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ERIC Number: EJ743277
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 8
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0024-1822
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Spirituality, Liberal Learning, and College Student Engagement
Kuh, George D.; Gonyea, Robert M.
Liberal Education, v92 n1 p40-47 Win 2006
One of the more intriguing trends at the turn of the twenty-first century is the ascendant influence of religion in various aspects of American life. The renewed interest in religion and spirituality is not just a function of aging baby boomers acknowledging their mortality. The University of Pennsylvania reported that 86 percent of those between the ages of eleven and eighteen believe religion is an important part of life (Hulett 2004). In this article, the authors argue religion has always had a place in American higher education. They point out that most colonial colleges were founded to transmit and preserve the values, beliefs, traditions, and cultural heritage of their sponsoring denominational groups. Given the dramatic demographic and attitudinal changes marking recent college-going cohorts, it would be instructive to know how participating in spirituality-enhancing activities relates to other aspects of the college experience. To learn more about the relationships between spirituality, liberal learning, and college experiences, the authors examined students' responses to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Their analysis revealed three noteworthy patterns: (1) Students who frequently engage in spirituality-enhancing practices also participate more in a broad cross-section of collegiate activities; (2) Institutional mission and campus culture matter more to spirituality and liberal learning outcomes than most other institutional characteristics; and (3) Students at faith-based colleges engage in spiritual practices more and gain more in this area, but participate less often in certain other activities associated with liberal education outcomes. The data, methodology, variables of interest, measures of student engagement, findings, and conclusions from this analytical study are detailed in this article. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)
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Publication Type: Information Analyses; Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: National Survey of Student Engagement
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A