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NSSE E-News is a periodic electronic newsletter created to keep NSSE users and others informed about current project activities.
Contents
"NSSE 2.0" - Enhancements to NSSE Survey & Services
New Online Custom Report Generator Now Available
Dillard University and NSSE Cohost Fall Users Workshop
BCSSE 2010 Wraps Up
FSSE 2011 - Registration Still Available
Major Fields Report Now Available for Download
NSSE at Assessment Institute in Indianapolis
Upcoming and Archived Webinars
"NSSE 2.0" - Enhancements to NSSE Survey & Services
Earlier this year NSSE shared exciting news about “NSSE 2.0” – the next generation of the NSSE survey that will be implemented in 2013. From our beginning in 2000, NSSE has been guided by a commitment to quality and improvement. NSSE regularly conducts self-assessments to evaluate the ongoing relevance of the survey instrument and effectiveness of our services. As we enter our second decade, we have begun a process to update the NSSE survey and reports.
In 2011 and 2012 we will pilot revised versions of the NSSE survey and carefully analyze the results. Our aim is to build on NSSE’s strengths as a valuable tool for assessing the quality of undergraduate education.
When released in 2013, the new survey will include revisions to existing items (improved language and modifications to increase relevance for online learners) as well as new items to provide additional insights into teaching and learning. To keep the survey to a reasonable length, we will also have to eliminate some existing items. These changes will result in new and revised NSSE benchmarks and scales so as to enhance the usefulness and relevance of NSSE data.
These changes will affect longitudinal comparisons based on the current survey and benchmarks. We are alerting users early so they can plan for the changes and have an opportunity to provide feedback. By mid-October our Web site will have a “NSSE 2.0” page providing information about the revision process as well as opportunities for you to share your feedback. It is vitally important that changes benefit NSSE users, so we welcome your input.
Have You Tried the Custom Report Generator?
Want to compare your adult learners with adult students at similar institutions? Interested in how student athletes at your institution respond to survey items compared to those at other institutions in your Carnegie class? NSSE’s new interactive tool draws upon two years of NSSE data, including 980 institutions and approximately 600,000 students and is a simple-to-use form that generates aggregate results from individual survey questions and benchmarks according to selected student and institution characteristics. The tool guides the user through a step-by-step interview, and confirms the selection before running the query. Results can be exported to Excel. Visit Tools and Services on the NSSE Web site and select the link “Select & View Results”.
We presented the features, capabilities, and limitations of the tool and demonstrated how queries can be run in a recent webinar. Download the PowerPoint presentation, and or view the recorded Webinar in its entirety.
NSSE and Dillard University to Co-host Intensive Fall Workshop
Join us for the upcoming User Workshop at Dillard University! The workshop will be conducted as an intensive, institute format to provide more sharing among participants, group discussion, consultations with NSSE staff, hands-on work with your NSSE data and reports, and discussion of plans for action. We will do this in a one-day format, meeting informally on Thursday afternoon for individual consultations and a group gathering, followed by a full and productive day on Friday October 8, adjourning by 4 pm. The shorter, more intense format will be particularly useful for those of you who just received your Institutional Report 2010, and we also encourage those within a reasonable driving distance to join us.
However, the deadline for registration, Fri., Oct. 1, 2010, is quickly approaching. To register online and to view additional details, please visit the fall Users Workshop Web site: nsse.iub.edu/institute/workshops/2010/dillard/
We encourage you to join us in New Orleans for productive sessions and opportunities to exchange ideas with other NSSE users.
BCSSE 2010 Wraps Up
The BCSSE 2010 administration was a great success. Throughout the summer and early fall, over tens of thousands of incoming first-year students at 156 institutions completed the BCSSE survey. Each of these institutions received the BCSSE Institutional Report 2010, as well as student-level advising data. Many of these BCSSE 2010 institutions will also participate in NSSE 2011 and receive a BCSSE 2010-NSSE 2011 Combined Report at no additional charge. The combined report contains two sections: cross-sectional and longitudinal. The cross-sectional results include side-by-side frequencies from all your BCSSE and NSSE respondents allowing for easy comparisons. The longitudinal results portray the matched data from those first-year students who completed both BCSSE in the previous summer/fall and NSSE. These matched results allows you to focus on environmental factors that may influence the nature and frequency of student engagement in various areas in the first year.
The Overall Frequencies and Means for BCSSE 2009 and for the BCSSE 2009-NSSE 2010 Combined Report are available here. These reports provides important information that allows you to compare the results from your campus with the overall frequencies and means for all participating BCSSE 2009 and BCSSE 2009 – NSSE 2010 institutions.
Where do I get more information about BCSSE?
Visit our Web site at: bcsse.iub.edu, e-mail us (bcsse@indiana.edu), or call our toll-free number: 866-435-6773. We would be more than glad to help you with any questions you may have.
BCSSE Webinars
On November 16, 2010, there will be a free Webinar on how to use BCSSE-NSSE data to assess learning community effectiveness. Information about this and other upcoming Webinars is found at: nsse.iub.edu/webinars.
If you are looking for an introduction and overview of BCSSE, go to our Webinar archives at: nsse.iub.edu/webinars/archives.cfm (enter keyword search: “Introduction to BCSSE”). Other past BCSSE, NSSE, and FSSE webinars can also be found in the archives.
FSSE 2011 - Not Too Late!!
Though registration officially closed for NSSE and FSSE 2011 on September 16, there are options available for institutions that still wish to participate in FSSE this coming spring.
Options available to institutions for FSSE 2011 participation.
Why should institutions participate in FSSE?
Major Fields Report Now Available for Download
2010 Major Field Reports are available for download from the Institution Interface for all NSSE 2010 participants. Because institution-level comparisons may overlook important variation in student engagement within key sub-populations, NSSE introduced the Major Field Reports to help institutions understand variation within various groups of majors. The reports break down your students’ responses and benchmark scores by eight categories of related majors – arts and humanities, biological sciences, business, education, engineering, physical sciences, other professions, and social sciences – and compare them to those of students in the same categories at the institutions in your comparison groups. A “within institution” report is also provided which lays out results for your students within each category side-by-side. Reports are subject to a minimum number of respondents.
To download your Major Field Reports, log in to the Institution Interface by selecting “Institution Log-in” from the upper right corner of the NSSE Web site (http://nsse.iub.edu), and then select “Surveys by Year” from the top navigation menu. Under the “Data and Reports” header, select “Download a zip file of your 2010 reports.”
NSSE Staff at Assessment Institute in Indianapolis
If you’re attending the Assessment Institute, October 24-26 at The Westin, in Indianapolis, please come visit with NSSE staff at our exhibit booth and learn more about NSSE, BCSSE and or FSSE. Check out the online conference schedule to search for sessions by NSSE users and staff. Our booth will be staffed from 7:30am to 6:30pm on both Monday, October 25th and Tuesday, October 26th. We welcome your questions or comments.
Upcoming and Archived Webinars
The 2010 NSSE Webinar series includes new topics that focus on how to integrate NSSE, FSSE, and BCSSE data with institutional data for assessment and planning, use NSSE data for department and program level assessment, move beyond benchmark results, and introduces two new resources, NSSE’s Psychometric Portfolio and Custom Report Generator. Staff members from more than 830 institutions in the US and Canada have registered and participated in one or more Webinars since 2008.
Archived Webinars are available for viewing on the NSSE Web site at your convenience. Newly recorded presentations are posted in the Webinar archives within a day or two after the live session. Recorded Webinars from January 2008 through August 2010 have been viewed over 2,250 times.
nsse.iub.edu/webinars/archives.cfm