Edupage, November 13, 2006

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2006 NSSE LOOKS AT DISTANCE EDUCATION
Results from the 2006 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
indicate high levels of student engagement in online and distance
programs. The survey, which began in 1999, this year added questions
designed to shed light on the habits of nontraditional students,
including adult and distance learners. Among its results, the NSSE
found that these students were more likely to be prepared for class, to
ask questions, and to rewrite papers before submitting them. Students
in distance-education programs reported being more academically
challenged than on-campus students, also noting that they saw larger
developmental gains. Distance students also reported comparable levels
of interaction with faculty as did on-campus students. George Kuh,
director of the NSSE and a professor of higher education at Indiana
University at Bloomington, said, "This is a group that spends more time
on academic matters, is highly focused, serious, more motivated perhaps
than the typical-aged student." Kuh said it was "gratifying" to learn
that online students are at least as engaged as traditional students.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 13 November 2006 (sub. req'd)
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i13/13a03901.htm