2008 National Survey of Student Engagement –

SUNY Oneonta

Patty FrancisSteve Perry

Fall 2008

An Introduction:NSSE and the Concept of Student Engagement

What is Student Engagement?

What students do -- time and energy devoted to educationally purposeful activities

What institutions do -- using effective educational practices to induce students to do the right things

Educationally effective institutions channel student energy toward the right activities

Time on task (Tyler, 1930s)

Quality of effort (Pace, 1960-70s)

Student involvement (Astin, 1984)

Social, academic integration (Tinto, 1987, 1993)

Good practices in undergraduate education (Chickering & Gamson, 1987)

College impact (Pascarella, 1985)

Student engagement (Kuh, 1991, 2005)

Foundations of Student Engagement

Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate

Education(Chickering & Gamson, 1987; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005)

Student-faculty contact Active learning Prompt feedback Time on task High expectations Experiences with

diversity Cooperation among

students

National Survey of Student Engagement(pronounced “nessie”)

Assesses the extent to which students engage in educational practices associated with high levels of learning and development

NSSE Benchmarks ofEffective Educational Practice

Level of Academic Challenge

Active & Collaborative

Learning

Enriching Educational Experiences

Student – Faculty

Interaction

Supportive Campus

Environment

NSSE Benchmark Definitions Level of Academic Challenge - Engagement in intellectually

challenging and creative work.

Active & Collaborative Learning - Engagement in collaborative learning and learning in different settings.

Student-Faculty Interaction - Student engagement with faculty as role models and mentors.

Supportive Campus Environment - Quality of campus environment to support student success.

Enriching Educational Experiences - Participation in many activities not typically completed by first-year students (e.g., internships, capstone courses, study abroad).

Survey Administration Administered to random

samples of first-year & senior students

Administration occurs in the spring academic term

Paper & Web-based survey

Multiple follow-ups to increase response rates

Administered 2003, 2005 and 2008 at Oneonta

NSSE 2008 & Selected Oneonta Results

NSSE 2008 Respondent Characteristics

First-Year Senior

Respondents 473 579

Response Rate 40% 39%

Female 71% 65%

Caucasian/White 78% 83%

Transfer 6% 45%

Full-time 100% 97%

Live On-campus 90% 30%

Traditional Age 99% 85%

Overall, Oneonta scores were similar or higher, especially for seniors.

Selected Oneonta Results on NSSE Benchmarks Compared to Other SUNY Institutions:

Oneonta Benchmark Scores Compared to SUNY Institutions

LAC Oneonta SUNY Peers

First-Year 51.3 52.2 Senior 57.0 55.5

ACLFirst-Year 39.0 39.4Senior 55.5 47.3 ***

SFIFirst-Year 32.1 32.9 Senior 46.8 40.8 ***

EEEFirst-Year 26.7 27.4 Senior 42.8 39.6 ***

SCEFirst-Year 62.6 59.0 *** Senior 62.3 55.9 ***

***p<.001

For both student cohorts, almost all scores increased from 2003 to 2008, some

markedly.

Selected Oneonta Results on NSSE Benchmarks Over Time:

First-Year Students

Seniors

Level of Academic Challenge (LAC)

First-Year Students

Seniors

Active and Collaborative Learning

(ACL)

First-Year Students

Seniors

Student-Faculty Interaction(SFI)

First-Year Students

Seniors

Enriching Educational Experiences

(EEE)

First-Year Students

Seniors

Supportive Campus Environment

(SCE)

For seniors, Oneonta scores were similar or higher but for first-year students Oneonta scores were lower overall.

Selected Oneonta Results Compared to National Peer

Institutions:

Oneonta Benchmark Scores Compared to National Peer

InstitutionsLAC Oneonta Carnegie Class NSSE 2008 First-Year 51.3 53.2 ** 52.9 ** Senior 57.0 58.1 56.5

ACLFirst-Year 39.0 45.9 *** 42.5 ***Senior 55.5 52.7 *** 50.8 ***

SFIFirst-Year 32.1 38.3 *** 34.6 **Senior 46.8 45.9 42.3 ***

EEEFirst-Year 26.7 28.3 27.5Senior 42.8 41.4 40.4 **

SCEFirst-Year 62.6 62.9 61.0Senior 62.3 61.3 57.9 ***

**p<.01 ***p<.001

Who Were These Peer Institutions?

NSSE Institutions - Consisted of all 714 institutions participating in NSSE 2008

Carnegie Class Institutions Consisted of 46 non-SUNY institutions in

Oneonta’s Carnegie Class (i.e., Master’s colleges and universities – smaller programs)

Included relatively large public institutions as well as small privates

Recommendations

1. Oneonta should initiate a campus-wide discussion of student engagement and strategies for enhancing this process, to include faculty, staff, and students.

2. Oneonta should focus on initiatives to improve engagement with first-year students.

3. These initiatives should target the following areas:• Student-Faculty Interaction (SFI)• Active and Collaborative

Learning (ACL)• Level of Academic Challenge

(LAC)

4. Aspirational goal: To compare favorably to other institutions in our Carnegie Class, for both first-year students and seniors, when the NSSE is next conducted in 2011.

Questions & Discussion

Contact Information

NSSE Web site www.nsse.iub.edu

National Survey of Student EngagementCenter for Postsecondary Research

Indiana University BloomingtonPhone: 812.856.5824

E-mail: nsse@indiana.edu

Oneonta Contacts:

Patty Francis

francipl@oneonta.edu

Steve Perry

perrysr@oneonta.edu

.