Sense of Peer Belonging and Institutional Acceptance in the First Year: The Role of High-Impact Practices

In this study we examined the role that high-impact practices play in shaping first-year students\u27 sense of belonging as it relates to peers and institutional acceptance. We used data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (N = 9,371), and results revealed troublesome gaps for historically underrepresented populations in their sense of belonging among their peers and affiliation with the institution. Yet, when students participated in certain high-impact practices (learning communities, service learning, research with faculty, and campus leadership), positive associations were found, even after controlling for other institutional- and student-level characteristics. Implications for first-year programming are discussed

Where and with Whom Students Live: Impacts on Peer Belonging and Institutional Acceptance

SENSE OF BELONGING is critical for students throughout their college experience, and even more so now, given the current concerns about undergraduate graduation rates. The purpose of this study was to explore how students\u27 perception of their sense of belonging on campus is affected by where and with whom they live. We utilized a multidimensional approach, defining sense of belonging with two dimensions: peer belonging and institutional acceptance. In 2014, additional items measuring these dimensions were appended to the end of the core National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Overall, more than 17,000 first-year and senior students at 44 four-year colleges and universities responded. For both first-year and senior students, results suggest that living environment and with whom a student resides impact their sense of belonging on campus. For example, students living with roommates reported higher levels of peer belonging than did those living alone. First-year students living farther than walking distance from campus reported lower levels of peer belonging than did those living on campus. Additionally, off-campus seniors who lived within walking or driving distance from campus reported lower levels of institutional acceptance than did their classmates living on campus. Additional results, potential reasons, and implications for these results are also discussed

Online Learning in Higher Education: Exploring Advantages and Disadvantages for Engagement

As the popularity of online education continues to rise, many colleges and universities are interested in how to best deliver course content for online learners. This study explores the ways in which taking courses through an online medium impacts student engagement, utilizing data from the National Survey of Student Engagement. Data was analyzed using a series of ordinary least squares regression models, also controlling for relevant student and institutional characteristics. The results indicated numerous significant relationships between taking online courses and student engagement for both first-year students and seniors. Those students taking greater numbers of online courses were more likely to engage in quantitative reasoning. However, they were less likely to engage in collaborative learning, student-faculty interactions, and discussions with diverse others, compared to their more traditional classroom counterparts. The students with greater numbers of online courses also reported less exposure to effective teaching practices and lower quality of interactions. The relationship between these engagement indicators and the percentage of classes taken online suggests that an online environment might benefit certain types of engagement, but may also be somewhat of a deterrent to others. Institutions should consider these findings when designing online course content, and encourage faculty to contemplate ways of encouraging student engagement across a variety of delivery types