Quantitative Reasoning at St. Olaf College Office of Institutional Research and Evaluation June 6, 2013

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1 Quantitative Reasoning at St. Olaf College Office of Institutional Research and Evaluation June 6, 2013 Sources of Evidence: Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) 2012 Essential Learning Outcomes Assessment (ELOA) Survey 2012 Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium Alumni (HEDS Alumni) Survey National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) 2011 Executive Summary Incoming first-years at St. Olaf reported having completed four years of math in high school, and over threequarters indicated that developing their quantitative skills was not a priority for them in college. Relatedly, both men and women in the incoming first-year Class of 2016 indicated they felt prepared to analyze quantitative problems and use computing and information technology in college, though women reported feeling less prepared than men with regard to these tasks. first-years reported having worked frequently on the development of their quantitative skills during their first year of college, and reported that their first year contributed significantly to the development of their ability to analyze quantitative problems. Men reported more frequent work on, and greater institutional contribution toward, the development of these skills than did women. At the end of the first-year, St. Olaf students reported that developing their quantitative skills was not a priority for them in college, though men were slightly more likely than women to begin indicating that such development was important (34% men to 22% women). As seniors, St. Olaf students of both genders were similar with regard to the amount of time they spent during college developing their quantitative skills, with over 50% of both genders indicating they did so frequently. Men and women differed as seniors in the extent to which they indicated the college contributed to the development of their ability to analyze quantitative problems, with men reporting a larger institutional contribution to this skill than women. St. Olaf seniors differed by major with regard to the development of their quantitative skills. Seniors who majored in an NSM or SS Faculty field reported spending more time during college developing quantitative skills, and reported a greater institutional contribution to their ability to analyze quantitative problems, than did their peers in non-nsm or SS Faculty majors. Over three-quarters of alumni from the Classes of 2007 through 2010 indicated their undergraduate experience contributed sufficiently or considerably to the development of their quantitative literacy. Those alumni who majored in fields in the NSM and IGS Faculties reported greater institutional contribution to the development of this skill than their peers with majors in other Faculties. Incoming A majority of incoming first-years indicated that they frequently developed quantitative skills during high school. The average incoming first-year student also reported completing four years of math during their high school career. This pattern holds true across genders, with men and women nearly identical in the number of years of math completed during high school, as well as the frequency with which they reported having developed quantitative skills. IR&E Report: Quantitative Reasoning at St. Olaf College 1

2 Though both genders reported feeling prepared to tackle quantitative problems or use information technology in college, women reported feeling less prepared than their male counterparts when it came to analyzing math or quantitative problems or using computing and information technology. In line with their perception of being prepared for analyzing quantitative problems, a majority of incoming first-years indicated that developing their quantitative skills in college was not a priority. This holds true across gender, with women and men having been equally likely to not place priority on such development. During high school, how many years of the following subjects did you complete? Math [BCSSE] Incoming 5 or more 13% 9% 17% 4 years 77% 80% 73% 3 years 10% 10% 9% 2 years 1% 1% 1% 1 year 0% 0% 0% 0 years 0% 0% 0% MEAN How often during high school did you work on developing each of the following intellectual and practical skills? Understanding and Incoming Frequently (5) 47% 47% 47% Sometimes (4) 44% 45% 42% Rarely (3) 6% 4% 9% Never (2) 1% 1% 0% I m not sure what this means (1) 2% 2% 3% MEAN i How prepared are you to do the following in your academic work at this college? [BCSSE] Analyze math or quantitative problems Use computing and information technology Incoming Incoming 6 Very prepared 20% 15% 27% 14% 10% 19% 5 25% 26% 25% 21% 19% 24% 4 26% 26% 26% 31% 31% 31% 3 19% 22% 16% 23% 26% 19% 2 7% 9% 6% 9% 12% 6% 1 Not at all prepared 2% 2% 1% 2% 3% 0% MEAN Thinking about all of these outcomes together, which would you MOST like to work on developing in college? Understanding and Incoming One of my top four learning priorities (2) 22% 21% 21% Not one of my top four learning priorities (1) 78% 79% 79% MEAN IR&E Report: Quantitative Reasoning at St. Olaf College 2

3 Spring-Semester Though differences by gender existed, a vast majority of spring-semester first-years reported working frequently on the development of their quantitative skills during their first year of college. Men reported working more frequently on the development of these skills than women, though majorities of both groups indicated having done so sometimes or frequently. first-years of both genders also reported that their time at the college had contributed significantly to the development of their ability to analyze quantitative problems, though men were more likely to report a greater contribution to the development of their abilities. A majority of spring-semester first-years indicated that developing their quantitative skills was not a priority in college. This holds true across gender, with women and men having been equally likely to not place priority on such development. How often during your first year of college did you work on developing each of the following intellectual and practical skills? Understanding and Frequently (5) 51% 48% 57% Sometimes (4) 40% 41% 38% Rarely (3) 6% 8% 3% Never (2) 0% 0% 0% I m not sure what this means (1) 3% 3% 3% MEAN i To what extent has your experience at this institution contributed to your knowledge, skills, and personal development in the following areas? Analyzing quantitative problems [NSSE] Very much (4) 38% 35% 42% Quite a bit (3) 37% 35% 40% Some (2) 20% 24% 16% Very little (1) 4% 6% 2% MEAN Thinking about all of these outcomes together, which would you MOST like to work on developing in college? Understanding and One of my top four learning priorities (2) 26% 22% 34% Not one of my top four learning priorities (1) 74% 78% 66% MEAN Graduating Seniors Women and men reported spending similar amounts of time during their college career developing their quantitative skills. When asked how frequently they worked on developing their ability to understand and use quantitative information, over 50% of both men and women indicated they did so frequently. IR&E Report: Quantitative Reasoning at St. Olaf College 3

4 The time spent during college developing quantitative skills varied greatly by major, however, with majors in the NSM and SS Faculty far more likely to have worked frequently at doing so. Men were slightly more likely than women to report that their college experience contributed very much to the development of their ability to analyze quantitative problems. Students with majors in the NSM and SS Faculty reported more extensive contribution to the development of their ability to analyze quantitative problems than did students with majors in other Faculties. How often during college did you work on developing each of the following intellectual and practical skills? Understanding and Seniors - Spring 2012 FA HUM IGS NSM SS Frequently (5) 56% 54% 59% 25% 22% 32% 82% 53% Sometimes (4) 30% 30% 30% 58% 45% 48% 17% 35% Rarely (3) 12% 14% 8% 17% 29% 19% 1% 12% Never (2) 0% 0% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% I m not sure what this means (1) 1% 1% 1% 0% 4% 0% 1% 0% MEAN i To what extent has your experience at this institution contributed to your knowledge, skills, and personal development in the following areas? Analyzing quantitative problems [NSSE] Seniors Spring 2012 FA HUM IGS NSM SS Very much (4) 43% 40% 49% 28% 34% 29% 54% 41% Quite a bit (3) 30% 30% 30% 30% 31% 37% 31% 31% Some (2) 25% 28% 20% 40% 31% 32% 14% 28% Very little (1) 2% 2% 2% 2% 5% 2% 1% 0% MEAN Alumni Over three-quarters of alumni from the Classes of 2007 through 2010 indicated that their undergraduate experience contributed sufficiently or considerably to the development of their quantitative literacy. Alumni majoring in fields included in the IGS and NSM Faculties reported greater contribution to the development of their quantitative literacy than did their peers with majors in other Faculties. To what extent did your experience as an undergraduate contribute to your knowledge, skills and personal developing in the following areas? Quantitative literacy: seeking, understanding, and using quantitative information appropriately to solve problems or make arguments [HEDS Alumni] By Class Year Class of 2007 Class of 2008 Class of 2009 Class of 2010 Considerably (4) 41% 38% 44% 36% Sufficiently (3) 41% 38% 40% 41% Somewhat (2) 15% 21% 13% 19% Very little (1) 3% 3% 3% 4% MEAN IR&E Report: Quantitative Reasoning at St. Olaf College 4

5 By Reported and Recoded Major ii FA HUM IGS NSM SS Considerably (4) 23% 28% 67% 61% 35% Sufficiently (3) 46% 42% 17% 32% 43% Somewhat (2) 28% 25% 17% 6% 19% Very little (1) 3% 5% 0% 1% 3% MEAN Survey Information 1. Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) 2012 St. Olaf sample: 617 members of the incoming first-year Class of Essential Learning Outcomes Assessment (ELOA) Survey 2012 St. Olaf first-year sample Fall 2011: 287 randomly-selected members of the entering Class of 2015 (78% response rate) St. Olaf first-year sample Spring 2012: 202 randomly-selected members of the entering Class of 2015 (56% response rate) St. Olaf senior sample Spring 2012: 231 randomly-selected seniors who were active and on campus during the Spring 2012 semester (62% response rate) 3. Higher Education Data Sharing Consortium Alumni (HEDS Alumni) Survey Class of 2007 sample: 142 members of the class of 2007 (28% response rate) Class of 2008 sample: 170 members of the class of 2008 (34% response rate) Class of 2009 sample: 154 members of the class of 2009 (34% response rate) Class of 2010 sample: 145 members of the class of 2010 (33% response rate) 4. National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) 2011 St. Olaf first-year sample: 452 first-years from the entire surveyed Class of 2014 (54% response rate) St. Olaf senior sample: 386 seniors from the entire surveyed Class of 2011(57% response rate) i Mean value does not include response option number 1 I m not sure what this means ii 153 alumni respondents selected either other for a major, or chose a response option that was not one of the four St. Olaf Faculties listed on the survey. These respondents were recoded into at least one of the five St. Olaf Faculties. Some of these respondents were counted more than once as (1) the question asked student to select all that apply and (2) some of those selecting other listed more than one major or concentration. Multiple counting only occurred where the multiple majors were in different Faculties. NSM = Natural Sciences and Math; SSF = Social Studies; HUM = Humanities; IGS = Integrated Studies; FA = Fine Arts IR&E Report: Quantitative Reasoning at St. Olaf College 5