Home > Blogs + Podcasts > The Teagle Liblog

The Teagle Liblog

June 4, 2007

Out of the Closet
By James Diedrick, Agnes Scott College

More than 1,000 four-year colleges and universities have participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) since it was introduced in 2000. Regular readers of this column are doubtless familiar with the instrument, which examines the extent to which students engage in a variety of educationally effective activities. Yet when I ask faculty about the NSSE data for their institution, most say they have never seen it, let alone considered ways of using it to better understand how the activities students participate in during their four years in college impact success in their courses or the curriculum. Sometimes this ignorance results from a reluctance on the part of the institutional research office to make this information widely available to faculty. What can we do to move beyond this “don’t ask don’t tell” attitude?

Dr. Jillian Kinzie was on our campus recently to work with our Teagle Collaborative on making use of our NSSE data. During her talk, she stressed using NSSE results to create a “positive restlessness” on campus. That notion has stuck with me, and over the last few weeks I have been wondering: how do we get more faculty and staff involved with and using NSSE data intentionally? What follows is a partial list of the individuals and groups that might ask for NSSE data, and be glad they did so:

Strategic planning groups: An institution can tie NSSE results to the mission of the college or the strategic plan. How are we doing in comparison to what we are saying about ourselves? If the mission of the college stresses links between academic and experiential learning, a planning committee might examine the extent to which seniors report they have participated in community-based projects in their courses, tutored other students, and worked together on projects inside and outside the classroom.

General education committees: This group is likely interested in the intellectual gains we expect to see in students. Members might select a few items from the survey that are the focus of general education courses, and examine the results together. One example: examining the extent to which first years perceive they have had meaningful experiences writing and speaking clearly and effectively and thinking critically and analytically.

Student Affairs: Student Life staff concerned with retention, mental and physical health also can use NSSE as a window into the undergraduate experience. By looking at the extent to which students report the college is providing the support they need to thrive socially, and pairing those responses with student reports of their off-campus responsibilities—work, care of family and dependents—they can get a picture of the complexity of student lives and discuss how best to structure support initiatives.

Departments & Program Directors: NSSE also provides a window into the undergraduate experience for departments and programs, helping them pinpoint strengths and opportunities for improvement. For example, it is possible to examine active learning by looking at how often students report asking questions in class, making a class presentation or tutoring other students. If the scores for first years and seniors indicate they are regularly engaging in these activities, then a wider discussion can follow about what good practices in the department underlie those scores. The larger point here is that the NSSE data offers departments a chance to talk about what they value in their department, and the extent to which students are reporting taking part in activities that correspond to that value.

Study Abroad Offices: The NSSE survey can also provide valuable insight to those who oversee specific programs because one can look at NSSE outcomes to see if differences exist according to the course or experience. An Office of International Study, for example, might be assessing differences between students who did and did not participate in international experiences tied to their academic programs.

It is important to note that many of these examples use NSSE results in a formative way—to measure progress or development. An institution, department, or professor could certainly use NSSE data for summative assessment as well—to ascertain mastery, achievement, and perceptions of the campus environment among graduating seniors.

For example, Agnes Scott is committed to helping our incoming faculty make effective transitions to a women’s college where one third of the students come from underrepresented groups. We believed we needed to expand our new faculty orientation, and to seek foundation support for this initiative. We knew any foundation we approached would ask some form of this question: “What evidence do you have that supports the need for additional programming initiatives around minority access and achievement?” The answer: our NSSE data, which we were fortunate to have for a three year period. Working with our IR office, we established that the underrepresented minority students’ histories and educational experiences were in fact quite different from what is thought of as “traditional,” and that this translated into different evaluations at the end of their experiences here. Armed with this data, we were able to engage a foundation in a more detailed conversation about our proposal, and what impact funding would have on our campus. We were funded that spring.

In no way am I suggesting NSSE data should be the only information these campus constituencies should be using. Clearly, NSSE is one data strand in a larger assessment initiative. But before the committees we sit on think about participating in another national or homegrown survey, holding another focus group or collecting more student work, it might make sense to stop by the appropriate campus office, remove the NSSE report from whatever closet it resides in, and use the results to illuminate the path toward deeper engagement and inquiry for both faculty and administrators.

Email This Article | Subscribe to E-Updates

User Comments	Post Your Comments
With all due respect to my good friend, Jim, I'd like to challenge his description of institutional researchers' reluctance to share NSSE data with faculty. With the encouragement of the Dean, I have presented our NSSE data to the faculty every year. There was some skepticism initially about the value of the data. But to the extent the faculty began to see that the results reinforced generally-held beliefs about teaching and student abilities and the curriculum, the value of the data increased. One powerful example is our strategic planning committee's use of NSSE. Based on an examination of NSSE and other data, the committee concluded that we needed to conduct a comprehensive review of the curriculum. Eighteen months later, the faculty approved a fairly radical revision of the curriculum and first-year program. The changes will be implemented in the fall of 2008. Subsequent NSSE results will be compared to our baseline data to gauge progress toward the goals of the first-year program. And, Jim, we've now pulled summaries of our NSSE benchmark results out of the closet and posted them on our website!
June 4, 2007 – Bill Berg - Furman University

Post Your Comments