Academic Challenge

Challenging intellectual and creative work is central to student learning and collegiate quality. Ten survey items address the nature and amount of assigned academic work, the complexity of cognitive tasks presented to students, and the standards faculty members use to evaluate student performance. They are:

During the current school year, how often have you:

• Worked harder than you thought you could to meet an instructor’s standards or expectations

How much does your coursework at this college emphasize:

• Analyzing the basic elements of an idea, experience, or theory
• Synthesizing and organizing ideas, information, or experiences in new ways
• Making judgments about the value or soundness of information, arguments, or methods
• Applying theories or concepts to practical problems or in new situations
• Using information you have read or heard to perform a new skill

During the current school year:

• How many assigned textbooks, manuals, books, or book-length packs of course readings did you read
• How many papers or reports of any length did you write
• To what extent have your examinations challenged you to do your best work

How much does this college emphasize:

• Encouraging you to spend significant amounts of time studying

Key Findings: Academic Challenge

• 48% of students indicate that they very often or often worked harder than they thought they could to meet an instructor’s standards or expectations.
• 69% of students surveyed indicate that their college encourages them to spend significant amounts of time studying, either “quite a bit” or “very much.”
• 31% of full-time students report that they have read four or fewer assigned textbooks, manuals, books, or book-length packs of course readings during the current school year. (The survey is administered in February–April.)
• 29% of full-time students report that they have written four or fewer papers or reports of any length during the current school year.
• 67% indicate that their exams are relatively to extremely challenging, while 9% find them relatively to extremely easy.
• 63% of surveyed students report that their coursework emphasizes “very much” or “quite a bit” analyzing the basic elements of an idea, experience, or theory, but smaller percentages report an emphasis on using information to perform a new skill (57%) or using the mental processes of synthesis (56%), application (52%), and judgment (48%).

For examples of intentional strategies that colleges are using to promote academic challenge, see CCSSE's 2004 National Report, Engagement by Design.

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