To represent the multiple dimensions of student engagement, NSSE reports scores for 10 Engagement Indicators calculated from 47 questions and grouped within four themes. Additionally, NSSE provides results on six High-Impact Practices, aptly named for their positive associations with student learning and retention.
Engagement Indicators
Engagement Indicators (EIs) provide valuable information about distinct aspects of student engagement by summarizing students’ responses to sets of related survey questions.
The EIs and component items were rigorously tested both qualitatively and quantitatively in a multiyear effort that included student focus groups, cognitive interviews, and two years of pilot testing and analysis. As a result, each EI provides valuable, concise, actionable information about a distinct aspect of student engagement.
Theme
Engagement Indicator
Academic Challenge
Higher-Order Learning
Reflective & Integrative Learning
Learning Strategies
Quantitative Reasoning
Learning with Peers
Collaborative Learning
Discussions withDiverse Others
Experiences with Faculty
Student-Faculty Interaction
Effective Teaching Practices
Campus Environment
Quality of Interactions
Supportive Environment
The comparative data is some of the most actionable data we have gathered.
MAURI S. PELTO, VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, NICHOLS COLLEGE
EI Component Items
Theme: Academic Challenge
Higher-Order Learning
During the current school year, how much has your coursework emphasized the following:
• Applying facts, theories, or methods to practical problems or new situations
• Analyzing an idea, experience, or line of reasoning in depth by examining its parts
• Evaluating a point of view, decision, or information source
• Forming a new idea or understanding from various pieces of information
Reflective & Integrative Learning
During the current school year, how often have you
• Combined ideas from different courses when completing assignments
• Connected your learning to societal problems or issues
• Included diverse perspectives (political, religious, racial/ethnic, gender, etc.) in course discussions or assignments
• Examined the strengths and weaknesses of your own views on a topic or issue
• Tried to better understand someone else’s views by imagining how an issue looks from their perspective
• Learned something that changed the way you understand an issue or concept
• Connected ideas from your courses to your prior experiences and knowledge
Learning Strategies
During the current school year, how often have you
• Identified key information from reading assignments
• Reviewed your notes after class • Summarized what you learned in class or from course materials
Quantitative Reasoning
During the current school year, how often have you
• Reached conclusions based on your own analysis of numerical information (numbers, graphs, statistics, etc.)
• Used numerical information to examine a real-world problem or issue (unemployment, climate change, public health, etc.)
• Evaluated what others have concluded from numerical information
Theme: Learning with Peers
Collaborative Learning
During the current school year, how often have you
• Asked another student to help you understand course material
• Explained course material to one or more students
• Prepared for exams by discussing or working through course material with other students
• Worked with other students on course projects or assignments
Discussions with Diverse Others
During the current school year, how often have you had discussions with people from the following groups:
• People from a race or ethnicity other than your own
• People from an economic background other than your own
• People with religious beliefs other than your own
• People with political views other than your own
Theme: Experiences with Faculty
Student-Faculty Interaction
During the current school year, how often have you
• Talked about career plans with a faculty member
• Worked with a faculty member on activities other than coursework (committees, student groups, etc.)
• Discussed course topics, ideas, or concepts with a faculty member outside of class
• Discussed your academic performance with a faculty member
Effective Teaching Practices
During the current school year, to what extent have your instructors done the following:
• Clearly explained course goals and requirements
• Taught course sessions in an organized way
• Used examples or illustrations to explain difficult points
• Provided feedback on a draft or work in progress
• Provided prompt and detailed feedback on tests or completed assignments
Theme: Campus Environment
Quality of Interactions
Indicate the quality of your interactions with the following people at your institution:
• Attending events that address important social, economic, or political issues
High-Impact Practices
High-Impact Practices (HIPs) represent enriching educational experiences that can be life-changing. They typically demand considerable time and effort, facilitate learning outside of the classroom, require meaningful interactions with faculty and other students, encourage collaboration with diverse others, and provide frequent and substantive feedback.
NSSE founding director George Kuh recommends that all students participate in at least two HIPs over the course of their undergraduate experience—one during the first year and one in the context of their major.
NSSE reports student participation in six HIPs (see below), including first-year students’ plans to participate in internships, study abroad, and culminating senior experiences.
About how many of your courses at this institution have included a community-based project (service-learning)?
Response options: “All,” “Most,” “Some,” and “None”
Participate in a learning community or some other formal program where groups of students take two or more classes together
Stem question: “Which of the following have you done or do you plan to do before you graduate?”
Response options: “Done or in progress,” “Plan to do,” and “Do not plan to do,” “Have not decided”
Work with a faculty member on a research project
Stem question: “Which of the following have you done or do you plan to do before you graduate?”
Response options: “Done or in progress,” “Plan to do,” and “Do not plan to do,” “Have not decided”
Participate in an internship, co-op, field experience, student teaching, or clinical placement
Stem question: “Which of the following have you done or do you plan to do before you graduate?”
Response options: “Done or in progress,” “Plan to do,” and “Do not plan to do,” “Have not decided”
Participate in a study abroad program
Stem question: “Which of the following have you done or do you plan to do before you graduate?”
Response options: “Done or in progress,” “Plan to do,” and “Do not plan to do,” “Have not decided”
Complete a culminating senior experience (capstone course, senior project or thesis, comprehensive exam, portfolio, etc.)
Stem question: “Which of the following have you done or do you plan to do before you graduate?”
Response options: “Done or in progress,” “Plan to do,” and “Do not plan to do,” “Have not decided”
Evidence-Based Improvement in Higher Education resources and social media channels
