Results of AUC’s NSSE Administration in 2011

Office of Institutional ResearchFebruary 9, 2012

What We’ll Talk About• What is Student Engagement and Why Do We

Measure It?• NSSE Background• Survey Administration• Selected AUC Results

– Satisfaction– What We Do Well– What Needs Work

• Directions for Action

What is Student Engagement?• What students do -- time and energy devoted

to studies and other educationally purposeful activities– Research shows this is the single best predictor of

their learning and personal development. • What institutions do -- using resources and

effective educational practices to induce students to do the right things

• Educationally effective institutions channel student energy toward the right activities

NSSE Background• Designed to assess the extent to which students are

engaged in effective educational practices and what they gain from their college experiences.

• Main content represents student behaviors highly correlated with many desirable learning and personal development outcomes of college.

NSSE Background• More than 2,395,000 students from over 1,400

colleges and universities have participated to date.• Institution types, sizes, and locations represented in

NSSE are largely representative of U.S. baccalaureate institutions.

Survey Administration

• All first-year and senior students with working email addresses in the student information system.

• Administration in spring term• Web-based• Multiple follow-ups to increase response rates

NSSE 2011 Survey Population and Response

• Almost two million first-year and senior students from 751 institutions were invited to participate in the 2011 NSSE administration. Of this survey population, 537,605 students responded.

• At AUC, 1,690 First-Years and 656 Seniors were invited to participate.

NSSE 2011 Response Rates

• AUC’s response rate = 34%– FY = 32%, SR = 39%

– FY = 539 respondents, SR = 257 respondents

• Comparison Groups:– Basic Carnegie Class = 27%

– Middle East/Asia = 44%

– All NSSE 2011 = 28%

Comparison Groups• Basic Carnegie Class (MA, Large): 165• Middle East/Asia: 8

– American University of Afghanistan– American University of Sharjah– Carnegie Mellon, Qatar Campus– Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar– Lebanese American University– Northwestern University in Qatar– Texas A&M University at Qatar– Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar

• All NSSE 2010 Institutions: 751

SELECTED AUC RESULTS

Demographics of AUC Respondents in 2011

• % Full-time:

• Gender:

• % Residence On Campus:

• % International:

First-Years

Seniors

88%

100%

First-Years

Seniors

15%

14%

First-Years

Seniors

59%

53%

41%

47%

Female Male

First-Years

Seniors

12%

11%

Satisfaction -- Evaluation of Entire Educational Experience

• 88% of first-years and seniors reported that their entire educational experience at AUC was good or excellent.– No significant differences from Carnegie and NSSE peers.

2010

2011

36%

30%

51%

58%

First Years

Excellent Good

2010

2011

35%

35%

51%

53%

Seniors

Excellent Good

Satisfaction -- Percent Would Go To Same Institution Again, If Starting Over

• 85% of first-years and 84% of seniors would go to AUC, if they could start over again.– No significant differences from comparison group peers.

First-Years Seniors

85% 84%83% 82%

2011 2010

Benchmarks of Effective Educational PracticeComparison Groups

Class AUC Carnegie Class Peers

Middle East/Asia NSSE 2011

Level of Academic Challenge (LAC) How challenging is your institution's intellectual andcreative work?

First-Year 55 + +Senior 59 −

Active and Collaborative Learning (ACL) Are your students actively involved in their learning, individually and working with others?

First-Year 49 + + +Senior 59 + +

Student-Faculty Interaction (SFI) Do your students work with faculty members inside and outside the classroom?

First-Year 35 + +Senior 43

Enriching Educational Experiences (EEE) Do your students take advantage of complementary learning opportunities?

First-Year 27 + Senior 46 + + +

Supportive Campus Environment (SCE) Do your students feel the institution is committed to their success?

First-Year 57 − − −Senior 59

A '+' symbol score is higher than comparison group and a '-' symbol indicates a lower score (p <.05). A blank space indicates no significant difference.

Level of Academic Challenge• AUC first-years and seniors report coursework emphasized

memorization less often than all comparison groups.• AUC first-years and senior report coursework emphasized

analyzing data, synthesizing and organizing ideas, and making judgments at rates not significantly different than comparison groups.

First-Years Seniors

52% 51%

82% 89%68% 76%71% 72%

Coursework emphasizes these skills “quite a bit” or “very much”

Memorizing AnalyzingSynthesizing Making Judgments

Level of Academic Challenge• Needs work: AUC first-years and seniors report coursework

emphasized applying theory to practice less often than Carnegie Class and NSSE peers.

First-Years** Seniors**

71% 77%76% 82%

Coursework emphasizes applying theories or concepts "Quite a bit" or "very much"

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

* Level of significance

Level of Academic Challenge• AUC first-years and seniors report writing more papers or

reports of lengths from fewer than 5 pages to more than 20 pages than peers in comparison groups.

• AUC first-years report reading slightly more on their own than peers.

• Needs attention: First-years report slightly fewer overall reading assignments than peers.

None 1-4 5-10 11-20 More than 202%

30% 37%18% 13%

1%

22%

45%

22%11%

Number of Assigned Textbooks, Books, or Book-Length Packs of Course Readings

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

Active and Collaborative Learning

* Level of significance Tutored or taught other students***

Participated in CBL project as part of a course

Asked questions in class or contributed to class discussions***

Made a class presentation***

Discussed ideas from readings with others outside of class***

Worked with classmates outside of class***

Worked with students on projects during class**

14%

14%

62%

36%

58%

45%

46%

21%

14%

75%

52%

69%

50%

52%

Percentage of First-Year Students Reporting “Often” or “Very Often”AUC Carnegie Class Peers

• First-years and seniors report significantly higher involvement in activities that contribute to active and collaborative learning than Carnegie Class peers.

Student-Faculty Interaction

* Level of significance

• Areas of strength:

First-Years Seniors

56%63%

52%61%

Percentage who discussed grades or assignments with an instructor

“often" or “very often"

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

First-Years*** Seniors***

28%40%

21%28%

Discussed ideas from readings or classes with faculty member outside

of class “often" or “very often"

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

Student-Faculty Interaction

* Level of significance

First-Years*** Seniors*

23%39%31%

42%

Talked about career plans with a faculty member or advisor

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

• Areas needing improvement:

First-Years*** Seniors***

52% 54%61% 66%

Received prompt written or oral feedback on academic performance

“often” or “very often”

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

Enriching Educational Experiences

* Level of significance

• Areas of strength: AUC seniors report participating in these experiences at significantly higher levels than all comparison groups.

First-Years*** Seniors***

92% 92%81% 77%

Respondents who "plan to do" or have "done" practicum, internship, field

experience, co-op experience, or clini-cal assignment

AUC

First-Years* Seniors***

87% 85%81% 75%

Respondents who "plan to do" or "have done" community service or volunteer

work

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

Enriching Educational Experiences

* Level of significance

• Areas of strength:

First-Years Seniors***

81%

51%43%

21%

Respondents who "plan to do" or have "done" study abroad

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

First-Years* Seniors***

72%

93%

49%64%

Respondents who "plan to do" or have "done" a culminating senior experience (capstone, senior project or thesis, etc.)

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

Enriching Educational Experiences

* Level of significance

• Areas of strength:

First-Years* Seniors***

66%74%

56%48%

Respondents who participate in co-curricular activi-ties 1 or more hours/week

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

Enriching Educational Experiences

* Level of significance

• Areas needing improvement:

First-Years*** Seniors***

39% 43%51% 53%

Had serious conversations with students of a different race or ethnicity "often"

or "very often"

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

First-Years* Seniors

46%55%52% 55%

Had serious conversations with students who are very different in religious beliefs,

political opinions, or personal values "often" or "very often"

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

Supportive Campus Environment• First-year students report less satisfaction than all comparison

groups with items related to the university’s commitment to their success.

• Areas needing improvement:

First-years*** Seniors*

5.08 5.325.36 5.53

Quality of relationships with faculty members (1=unavailable, unhelpful,

unsympathetic to 7=available, helpful, sympathetic

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

* Level of significance

First-years*** Seniors***

4.2 4.284.91 4.71

Quality of relationships with administra-tive personnel and offices

(1=unavailable, inconsiderate, rigid to 7=helpful, considerate, flexible

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

Supportive Campus Environment• Areas needing improvement:

* Level of significance

First-years*** Seniors

71% 76%79%73%

Respondents agreeing "quite a bit" or "very much" AUC provides support to help students succeed academically

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

First-years*** Seniors

32% 36%40%30%

Respondents agreeing "quite a bit" or "very much" AUC helps students cope with non-academic responsibilities (work, fam-

ily, etc.)

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

Supportive Campus Environment• Areas needing improvement:

* Level of significance

First-years*** Seniors

71% 76%79%73%

Respondents agreeing "quite a bit" or "very much" AUC provides support to help students succeed academically

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

First-years*** Seniors

32% 36%40%30%

Respondents agreeing "quite a bit" or "very much" AUC helps students cope with non-academic responsibilities (work, fam-

ily, etc.)

AUC Carnegie Class Peers

Student Comments:

Directions for Action• Examine, share, and use results to make improvements.

– What are areas of interest?– Who needs to be involved?

• What are AUC’s priorities?• In addition to comparison with peers, what should our

absolute targets/benchmarks be?• Tie results to:

– University outcomes– MSCHE standards– Standards of professional accrediting bodies– AUC’s strategic goals

Directions for Action• First-Years:

– Encourage faculty to assign more reading material– Improve support provided in the first year to set the

stage for academic and social success. – Expand encounters with racial, religious, political,

ethnic, etc. diversity in first-year courses

Directions for Action• Both first-years and seniors:

– Increase opportunities for applying theory in courses– Increase opportunities for student-faculty interaction– Stress to faculty the importance of prompt feedback on

assignments– Improve academic advising and increase faculty mentoring– Increase opportunities for interaction with different,

diverse groups– Work with faculty and staff to stress the importance of

availability and a student-centered service culture

Examples of Using NSSE Data• University of Tennessee: Hired FT academic advisors to

provide more assistance to students, improved orientation to give students more one-one-one advising time.

• UNLV: Hired more academic advisors, required advising for freshman and transfers, created Academic Success Center to consolidate and enhance academic support services.

• Illinois State U: Uses NSSE data as input to solution-based programming.

• Univ. of Akron: Used NSSE results to create more exposure to diversity in FY and gen-ed courses; more professional development for faculty and admin. who work with FY students; better ways of communicating with FY students, etc.

• Assessment Committee is reviewing and analyzing results.

• Detailed reports are available on OIR website: http://www.aucegypt.edu/RESEARCH/IR/ASSESS/Pages/NSSE.aspx

• Reports by major grouping are available with the Deans and Associate Deans.

• For more information or analysis, contact OIR at oir@aucegypt.edu.