STUDENT AGE, QUALITY OF EFFORT, AND ESTIMATED GAINS FROM THE COLLEGE EXPERIENCE (INVOLVEMENT, OLDER, UNDERGRADUATES)

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether student involvement and its relationship to estimated gains from the college experience differed by age.;A random sample grouped by age and sex was drawn from the population of all undergraduates at a large state university in resident instruction who lived off campus and had at least third-term standing. Data were collected by means of a telephone survey utilizing a modified version of Pace's College Student Experiences Questionnaire (1979). A 94 percent response rate was obtained (212 respondents).;A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no significant difference between the younger and older undergraduates on the academic quality of effort scales (p < .05). A second ANOVA did indicate a significantly lower level of social effort on the part of older students. Area of study proved to be a more salient discriminant of academic quality of effort than either age or sex.;Only three relationships between effort and gains were found to differ significantly between the two age groups (Fisher's z transformation). The association between the topics, and level of younger undergraduates' conversations with peers and their gains in Intellectual Competencies was significantly stronger than it was for older students. The correlation between "writing experience" and gains in Understanding Science was slightly higher for older students, however. Older students' quality of effort and gains in General Education were highly correlated (p < .001).;The behavioral construct under investigation was quality of effort (Pace, 1979). Quality of effort refers to the investment of time and effort by students in their own learning and development. Eight areas of college life were examined: Academic/Intellectual Experience (i.e., "library experience", "experience with faculty", "course learning", and "writing experience") and Personal/Interpersonal Understanding (i.e., "personal experience", "student acquaintances", "topics of conversation", and "information in conversations").;A stepwise multiple correlation revealed that quality of effort was an important predictor of gains for both age groups. Academic effort and predictors contributed more for older undergraduates; social effort and predictors contributed more for younger students.