Fostering and Assessing Students’ Sense of
Themselves as Engaged Global Citizens
Presenters
• Christine Olson, Ph.D.,
Faculty Co-Coordinator for Civic Engagement at SMSU
• Scott Peterson , Ph.D.,
Faculty Co-Coordinator for Civic Engagement at SMSU
Context
• Rural-based Regional Comprehensive University
• Residential and commuter students, mostly first generation and
traditional age
• Have been working intentionally to develop infrastructure to
support civic engagement at SMSU since 2004
• Have actively participated much of this time period in ADP, Minnesota
Campus Compact, and AACU civic engagement initiatives
• Active interdisciplinary faculty advisory group; strong liaison
relationships with student services
• Two campus-wide inventories of civic engagement (2004; 2009)
• Revised SMSU Mission Statement and Liberal Education Program to
include civic engagement outcome
• Active with assessment
• Faculty Co-Coordinators supervise student staff working in
SMSU Center for Civic Engagement
SMSU Mission Statement
• Southwest Minnesota State University prepares students to
meet the complex challenges of this century as engaged
citizens in their local and global communities. Our
comprehensive degree programs, taught in the liberal arts
tradition, are dedicated to connecting students’ academic
and practical professional development experiences in
southwestern Minnesota to the wider world.
LEP Learning Outcome:
Practice Responsible Citizenship
Practice responsible citizenship in their local and
global communities
 Develop the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and dispositions necessary to
make a difference in local and global communities
 Recognize themselves as part of a larger social fabric, with public lives and personal
ownership of social problems
 Explore the nature and use of power and authority in various contexts
 Engage in democracy as a life-enhancing, every day practice of skills such as
attentiveness to public affairs and current events, regular volunteering, creative use
of conflict, active group membership and collective problem solving
 Express their voices through informed citizenship and participation in civic and
political processes
 Confidently engage in civic discourse, self-reflection, and consideration of other
points of view
Broad, Differentiated View of
Civic Engagement
• Worked into structure of SMSU Center for Civic
Engagement website
http://www.smsu.edu/campuslife/civicengagement/?id=8476
• Includes consideration of “civic mindedness”, civic
engagement behaviors and efficacy (for example)
• Includes resources related to local and global civic
engagement
Assessment Efforts up to 2015
Local data and resources- SMSU:
• Civic Engagement Survey (CES)
• NSSE (2008, 2011, 2013)
• Campus-wide Survey of Civic Engagement (2009;
previously in 2004)
• Service-Learning Outcomes
• Data about service activities done in groups in three
areas of campus:
• Student Clubs
• Athletics
• Residential Life
• Review of relevant rubrics and assessment measures
continued…
Identification/review of resources from relevant
national and regional organizations:
• Measures available through AASCU American
Democracy Project
• AACU Civic Engagement rubric
• Rubrics/measures available via National Campus
Compact, Minnesota Campus Compact, AASCU
Corporation for National and Community Service
Integrated, Collaborative Efforts to
Gather and Analyze Data
Academic Affairs:
• LEP Revision Committee
• Institutional Assessment
Sub- Committee for
Practice Responsible
Citizenship
• HLC Preparation
• Strategic Planning
• Service-Learning
Outcomes
Student Services:
•
•
•
•
Registration Office
Residential Life
Student Activities
Athletics
Community Connections
Example efforts to collaborate with community and gather
input from community partners:
• Community advisory committees for academic units involved
with service-learning
• (e.g., Exercise Science; Social Work)
• Campus Community Connect Health Promotion Event initiated by
MCC HealthCorps VISTA
• Sustained campus-community partnerships addressing
community/regional needs
• (e.g.. Environmental Science- water quality; Exercise Science/Center
for Civic Engagement/YMCA – health assessment/promotion)
Active Involvement of Students
• Student Staff at SMSU Center for Civic Engagement:
• Interns
• Work Study Students
• Graduate Assistant
• Student Research Assistants
Quantitative and Qualitative Forms
of Analysis
Examples:
• CES and CMG Surveys
• LEP Practice Responsible Citizenship Outcome:
“What does civic engagement mean to you?”
 Service Learning Outcomes
SMSU Civic Engagement Survey
Summary of Results
2010 - 2015
Civic Engagement Survey
• Developed spring 2008, revised summer 2009
• Completed by all graduating SMSU seniors
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
N
474
469
443
454
481
Volunteering and Community Service
How often have you engaged in: Volunteering with others from
SMSU for one-time service activities such as Coats for Kids?
Volunteering and Community Service
How often have you engaged in: Volunteering for campus events
such as Relay for Life or the annual Chili Feed Cook-Off?
Volunteering and Community Service
How often have you engaged in: Community involvement
through a campus organization or club?
Volunteering and Community Service
How often have you participated in community service through
an organization that was not connected to SMSU?
Volunteering and Community Service
Estimate the number of courses that you have taken at SMSU
that have included community involvement.
Volunteering and Community Service
Percentages of students reporting participation in any form of civic
engagement while at SMSU…
Civic-Minded Graduate (CMG) Scale
• Steinberg, Hatcher, and Bringle (2011)
• Available at: http://csl.iupui.edu/doc/cmg/cmg-scale.pdf
• Civic-Mindedness
“refers to a person’s inclination or disposition to be
knowledgeable of and involved in the community, and to
have a commitment to act upon a sense of responsibility as
a member of that community” (Bringle & Steinberg, 2010)
• 30 Likert-style items grouped into 4 subscales
• Knowledge, Skills, Dispositions, Behavioral Intentions
CMG Scale
Subscale
Description
Sample Item
Knowledge
Understanding of
current events, social
issues, and ways to
contribute
My experiences at SMSU have helped
me to know a lot about opportunities to
become involved in the community.
Skills
Communication and
listening, diversity,
consensus-building
My education at SMSU has prepared me
to listen to others and understand their
perspective on controversial issues.
My SMSU experiences helped me to
engagement, efficacy, realize that I like to be involved in
sense of responsibility addressing community issues.
Dispositions Valuing civic
Behavioral
Intentions
Post-graduation plans Because of my experiences at SMSU, I
for community service intend to be involved in volunteer
service after I graduate.
1 = Strongly Disagree; 6 = Strongly Agree
CMG – All Subscales
CMG – Knowledge Subscale
CMG – Skills Subscale
CMG – Dispositions Subscale
What Have We Learned?
1. Approximately 83% of students report involvement in
some form of civic engagement while at SMSU
2. Involvement in volunteering and community service tends
to be infrequent (less than once per semester)
3. Measures of civic-mindedness relatively stable since 2010,
averaging about 3.75 on a 6-point scale
4. CMG data suggest more focus needed on:
− Making students aware of volunteer opportunities
− Helping students develop skills in dealing with diversity
and building consensus
5. About 55% of students take “service-learning” type courses
6. The best predictor of civic-mindedness is number of
“service-learning” courses taken
Remaining Questions
• Are SMSU students becoming more civic-minded
from freshman to senior year?
• Are they becoming more engaged global citizens?
Civic Engagement Survey - Revised
• Completed by students in LEP 100 and LEP 400
N
LEP 100 (Fall 2014)
LEP 400 (Spring 2015)
214
130
• CMG Scale - Revised
• Integrity Scale (Bringle et al., 2006)
• Community Service Self-Efficacy Scale (CSSES; Reeb
et al., 1998)
CMG Scale - Revised
Subscale
Description
Sample Item
Knowledge
Understanding of
current events, social
issues, and ways to
contribute
I know a lot about opportunities to
become involved in the community.
Skills
Communication and
listening, diversity,
consensus-building
I am able to listen to others and
understand their perspective on
controversial issues.
Dispositions Valuing civic
engagement, efficacy,
sense of responsibility
Behavioral
Intentions
Post-graduation plans
for community service
I like to be involved in addressing
community issues.
I intend to be involved in volunteer
service after I graduate.
1 = Strongly Disagree; 6 = Strongly Agree
CMG Subscales and Overall
*p < .05 (one-tailed)
CMG Knowledge Subscale
*p < .05 (one-tailed)
CMG Skills Subscale
*p < .05 (one-tailed); ns = not significant
CMG Dispositions Subscale
*p < .05 (one-tailed)
Integrity Scale
*p < .05 (one-tailed); ns = not significant
CSSES Scale
*p < .05 (two-tailed); ns = not significant
Summary of Findings
1. Significant increase in Civic-mindedness (CMG)
from LEP 100 to LEP 400, including all subscales
and most component measures
2. Significant increase in Integrity from LEP 100 to
LEP 400, but most of the effect was among males
3. Non-significant increase in Community service selfefficacy (CSSES); significantly higher scores among
females than males overall
Remaining Questions
• What factors account for the observed increases in
civic-mindedness, integrity, and community service
self-efficacy from freshman to senior year?
• How can we produce a more civic-minded SMSU
graduate?
• More specifically, how can we foster students’ sense of
themselves as engaged global citizens?
How can we produce a more
civic-minded graduate?
• Make students more aware of opportunities for
becoming civically engaged (local and global)
• Have restructured website to more efficiently gather information
from community/region about needs
• Process of reconsidering nature/structure of Global Studies
program could include more intentional efforts to build in civic
engagement component
continued…
• Build in opportunities for critical reflection in
student services and athletics
• Train of student club leaders, assistant coaches and
team leaders, and residential life staff in facilitation
of critical reflection
• NOTE: Addresses gap we have noticed in reported level of civic engagement
and actual amount of civic engagement occurring
• Create more service-learning courses and make
students more aware of the availability of these
courses
• NOTE: SL main predictor of civic mindedness (critical reflection already built into
structure of these courses)
continued…
• Broaden students’ understanding of nature/forms
of civic engagement
• Develop more classes where there is explicit discussion
of (and use of) variety of forms of civic engagement to
address local/global problems
• e.g., LEP 400 Self-as-Citizen Course
• Have infrastructure in place for this with LEP 100 (FYS)
and LEP 400 graduation requirements
LEP 400: Self –as-Citizen Course
• Description of course
• Pilot use of qualitative measure, intended for possible
use in all LEP courses that address “practice
responsible citizen” outcome
“What does civic engagement mean to you?
•
Rationale for use of this qualitative question
• Time efficient and easy to administer across
disciplines
• Helps to gain insight into students’ spontaneous
understanding of civic engagement (and we realized that
we did not know much about this for our SMSU students)
Data Gathering and Analysis
• Process of gathering data
• 2013, 2014 – Self-as-Citizen (400 level course)
• readings on civic engagement
• applied various forms of civic engagement to local/global problem
• 2013 – Developmental Psychology (300 level course)
• no readings specifically on civic engagement
• service-learning component
• 2013 – Developmental Psychology (300 level course)
• no readings specifically on civic engagement
• no service-learning component
• Coded for themes (most frequently occurring):
• Differentiated View of Civic Engagement
• Efficacy for Social Change
• Motivation for Civic Engagement
Example:
Differentiated understanding of civic engagement
PRE
“It means going out and
helping people. It includes
going out volunteering, doing
the betterment for the people
and the community. I mainly
see it as volunteering.”
POST
“Civic engagement is a way of
making a difference. People
make contributions to a topic
they feel strongly about. An
example is suicide prevention.
People can go around
informing people of the
importance of suicide
prevention. There are many
different forms of civic
engagement. A person could
sign a petition, inform people,
donate money, an much more.
It also makes people feel
better about themselves.”
Example: Efficacy for Social Change
and Motivation for Being Civically Engaged
Pre
“I don’t feel like I can define
civic engagement well
enough to give a good
answer. At the moment, I
would say it means to have
an active role in the
community and playing a
part in helping the
community and playing a
part in helping to better
those around you. Going
along with that definition,
I’d say my personal level of
civic engagement is low.”
Post
“Civic engagement to me means getting involved
with society. This could mean anything from
volunteering to cleaning ditches……It can also
mean helping a specific cause like abortion, child
obesity, hunger and many other things. By being
civically engaged, a person is aware or mindful of
all the amazing things they can do to help this
region, state, and even country to be the best that
they can be. If I knew how easy it was to go
online and sign petitions and join clubs that help
change different ongoing issues, I would have
done it a long time ago. By being civically
engaged we are contributing our thoughts to
make this world a better place. We not only get
to voice our opinion, but we get to see we are not
the only ones who think the issue needs more
thought and push together behind it to change
the ongoing problems.”
Preliminary Findings and Implications
• Have developed draft Likert Scale measures to assess these themes
Pre/Post
• Preliminary findings Pre/Post with Likert Scale measures
• Implications:
• Could consider use of NY Times as common text for LEP 100 (FYS), with
intentional focus on consideration of local problems in global context
•
NY Times Collegiate Readership updates make this easier to do (e.g.
http://www.forumea.org/nyt )
•
Templates/Resources available for adding global context to consideration of local problems
(e.g., immigration)
• E.g. Global Village assignment included in ADP Seven Revolutions Sample Course
(Denny Falk at dfalk@d.umn.edu )
• Could consider community-base learning/research structure for LEP 400
course
•
•
Continuous, sustained campus-community partnerships
Qualitative SL outcome data indicate students are eager to enroll in these types of course…and
seem to benefit in terms of growth with “civic-mindedness”
Service Learning Evaluation
• Data collected from students enrolled in servicelearning courses between Spring 2010 and Fall 2013
• Total of 119 students from six courses:
• 4 Psychology courses
• 2 Sociology courses
• Gender: 80% female; 20% males
• Average amount of time involved with service: 16.5
hours
Service Learning Evaluation cont…
• Made use of both quantitative (5 pt. Likert scale)
and qualitative measures
- Measures with qualitative questions indicated with (*)
• Measures:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Personal Growth*
Acquisition of Skills and Knowledge*
Social/Community Efficacy
Motivation to be Involved with Service*
Relationship with Faculty
Career Development
Selected results from SL quantitative data analysis:
n
M
SD
How much did you learn from the experience?
113
4.04
.870
To what extent did this experience change your attitude
about volunteerism in a positive way?
113
4.19
.811
Do you think you made a significant contribution to your
community?
113
4.04
.865
To what extent did this experience increase your level of
commitment to “get involved” in your community?
113
4.06
.899
To what extent did this experience increase your desire to
stay in college?
108
3.73
1.197
To what extent did this experience provide insight into your
112
own strengths or weaknesses?
4.01
.991
Note: The means represent students’ average ratings on a 5-point Likert scale
with 1 = “Not at all” and 5 = “A great deal”
Selected insights from SL qualitative data analysis:
Enhancement of Personal Development: 99% of comments indicated
positive experience with regard to personal development
• EXAMPLE: “The service learning experience helped me enhance my
personal development by bringing me out of my comfort zone and allowing
me to get to know new people and help them out. I will be continuing my
volunteering.”
Acquisition of Skills and Knowledge: 99% of comments indicated
positive experience with regard to acquisition of skills and knowledge
• EXAMPLE: “I was able to understand the course material better with this
service learning experience because I was engaging and interacting with
students instead of reading from a textbook.”
Motivated to be Involved with Service: 95% of comments indicated
positive experience with regard to motivation for getting involved
• EXAMPLE; “I would definitely do this again because I had fun doing it, and I
think it was beneficial to the students to learn about possible careers.”