The following templates reflect two ways institutions may wish to submit their custom item sets. Other formats are acceptable. However, we request that all institutions follow the same general format (e.g., bold question stems, italicize response options, include value labels for all response options) and submit their questions using Microsoft Word. Question content should be generally related to student engagement, learning, success, or institutional climate. Review our guidance for writing good survey questions as well.
NSSE Custom Item Set Templates
Example 1: One question stem with ten questions
During the current school year, whether course-related or not, about how often have you done the following?
Response options: 4=Very often, 3=Often, 2=Sometimes, 1=Never
- Discussed or debated an issue of social, political, or philosophical importance
- Made a speech to a group
- Worked in a group with people who differed from you in terms of background, political orientation, points of view, etc.
- Discussed the ethical consequences of a course of action
- Evaluated the credibility of information sources
- Discussed complex problems with others to develop a better solution
- Generated multiple solutions to a problem or task
- Combined dissimilar concepts to create a novel idea
- Adapted a previously used solution to a new situation
- Referred to online content (tutorial, forum, webpage, etc.) to solve a problem
Example 2: Four question stems with unique response options (ten questions total)
How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
Response options: 5=Strongly agree, 4=Agree, 3=Neither agree nor disagree, 2=Disagree, 1=Strongly disagree
- I find that studying gives me a feeling of deep personal satisfaction.
- I spend a lot of free time learning more about interesting topics that have been discussed in my courses.
- I think of my life in terms of giving back to society.
During your time at this institution, to what extent have your courses done the following?
Response options: 1=Not at all, 2=2, 3=3, 4=4, 5=5, 6=6, 7=Very much
- Inspired you to make connections between ideas from different fields of study
- Delved deeply into complex issues
Which of the following have you done or do you plan to do before you graduate?
Response options: 4=Done or in progress, 3=Plan to do, 2=Do not plan to do, 1=Have not decided
- Present the results of research, scholarly activities, or creative works at a formal conference or exhibition on your own campus
- Present the results of research, scholarly activities, or creative works off campus at an academic conference, exhibition, or other venue
How important is each one of the following to you personally?
Response options: 1=Not important at all, 2=Somewhat important, 3=Moderately important, 4=Pretty important, 5=Extremely important
- Making a lot of money
- Using my creativity to make artistic works or new contributions in a field
- Making a difference in the world