A student’s perceptions, expectations, emotions,
and knowledge about college fall into three general categories of
the college experience: personal, social, and academic. A completed
PEEK yields information about each of these dimensions of the college
experience.
The Personal category items measure variables
related to what students think they will experience about their emotional
reactions to college, the degree to which they are prepared to do
college-level work, how college fits into their future goals, and
the degree to which they will take personal responsibility for their
own learning.
The Social category items measure variables
that focus on expectations about social pressures in college, interactions
with instructors, the nature and make-up of college populations, and
relationships between family/students and friends.
The Academic category items measure the expectations
about the difficulty of college courses, the nature of learning in
college, the roles and responsibilities of college instructors, and
the nature of instruction in college. The PEEK consists of 30 items
and the student is asked to indicate, using a five-point rating scale
ranging from not at all likely to extremely likely, the extent to
which they expect to experience in college what is described in each
item. These 30 items are organized into three categories with 10 items
in each category. The three categories are: Academic, Personal, and
Social.
