CSEQ: College Activities

All learning and development takes time and effort by the learner. The term 'quality-of-effort' indicates how often students engage in meaningful activities known to contribute to their learning and development.

College student experiences consist of the activities that emerge from:

  • The student's academic program (coursework, writing, library use, science and technology).
  • Opportunities for association outside of the classroom (interactions with faculty members, administrators, and other students).
  • Efforts toward personal development (clubs and organizations, attending art exhibits and performances, and independent reading).

Thirteen College Activities scales appear on pages 3 to 6 of the CSEQ. Items within each scale range along a quality-of-effort dimension where students indicate the frequency with which they engage in various college activities. Some activities require more effort than others and have greater potential for influencing student learning and development. Response options are 1=Never, 2=Occasionally, 3=Often, 4=Very often. A quality of effort score is also created for each scale; the score is the is the average of all responses in each set.

Reading and Writing Items:

In addition to the 13 College Activities scales, the CSEQ also measures a set of items measuring the number of assigned books, course readings, and non-assigned books read, as well as the number of essay exams and term papers written. Response options for these items range from "none" to "more than 20."

All College Activities scales are listed below.

Library Experiences
Computer and Information Technology
Course Learning
Writing Experiences
Experiences with Faculty
Art, Music, Theater
Campus Facilities
Clubs and Organizations
Personal Experiences
Student Acquaintances
Scientific and Quantitative Experiences
Topics of Conversation
Information in Conversations
Reading/Writing