NSSE eNews is a periodic electronic newsletter created to keep NSSE users and others informed about current project activities.
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March 2018
- Register Now for Teaching and Learning National Institute 2018
- Using NSSE Data to Predict First-Year-to-Second-Year Student Retention
- BCSSE 2018 Registration Now Open—With New Winter Administration Option
- Canadian Institutions a Strong Presence in NSSE
- FSSE Receives Outstanding Research Award
- Inquiry Scholars Add Value at Southern New Hampshire University
- Research Highlights from NSSE Sightings
- NSSE at AIR Forum 2018
- VALUE Institute Launched
Register Now for Teaching and Learning National Institute 2018
Are you looking for ways to integrate NSSE results with other evidence of student learning in your accreditation self-study, quality enhancement initiative, assessment project, institutional strategic plan, or other improvement endeavor? Consider joining us at the Using Evidence for Improvement: Teaching and Learning National Institute, to be held July 29–August 1, 2018, at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.
Using Evidence for Improvement: The 3rd Annual Teaching and Learning National Institute (TLNI) brings together campus teams of faculty, student affairs professionals, institutional researchers, and administrators to use evidence to identify areas to strengthen in the student experience and to construct specifically articulated action plans for their campuses grounded in known effective practices both in and outside the classroom.
–TNLI participant
The TLNI experience fosters data-informed change initiatives that improve the quality of students’ experiences in courses and educational activities across the curriculum—leading to improvements in student engagement, retention and graduation, and learning outcomes. With a mix of plenaries, structured concurrent sessions, team time, and small- and large-group sessions facilitated by experienced educators from across the country, this residential institute, held at The Evergreen State College, provides a learning space for campus teams to use evidence to develop plans that can guide the work of examining, improving, and supporting what happens in learning contexts across their campuses. The institute fee covers on-campus housing, meals, workshops, sessions, plenaries, and materials.
Teams are encouraged to use a variety of forms of evidence including their NSSE results in their action plans. In TLNI’s previous years, teams have used NSSE data and other evidence to inform a comprehensive communication strategy for new students and to develop a first-year experience, to bring together student and academic affairs to develop an effective and equitable first-year experience, to focus on faculty development and the use of assessment data to improve teaching and learning, to examine students’ participation in and faculty emphasis of high-impact practices (HIPs) so as to design enriched HIPs, to develop new approaches to share assessment data with faculty, and to coordinate institutional efforts to use data to inform student success efforts.
Co-sponsors of the institute, along with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), are Achieving the Dream, Inc. (AtD), the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA), the Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education, and the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (WSBCTC).
The 3rd Annual TLNI will be held July 29–August 1, 2018. Join us!
Using NSSE Data to Predict First-to-Second-Year Student Retention
NSSE’s Psychometric Portfolio is comprised of a series of studies that demonstrate the project’s validity, reliability, and other data quality indicators. One specific type of psychometric study—a predictive validity study—assesses the extent to which a measure can predict future outcomes. Demonstrating predictive validity between NSSE’s Engagement Indicators (EIs) and student retention, for example, can help support efforts by educators trying to promote the use of effective educational activities across campus.
In a soon-to-be-released study, NSSE researchers document the relationship between both EIs and selected High Impact Practices (HIPs) and first-to-second-year student retention. Based on the responses of approximately 10,000 first-year students from 47 colleges and universities, the study shows the predicted probability of students being retained increases by 2 to 3 percentage points, on average, as responses to sets of EI survey questions change from doing activities “Sometimes” to “Often.” The predicted impact is even more substantial for students who report “Never” having done a set of EI activities and students who report having done them “Very often”—with the increase in retention probability ranging between 5 to 14 percentage points depending on the EI. As for the impact of participation in HIPs, first-year student participation in a learning community, research with faculty, and service-learning also increases the probability of being retained by about 2 to 3 percentage points, particularly among students entering college with lower standardized test scores.
Why does this matter? Results like these demonstrate that efforts at increasing student engagement have the potential to yield positive outcomes at both the student and the institution level. A win-win!
BCSSE 2018 Registration Now Open—With New Winter Administration Option
The Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) measures entering first-year students’ high school academic and co-curricular experiences as well as their expectations for participating in educationally purposeful activities during the first college year.
New for BCSSE 2018: An online winter administration of BCSSE for new first-year students enrolling in January is now available to supplement the institution’s summer/fall administration of the survey.
Participating institutions receive student advising reports, a preliminary data file, and a final SPSS data file, in addition to their Institutional Report.
For more information email bcsse@indiana.edu or click HERE.
Canadian Institutions a Strong Presence in NSSE
Canadian institutions of higher education have participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) since 2004. While the number of institutions and students that participate in the survey varies from year to year, Canadians have been a strong presence in the NSSE milieu. To illustrate the Canadian contribution to NSSE, the graphic below shows the number of Canadian institutions and students participating in NSSE since the survey’s 2013 update.
Canadian institutions have also participated in NSSE through consortia, groups of at least six institutions that participate in NSSE during the same year and who append additional questions of mutual interest to the core survey. Over the years, Canadians have created several consortia: Canadian Research Universities, Canadian U4, G13-x-Ontario, New Western Canadian Universities, and Ontario Universities.
As a new feature on the NSSE website, results from participating Canadian institutions are now available on the Summary Tables web page. These include combined results from 2016 and 2017 Canadian respondents featuring frequencies, means, and Engagement Indicator statistics by sex and major as well as a table showing participation in High-Impact Practices by various student characteristics.
FSSE Receives Outstanding Research Award
FSSE researchers were awarded the 2017 Robert J. Menges Award for Outstanding Research in Educational Development by the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD) for their study, Why Do We Teach? Examining Faculty Teaching Experiences and Motivation. They found that faculty with a high degree of needs met for autonomy, competency, and relatedness had higher levels of intrinsic and identified motivation. Additionally, they found that differences by field and various faculty characteristics may lead to situations that are more or less conducive to meeting teaching needs. See more about this study and other FSSE research on the Publications & Presentations section of the NSSE website.
Inquiry Scholars Add Value at Southern New Hampshire University
At the Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) University College campus, NSSE results and questions that arise from these results serve as the content of a one-credit School of Education course called “Inquiry Scholars.” Each semester, the students taking this course are asked to take up an authentic problem related to improving student learning that can be illuminated with data from their campus. Following an inquiry-based process, the Inquiry Scholars gain experience formulating and refining research questions, designing research studies, collecting and analyzing data, and communicating results. The stated outcomes for this course utilize language from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) VALUE Rubrics for Inquiry and Analysis, Information Literacy, and Teamwork.
After the administration of NSSE 2017 at SNHU, eight Inquiry Scholars classmates analyzed their institution’s results in several projects related to improving student engagement. The first project they completed was an analysis of the open-ended NSSE item, “What one change would you most like to see implemented that would improve the educational experience at this institution, and what one thing should not be changed?” The Inquiry Scholars literally put each comment from the 270 respondents who answered this question on a strip of paper and sorted them all into thematic affinity groups. They analyzed the results by gender and by year and then shared their findings with more than 150 faculty and staff members. Faculty, in turn, were asked to answer the same prompt during this event, and the Inquiry Scholars analyzed the faculty’s results as well.
Another project using NSSE data undertaken by the Inquiry Scholars centered on the larger body of NSSE results. From their reading of SNHU’s Snapshot report and the reports on Engagement Indicators and High-Impact Practices, the Inquiry Scholars generated and prioritized questions for further study. They applied to their campus Institutional Review Board (IRB) to run student focus groups for the project and, with IRB approval, worked in teams of two conducting focus groups of eight to ten students to learn more about the student engagement experience. From these focus groups, once again, the Inquiry Scholars generated common themes and shared their findings with university stakeholders including academic affairs staff, deans, and faculty leaders.
Research Highlights from NSSE Sightings
NSSE Sightings shares current findings and much more from NSSE, BCSSE, FSSE, and other projects at the Center for Postsecondary Research. The latest postings feature highlights from NSSE’s National Advisory Board meeting in January, an overview of a webinar on NSSE’s new Inclusiveness and Engagement with Cultural Diversity Topical Module, and “director’s cut” findings (which didn’t make it into Annual Results 2017) on gender identity and sexual orientation and on students’ expectations for student-faculty interaction. Other blog posts discuss recent research articles by staff members exploring the relationship between high-impact practices and early career outcomes and religious intolerance and discrimination on college campuses.
The blog also posts stories from our participation at conferences. The following are just some of the conferences where NSSE staff have presented since the new year:
Check out NSSE Sightings, and if you sight good engagement-related research and findings, please let us know. As always, we welcome your ideas and feedback!NSSE at AIR Forum 2018
NSSE hopes to see you at the upcoming Association for Institutional Research (AIR) Annual Forum in Orlando, Florida. Our staff will be well represented in the conference program book with various paper and poster presentations, a panel session, a half-day workshop, and, of course, our customary special interest group meeting. NSSE events are among many that institutions should find useful and interesting at AIR Forum 2018.
Academic Dishonesty Among Undergraduates
James Cole, Robert Gonyea, and Ryan Merckle
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Assessing Small Populations: Recognizing Everyone Counts in Your Counts
Allison BrckaLorenz, Kyle Fassett, and Sarah Hurtado
Abstract:
High-Impact Practices and Personality: Are HIPs Biased for Certain Traits?
Angie L. Miller
Abstract:
Learning Strategies in High School and First Year in College
Lanlan Mu and James Cole
Abstract:
Lost in Translation: Transforming Survey Data to Get Started with Tableau
Allison BrckaLorenz, Amy Ribera, and Brendan Dugan
Abstract:
Maximizing Survey Data for Outreach, Assessment, Programming, and Beyond
Angie L. Miller and Amber D. Dumford
Abstract:
R for IR: A Brief Introduction for Institutional Research Professionals
Brendan Dugan and Kevin Fosnacht
Abstract:
Simplifying Complex Survey Data: Diagnostic Classification Models
Justin Paulsen and Shimon Sarraf
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Transparent Quality: Framing and Building a Psychometric Portfolio
Allison BrckaLorenz and Justin Paulsen
Abstract:
Undergraduate Financial Knowledge and College Financial Education Efforts
Kevin Fosnacht and Brendan Dugan
Abstract:
VALUE Institute Launched
The Center for Postsecondary Research, NSSE’s home unit at Indiana University, has launched the VALUE Institute in collaboration with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Through this project, higher education institutions and other postsecondary education providers can have authentic student work scored by trained raters using VALUE rubrics. For more information, visit valueinstituteassessment.org.