EDU National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Support
Following recommendations of the NSSE Strategy Task Force, the EDU is supporting faculties in analyzing, discussing and moving forward with data from the 2014 University of Calgary National Survey of Student Engagement.
In May 2014, an action team (Patti Dyjur, Robin Mueller, Carol Berenson, Patrick Kelly, Natasha Kenny, Nahum Arguera) was established in the Educational Development Unit (EDU) to support faculties in their analysis and interpretation of their qualitative and quantitative NSSE results. Over the summer of 2014, the NSSE Action Team consulted with Associate Deans (Teaching and Learning) of each faculty to determine their NSSE data analysis and support needs. During that time, the EDU’s NSSE Research Analyst (Nahum Arguera) produced reports for each faculty, to enable them to further analyze their data related to each of the NSSE engagement indicators, and to help faculties compare their data to others within the University of Calgary and across the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities.
The NSSE survey was administered in the following faculties:
- Cumming School of Medicine
- Haskayne School of Business
- Werklund School of Education
- Faculty of Science
- Schulich School of Engineering
- Faculty of Arts
- Faculty of Social Work
- Faculty of Nursing
- University of Calgary in Qatar
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
- Faculty of Kinesiology
The EDU will host three retreats between September 2015 and May 2016, to provide faculties with the opportunity to share knowledge and strategies on how they are moving forward to enhance student engagement in response to their analysis of the NSSE survey data.
Related Documentation and Materials
A variety of resources are available to support the NSSE process on the Taylor Institute Teaching Community (NSSE Resources on Taylor Institute Teaching Community).
Information related to High Impact Practices (NSSE High Impact Practices)
2015/16 NSSE Retreats
The goal of the first NSSE retreat (hosted on September 2015) was to provide an interactive opportunity for sharing information about what faculties have learned about your faculty’s NSSE data, your key areas of focus and how you might move forward from this point (NSSE Retreat Slides, September 2015).
Assessment Strategies and Results
At the September retreat, faculty generated ideas for moving forward with actions on how their faculty could improve student engagement (Outcomes of Small Group Brainstorm of Ideas for Moving Forward)
The feedback from the evaluation form indicated that most faculty (72%) felt more confident in moving forward with their faculty’s NSSE data following this retreat, and 94% of those who respondent to the evaluations rated the overall quality of the retreat as good to excellent. The qualitative comments revealed that faculty were thrilled to share information and ideas with others, and to discover what other faculties were doing to improve student engagement. Others acknowledged that they needed time to process and discuss how they would translate these ideas into practice within the context of their faculties. In terms of improvement, they felt that they were inspired by what they had seen, and wanted more time to brainstorm ideas for taking action in their faculties. They also wanted opportunities to work in small groups with members from outside of their discipline.
Reflection and Impact
The main goals of the EDU’s NSSE Action Group is to support faculties in analyzing, presenting and interpreting their NSSE results, and to provide opportunities for faculty and staff to engage in meaningful conversation related to how they are using the NSSE results to strengthen student engagement at the University of Calgary. The results from the first retreat indicated that faculty appreciate the opportunity to share big ideas related to enhancing student engagement. They appreciated the 2 hour time retreat frame. Moving forward, we will provide additional time for them to engage in small interdisciplinary working group discussions that move them beyond their NSSE data, and allow them to explore actions to strengthen student engagement in their faculty.
Project collaborators: Patti Dyjur, Robin Mueller, Carol Berenson, Patrick Kelly, Natasha Kenny, Nahum Arguera
ePortfolio post authors: Grace Whitehead, Nahum Arguera, Natasha Kenny, D’Arcy Norman