Assessment| Assessment |
| National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Background: The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is a survey conducted annually by the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University Bloomington. The survey was designed to measure the level to which students engage in activities shown to affect college academic success. Questions on the survey cover the following general categories: (1) Level of academic challenge – number of assigned textbooks; number of written papers; coursework emphasizing analyzing, synthesizing, making judgments, and applying theories; time spent preparing for class; and working harder than expected to meet an instructor’s expectations (2) Active and collaborative learning – asked questions in class, made a class presentation, worked with other students on projects, tutored or taught other students, participated in a community-based project, and discussed ideas from readings or classes with others outside of class (3) Student-faculty interaction – discussed grades or assignments with an instructor, discussed ideas from readings or classes with faculty members outside of class, talked about career plans with a faculty member or advisor, received prompt feedback from faculty on academic performance, worked with faculty on activities other than coursework, and worked on research projects with faculty outside of course or program requirements (4) Enriching educational experiences – had serious conversations with students very different in terms of religious beliefs/political opinions/personal values/race or ethnicity, institutional emphasis on encouraging contact among students from different backgrounds, hours spent participating in co-curricular activities, used an electronic medium to discuss or complete an assignment, practicum-type experience, community service, learning community, foreign language coursework, study abroad, independent study, and culminating senior experience (5) Supportive campus environment – institutional emphasis on providing support to help students thrive socially, succeed academically, and cope with non-academic responsibilities; and quality of relationships with other students, faculty members, and administrative personnel NSSE surveys are distributed to first year and senior students during the spring of the year. Institutions can choose to have the surveys distributed in paper form or online. The first NSSE survey was conducted in 1999. The University of Dayton first participated in the NSSE in 2004, then again in 2005 and 2007, each time choosing to use the online version. The next anticipated NSSE survey will be in 2010. UD will participate in the NSSE every three years, allowing us to identify trends in student responses across years. The three-year schedule also allows us to evaluate the responses of the subgroup of students who completed the survey both in their first year and also in their senior year to see how the students’ habits and attitudes change between those years. The other two Marianist universities also plan to conduct the NSSE on the same years as UD to allow the three universities to compare student responses on questions related to the Marianist mission. The NSSE project at UD is coordinated by the institutional researcher for academics in the provost’s office. Indiana University conveys results of the NSSE in a comprehensive report comparing responses of UD students with responses given by students in three groups: (1) UD’s peers (self-identified by UD), (2) universities with the same basic Carnegie classification as UD (research universities, high research activity), and (3) all students who completed the NSSE survey that year. In addition to the standard analyses provided, UD's institutional researcher for academics conducts additional analyses on student responses based on division, major, gender, ethnicity, and placement test scores. Results are distributed to deans, department chairs, assessment coordinators, and others at the university who request them. Results of these NSSE analyses are used by the schools to identify areas of strength and possible areas of concern within their programs. The schools add the NSSE results to their other assessment data, helping them draw a more complete picture of their students and programs.
University of Dayton's NSSE Results:
Means comparison report (UD compared with peers): 2004 2005 2007 Interpreting the means comparison report Results by question: 2005 2007 Results by division: 2005 2007 Number of respondents by division and major: 2005 2007 Results by ethnicity: 2005 2007 Results by ACT and SAT: 2005 2007 Frequency distributions of questions: 2005 2007 Demographics of respondents: 2005 2007 Examples of how UD uses results
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University of Dayton, 300 College Park, Dayton, OH 45469 (937) 229-1000 info@udayton.edu |
