Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE)
http://www.acer.edu.au/research/ausse
Student engagement and the AUSSE
Student engagement is linked with high-quality learning outcomes.
Understanding and effectively managing students' engagement in higher
education plays a significant role in enhancing learning processes and
outcomes for students. Data from the Australasian Survey of Student
Engagement (AUSSE) provides information on the time and effort students
devote to educationally purposeful activities and on students' perceptions of
the quality of other aspects of their university experience. The information
collected by the AUSSE can be used by higher education institutions to
improve student outcomes, manage and monitor resources, programs and
services, and help identify how to attract, and importantly, retain students.
Areas measured by the AUSSE
The survey instruments used in the AUSSE collect information on around 100
specific learning activities and conditions along with information on
individual demographics and educational contexts.The instruments contain
items that map onto six student engagement scales:
 Academic Challenge - the extent to which expectations and
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assessments challenge students to learn;
Active Learning - students' efforts to actively construct knowledge;
Student and Staff Interactions - the level and nature of students'
contact and interaction with teaching staff;
Enriching Educational Experiences - students' participation in
broadening educational activities;
Supportive Learning Environment - students' feelings of support
within the university community; and
Work Integrated Learning - integration of employment-focused
work experiences into study.
The instruments also contain items that map onto seven outcome measures.
Average overall grade is captured in a single item, and the other six are
composite measures which reflect responses to several items:
 Higher-Order Thinking - participation in higher-order forms of
thinking;
 General Learning Outcomes - development of general
competencies;
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General Development Outcomes - development of general forms
of individual and social development;
Career Readiness - preparation for participation in the professional
workforce;
Average Overall Grade - average overall grade so far in course;
Departure Intention - non-graduating students' intentions on not
returning to study in the following year; and
Overall Satisfaction - students' overall satisfaction with their
educational experience.
Three different survey instruments used to collect data as part of the AUSSE.
These are the Student Engagement Questionnaire (SEQ) which is
administered to first- and third-year undergraduate students, the
Postgraduate Student Engagement Questionnaire (PSEQ) which is
administered to postgraduate coursework students, and the Staff Student
Engagement Questionnaire (SSEQ) which is used to survey academic
staff.
Student Engagement Questionnaire (SEQ)
The SEQ is based on the USA National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
College Student Report and has been extensively validated for use in
Australasian higher education through a series of focus groups, consultations,
cognitive interviews, pilot testing, expert reviews and psychometric analyses.
These validation processes builds upon the extensive validation conducted in
the USA.
This survey is conducted with first- and third-year undergraduate onshore
students who have not previously participated in higher education and is
designed for administration 15 minutes or less either online or using a paper
form.
Postgraduate Student Engagement Questionnaire (PSEQ)
The PSEQ, the survey instrument for the Postgraduate Survey of Student
Engagement (POSSE), is an adaptation of the SEQ that is designed to be
administered to postgraduate coursework students. The PSEQ was piloted
with institutions in 2009 and will be offered as an option to all institutions
from 2010.
The PSEQ is conducted online only and takes 15 minutes or less to complete.
The PSEQ collects data on the same six student engagement scales and seven
outcome measures as the SEQ.
Staff Student Engagement Questionnaire (SSEQ)
The SSEQ, the survey instrument for the Staff Student Engagement Survey
(SSES), builds directly on the USA Faculty Survey of Student Engagement
(FSSE), a survey that has been run by Indiana University's Centre for
Postsecondary Research since 2004.
The SSEQ is a survey of academic staff about the undergraduate students they
have taught during the past two years. The survey measures academics'
perceptions of how often their students engage in different activities, the
importance they place on various aspects of learning, the nature and
frequency of their interaction with students and how they organise their time,
both in and out of the classroom.As the structure and content of the SSEQ
closely mirrors that of the SEQ, the results for many of the SSEQ items can be
directly compared to those on the SEQ.
This survey contains items that tap a range of key educational phenomena,
and collects data on the same six student engagement scales as the SEQ and
PSEQ. The SSEQ also captures staff perceptions on five of the seven outcome
measures: Higher-Order Thinking, General Learning Outcomes, General
Development Outcomes, Departure Intention and Overall Satisfaction.The
SSEQ is conducted online only and takes around 15 minutes to complete.