For several years we debated the need for substantive reform of our first-year curriculum. NSSE results provided evidence to persuade the faculty to change, and helped inform the new curriculum that we are now implementing.
Richard F. Vaz, Dean for Interdisciplinary and Global Studies, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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September 2008 |
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NSSE E-News is a bimonthly electronic newsletter created to keep NSSE users and others informed about current project activities.
Contents
NSSE Reports
Fall Users Workshop at SUNY Brockport
New Resources for 2008!
NSSE Pocket Guides - Update
Webinar Schedule
NSSE and the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA)
Learn More about BCSSE - Free Webinar on September 23
FSSE Update
LSSSE Update
NSSE in the News
NSSE Reports
The NSSE Institutional Report 2008 is now in the field!
In early August, NSSE staff mailed 2008 participants their individual NSSE reports. More than 478,000 students, representing 769 institutions in the US and Canada, completed the survey. NSSE Client Service teams are available to assist users with questions. Look for the NSSE Annual Report 2008 to follow in early November!
Register now for 2008 Fall Users Workshop at SUNY Brockport
If you’re working with your Institutional Report 2008 or continuing to dig into your past NSSE results, we hope you will consider joining us for the fall Users Workshop to be hosted by the State University of New York, Brockport, on Thurs.-Fri., Oct. 16-17, 2008. Currently scheduled sessions focus on improving survey response rates, integrating NSSE and CLA data, using NSSE and FSSE in combination, assessing the efficacy of learning communities, and connecting engagement results with institutional accountability efforts. The deadline to register for the workshop is Wed., Oct. 8, 2008. Find complete details on the NSSE Institute Web site, www.nsse.iub.edu/institute/?view=workshops/2008/suny_b/index.
We hope you will join us this fall as well as consider submitting a session proposal to share your experiences using NSSE data on your campus. The deadline for submitting a proposal is Sept. 24, 2008. As an incentive, registration fees are waived for presenters. An online proposal submission form is provided at www.nsse.iub.edu/institute/?view=workshops/2008/suny_b/index#wsProposal.
New Resources for 2008!
Multi-Year Benchmark Report
NSSE has developed two new resources for institutions that have participated in NSSE across multiple years – the Multi-Year Benchmark Reportand the Multi-Year Data Analysis Guide.
The Multi-Year Benchmark Report presents recalculated and comparable benchmark scores by year so that patterns of change or stability may be discerned. It also provides statistics such as number of respondents, standard deviation, and standard error so that shorthand mean comparison tests can be calculated. The report has three main parts: (a) a table of data quality indicators, which provides a quick reference to important statistics for each year of participation, (b) multi-year charts, and (c) detailed statistics.
The Multi-Year Data Analysis Guide provides information and recommendations for institutions looking to analyze their past and present NSSE data for trends or stability. The guide aligns with the Multi-Year Benchmark Report to help institutions explore the following questions:
- Can existing reports be used to evaluate changes from year to year, or should multi-year data sets be merged for separate analyses?
- I know that the NSSE survey has changed over time, so how can I quickly identify comparable survey items and benchmarks?
- What is an appropriate method for determining if there has been meaningful change between years?
NSSE survey items, construction of benchmarks, and the production of institutional reports have been adjusted over time. These improvements, however, make multi-year analysis of NSSE data more complex. Thus, the purpose of the Multi-Year Benchmark Report and Multi-Year Data Analysis Guide is to provide helpful resources, information, and suggestions for such work.
Specialized Toolkits
Guidelines that map NSSE survey items to specialized, professional accreditation standards related to specific programs of study were introduced as new resources in the Institutional Report 2008. The toolkits provide suggestions on how institutions can incorporate NSSE results into the processes and products that support specialized, professional accreditation.
Toolkits available for download on the NSSE Web site at www.nsse.iub.edu/institute/?view=tools/accred_special include the following:
- ABET - Applied Sciences, Computer Science, Engineering, Engineering Technology, Information Systems
- Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) - Business, Accounting
- National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) - Teacher education
NSSE Pocket Guides - Update
For those institutions who have just received their Institutional Report 2008, we’d like to draw your attention to the NSSE 2008 Pocket Guide Report: “What Students Are Saying...”, found under the Pocket Guide Report tab in the binder. The results included on the Pocket Guide Report, which correspond to questions in NSSE’s A Pocket Guide to Choosing a College: “Are You Asking the Right Questions”,provide a quick snapshot of the level of student engagement on campus and can be used as a resource for orientation staff, advisors, faculty, and other staff or those who work regularly with first-year students. This new report also provides prospective students and families a user friendly resource with NSSE data collected from actual students attending a given institution. The reportis provided in an attractive and easy format that institutions can use to share their NSSE results and is supplied in both PDF and Word formats so that institutions can easily insert an institution logo, campus photos, or additional information. Institutions are also encouraged to post copies of the Pocket Guide Report and results from their NSSE Institutional Report 2008 in relevant areas of the campus Web site.
Webinars
Join us on for our series of free, interactive Webinars on selected Tuesdays. Upcoming Webinars include:
| Using FSSE and NSSE Data | September 9 | |
| Using BCSSE and NSSE Data | September 23 | |
| Multi-Year Analysis of NSSE Data | October 21 | |
| The Transparency-Accountability Puzzle – Where Does NSSE Fit? | November 18 |
In addition, Webinars for 2009 NSSE campus contacts on topics relating specifically to your 2009 survey administration are available. Topics covered this fall will include Materials Collection and Population File Guidelines. For information, please contact your NSSE Client Service Team at www.nsse.iub.edu/html/staff.cfm#Team1.
NSSE Webinars are archived on our Web site at www.nsse.iub.edu/ Webinars/archives.cfm if you are unable to participate in the live session. These Webinars are not “one size fit all” and some topics may not be relevant to your work with NSSE. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for clarification on Webinar topics and target audiences.
NSSE and the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA)
NSSE has been selected as one of four assessment instruments that can be used to survey the experiences and perceptions of undergraduate students for the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA). Developed through a partnership between the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), the VSA is designed to help institutions meet the following objectives: demonstrate accountability, , measure educational outcomes to identify effective educational practice, and assemble information that is accessible, understandable, and comparable.
The VSA's College Portrait provides information on institutional and student characteristics, attendance costs, student engagement, and educational outcomes. This information is intended for students, families, policy-makers, campus faculty and staff, the general public, and other higher education stakeholders. The College Portrait is divided into three sections: 1) Consumer Information, 2) Student Experiences and Perceptions, and 3) Student Learning Outcomes. An example of the College Portrait is available at www.voluntarysystem.org/docs/cp/CollegePortraitExample.pdf.
NSSE provides data that institutions can use to populate the Student Experiences and Perceptions section of the College Portrait in six areas: group learning, active learning, experiences with diverse groups of people and ideas, student satisfaction, institutional commitment to student learning and success, and student interactions with faculty and staff.
If you have more specific questions about NSSE and its role in the VSA, please contact NSSE’s Assistant Director for Survey Operations, Todd Chamberlain, at (812) 856-5824. Visit the VSA Web site (www.voluntarysystem.org) for more information.
BCSSE - Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement
Learn More about BCSSE - Free Webinar on September 23
On September 23, we will host a free Webinar to share details about how to effectively use BCSSE-NSSE data. This Webinar will be of specific interest to those institutions that participated in BCSSE 2007 and NSSE 2008 and/or are participating in BCSSE 2008 and NSSE 2009. This Webinar is not intended to cover the basics of BCSSE and NSSE. Instead, participants should already have some understanding or knowledge of the BCSSE and NSSE projects.
Reminder to all BCSSE 2008 institutions: Don’t forget to register for NSSE 2009; the September 18 deadline is fast approaching. More information about NSSE can be found at www.nsse.iub.edu/index.cfm.
FSSE - Faculty Survey of Student Engagement
FSSE Overview
In the 2008 administration of FSSE, responses were received from 23,385 faculty members at 160 baccalaureate-granting institutions. To customize the survey to meet your assessment needs, institutions have the option to choose whether some of the questions on FSSE are course-based or based on faculty members’ understanding of the typical student they teach. Of the participating 2008 institutions, 71% administered course-based questions to their faculties and 29% administered typical student questions. Individual institutional response rates ranges from 19% to 85%, and the average institutional response rate was 49%. Overall, 41% of all faculty members contacted responded to the survey.
Presenting your FSSE Results
To assist institutions in showcasing their own FSSE findings, downloadable SPSS syntax is available on the FSSE Selected Results page. Tips on using this resource and effectively presenting NSSE and FSSE results in concert, will be given in the upcoming Webinar entitled “Using FSSE and NSSE Data: An Overview of Existing Tools and Reports.” This Webinar is scheduled on September 9, 2008.
2007 FSSE Report Card
The 2007 FSSE Report Card will be coming soon to institutions who administered FSSE in Spring 2007. The Report Card asks institutions to answer a few questions regarding how FSSE data is being used on their campus. Please take the time to complete the Report Card, as the information collected will help better understand how we can make FSSE more helpful to participating institutions.
LSSSE - Law School Survey of Student Engagement
Eighty-five law schools received their 2008 LSSSE Law School Reports in June. The LSSSE database now includes responses from more than 114,000 law students at 148 law schools. This year’s Report featured a new user tool aimed at helping legal educators better understand their LSSSE results in context. Also new in 2008, all law schools are now able to download their Report directly from the LSSSE interface.
Upcoming LSSSE events include a users’ workshop and LSSSE 2009 registration. The next regional users’ workshop is to be held at Atlanta’s John Marshall School of Law on October 2nd. Registration information for this workshop is available at www.lssse.iub.edu.Registration for LSSSE 2009, the survey’s sixth national administration, will open November 3rd and continue through mid-January.
NSSE in the News
ARTICLE |
DATE |
PUBLICATION |
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
To help students succeed, many colleges are offering more first-year programs and academic help. Some are even redesigning courses to make them more effective. Alexander McCormick sees ";;weeding out";; as ";;an old-school attitude that is in fact dying out as we take increasing responsibility for the success of our students.";; | August 2008 | |
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Inside HigherEd
This article addresses some of the findings from a survey that looked at medical students who feel they are struggling academically. George Kuh gives his perspective on student performance in this article. | August 2008 |
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The Advertiser.com
UL administered the National Survey of Student Engagement last year, and one set of findings pointed to a interesting - and important - benefit of expanding opportunities for students to interact on campus. | August 2008 | |
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The Christian Science Monitor
This article focuses on the need for better measures of ranking colleges and universities. The article points out that the National Survey of Student Engagement could serve as the industry’s answer for ranking. | August 2008 |
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NewsDay.com
This article looks at students desire to work while attending college full time. In 2007, the number of college seniors who reported working for pay off-campus rose to 66 percent, compared with 59 percent in 2006, according to the National Survey of Student Engagement. | August 2008 |
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The Chronicle of Higher Education
Mark Bauerlein looks at the NSSE question “Number of books read on your own (not assigned) for personal enjoyment or academic enrichment”. The article brings up some of the statistics from the Annual Report. He concludes that we need more data on whether teachers are adding shorter readings that make up for the loss of longer ones. | August 2008 |
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The Free Lance Star
The article focuses on students’ dependence on their parents and the impact of student/parent relationships. The article quotes NSSE annual report by stating, National Survey of Student Engagement found that 86 percent of first-year students are in ‘frequent’ contact with their mothers, while 71 percent remain connected with their dads. | August 2008 |
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Inside Higher Ed
This article questions the impact class size and faculty appointment have on student learning. Kevin Carey points out weak and non-existent literature around self-evaluation of teaching and learning, and argues that there is a significant amount of work that needs to be done in measuring student learning. He mentions how the NSSE survey indicates a desire for self-study, but concludes institutions needs to explore the diversity of teaching pedagogy at their institution. | August 2008 |
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Inside Higher Ed
A meeting of the Council of Independent Colleges’ Collegiate Learning Assessment Consortium prompts Inside Higher Ed to write that many private colleges are serious about assessment. The meeting focused on the use of the CLA with some discussion focused on issues common to most assessment instruments and efforts, including the NSSE (cost, student motivation, faculty acceptance, etc.). | August 2008 |
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