The Core Curriculum Student Opinion Survey

Preliminary Report

During the 1998 Fall semester the Core Curriculum Student Opinion Survey was developed. It was administered at the end of the 1998 Fall semester and the beginning of the 1999 Spring semester. Students were surveyed from a cross-section of university courses. Courses offered within each of the university's colleges and at all levels (100 through 400 level) were included in the survey. A total of 1455 undergraduate students participated with nearly equal proportions of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

The survey contained thirty-two questions.

    • Eight questions (Q1-Q4, Q29-Q32) provided information regarding the student's class standing, history of core classes taken, gender, age, residency status, and current GPA.
    • Sixteen questions (Q5-Q20) concerned student opinions regarding the goals of the core.
    • Eight questions (Q21-Q28) concerned student opinions regarding the current core structure and leaning experiences in core classes.

Core Goals

The survey indicated over 90% of the students believe they have either a high or moderate understanding of the goals of the core curriculum. The students then answered fourteen questions regarding the level of influence those MSU core classes have had with respect to specific core goals. The following table summarizes the core goals and the percentage of students who responded positively (either 'greatly increased' or 'slightly increased').

Ability to use the skills and ideas from one course and apply them in other courses 75%
Intellectual curiosity 71%
Public-speaking skills 71%
Ability to reason mathematically 69%
Writing skills 68%
Ability to analyze written arguments 66%
Ability to think critically 66%
Ability to understand scientific concepts 65%
Respect of different points of view 63%
Decision-making abilities 62%
Ability to think independently 59%
Appreciation of other cultures 58%
Appreciation of visual arts and/or music 52%
Interest in current events 46%
Decisions when making ethical/moral choices 40%


For each of these fourteen questions the percentage of students who responded negatively (a response of 'decreased') was very low ranging from 1% to 6%.

When the responses are analyzed by gender, a higher percentage of female students responded more positively than male students for most questions. The following table summarizes the percentages of female and male students who responded positively (either 'greatly increased' or 'slightly increased').
 

  Female Male
Ability to use the skills and ideas from one course and apply them in other courses 80% 72%
Intellectual curiosity 73% 68%
Public-speaking skills 72% 70%
Writing skills 69% 66%
Ability to reason mathematically 67% 70%
Ability to analyze written arguments 63% 67%
Ability to think critically 67% 66%
Ability to understand scientific concepts 66% 64%
Respect of different points of view 67% 59%
Decision-making abilities 60% 64%
Ability to think independently 61% 58%
Appreciation of other cultures 66% 52%
Appreciation of visual arts and/or music 57% 48%
Interest in current events 50% 43%
Decisions when making ethical/moral choices 43% 39%


When the responses are analyzed by class standing, the percentage of students who responded positively (either 'greatly increased' or 'slightly increased') is generally higher for juniors and seniors than it is for freshmen and sophomores. The following table summarizes the percentages for freshmen (Fr), sophomores (So), juniors (Jr), and seniors (Sr) who responded positively regarding that core goal.
 

  Fr So Jr Sr
Ability to use the skills and ideas from one course and apply them in other courses 68% 77% 79% 77%
Intellectual curiosity 66% 74% 70% 71%
Public-speaking skills 66% 72% 74% 71%
Ability to reason mathematically 76% 71% 65% 62%
Writing skills 59% 69% 71% 71%
Ability to analyze written arguments 61% 66% 68% 69%
Ability to think critically 62% 69% 68% 65%
Ability to understand scientific concepts 68% 66% 60% 66%
Respect of different points of view 62% 57% 66% 64%
Decision-making abilities 63% 63% 63% 59%
Ability to think independently 55% 61% 64% 57%
Appreciation of other cultures 46% 55% 66% 62%
Appreciation of visual arts and/or music 38% 53% 57% 55%
Interest in current events 39% 49% 49% 47%
Decisions when making ethical/moral choices 37% 41% 43% 40%


When the responses are further analyzed by class standing, there is an increasing trend in the percentage for the response 'greatly increase' as students progress through the core curriculum. That is, the percentage is lowest for freshmen, is somewhat higher for sophomores, and then is highest for juniors and seniors. The following table summarizes the percentages for freshmen (Fr), sophomores (So), juniors (Jr), and seniors (Sr) who indicated a 'great increase' regarding that core goal.
 

  Fr So Jr Sr
Ability to use the skills and ideas from one course and apply them in other courses 14% 21% 23% 26%
Intellectual curiosity 17% 26% 26% 32%
Public-speaking skills 23% 19% 26% 23%
Ability to reason mathematically 20% 23% 22% 22%
Writing skills 11% 16% 18% 21%
Ability to analyze written arguments 7% 10% 11% 15%
Ability to think critically 12% 16% 16% 20%
Ability to understand scientific concepts 14% 21% 19% 30%
Respect of different points of view 13% 12% 20% 21%
Decision-making abilities 11% 13% 19% 18%
Ability to think independently 13% 16% 20% 21%
Appreciation of other cultures 12% 17% 25% 24%
Appreciation of visual arts and/or music 13% 19% 22% 20%
Interest in current events 4% 12% 14% 18%
Decisions when making ethical/moral choices 5% 4% 11% 8%



Current Core Curriculum Structure

The following survey results reflect student opinions regarding the current core structure (Q22-Q25).

  • 66% of the students support a change in the core curriculum that would allow the number of core credits in each core area (e.g., Verbal, Humanities, etc.) to vary by major.
  • 81% of the students do not support a requirement that all core credits be completed before entering senior status.
  • 79% of the students support a continuation of the policy that majors and non-majors should be enrolled in the same sections of core classes.
  • 49% of the students indicate they believe the number of core credits should remain the same. A similar percentage, however (48%) want the number of core credits to either be reduced or want the core eliminated. There is very little support (3%) to have the number of core credits increased.


Core Curriculum Learning Experiences

The following survey results reflect student opinions regarding learning experiences in core classes (Q26-Q28).

  • 70% of the students, a strong majority, responded that they learned better in core classes where the enrollment is small, while 27% responded that class size makes no difference. The remaining 3% prefer large classes.
  • 78% of the students had learning experiences with faculty members as instructors of core classes that were above average (either 'excellent' or 'good'), while 20% considered the learning experiences with faculty members as fair. Only 2% claim to have had poor learning experiences with faculty members as instructors.
  • In contrast, only 40% of the students had learning experiences with graduate student instructors that were above average (either 'excellent' or 'good'), while 41% considered the learning experiences with graduate student instructors as fair. Unlike the experiences with faculty members, 19% of the students claim to have had poor learning experiences with graduate student instructors.

Core Goals by College

For the survey, 300- and 400- level classes were selected from within each of the university's seven colleges. The students within each of these upper division classes were exclusively majors within that college. The following table contains percentages of the opinions for the 427 students in these upper division courses regarding their understanding of the goals of the core curriculum.
 Note: Due to non-response from all but one class in the College of Agriculture (7 responses), summaries from only 6 of the 7 colleges will be presented.
 

    High Moderate Low Responses
Engineering (ENG) 60 33 7 59
Letters & Science (L&S) 36 55 9 188
Nursing (NUR) 35 58 6 30
Arts & Architecture (A&A) 30 62 8 66
Business (BUS) 23 75 2 31
Health & Human Development (HHD) 22 63 15 53

 

The following tables contain summaries of core goal responses by students surveyed in upper division classes across colleges. The percentages for Nursing and Business are consistently highest for the 'Increased' category while the percentages for Engineering are typically the lowest (with the exception of mathematical reasoning). The percents for Arts & Architecture also tend to be low.

Two curious cases were Arts & Architecture responses for Q10 (mathematical reasoning) and Q16 (understanding scientific concepts) which had atypically high percents (20% and 15%) for the 'Decreased' category.

 

 

Summary of Core Goal Responses by Colleges


*Represented in percentages

(Q6) Ability to analyze written arguments                            (Q7) Appreciation of other cultures

  Increase Unchanged Decreased     Increased Unchanged Decreased
BUS
84
16
0
   NUR
83
17
0
NUR
78
22
0
   BUS
73
27
0
HHD
69
30
1
   HHD
72
28
0
L&S
68
32
1
   A&A
68
32
0
A&A
62
36
2
   L&S
67
33
1
ENG
51
47
2
   ENG
44
54
2

 

(Q8) Appreciation of visual arts/music                                   (Q9) Decision-making abilities

  Increase Unchanged Decreased     Increased Unchanged Decreased
A&A
74
24
2
   NUR
73
27
0
NUR
70
30
0
   BUS
71
26
0
HHD
66
34
0
   HHD
68
30
2
BUS
53
47
0
   L&S
62
37
1
L&S
52
47
1
   A&A
58
40
2
ENG
47
53
0
   ENG
50
48
2

 

(Q10) Ability to reason mathematically                                (Q11) Respect of different points of view

  Increase Unchanged Decreased     Increased Unchanged Decreased
BUS
80
20
0
   HHD
83
15
2
ENG
63
35
2
   BUS
81
16
3
L&S
60
36
4
   NUR
73
27
0
HHD
59
33
7
   L&S
69
31
0
NUR
59
38
3
   A&A
65
32
3
A&A
43
38
20
   ENG
47
49
4

 

(Q12) Public speaking skills                                                  (Q13) Writing skills

  Increase Unchanged Decreased     Increased Unchanged Decreased
NUR
90
10
0
   NUR
87
13
0
BUS
84
13
3
   BUS
84
16
0
HHD
78
22
0
   HHD
77
21
2
L&S
69
29
2
   L&S
68
28
4
ENG
69
31
0
   ENG
66
30
4
A&A
62
34
3
   A&A
62
32
7

 

(Q14) Ability to think independently                                      (Q15) Ability to think critically

  Increase Unchanged Decreased     Increased Unchanged Decreased
NUR
87
13
0
   NUR
87
13
0
BUS
69
28
3
   BUS
75
22
3
HHD
69
31
0
   HHD
70
30
0
A&A
69
36
3
   A&A
70
28
2
L&S
57
43
0
   L&S
67
33
0
ENG
47
49
4
   ENG
56
42
2

 

(Q16) Ability to understand scientific concepts                      (Q17) Intellectual curiosity

  Increase Unchanged Decreased     Increased Unchanged Decreased
NUR
87
13
0
   BUS
88
9
3
L&S
72
27
2
   NUR
80
20
0
HHD
65
35
0
   HHD
78
22
0
ENG
62
36
2
   L&S
73
27
1
BUS
56
44
0
   A&A
68
29
3
A&A
45
40
15
   ENG
65
33
2

 

(Q18) Ability to use the skills and ideas from                           (Q19) Interest in current events
 one course and apply them in other courses

  Increase Unchanged Decreased     Increased Unchanged Decreased
NUR
93
7
0
   BUS
66
34
0
BUS
91
9
0
   NUR
57
37
7
L&S
84
16
0
   HHD
56
43
2
HHD
81
19
0
   L&S
46
46
9
A&A
70
27
3
   A&A
40
52
8
ENG
64
36
0
   ENG
33
62
5

 

(Q20) Decisions when making ethical/moral choices              (Q21) Overall rating of MSU core classes

  Influenced Not Influenced Negatively 
Influenced 		    Excellent Good  Fair Poor
NUR
66
34
0
   NUR
17
47
37
0
BUS
59
41
0
   BUS
6
44
50
0
HHD
51
49
0
   HHD
6
51
38
6
L&S
42
57
1
   L&S
6
41
43
10
ENG
31
67
2
   ENG
7
44
39
11
A&A
28
69
3
   A&A
6
33
44
16


Summary of Opinions Regarding the Core Curriculum Structure by College

The following results reflect student opinions from the surveyed classes across colleges with respect to the current core structure (Q22-Q25).

    • The percent of students who support a change in the core curriculum requirement that would allow the number of core credits in each core area to vary by major does not vary greatly across colleges (59% to 67%).
    • The percent of students who support a requirement that all core credits be completed before entering senior status varies considerably across colleges (from 12% who support the requirement in Engineering to 45% who support the requirement in Nursing).
    • The percent of students who support a continuation of the policy that majors and non-majors should be enrolled in the same sections of core classes also varies considerably across colleges (from 91%  for Business who do support the policy to 70%  for Letters & Science who do support the policy).
    • The percent of students that indicated they felt the number of core credits should remain the same varies from 45% for Engineering to 62% for Nursing. At the same time, the percent of students who want the number of core credits to either be reduced or eliminated varies from 34% for Nursing to 49% for Engineering.



Summary of Opinions

Regarding the Core Curriculum Structure by College

 

(Q22) Credit requirements in each of the core               (Q23)Credit requirements should be
areas should be allowed to vary by major                      complete before entering senior status

 
 Yes 
       No     
Yes
No
NUR
67
33
   NUR
45
55
ENG
66
34
   HHD
31
69
L&S
65
35
   BUS
23
77
HHD
65
35
   L&S
18
82
A&A
65
35
   A&A
15
85
BUS
59
41
   ENG
12
88

 

(Q24) Majors and non-majors should...                      (Q25) The number of core credits should.

 
Be seperated into different sections 
Continue to be in the same sections 
       

Increase
Remain the same
   

Decrease
Be eliminated
L&S
30
70
   A&A
11
51
29
9
A&A
29
71
   ENG
7
45
42
7
ENG
27
73
   HHD
6
49
42
4
HHD
27
73
   L&S
5
52
37
5
NUR
20
80
   NUR
3
62
34
0
BUS
9
91
   BUS
3
56
41
0

 

 

Summary of Opinions Regarding Core Curriculum Learning Experiences

The following survey results reflect student opinions regarding learning experiences in core classes across colleges (Q26-Q28).

    • The percent of students who responded they learned better in core classes where the enrollment is small varies from 65% to 74% across colleges. The percent of students who responded the class size does not affect their learning experience in core classes varies from 22% to 33% across colleges.
    • The percent of students who had core class learning experiences with faculty members as instructors that were above average (either 'excellent' or 'good') is consistently high across colleges (from 69% for Engineering to 81% for Letters & Science). The percent of students who had poor or fair learning experiences with faculty members in core classes is consistently low across colleges (from 32% for Art & Architecture to 19% for Letters & Science).
    • Conversely, the percent of students who had learning experiences with graduate students as instructors of core classes that were above average (either 'excellent' or 'good') is relatively low across colleges (from 27% to 38%). The percent of students who had poor learning experiences with graduate students as instructors in core classes is relatively high across colleges (17% to 29%).

 

Summary of Opinions Regarding the Core Curriculum Learning Experience

 

(Q26) Learn better in core classes with                (Q27) Learning experiences in courses taught by
enrollment size                                                      faculty members

 
Large
Small
No difference
    
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
L&S
3
74
22
   L&S
18
63
18
1
ENG
2
73
25
   NUR
17
63
20
0
NUR
0
70
30
   BUS
12
63
25
0
BUS
6
69
25
   ENG
12
59
28
2
A&A
1
65
33
   A&A
12
57
30
2
HHD
6
65
30
   HHD
11
59
24
6

 

(Q27) Learning experiences in courses
taught by graduate student instructors

 
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor
NUR
10
27
47
17
HHD
8
27
37
29
BUS
7
20
53
20
A&A
6
21
49
25
L&S
5
33
41
21
ENG
4
30
49
17