Faculty discussions spark some rigorous debates about the validity and reliability of the NSSE... But in the main, we value the information, attend to it, and move to create ways to shore up the soft areas exposed by the reports.
Daryl H. Stevenson, Dean of Academic Administration, Houghton College
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NSSE E-News is a bimonthly electronic newsletter created to keep NSSE users and others informed about current project activities.
New Resource Available: Contextualizing NSSE Effect Sizes
NSSE and the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA)
How Institutions Use NSSE Data
NSSE Webinars
Users Workshop
Early Results from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education
LSSSE Updates
FSSE Updates
BCSSE Updates
Funding Opportunity for MSIs
New Resource Available: Contextualizing NSSE Effect Sizes
NSSE staff are often asked to help interpret the size of an effect for institutions. Is .3 a small effect? Is .5 a really large effect? Cohen1 reluctantly defined effect sizes as "small, d = .2," "medium, d = .5," and "large, d = .8," preferring to be intentionally vague about precise cut points and decision rules, and urged researchers to interpret effect sizes based on the context of the data. NSSE has created a new resource that analyzes actual effect sizes from NSSE Benchmark Comparisons reports and proposes new reference values to interpret effect sizes based on the distribution of actual benchmark scores. A copy of Contextualizing NSSE Effect Sizes: Empirical Analysis and Interpretation of Benchmark Comparisons can be downloaded from the NSSE Web site, www.nsse.iub.edu/pdf/effect_size_guide.pdf1Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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 in the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA), sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC). Detailed information about using NSSE in your institutions’ College Portrait can be found here: www.nsse.iub.edu/html/vsa.cfm
Please note: NSSE developed a special web page which is accessible from the College Portraits by clicking on the statement “CLICK HERE for information on the NSSE survey.” This replaces an earlier web page provided by the VSA and is especially designed for students, parents, and legislators. You’ll want to update your existing College Portraits with this new link: www.nsse.iub.edu/html/vsacp.cfm
In addition, we recently posted SPSS syntax to simplify recoding your NSSE data to populate the College Portrait template. Check out the VSA link in our on-line syntax library: www.nsse.iub.edu/html/syntax_library.cfm
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.
How Institutions Use NSSE Data
Examples compiled from the collective experience of participating NSSE institutions can be found on the NSSE Institute Web site.
www.nsse.iub.edu/links/use_examples
In addition to the Using NSSE Data resource provided in NSSE Institutional Reports from 2002-2008, you will find summaries of how institutions that range in size, type, and location have used NSSE results to develop, assess, and improve programs in student affairs, the first-year experience, and general education.
NSSE Webinars
NSSE continues its well-received series of free, live, interactive Webinars. Our most recent Webinar, hosted by NSSE Director, Alex McCormick, explored where NSSE fits in the national accountability discourse and how institutions can use NSSE results to respond to demands for transparency and accountability. Previous Webinars have focused on “Assessing the First-Year Experience,” “Using NSSE Data for Student Affairs,” “Introduction to BCSSE,” and “Your Institutional Report.” All sessions have been recorded and are available for viewing on the NSSE Web site, www.nsse.iub.edu/webinars.
We are currently planning our 2009 schedule and welcome your input on future Webinar topics. Please send your suggestions to Kathy Anderson, NSSE Institute Project Manager, kanderso@indiana.edu. A schedule of upcoming Webinars will be available on the NSSE Web site early next year.
Users Workshop
Over 100 representatives from 67 U.S. and Canadian institutions attended the recent NSSE Users Workshop hosted by The College at Brockport, State University of New York. Participants took advantage of opportunities to learn more about using NSSE data from colleagues at peer institutions and from NSSE staff members.Presentations from the SUNY Brockport workshop are now available on the NSSE Web site:
www.nsse.iub.edu/institute/index.cfm?view=workshops/2008/suny_b/report
Previous workshops have been hosted by a variety of institutions including University of Central Oklahoma (Edmond), University of Central Florida, Illinois State University, Southern Connecticut State University, Wichita State University (co-hosted with Friends University and Newman University), and the University of Nevada, Reno. Presentations from all workshops are archived on the NSSE Web site. We are currently seeking institutional hosts for 2009 workshops. Please contact Kathy Anderson, kanderso@indiana.edu, to discuss host responsibilities and benefits.
Early Results from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education
The Wabash National Study seeks to gain a better understanding of effective teaching practices and institutional conditions that support liberal arts education and contribute to student learning. Using a mixed-methodology this longitudinal study explores changes among students over the course of the college years. NSSE is one of a battery of instruments administered in this project. Findings from the first year of the Wabash Study show first-year students exhibited significant gains in moral reasoning. Factors contributing to this growth include teaching practices and institutional conditions present at the participating colleges and universities. Three specific areas predicted growth on several student outcomes, including moral reasoning: (a) good teaching and high-quality interactions with faculty; (b) academic challenge and high expectations; and (c) diversity experiences. Results showed that many of the effective teaching practices and institutional conditions measured on NSSE promote increased levels of student learning. For more information on the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, visit www.liberalarts.wabash.edu.
LSSSE Updates
LSSSE’s Annual Survey Results 2008 will be released in early January. This year’s report is based on responses from nearly 30,000 students at 85 law schools. We examine ethical and professional development in law school, asking students to reflect on the emphasis their education places on various aspects of legal professionalism. We also investigate the factors that contribute to students’ acquisition of the core legal competencies: legal writing, research, and problem-solving. Finally, we explore a hot topic in legal education, computer use in the classroom, to determine whether such technology affects the educational experience.
Registration for LSSSE 2009 is open and available on the LSSSE Web site, www.lsse.iub.edu until January 23, 2009. We anticipate another successful year.
FSSE Updates
The FSSE team is pleased to share several resources designed to engage your campus in conversations on teaching and learning. Are you interested in how to effectively present your data to various audiences? Check out the first edition of Working with NSSE and FSSE Findings: A Facilitator’s Guide. This guide will help you identify which FSSE results are most important to specific audiences on your campus, and provide tips on how to best present the information.
If your campus is committed to facilitating students’ application of deep learning practices inside the classroom, the recent presentation, Emphasizing a Shared Responsibility for Deep Approaches to Learning, may be helpful to you.
Are you interested in the types of professional development activities in which faculty engage? Our recent poster session, How Faculty Chose to Improve Their Teaching across Disciplinary Areas, presents FSSE findings detailing how faculty members’ professional development, and the emphasis placed on these activities, differ by discipline.
How are diversity topics included in your campus curriculum? Understanding the Diversity Inclusivity of College Courses, discusses trends of diversity inclusivity in college courses.
For a list of upcoming FSSE presentations, please visit our Web site at www.fsse.iub.edu.
BCSSE Updates
BCSSE 2008 Wraps Up
The BCSSE 2008 administration was a great success. During the summer and early fall, over 70,000 students at 119 institutions completed the BCSSE survey. Each of these institutions received the BCSSE Institutional Report 2008, as well as student-level advising data. BCSSE 2008 institutions that participate in NSSE 2009 will receive a BCSSE-NSSE Combined Report. Examples of a BCSSE institutional report and BCSSE-NSSE Combined Report, can be found on the BCSSE Web site.
The BCSSE 2007-NSSE 2008 Grand Frequencies and Means report is now available. This report provides important information that allows you to compare the results from your campus with the overall frequencies and means for all participating BCSSE 2007–NSSE 2008 institutions.
Some BCSSE 2008 Facts
- BCSSE colleges and universities represented 35 states and 1 Canadian province.
- Entering first-year class size at these institutions ranged from less than 100 to over 7,000.
- Approximately 40% of the institutions administered the Web version of BCSSE and 60% used the paper version.
- Approximately 56% of U.S. institutions participating in BCSSE are private institutions.
- A large majority of BCSSE schools are either Baccalaureate (40%) or Master’s level institutions (38%).
More information about BCSSE can be found at: http://bcsse.iub.edu/about.cfm
Funding Opportunity for MSIs
The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), NSSE’s partner on the Building Engagement and Attainment of Minority Students (BEAMS) project, recently announced a new funding opportunity for Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) —Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Predominantly Black Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities—that are already deeply committed to the academic success of first-generation, minority students, build additional capacity to serve this key group of students. The new project is described on the IHEP Web site, www.ihep.org/walmartminoritystudents.cfm. Applications are due by January 21, 2009. Interested institutions might consider ways to use their NSSE results to identify problems unique to their first-generation students and to use these data along with other institutional information to guide and evaluate the development of an action plan that fosters student success.