Exploring the Relationship between the Collegiate Learning Assessment, Student Learning Activities, and Study Behaviors: Implications for Colleges and Universities

Globally, institutions of higher learning have attempted to utilize various methods to assess student learning outcomes and simultaneously determine what factors influence targeted performance measures. The National Survey of Student Engagement is a popular instrument many colleges and universities employ to gain an understanding of what student behaviors are linked to such desired outcomes as graduation and persistence. Internationally, other universities are exploring the concept of student engagement as a means to assess college environments. Recently, calls from stakeholders have prompted institutions to use assessments to demonstrate so-called twenty-first century skills such as critical thinking; the Collegiate Learning Assessment is one such tool. This study reports preliminary efforts to link the NSSE engagement indicators to CLA performance at a medium-sized Historically Black College or University. Results indicate that the NSSE indicators are (1) poor predictors of student GPA, (2) of the ten indicators of the NSSE, only one was found to be a significant predictor of CLA performance, and (3) of the items comprising this indicator, only half are associated with CLA outcomes.