning, (f) integrated learning, (g) out-of-class experiences, and (h) academic challenge. Respondents reported the most frequent participation in integrated learning and the least frequent participation in out-of-class experiences. It was determined that students with nontraditional characteristics tended to participate more frequently in academic engagement, whereas students with traditional characteristics tended to participate more in social engagement. In addition, enrollment in mandatory interdisciplinary core courses was found to positively influence engagement in seven of the eight identified factors. Enrollment in core courses was also positively related to satisfaction. Finally, all eight engagement factors positively correlated with satisfaction to some degree.
Identifier: CFE0004168 (IID), ucf:49072 (fedora)
Note(s): 2011-12-01
Ed.D.
Education, Teaching, Learning and Leadership
Doctoral
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): Interdisciplinary -- Engagement -- Undergraduate -- Involvement -- Core Courses -- University -- Satisfaction
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004168
Restrictions on Access: public 2011-12-15
Host Institution: UCF

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