NSSE and The Student Voice:
Understanding ‘Student
Experience’, ‘Student Engagement’
and How These are Measured
April 26, 2007
Leaders’ Forum
CONTEXT
Paul Davenport,
President and Vice-Chancellor
Leaders’ Forum
Introducing NSSE
Dr. Jerry White, Advisor to the Provost
Leaders’ Forum
What is the NSSE?
• Measures student participation in
programs and activities that institutions
provide for their learning and personal
development
• first Pilot was 1999 and first full survey
with 276 colleges and Universities
• items in NSSE represent empirically
confirmed "good practices" in
undergraduate education
Leaders’ Forum
What is it supposed to tell us?
• a proxy for learning, understanding, and
postgraduation commitments that we
cannot measure very well directly
• a diagnostic tool for institutional
improvement and accountability
• NSSE does not support using results for
ranking schools
• student engagement data should lead to
improved approaches to accountability
Leaders’ Forum
How did we get involved?
• Western one of the first to join into the
NSSE survey in Canada
• In 2004, Western and several
Canadian universities participated for
the first time
• Western has taken a leadership role in
making data public
Leaders’ Forum
The National Survey of Student
Engagement (NSSE)
Dr. Debra Dawson
Director, Teaching and Learning Services
Leaders’ Forum
Outline
•
•
•
•
What is student engagement?
NSSE benchmarks
What were some of the key results?
What can we do to enhance student
success?
Leaders’ Forum
What is student engagement?
• Students’ sustained involvement,
intense effort and concentration in
learning activities
• Students’ use of cognitive and
meta-cognitive strategies that lead
to deep learning
• Institutions’ learning opportunities
and services that induce students to
take part in such activities
– Mighty ( 2006)
Leaders’ Forum
National Survey of Student Engagement
(NSSE)
• Designed to obtain information
about student participation in
programs and activities that foster
deep learning
• In 2006 Western and all Ontario
universities participated.
http://nsse.iub.edu/html/sample.cfm
Leaders’ Forum
NSSE Benchmarks of Effective
Practice
• Level of academic challenge
• Active and collaborative learning
• Students interactions with academic
staff
• Enriching educational experiences
• Supportive campus environments
Leaders’ Forum
Benchmark
Supportive Campus Environment
• Students perform better and are more
satisfied at institutions that are:
-committed to their success
-cultivate positive working and social relationship
among different groups on campus
Leaders’ Forum
Supportive Campus Environment
Benchmark Comparisons
100
Senior Students
First-Year Students
80
60
40
58.6
55.2
57.8
Ontario
Carnegie
58.3
52.5
50.4
Western
Ontario
54.7
55.6
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
20
0
Western
Leaders’ Forum
NSSE 2006
To what extent does your institution emphasize…providing the support you
need to help you succeed academically?
(% responded “quite a bit” or “very much”)
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
40
72
67
61
53
20
0
Western
Leaders’ Forum
Ontario
Western
Ontario
Supportive Campus Environment
Mark the box that best represents the quality of your relationship with other
students (% rated 6 or 7 on scale)
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
Unfriendly,
Unsupportive, Sense
of Alienation
80
1
2
60
3
4
5
40
6
7
63
55
58
55
Ontario
Western
Ontario
20
0
Western
Leaders’ Forum
Supportive Campus Environment
Friendly,
Supportive, Sense of
Belonging
Mark the box that best represents the quality of your relationship with faculty
members (% rated 6 or 7 on scale)
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
Unavailable,
Unhelpful,
Unsympathetic
80
1
2
60
3
4
5
40
6
7
20
35
35
Western
Ontario
41
40
Western
Ontario
0
Leaders’ Forum
Supportive Campus Environment
Available, Helpful,
Sympathetic
Benchmark
Enriching Educational Experiences
• Opportunity to integrate and apply knowledge
– Experience diversity
– Participate in internships, field placements,
& undergraduate research projects
– Senior capstone experience
Leaders’ Forum
Enriching Educational Experiences
Benchmark Comparisons
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
40
20
26.3
24.3
Western
Ontario
28.1
26.3
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
33.2
33.7
Western
Ontario
41.2
38.9
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
0
Leaders’ Forum
Which of the following have you done or plan to do at
your institution?
% Study Abroad
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
Done
Plan to do
40
4
4
20
7
9
36
38
14
15
Western
Ontario
Western
Ontario
0
Leaders’ Forum
Enriching Educational Experiences
Study Abroad
Development of International Curriculum Fund (ICF)
– focus on internationalization and in particular
study abroad
http://international.uwo.ca/
Leaders’ Forum
Enriching Educational Experiences
Which of the following have you done or plan to do at your institution?
% Practicum, internship, field experience, co-op experience,
or clinical assignment
100
First-Year Students
80
Senior Students
7
7
60
7
6
55
51
40
32
40
20
58
60
76
71
17
16
22
22
Western
Ontario
Carnegie
NSSE
Western
Ontario
Carnegie
NSSE
0
Leaders’ Forum
Enriching Educational Experiences
Have
done
Plan to
do
Benchmark
Student-Faculty Interaction
• Students learn how experts
think about and solve
practical problems by
interacting with faculty
members inside and
outside the classroom.
• Faculty are role models,
mentors and guides for
continuous, life-long
learning.
Leaders’ Forum
Student-Faculty Interaction
Benchmark Comparisons
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
40
20
22.5
22.0
Western
Ontario
30.5
30.4
31.1
31.2
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
Western
Ontario
40
39.7
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
0
Leaders’ Forum
In your experience at your institution during the current school year, about
how often have you discussed grades or assignments with an instructor
(% responded “Often” or “Very Often”)
100
Senior Students
First-Year Students
80
60
40
55
20
24
26
Western
Ontario
44
44
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
39
40
Western
Ontario
46
0
Leaders’ Forum
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
Student-Faculty Interaction
In your experiences at your institution during the current school year,
about how often have you discussed ideas from your readings or classes
with faculty members outside of class? (% responded “NEVER”)
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
40
53
52
20
46
44
39
39
31
30
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
0
Western
Ontario
Leaders’ Forum
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
Western
Ontario
Student-Faculty Interaction
Benchmark
Active and Collaborative Learning
• Active
– where students learn by doing, by hands-on
experimentation or where they get the
opportunity to think through to a realization
• Collaborative
– where students work in
teams or groups towards
a common goal
Leaders’ Forum
Active and Collaborative Learning
Benchmark Comparisons
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
40
20
32.3
34.6
Western
Ontario
39.7
40.2
40.5
43
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
Western
Ontario
48.4
49.3
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
0
Leaders’ Forum
In your experience at your institution during the current school year, about
how often have you asked questions in class or contributed to class
discussion (% responded “Often” or “Very Often”)
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
40
51
54
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
50
48
Western
Ontario
64
67
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
20
31
33
Western
Ontario
0
Leaders’ Forum
Active and Collaborative Learning
In your experiences at your institution during the current school year, about
how often have you made a class presentation?
(% responded “NEVER”)
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
40
61
20
38
22
19
12
10
Western
Ontario
0
Western
Ontario
Leaders’ Forum
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
6
6
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
Active and Collaborative Learning
Community Service-Learning
• Form of experiential learning
• Designed to foster civic
responsibility, address community
needs, and enhance student
learning
• Reflection following community
service relates classroom content
to S-L experience
Leaders’ Forum
Active and Collaborative Learning
In your experiences at your institution during the current school year, about how often
have you participated in a community-based project (e.g. service-learning) as part of a
regular course? (% responding “Sometimes,” “Often” or “Very Often”)
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
40
42
20
32
21
20
0
Western
Leaders’ Forum
Carnegie
Western
Carnegie
Active and Collaborative Learning
Service-Learning Initiatives
• Alternative Spring Break
• Western Heads East
• Curricular ServiceLearning
www.servicelearning.uwo.ca
Leaders’ Forum
Active and Collaborative Learning
Benchmark
Level of Academic Challenge
• Challenging intellectual
and creative work
• High expectations for
student performance
Leaders’ Forum
Level of Academic Challenge
Benchmark Comparisons
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
40
48.8
50.6
51.8
51.5
53.6
55.3
55.2
55.6
Western
Ontario
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
Western
Ontario
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
20
0
Leaders’ Forum
During the current school year, about how often have you worked
harder than you thought you could to meet a meet an instructor’s
standards or expectations? (% responded “Often” or “Very Often”)
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
40
20
39
43
49
50
48
50
53
55
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
Western
Ontario
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
0
Western
Leaders’ Forum
Ontario
Level of Academic Challenge
Total number of papers or reports between 5 and 19 pages written during the
current school year
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
None
1 to 4
5+
80
60
60
58
49
49
40
44
40
36
25
20
18
10
7
4
0
Western
Leaders’ Forum
Ontario
Western
Ontario
Level of Academic Challenge
Two Key Questions
How would you evaluate your entire educational experience at your
institution? (% rated “good” or “excellent”)
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
88
40
87
80
84
85
85
85
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
77
20
0
Western
Leaders’ Forum
Ontario
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
Western
Ontario
If you could start over again, would you go to the same institution you are
now attending? (% responded “probably yes” or “definitely yes”)
100
First-Year Students
Senior Students
80
60
90
84
40
85
83
83
83
81
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
76
20
0
Western
Ontario
Leaders’ Forum
Carnegie
NSSE 2006
Western
Ontario
Promoting Student Success
• What Can Campus Leaders Do?
– Student success is everybody’s
business
– Students thrive when an institution
enacts a holistic philosophy of talent
development and provides support
from multiple sources
– We need to seek effective ways of
putting vision into practice
Leaders’ Forum
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Boyer, E.L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the
Professoriate. Princeton, NJ: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement
of Learning.
Chickering, A. W. & Gamson, Z. F.(1987). “Seven principles for good
practice in undergraduate education”, American Association of Higher
Education Bulletin, pp. 3-7.
Kuh, G. (2003). What we’re learning about student engagement from
NSSE. Change March/ April , 24-32
Mighty, J.(2006).From admission to graduation:opportunities and
strategies for student engagement. Paper presented at Fall Perspectives
on Learning, UWO, London, Canada
National Study on Student Engagement(NSSE).
http://nsse.iub.edu/index.cfm. Last retrieved on March 4, 2007.
Steffes, J.S.( 2004). Creating powerful learning environments beyond the
classroom. Change, 36(3), 46-50.
Promoting Student Success: NSSE Deep Practice Briefs
http://nsse.iub.edu/institute/?view=deep/briefs. Last retrieved on Apr. 18,
2007.
Leaders’ Forum
Q & A?
What questions about NSSE, or
Western’s results do you have
for Deb or Jerry or others?
Leaders’ Forum
Leaders’ Forum
Next Steps
• Use your “Meeting in a Bag” to
share today’s information with your
staff
• Check Leaders’ Digest for notes
and summary from today
• Next seasons’ Leaders’ Forum
dates will be emailed to you
Leaders’ Forum
Leaders’ Forum
Thank You to Our Student Guests!
Leaders’ Forum
Thank You to Our Facilitators
Carol Abraham
Jenn Ashenden
Ross Beatty
Becca Carroll
Krys Chelchowski
Donna Chute-Dolan
Rod Crichton
Debra Dawson
Frank DeGurse
Sharon Farnell
Andrew Fuller
Chantal Gloor
Paula Greenwood
Stephanie Hayne
Leaders’ Forum
Ruth Heard
Ruta Lawrence
Scott May
Donna Moore
Nancy Patrick
Terry Rice
Peggy Roffey
Malcolm Ruddock
Nancy Stewart
Glen Tigert
Peggy Wakabayashi
Penny Westmacott
Carolyn Young
Have a Great Summer!
Leaders’ Forum