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Volume 7, Issue 2 November 2007 |
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NSSE E-News is a bimonthly electronic newsletter created to keep NSSE users and others current about project activities. It includes information on new NSSE Web site resources, updates on the administration of the NSSE family of surveys (FSSE, LSSSE, and BCSSE), NSSE data for institutional research and student affairs, Users Workshops and conference highlights, NSSE presentations and improvements, and media coverage of NSSE and its related surveys.
NSSE Institute Updates
BCSSE Updates
Featured School
FSSE Updates
NSSE in the News
Web Site Resources
NSSE RoadShow
Conference Updates
NSSE Institute Updates
Regional NSSE Workshop Highlights
The fall 2007 Regional NSSE Users Workshop was held at the University of Nevada, Reno, on Oct. 16-17. More than 60 institutional researchers, administrators, and faculty from 41 institutions attended sessions on topics such as:
- Making the NSSE administration successful
- Using NSSE data to prepare for an accreditation visit
- Using NSSE and FSSE data in combination
- Tips and strategies for analyses of multiple years of NSSE data
- Using CLASSE, an in-class version of NSSE, to look at student engagement
At the end of the first day of sessions, participants were offered a sneak peak of UNR's new 167,000 square foot Joe Crowley Student Union, a state-of-the-art "green" building that will serve as the new hub of student life at Nevada that will open in November 2007. Presentations from the workshop are now posted on the NSSE Web site.
We are beginning to plan the fall 2008 Regional NSSE Users Workshop and will confirm a location in the Northeast soon. Check the NSSE Institute Web site in the next few months for more details:
http://nsse.iub.edu/institute/.
We'd like to Know: How are you using your NSSE data?
As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance reports and services, and to facilitate the exchange of ideas about NSSE use, we want to learn more about how you are applying your results in practice and how we might improve our services and products to support your activities and initiatives. NSSE staff will conduct telephone and face-to-face interviews with a variety of institutional representatives. We hope to schedule a number of the interviews at upcoming professional conferences such as the 2008 AIR Annual Forum. Interviews will take approximately thirty (30) minutes. If you would like to share your story, please contact Jillian Kinzie, Associate Director of the NSSE Institute and Center for Postsecondary Research (jikinzie@indiana.edu), to arrange a phone or in-person interview.
NSSE Webinar Scheduled for December
Join us for a free, live, interactive Webinar for academic and administrative leaders that have used NSSE data or would like to learn more about how NSSE results can be used in assessment efforts. Representatives from institutions participating for the first time in the NSSE 2008 administration will find the Webinar particularly useful. We encourage group viewing of the Webinar to facilitate cross-campus conversations about using NSSE. The 90-minute Webinar, "Getting Down to Basics: Working with Your NSSE Data," is scheduled from 3:00-4:30PM on Wednesday, December 12, 2007.
The Webinar will occur in two 30-minute segments. Following a short introduction to the student engagement concept and the principles that undergird the survey, we will discuss tips for a successful NSSE administration, including monitoring response rates and creating awareness of the survey with key constituencies to ensure the collection of useable data. In Part 2, we'll provide an overview of the data you receive and how to best understand and use the reports for planning and improvement. Following each Part, there will be a 5-minute break for groups to participate in an in-house discussion before the 15-minute question and answer period. Find information on how to register on the NSSE Web site homepage, www.nsse.iub.edu . We will be recording the Webinar, so if you cannot participate in the live session, please check the NSSE Web site for a link to view the presentation at your convenience.
BCSSE Updates
BCSSE 2007 Wraps Up
The inaugural administration of BCSSE has come to a close. Almost 70,000 beginning college students enrolled at 127 institutions completed the survey.
Though we are winding down from the 2007 administration, we are already planning ahead for BCSSE 2008. Institutions can anticipate some important changes that will improve, among other things, the reporting turnaround time and the report format.
BCSSE Institutional Report Available
The newly revised BCSSE Institutional Report is modeled after the familiar NSSE Institutional Report. This continuity in reporting allows for easier interpretation and use of BCSSE results. An example of a BCSSE institutional report can be found here.
Some BCSSE 2007 Facts
- 127 participating colleges and universities in 34 states and 4 Canadian institutions in 3 provinces
- Entering first-year class size at these institutions ranged from 120 to over 7000
- Two-thirds of participating schools (68%) used the paper version and one-third the Web
- Approximately one-third of participating US BCSSE institutions are private institutions
- A large majority of BCSSE schools are either baccalaureate (35%) or master's institutions (44%)
Featured School
Sweet Briar College
In 2004, Sweet Briar senior students reported a lack of academic rigor in their classes. This information was the impetus for dialogues between faculty and administration to discuss the importance of intellectually engaging and academically challenging students in the classrooms. The 2007 NSSE results show that these efforts have been effective as the recent benchmark scores indicate that most seniors reported academic rigor to be high. Due to the effectiveness of this process, the institution is assembling working committees of faculty, admissions staff, career center staff, and residential life staff to discuss salient aspects of the 2007 NSSE results on approximately one dozen small topics in hopes of tightening areas that can be effectively improved upon.
FSSE Updates
Engaging Faculty in Conversations on Teaching & Learning
- Trying to figure out how to effectively present your data to your faculty? Then check out this workshop from a recent professional development conference: Bringing assessment results to the faculty.
- If you are committed to incorporating diverse perspectives in the classroom, then this conference presentation may be helpful for you: Exploring ways faculty incorporate diversity into undergraduate courses.
- How is your campus promoting liberal education outcomes? This AAC&U presentation, Promoting Essential Learning Outcomes in General Education Courses, demonstrates how essential learning outcomes are being taught in different types of courses.
NSSE in the News
Annual Report Attracts National Attention
The Annual Report 2007, "Experiences That Matter: Enhancing Student Learning and Success," attracted national attention upon its release on November 5. Much of the attention drew upon was a related to the NSSE experiment with USA Today, which resulted not only in a USA Today cover story, but stories in other media as well. This public release of data in a nationally-prominent publication not only showcases the NSSE survey and how institutions are using NSSE data, but also reflects our commitment to meaningful transparency and responsible accountability.
Most media stories focused on one set of findings: students' contact with and support from social networks and family members, more popularly labeled "helicopter parents." Discussed on pages 24 and 25 of the Report, a set of experimental questions administered to over 9000 students at 24 institutions found that students in frequent contact with their parents exhibit many positive outcomes and gains.
Helicopter Parents Help Students, Survey Finds |
11/5/2007 |
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Survey Eyes Hovering College Parents |
11/5/2007 |
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New Study Gives Hovering College Parents Extra Credit |
11/5/2007 |
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Helicopter parents' role up in the air |
11/5/2007 |
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Roots, wings & helicopters |
11/6/2007 |
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'Helicopter Parents' Can't Stop Hovering |
11/6/2007 |
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Video: 'Helicopter Parents' |
11/7/2007 |
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In addition to focusing on parental involvement, several other stories focused on the NSSE-USA Today Initiative. In addition to publishing some NSSE data for the 257 institutions that chose to participate in the Initiative, USA Today itself published several stories and one editorial:
Roots, wings & helicopters |
11/6/2007 |
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Beyond rankings: A new way to look for a college |
11/5/2007 |
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Helicopter parents' role up in the air |
11/5/2007 |
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What schools across the USA are doing to engage students |
11/5/2007 |
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How to make NSSE scores work for you |
11/5/2007 |
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The decision of these institutions to participate in the NSSE-USA Today Initiative itself gained media attention. Stories focused on this initiative as being in competition with contemporary rankings, the usefulness of these data to prospective students and their parents, and the role of this initiative in the broader picture of accountability and transparency:
A Small Step Toward Transparency |
11/7/2007 |
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Involved Parents, Satisfied Students |
11/5/2007 |
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Start With a Number... |
11/16/2007 |
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What to Do With Years of Data on Student Engagement |
11/9/2007 |
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A Better Way To Shop For A College |
11/13/2007 |
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Web Site Resources
The Online Annual Report
By now you probably already know that our data-packed Annual Report was released earlier this month. But did you know how much of the report is available interactively on our website? Visit the AR at http://nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2007_Annual_Report/index.cfm and see!
Means and frequencies broken down by gender and major, benchmark data, participant profiles, and research resources are all available here. If you want to share the AR with colleagues, you can send them a link to the PDF rather than order them extra paper copies.
SPSS Syntax library
You can access the most up-to-date SPSS syntax library here. While this used to include only benchmark syntax, we have added all the other scales' syntax, as well as syntax that helps users in creating new variables or dummy coding some of the variables.
Survey variable tracking tool
Here is the year-to-year survey variable tracking tool for your institution's reference.
NSSE RoadShow
November 2007 |
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Nov. 4-6 |
The 2007 Assessment Institute |
IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN |
Nov. 16-17 |
The Collaboration for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning Conference |
Bloomington, MN |
December 2007 |
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Dec. 9-11 |
Middle States Commission on Higher Education Annual Conference |
Philadelphia, PA |
January 2008 |
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Jan. 23-26 |
Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Promising Pathways to Integrative Learning (Kuh) |
Washington, DC |
Conference Updates
Papers presented by NSSE staff at this year?s ASHE conference are now posted to our Web site.
November 9, 2007
Kinzie, J., Gonyea, R., Kuh, G. D., Umbach, P., Blaich, C., Korkmaz, A. The Relationship between Gender and Student Engagement in College.
Paper presented at the 32nd Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Louisville, KY.
November 8, 2007
Chen, P. D., Ingram, T., & Davis, L. K.
Engaging African American students: Compare student engagement and student satisfaction at HBCUs and their self-identified PWIs using National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data.
Paper presented at the 32nd Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.
Louisville, KY.
Gonyea, R. M. & Moore, J. V.
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Students and their Engagement in Educationally Purposeful Activities in College.
Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education annual conference.
Louisville, KY.