Engaging College Students for Success

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which five engagement benchmarks namely: (i) level of academic challenge , (ii) active and collaborative learning ,(iii) student-faculty interaction , (iv) enriching educational experiences and (v) supportive campus environment predict various dimensions of self- reported academic, personal, and social development/ growth for senior international students at Research Universities. The benchmarks were regressed against self-reported outcomes: i) acquiring a broad general education, acquiring job or work-related knowledge and skills, thinking critically and analytically, working effectively with others learning effectively on your own, and understanding yourself. Results indicated that a supportive campus environment and the level of academic challenge were the best predictors of the self- assessed outcomes. Students had lower means in the student-faculty interaction and enriching educational experiences indicating less engagement in these benchmarks. Students reported gaining more in thinking critically and analytically and in the acquisition of a broad and general education.