African-American Students' Experiences of Good Practices: A Comparison of Institutional Type

Journal of College Student Development, Mar/Apr 2006 by Seifert, Tricia A, Drummond, Jerri, Pascarella, Ernest T

Using the principles of good practice in undergraduate education defined by Chickering and Gamson (1987, 1991), this study examined the role of institutional type in African-American students' experiences. Controlling for confounding influences, students attending historically Black colleges reported significantly greater levels of good practices in and out of the classroom with faculty and peers than did their counterparts at both research and regional institutions. Only one difference was found in experiences of good practices between historically Black and liberal arts colleges.

As the U.S. becomes more ethnically diverse, so are the students at today's colleges and universities. From 1976 to 2001, minority student enrollment increased by 63% whereas White student enrollment increased moderately by 15.8% (Digest of Education Statistics, 2003). Despite the increased democratization of higher education, many of the developmental and college impact models were developed using a relatively homogenous college population (e.g., Kohlberg, 1969; Perry, 1968; Tinto, 1975). Researchers have given evidence for the need to test the saliency of current student development models on an increasingly heterogeneous student population (King, Taylor, & Ottinger, 1989; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991, 1998).

In addition to changing student demographics, the current focus on accountability on the part of legislatures and accrediting boards has called attention to undergraduate student learning (Whitt, 1999). Chickering and Gamson (1987, 1991), in a project sponsored by the American Association for Higher Education, the Education Commission of the States, and the Johnson Foundation, synthesized the literature on college impact and identified dimensions which consistently enhanced student learning. Focusing on students' cognitive and personal development, Chickering and Gamson framed the dimensions into seven broad principles of "good practice" in undergraduate education. These good practices include student-faculty contact, cooperation among students, active learning, academic effort/time on task, prompt feedback to students, high expectations, and diversity experiences.

The purpose of this study was to compare the educational experiences of AfricanAmerican students in and out of the classroom with faculty and peers along the dimensions of good practices in undergraduate education by institutional type. The key question guiding this study was: To what extent, if any, does institutional type affect African-American students' experiences of good practices in undergraduate education? By focusing solely on the experiences of African-American students, the current study responds to calls for expanding the testing of student development theories beyond a historically homogenous population of college students. Additionally, through the inclusion of historically Black colleges, this study answers the need for greater accountability by testing to what extent Chickering and Gamson's (1987, 1991) empirically vetted good practices are experienced by African-American students differently by institutional type.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Research on the Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education

Using data from the National Study of Student Learning (NSSL) from students at 16 institutions (four research universities, seven regional institutions, and five liberal arts colleges), Pascarella, Wolniak, Cruce, and Blaich (2004) investigated the extent to which the principles of good practice in undergraduate education prevailed at different institutional types. The dependent measures for the study were informed by Chickering and Gamson's (1987, 1991) principles as well as additional research on effective teaching and influential peer interactions (Astin, 1993; Davis & Murrell, 1993; Feldman, 1997; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991; Whitt, Edison, Pascarella, Nora, & Terenzini, 1999). The 19 dependent measures of "good practice" were grouped in the following seven categories: (a) student-faculty contact, (b) cooperation among students, (c) active learning/time on task, (d) prompt feedback to students, (e) high expectations of faculty for student learning, (f) quality of teaching, and (g) influential interactions with other students. Controlling for a host of student precollege and institutional characteristics, Pascarella et al. (2004) found the prevalence of good practices to be significantly greater at liberal arts colleges than at regional institutions or regional universities, net of their full-time, residential character and institutional selectivity. Although they found significant effects in all three years under investigation, effects in the first year of college were the most pronounced.

Others have looked at the impact of institutional type on isolated principles of good practice. For example, Umbach and Kuh (in press) examined the prevalence of diversity experiences across Carnegie types. Net of student background characteristics and institutional traits, they found students at Baccalaureate Colleges-Liberal Arts reported more diversity experiences than their peers at other institutional types despite the fact that on average, liberal arts colleges enroll proportionately fewer students of color. Similar findings were reported earlier by Hu and Kuh (2003). This body of evidence suggests institutional context plays a role in the prevalence of students' experiences of good practices in undergraduate education.