Summary Notes on Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds, by R. J. Light, Harvard University Press, 242 pages, 2001 [in the packet of TAMU 2^nd Assessment Conference, 12 February 2002]

Summarized by J. T. P. Yao (2/20/02)

"In this book I offer a synthesis of findings form years of research on two broad questions. First, what choices can students themselves make to get the most out of college? Second, what are effective ways for faculty members and campus leaders to translate good intentions into practice? For several years, more than sixty faculty members from more than twenty colleges and universities met regularly to design ways to answer such questions. … Strong findings are emerging and are beginning to influence teaching, learning, advising, and residential life at Harvard and at some other colleges. …  More than sixteen hundred undergraduates have been interviewed during this effort, many of them more than once. Some were interviewed by faculty members: I myself interviewed four hundred. Other interviews were conducted by undergraduates, who were carefully trained and supervised by faculty members. Interviews ranged from one to three hours."

"… When we asked students to think of a specific, critical incident or moment that had changed them profoundly, four-fifth of them chose a situation or event outside of the classroom. … A large majority of students say they learn significantly more in courses that are highly structured, with relatively many quizzes and short assignments. …"

"I recently taught a seminar with seven undergraduates. Each was committed to a future career in education. … Each student was taking the full undergraduate course-load. Yet most of them also found time to volunteer in a public elementary school in the area. … They believed that true self-esteem comes from actually mastering something. The three nonwhite students in the seminar argue this case with particular passion. … Children know when they have worked hard, and when they have learned to do something well. That is what develops real self-confidence."

"Why is it that some undergraduates make the transition from high school to college smoothly, while others have much more trouble? … Sophomores who had made the most successful transitions repeatedly bought up this word on their own. Sophomores who had experienced difficulty hardly mentioned the word, even when prompted. The critical word is time. … They mentioned time management, and time allocation, and time as a scarce resource. …"

"A steadily increasing number of undergraduates work in computing and technology. Many do this for their own learning, separate from paid employment. … There is no significant relationship between paid work and grades. … Two striking findings pop up when students are asked to describe their satisfaction with work experiences. First, on average, the more hours per week a student works, the happier he or she is with work experience as an integral part of college. Second, three-fourths of all working students say that working has a positive effect on their overall satisfaction with college. Only 6 percent think work has a negative effect. …"

"… In any one semester, 25 percent of all undergraduates are involved in volunteering. More than 65 percent of all students do volunteer work at some point during college. … Students who work for money somehow find time to do volunteer work more often than those who don't work for money. … Why do students volunteer? They report that they 'enjoy helping others,' or they 'want to give something back,' or they 'want to make the world a better place.' Of students now volunteering, 96 percent plan to continue doing so in the future. As with paid work and extracurricular activities, there is no significant relationship between volunteering and grades. On average, students who do volunteer work have slightly higher grades than those who don't. … With the exception of intercollegiate athletics, no extra curricular activity is associated with lower grades. … Students involved in some outside-of-classroom activities are far happier with their college experience than the few who are not involved."

"Why do some students perform significantly less well than expected? Reflecting on three questions may help students understand their own situation, and may help their advisors know how to help them. First, are there certain problems that are not unique to any one student, but that are shared by others who are having academic trouble? Second, what can advisors do to help students who are struggling? Third, what can the students do to help themselves? … One symptom, a warning flag, is that a student feels a sense of isolation from the rest of the college community. … With a bit of effort, an advisor can spot isolated students. … The second symptom is unwillingness to seek help. … One source of trouble is poor management of time. … A second source of trouble is that many students who struggle continue to organize their work in college the same way they did in high school. … A third source of trouble for some students is their selection of courses. …A fourth source of trouble is a particular study habit shared by almost all students who are struggling academically: they always study alone. …"

"Choosing courses each semester is a decision that inevitably shapes a student's academic experience. … As students tell it, one-to-one supervised research courses are the most intense of all academic experiences. … A small seminar is usually organized in an entirely different way and for different purpose. … Students describe each of these formats… as having its own advantages. They urge other undergraduates to try to choose courses that will allow work in both formats. … As they begin each new course, what do students hope to get out of it? … Two factors stand out in students' reports of how small classes make an especially strong impact. First, such classes enable a professor to get to know each student reasonably well. Second, a professor can use certain teaching techniques that are hard to implement in large classes."

"Of all skills students say they want to strengthen, writing is mentioned three times more than any other. … When asked how they work on their writing, students who improve the most describe an intense process. They work with a professor, or with a writing teacher, or with a small study-group of fellow students who meet regularly to critique one another's writing. … The relationship between the amount of writing for a course and students' level of engagement… is stronger than the relationship between students' engagement and any other course characteristic. … The seniors point out that writing instruction helps most when students want it. … They believe they learn most effectively when writing instruction is organized around a substantive discipline. …"

"Patricia Cross, now a professor emeritus of higher education at the University of California at Berkeley, suggested a simple and low-tech device called the one-minute paper that addresses both the emphasis on the big picture and the need for feedback. … Then ask each student to take out a sheet of paper and write down, anonymously, brief answers to two questions: 1. What is the big point, the main idea that you learned in class today? 2. What is the main unanswered question you leave class with today? What is the 'muddiest' point? A box is placed near the door to the classroom, and students drop their papers into the box as they leave. … It invites student reflection and feedback. … To summarize, the one-minute paper has many benefits. … 1. It requires more active listening from students. 2. It helps instructors identify students who need special help or who lack adequate preparation for the course. … 3. It improves and focuses students' writing. … 4. It helps document for students that they are indeed learning something substantial in the course."

"The first perception is that most undergraduates are not interested to work in sciences when they first arrive. This perception is wrong, at least on my campus and probably on many others as well. … The second perception is that students are frustrated by science faculty members' emphasis on research. … Several years ago, of sixty students asked about this directly, only seven expressed this view. ... A follow-up examination of this same question led to similar results. … The third perception is that many undergraduates avoid classes in the physical sciences because they worry they can't do the work… This perception is half wrong. … The fourth perception is that students who avoid science class have thought through their decisions carefully and later are glad they made them. This perception is partly wrong. … The fifth perception is that many students avoid science classes because the workload is significantly heavier than for classes in other fields. This perception is in some measure correct. … The sixth perception is that there is more grade competition among students in the sciences than in other areas. This perception is clearly correct. …"

"Good advising may be the single most underestimated characteristics of a successful college experience. … Young women and men arriving at college immediately confront a set of decisions. Which courses to choose? What subject to specialize in? What activities to join? How much to study? How to study? Such decisions are intensely personal. … Advisors play a critical role. They can ask a broad array of questions, and make a few suggestions, that can affect students in a profound and continuous way. … Step one is to encourage first year students, on a voluntary basis, to track their time for more than a day or two. … Step two is to sit and debrief with each student, one to one, about what their time log shows. … A third step is to follow up a few weeks after the debriefing, to see if each student is actually implementing whatever insights and suggestions emerged from going over the time logs. … There are enormous numbers of opportunities for students to connect with potential mentors. … All the suggestions so far for students seeking good advising or mentoring have a common thread: each focuses on the academic side of a student's life. … That advisors should encourage students from their very first days on campus to find a group to join. Step one is for each advisor to simply make this recommendation to each advisee. …"

"… I have never forgotten those lessons. For years I have asked my own new advisees to do exactly the same thing. … And this one act - sharing a rough draft of a document and asking my new, young advisee to mark it up so we can sit together and discuss it - is what they remember and mention more than any other. … They say it shaped their attitude toward writing and their view of themselves as young professionals."

"... We asked graduating seniors this question: 'Can you think of any particular faculty member who has had a particularly important impact on you?' … Of all students who were asked this question, 89 percent quickly identified a particular professor. … Only 8 percent of undergraduates could not come up with a professor who had had a major impact on them. ... The faculty members who had an especially big impact are those who helped students make connections between a serious curriculum… and the students' personal lives, values, and experiences…"

"Research universities inevitably have some large classes. … Some students express a wish for fewer large courses. … How can students synthesize ideas and concepts across disciplines? The interviews identify three ways. One is to choose courses that are consciously designed to integrate. A second option is to try to do it on their own. … A third way is for faculty members to facilitate the process. … To do this, a professor often creates a task that draws on the different expertise and backgrounds of class members."

"Now, slightly over half of students on most campuses are women, and nearly 25 percent of all undergraduates across America are nonwhite. … Students from all ethnic and racial backgrounds note that any discussion of diversity on campus should be separated into two parts. One part is the question of access. … The second part is the question of educational impact. … These are separable questions. The second one is conditional, and depends upon the answer to the first. … Students stress that certain environment facilitate learning from people with different backgrounds far more than others do. … Students point out that how well ethnic and racial diversity actually enhances learning depends largely on how well a college builds on… and proactively strengthens this basic assumption. They say that if this assumption of certain shared values in undercut by campus culture… then positive educational benefits may not flow from diversity of ethnic and racial backgrounds. ..."

"… Nonwhite undergraduates in particular report a troubling range of experiences in schools where 'making it possible for students from different backgrounds to just get along' became the primary objective. They believe this has catastrophic consequences. … One result is that some white students and their parents resent it. Another result is that nonwhite students are just like white students, not pushed to excel. … They find it ironic that such efforts… have led to both poorer academic experiences and inter-ethnic hostility. …"

"The topic of ethnic and racial diversity is a highly charged political issue on many campuses. … One key theme is that diversity on campus exerts an impact on learning both in and out of classes. A second theme is that interactions among students often have powerful effects on people from many different backgrounds. … A third theme is that while many interactions are positive, some are clearly the opposite. About two-thirds of the examples students give are strikingly positive. … Yet several tell of troubling encounters."

"Religious diversity plays a role in classroom discussions and debates that can serve as a powerful educational function. … First, if they are religious… they bring a core set of beliefs and traditions. … In classes, such students may interpret literary, historical, or cross-cultural readiness in light of their religious upbringing. … When religious ideas come up in class discussions, students often perceive links between the discussions and their own beliefs personal lives. The result is a blending that is delicate and occasionally even risks offense. … Religious students face a genuine difficulty when they think about connecting their personal religious beliefs with academic work in classrooms. …"

"When preparing to ask about learning related to students' different ethnic and racial backgrounds, I expected to find that most 'academic' learning took place in classes and most 'personal' learning happened in interactions outside of classes. Student interviewers predicted that the interviews would confound my expectations. They were right. Learning does not take place in such a partitioned way. … For each student, the tone of college life is set early. Much of that tone depends upon roommates, neighbors, and dorm supervisors. … Living with students from different backgrounds can actually change behavior. ... The key point is that extensive contact, preferably both inside and outside of class, is what allows students to benefit and learn from ethnic differences on campus - and that residential arrangements can foster this contact in a way that encourages such learning."

"… Students have no shortage of suggestions. … To learn from one another, students from different racial or ethnic groups, must interact. … It is the college leadership's insistence that activities on campus be inclusive. … Yet a solid majority of the nonwhite students, and nearly all the white students, report an evolution in the their feelings about making it too easy for individuals in withdraw into the friendly confines of a physical space where everyone else looks like them. … A second reason some students recommend a policy of inclusion is that they believe such a policy sends a message it sets a tone. … Many students feel that diversity appears to be working reasonably well on our campus. … A significant number give the credit to campus culture builders… It happens when students as well as campus leaders make a proactive effort to capitalize on the opportunity diversity offers."

"Faculty members must assume a central role in directing assessment projects and policy-oriented innovations to improve teaching, advising, and student life. … I had assumed that of course the answer would be yes. But gradually I learned that many faculty members were concerned they might become little more than research assistants for some one else. Most faculty are busy, and most of the work of their professional life has little to do with assessment. …"

"For our research, President Bok provided support in two ways. First, he addressed on campus research and assessment in his annual report of 1986, thus publicly giving this work a high priority. … Second, Bok made a clear statement by allocating seed money to the seminars. … It is clear in retrospect that this funding emphasized high administrative priority from the president's office from the outset. … A critical message from our work is that such administrative action doesn't do much to encourage steady and widespread improvement. … After all, developing new ways to teach that are demonstrably better than existing practice is not easy. … By encouraging both innovation and systematic assessment, any campus embarks on a longer-term program of steady improvement. … Creating such an environment can be a challenge. It is natural for most faculty members… to highlight new courses or teaching methods only when work well. … Faculty members and administrators must agree to accept this possibility of two steps forward and one step back. It can lead to a remarkable upsurge in efforts to improve education for all students."

[Readers who are interested in this book are encouraged to read the original version in its entirety. Other summary notes on faculty reward systems are available on the Internet at http://lohman.tamu.edu under the heading "Summaries of Papers ..."]