Abstract
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, the development of psychometrically sound process indicators of student performance is described. Second, the results are reported of a test of the utility of these indicators with six samples of men and women students (n = 911 in each group) from 19 baccalaureate, 27 master's, and 29 doctoral-granting institutions. Process indicators represent behaviors associated with desired outcomes of college and estimate the extent to which students are engaged in these activities. Selected items from the College Student Experiences Questionnaire were used to create measures of three good educational practices: faculty-student contact, cooperation among students, and active learning. Active learning and cooperation among students in that order were the best predictors of gains for both women and men at all three types of institutions. Student background characteristics had only trivial influences on educational gains. Implications are discussed for institutional policy and further research.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Alexander, P. A., and Murphy, P. K. (1994, April). The Research Base for APA's Learner-Centered Psychological Principles. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans.
American Association of Higher Education (1992). Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning. Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education.
Angelo, T. A., and Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Astin, A. W. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal of College Student Personnel 25: 297–308.
Astin, A. W. (1985). Achieving Educational Excellence: A Critical Assessment of Priorities and Practices in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Astin, A. W. (1991). Assessment for Excellence: The Philosophy and Practice of Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. New York: American Council on Education/Macmillan.
Astin, A. W. (1993). What Matters in College: Four Critical Years Revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Baird, L. L. (1976). Using Self-Reports to Predict Student Performance. New York: The College Board.
Banta, T. W., and Associates (1993). Making a Difference: Outcomes of a Decade of Assessment in Higher Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bruffee, K. A. (1993). Collaborative Learning: Higher Education. Interdependence, and the Authority of Knowledge. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Chickering, A. W., and Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in under-graduate education. AAHE Bulletin 39(7): 3–7.
Cross, K. P. (1987). Teaching for learning. AAHE Bulletin 39(8): 3–7.
Cross, K. P. (1993). Enhancing the productivity of learning: Reaction. AAHE Bulletin 46(4): 7–8.
Education Commission of the States (1995). Making Quality Count in Undergraduate Education. Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States.
Ewell, P. T., and Jones, D. P. (1993). Actions matter: The case for indirect measures in assessing higher education's progress on the National Education Goals. Journal of General Education 42:123–128.
Goodsell, A., Maher, M., and Tinto, V. (eds.) (1992). Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education. University Park: National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning and Assessment, The Pennsylvania State University.
Guskin, A. E. (1994). Reducing student costs and enhancing student learning: The university challenge of the 1990s. Change 26(4): 23–29.
House, E. (1994). Policy and productivity in higher education. Educational Researcher 23: 27–32.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T. and Smith, K. A. (1991). Cooperative Learning: Increasing College Faculty Instructional Productivity. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report, No. 4. Washington, DC: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.
Johnstone, D. B. (1993). Learning productivity: A new imperative for higher education. Studies in Public Higher Education, No. 3. Albany, NY: SUNY Office of the Chancellor.
Kuh, G. D., Schuh, J. S., Whitt, E. J., and Associates (1991). Involving Colleges: Successful Approaches to Fostering Student Learning and Personal Development Outside the Classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
McKeachie, W. J., Pintrich, P. R, Lin, Y., and Smith, D. (1986). Teaching and Learning in the College Classroom: A Review of the Research Literature. Ann Arbor: National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, University of Michigan.
National Center for Educational Statistics (1991). Education Counts: An Indicator System to Monitor the Nation's Educational Health. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (1994). A Preliminary Study of the Feasibility and Utility for National Policy of Instructional “Good Practice” Indicators in Undergraduate Education. Boulder, CO: National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.
National Education Goals Panel (1992). The National Education Goals Report: Building a Nation of Learners. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Pace, C. R. (1984). Measuring the Quality of College Student Experiences. Los Angeles: University of California, The Center for the Study of Evaluation, Graduate School of Education.
Pace, C. R. (1985). The Credibility of Student Self-Reports. Los Angeles: University of California, The Center for the Study of Evaluation, Graduate School of Education.
Pace, C. R. (1987). Good Things Go Together. Los Angeles: University of California, The Center for the Study of Evaluation, Graduate School of Education.
Pace, C. R. (1990). College Student Experiences Questionnaire, Third Edition. Los Angeles: University of California, The Center for the Study of Evaluation, Graduate School of Education. (The CSEQ is now distributed by the Center for Postsecondary Research and Planning, Indiana University.)
Pace, C. R. (1995, May). From Good Practices to Good Products: Relating Good Practices in Undergraduate Education to Student Achievement. Paper presented at the meeting of the Association for Institutional Research, Boston.
Pascarella, E. T., and Terenzeni, P. T. (1991). How College Affects Students: Findings and Insights from Twenty Years of Research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Pike, G. R. (1993). The relationship between perceived learning and satisfaction with college: An alternative view. Research in Higher Education 34: 23–40.
Pike, G. R. (1995). The relationships between self reports of college experiences and achievement test scores. Research in Higher Education 36: 1–22.
Sorcinelli, M. D. (1991). Research findings on the seven principles. In A. W. Chickering and Z. F. Gamson (eds.), Applying the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, No. 47 (pp. 13–25). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
To dance with change (1994). Policy Perspectives 5(3): A1–12.
Turner, C. F., and Martin E. (eds.) (1984). Surveying Subjective Phenomena (Vol. 1). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Upcraft, M. L., Gardner, J. N., and Associates (1989). The Freshman Year Experience: Helping Students Survive and Succeed in College. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wingspread Group on Higher Education (1993). An American Imperative: Higher Expectations for Higher Education. Racine, WI: Johnson Foundation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kuh, G.D., Pace, C.R. & Vesper, N. The Development of Process Indicators to Estimate Student Gains Associated with Good Practices in Undergraduate Education. Research in Higher Education 38, 435–454 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024962526492
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024962526492