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A Profile Of 1997 Entering First-Year Students:
Goals For Undergraduate Education
Table of Contents
This report presents information regarding the undergraduate educational goals of the 1997 entering first-year students at NC State. It is based on their responses to the survey given to new students during summer and fall orientation. These goals concern students' general educational, personal development, and world view goals.
A total of 3,157 surveys (83.2% of the first-year students registered for fall 1997) were usable for this report. No significant differences were found between the survey group and the broader population of registered students; thus, the results may be regarded as representative of the entire first-year class. Significant differences were found in answers to some questions, however, when gender, baccalaureate academic units, and/or ethnicity were considered.
Data obtained from the first-year orientation sessions were analyzed
using standard statistical methods. Responses were tested to determine
whether there were significant differences when gender, baccalaureate
academic units, and/or ethnicity were considered. However, only
those baccalaureate academic unit differences regarding developmental
goals are addressed in this report. A full reporting across all
academic units is available on the web. All questions requiring
categorical responses were analyzed using chi-square tests, and
all questions with numerically coded responses were analyzed using
either T-tests or one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Duncan's
multiple comparison procedure. In order to better understand what
the priorities are for the first-year students regarding the goals
examined, a weighed analysis was conducted of the gaps between
their current level of development and the importance they attributed
to each goal.
The means for the students' current level of development of general
education goals, ranked from highest to lowest for the total group,
appear in Chart 1. The rating scale used was: 5 = Very High, 4
= High, 3 = Average, 2 = Low, and 1 = Very Low. First-year students
indicated that their highest current levels of development were
in: acquiring a broad general education, developing
good listening skills, ability to apply mathematics skills,
and ability to plan and carry out projects independently.
Respondents indicated their weakest areas concerned developing
computer skills and ability to apply scientific principles.
Significant differences (p < 0.01) were found for several
goals when gender was considered. Males rated their development
significantly higher than did females in their abilities concerning
science, math, and computers. Females, however, rated their development
significantly higher than males regarding general education, communication,
and diversity.
Significant differences ( p < 0.01) also were found
for several goals when ethnicity was considered. African-Americans
typically rated their development higher than did whites and other
minority students for nearly all goals.
At least two baccalaureate academic units differed significantly
( p < 0.01) on the current level of development for
each general education goal except developing good listening
skills.
Importance of Goals
Summary
The means for goal importance also appear in Chart 1. The rating scale used was: 5 = Very Important, 4 = Important, 3 = Moderately Important, 2 = Of Limited Importance, and 1 = Not Important. First-year students reported that the most important goals to them were: developing computer skills, ability to communicate ideas orally, ability to plan and carry out projects independently, and acquiring a broad general education. They marked ability to apply scientific principles and understanding diverse cultures and values as the least important goals.
Females rated all but one general education goal as significantly more important (p < 0.01) than did males. Both males and females agreed only on the importance of ability to apply mathematics skills.
Significant differences (p < 0.01) also were found for many of the goals when ethnicity was considered. African-Americans typically rated each goal as more important than did other minority students, who placed more importance on these goals than did whites. The only goal rated equally important by all ethnic groups was understanding how science and technology influence everyday life.
At least two baccalaureate academic units differed significantly
( p < 0.01) on the importance of each general education
goal.
This section provides First-year students' ratings of 16 goals
related to student personal development. Respondents denoted their
current level of development toward these goals as well as the
importance of each goal at the time of the survey.
Level of Development
The means for the students' current level of development of general education goals, ranked from highest to lowest for the total group, appear in Chart 2. The rating scale used was: 5 = Very High, 4 = High, 3 = Average, 2 = Low, and 1 = Very Low. First-year students indicated that their highest current levels of development were in: taking responsibility for my own behavior, viewing learning as a lifelong process, ability to function as part of a team, and being independent and self-reliant. Respondents indicated their weakest areas concerned being involved with public and community affairs and managing my time.
Thirteen of the 16 items differed significantly (p < 0.01) when gender was considered. On most issues, females rated their development higher than did males. However, males rated their development significantly higher in: having self-confidence, developing a commitment to personal health and fitness, and handling stress.
When ethnicity was considered, significant differences were found for development in all of the goals except recognizing and acting upon ethical principles, and managing my time. In most of the significantly different items African-Americans rated their development higher than the other two groups.
Of the three types of goals (general education, personal development and world view) baccalaureate academic units were most similar in their current levels of development on the personal development goals. At least two baccalaureate academic units differed significantly ( p < 0.01) on two-thirds of the current level of development for the personal development goals.
Importance of Goals
The means for personal development goal importance also appear in Chart 2. The rating scale used was: 5 = Very Important, 4 = Important, 3 = Moderately Important, 2 = Of Limited Importance, and 1 = Not Important. First-year students reported that the most important of these goals were: managing my time, having self-confidence, taking responsibility for my own behavior, and having self-discipline. They marked being involved with public and community affairs as the least important goal.
Females rated each personal development goal as significantly more important (p < 0.01) to them than did the males. Significant differences were also found for the importance of most goals across ethnic groups. Exceptions in which no significant differences were found when ethnicity was considered were: recognizing and acting upon ethical principles, handling stress, and developing a commitment to personal health/fitness. For each of the other 13 items, African-Americans rated the importance of these goals significantly higher than did both whites and other minority students. However, whites and other minority students tended to rate these personal development goals more similarly than they rated the general education or world view goals.
At least two baccalaureate academic units differed significantly
( p < 0.01) on all but four of the importance ratings
(ability to function as part of a team, developing a
commitment to personal health and fitness, having self-confidence,
and having self-discipline).
This section provides first-year students' ratings of seven goals
related to student world view. Respondents indicated their current
level of development in these goals as well as the importance
they placed on each goal at the time of the survey.
Level of Development
Chart 3 displays the means for level of development, ranked from highest to lowest according to means for the total group of respondents. The rating scale used was: 5 = Very High, 4 = High, 3 = Average, 2 = Low and 1 = Very Low. First-year students registered their highest current level of development for the following world view goals: valuing gender equity, valuing racial equity and being able to interact and work with people from diverse backgrounds.
Females and males differed significantly (p < 0.01) on all seven goals. Females rated their level of development higher than did males in five of the seven categories. Males marked higher levels of development only on understanding issues and problems facing the world, and understanding the present as it relates to historical events/processes.
When ethnicity was considered, significant differences were also found for development toward all goals except for advancing my appreciation of the arts, music and literature. African-Americans tended to rate their current level of development higher than did both whites and other minority students on nearly every issue.
At least two baccalaureate academic units differed significantly ( p < 0.01) on the current level of development for each world view goal.
Importance of Goals
Chart 3 displays the importance means for world view goals for all of the first-year respondents. The rating scale used was: 5 = Very Important, 4 = Important, 3 = Moderately Important, 2 = Of Limited Importance, and 1 = Not Important. Respondents indicated the most important world view goals to them were: valuing racial equity, having a tolerance for different points of view, valuing gender equity, and being able to interact and work with people from diverse backgrounds.
Females and males agreed only on the importance of understanding the present as it relates to historical events/processes. On all other world view goals, females rated the goal as significantly more important (p < 0.01) than did males.
Among ethnic groups, significant differences (p < 0.01) were found for all goals except advancing my appreciation of the arts, music and literature. African-Americans continued to rate the importance of the world view goals higher than did whites and often higher than did other minority students.
At least two baccalaureate academic units differed significantly
( p < 0.01) on the importance of understanding issues
and problems facing the world, understanding the present
as it relates to historical events/processes, advancing
my appreciation of the arts, music and literature, and having
a tolerance for different points of view.
In order to better understand what the first-year students believed
to be priorities regarding the 35 goals examined above, a weighed
analysis was conducted of the gaps between their current level
of development and the importance they attributed to each goal.
Initially, the mean score for the importance of a particular goal
was subtracted from the mean of that goal's reported current level
of development. This resulting figure indicated the difference
between where the student is now (current level) and where they
hope to be (importance). The outcome of this process yielded negative
scores for each goal. Therefore, for each goal the first-year
students hoped to develop beyond their current levels.
Next, the gap was weighted according to the mean importance score
given that particular goal. By multiplying the importance mean
score by the difference, the result was a weighted gap score.
This weighted gap score not only took into account how far apart
present development and desired development were, but also how
meaningful that gap was to the student. For example, consider
two goals with a gap score of -1. The first goal had a current
level mean of 1 and importance mean of 2. The second goal's current
level was 4 with an importance of 5. Clearly, the population regarded
the second goal as more important and thus should be considered
over the first goal, even though they had identical gap scores.
The results of the weighted gap analysis are plotted in Chart
4 below. When viewing the chart it is not as important what the
weighted score is, but the focus should be given to the length
of a goal's bar relative to the other goals.
According to the analysis, the first-year students would place
a priority on addressing the goals of: managing my time,
developing computer skills, and handling stress.
Three of the top five weighted gaps concern general education
goals. Goals involving personal development tended to cluster
more towards the middle of the 35 issues, while the world view
goals generally filtered out as the lowest priorities.
