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Table of Contents
This report presents information on general education outcomes
from NC State's 1997 Graduating Senior Survey. It provides descriptive
information about several general educational activities, and
ratings of NC State's contribution to the knowledge, skills and
personal development of graduating seniors.
Graduating seniors were asked to rate the extent to which NC State
had contributed to their development in terms of four areas:
The large majority of respondents indicated positive impacts from
their course-work on finding and accessing information and increasing
their ability to solve problems creatively. NC State was rated
as meeting intellectual growth and personal growth needs better
than career training needs.
Students were asked for recommendations toward improving the quality
of undergraduate education at NC State. One of the more salient
general education issues involved the merits of educational requirements.
The most contentious requirements were those of physical education
and the humanities.
Introduction and Methodology
This report presents selected information from the March 1997
survey of spring 1997 graduating seniors at NC State. The responses
analyzed represent 53.4% of the spring 1997 graduating senior
class. Results of Chi-Square tests revealed no significant differences
from the total population of graduating seniors in the areas of
gender or ethnicity at the 0.01 significance level. However, significant
differences were found by academic unit, so caution should
be used when interpreting any comparisons by academic unit because
the results may not generalize to the graduating senior class.
The quantitative data obtained from the 1997 Graduating Senior
Survey were analyzed according to standard statistical methods.
Forced-choice responses were tested to determine whether there
were any significant differences according to students' gender,
ethnicity, and academic unit. Questions with 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. The significance level for all analyses was p<0.01.
In addition to the quantitative data, the respondents were also
asked two broad, open-ended questions. The first question asked,
"What are the three most important things NC State could
do to improve the quality of undergraduates' experience here?"
Of the 1,002 survey respondents, 739 (74%) answered this question.
The second open-ended question was more global: "Please share
any general comments about your experiences at NC State or tell
us why you were particularly satisfied/dissatisfied with any aspect
of your education at NC State." For this second question,
416 of the 1,002 respondents (42%) provided answers. Responses
to both open-ended questions were transcribed verbatim, and then
examined for relevant themes. To represent and illustrate themes,
student quotes are included throughout this report. Both open-ended
and forced-choice responses are discussed in conjunction with
each other.
Knowledge, Skills, and Personal Development
Graduating seniors were asked to rate the extent to which NC State
had contributed to their development in terms of technical skills,
established goals for undergraduate education, attitudes and values,
and personal development. To measure impacts in these areas, a
four-point scale was used (1=not at all, 2=very little, 3=moderately,
and 4=very much). A "don't know" response was also provided.
For all items in this section, respondents marking the "don't
know" option were removed from analysis for that item. Less
than 4% of respondents used the "don't know" option
on any one item.
Items in this section were categorized into four domains. Over
80% of respondents rated NC State as contributing "moderately"
or "very much" to technical skills and personal development.
The established goals for undergraduate education also generally
received high ratings. Consistently lower ratings were provided
for NC State's contribution to attitudes and values.
On the knowledge, skills, and personal development items, there
were seventeen significant differences by gender. However, when
controlled for college, only 5 of those 17 differences remained.
The general trend of these differences reveals that females, when
compared to males, provided higher ratings of NC State's contribution
to their skills and knowledge. Some significant differences were
found by the type of college. Compared to respondents in the hard
sciences, those in the liberal arts areas generally had higher
ratings of NC State's contribution to their knowledge, skills,
and personal development. The data revealed no differences by
ethnicity on NC State's contribution to student development.
Technical skills
The percentages shown in Chart 1 indicate respondents' ratings
of the extent to which NC State contributed (moderately or very
much) to the development of their technical skills. Results show
that for each item under technical skills, over 80% of respondents
indicated that NC State contributed "moderately" or
"very much" to this area.
Established goals for undergraduate education
Chart 2 shows the percentage of respondents indicating that NC
State contributed (moderately or very much) to the established
goals for undergraduate education. As Chart 2 indicates, less
than 70% of respondents thought NC State contributed moderately
or very much to a commitment to personal health and fitness and
to understanding the present as it relates to history. Conversely,
over 90% of seniors indicated that NC State contributed to their
ability to critically analyze ideas and information.
Personal development
The percentages shown in Chart 3 indicate respondents' ratings
of the extent to which NC State contributed (moderately or very
much) to aspects of their personal development. Results in Chart
3 show that over 90% of respondents thought that NC State contributed
to their potential for success. However, less than 80% indicated
that NC State contributed moderately or very much to their ability
to handle stress.
Attitudes and values
Chart 4 shows the percentage of respondents indicating that NC
State contributed (moderately or very much) to their attitudes
and values. Less than 50% of respondents indicated that NC State
advanced their understanding of the arts, and about 65% indicated
that NC State contributed moderately or very much to appreciating
racial and sexual equality. Compared to the other areas of knowledge,
skills, and personal development, fewer respondents marked the
"very much" option to describe NC State's contribution
to their attitudes and values. For most items in this section,
respondents provided a lower rating of NC State's contribution.
Educational Outcomes
This section describes respondents' ratings on several measures
of general educational outcomes. Included in this section are
course-work impacts, reading indicators, cultural appreciation,
and global measures of growth needs.
Information access and creative problem solving
As shown in Table 1, most respondents indicated that their course-work
had positive educational impacts. The large majority (over 87%)
indicated that their course-work at NC State increased their ability
to find information and solve problems creatively.
Reading indicators
Reading indicators provide another measure of seniors' general
education. Respondents were asked to rate how frequently they
read newspapers and news magazines as well as more leisurely reading
such as novels and literature. Of those seniors reading at least
once a month, more read newspapers (87%) than novels and literature
(65%). Percentages for these reading indicators are shown in Table
2. Significant differences were found by gender, with more males
(76%) than females (64%) reading the news.
Cultural appreciation
A third general educational outcome involves the appreciation
of other cultures. As shown in Table 3, respondents were asked
two questions about the impact of NC State on their cultural appreciation.
As shown in Table 3, respondents were asked if they had made new
friends with people from different countries or cultural backgrounds
at NC State. Three-fourths of respondents (75%) agreed or tended
to agree with this statement. For the smaller number of respondents
who had taken foreign language courses (n=493), 59% indicated
that these courses helped them gain an appreciation of other cultures.
Although the majority of respondents agreed with both statements,
the results also showed that over 10% of respondents disagreed
or tended to disagree that NC State increased their cultural appreciation.
Global growth indicators
Finally, another general education outcome is provided by indicators
of global growth. For the areas of intellectual growth, career
training , and personal growth, seniors were asked to rate how
well NC State met their needs using a four-point scale (very well=1,
adequately=2, somewhat adequately=3, poorly=4). Means and percentages
for respondents are shown below in Table 4.
In meeting intellectual growth needs, about half (51%) said that
NC State did very well, and 42% indicated that NC State did adequately.
In meeting career training needs, less than a third (28%) of respondents
rated NC State as doing very well. Over a fifth (22%) indicated
that in the area of career training, NC State performed somewhat
adequately. On the measure of personal growth, 44% of respondents
indicated that NC State did "very well" in meeting their
needs. On all three measures, over 70% of respondents indicated
that NC State met their needs adequately.
Recommendations for Educational Requirements
The survey also requested recommendations for improving the quality
undergraduate education at NC State. Recommendations on advising,
instruction, and student evaluations are discussed in the report
on student satisfaction. Similarly, diversity recommendations
are discussed in the campus climate report.
For this general education report, one of the more salient issues
involved the differing opinions about the merits of educational
requirements. In the open-ended responses, 22 comments made general
recommendations for more electives and less requirements. As one
student said, "allow students to choose most of their courses
instead of having so many requirements." Another student
questioned the wisdom of course requirements, saying, "If
you don't have the desire to learn, you won't learn it. Why should
teachers have students who don't want to learn their subject?"
More specifically, numerous comments indicated that some students
felt constrained by course requirements in physical education
and in the humanities and social sciences.
In terms of the humanities and social sciences, 25 of the open-ended
responses recommended decreasing course requirements while 4 responses
recommended increasing requirements. Of the 25 responses recommending
fewer humanities requirements, a typical suggestion was "less
humanities, they take away from the technical courses needed."
Underlying such responses was a common view that "increased
humanities requirements mean graduates in technical fields know
less about their jobs and more about things they don't need."
Similarly, several students emphasized that "NC State is
different from other state schools. It is more technical and should
have curriculums that reflect this." Such comments reflect
some students' perception that the humanities requirements are
at odds with the mission of NC State. Other students thought that
humanities requirements are out of touch with what is needed in
to succeed in the workplace.
Another area of debate involved the requirements for physical
education (PE). In the forced-choice responses, one question asked
seniors about the PE requirement, stating "What do you think
the university physical education requirement should be?"
Over half (53%) of respondents recommended that NC State require
four courses (4 credit hours), and 19% recommended three courses.
However, 17% of respondents recommended that PE should not be
required. In the open-ended responses, one student advised that
"if NC State is going to require everyone to take PE, then
it should provide more low-impact courses for those of us who
are older or have physical limitations. This is college, not boot
camp." In the open-ended responses, 14 comments recommended
eliminating PE requirements while 3 comments favored maintaining
PE requirements.
The appropriateness of educational requirements was also mentioned
in other areas. In the open-ended responses, students recommended
increasing requirements for computer courses (10 comments), co-op/field-experience/internships
(5 comments), and life skills such as how to manage time and stress
(4 comments). In contrast, other students recommended eliminating
requirements for foreign languages (5 comments) and attendance
(2 comments). One student said, "I find required attendance
ridiculous. I do not pay tuition to be baby sat." Another
recommended that NC State "do away with the paternalistic
requirements of attendance in 100 and 200 level classes."
Although students held a wide range of opinions regarding what
should or should not be required, physical education and the humanities
were the most contentious educational requirements.
Summary
Agree Tend to Agree Neither A/D Tend to Disagree Disagree
More than 3 times/week
1-3 times/week 1-3 times/month Less than once/month
Seldom Not at all
Agree Tend to Agree Neither A/D Tend to Disagree Disagree
Very Well Adequately Somewhat Adequately
Poorly