The present study examined the relationships between student engagement, represented by two versions of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and self-reported gains in learning. The study drew on institutional-level data from participating institutions in 2011 and 2013. The objective of the research was to compare evidence of…

Faculty and staff at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) have developed several tools to assess campus civic engagement initiatives. This chapter describes the IUPUI Faculty Survey and the Civic-Minded Graduate Scale, and reports on findings from campus-based assessment and research.

Surveys play a prominent role in assessment and institutional research, and the NSSE College Student Report is one of the most popular surveys of enrolled undergraduates. Recent studies have raised questions about the validity of the NSSE survey. Although these studies have themselves been criticized, documenting the validity of an instrument…

This research examined the relationships among students' academic majors, levels of engagement, and learning outcomes within the context of Holland's person-environment theory of vocational and educational behavior. The study focused on the role of student engagement as a mediating agent in the relationships between academic majors and student…

Civic engagement has become an important element in the mission of many colleges and universities. O'Meara (2005) found that almost two-thirds of the chief academic officers responding to a survey reported that their institution had updated its mission or strategic planning documents to include statements about civic engagement. However, only…

Weighting adjustments are used in some studies to compensate for biased estimators produced by survey nonresponse. Using data from the 2004 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the NSSE poststratification weighting algorithm, this study found that weighting adjustments were needed for some, but not all institutions. Unfortunately, no…

This study compares the explanatory power of the 2000 edition of Carnegie Classification, the 2005 revision of the classification, and selected variables underlying Carnegie's expanded 2005 classification system using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement's spring 2004 administration. Results indicate that the 2000 and 2005…

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) uses a suite of assessment tools to guide and reinforce a cycle of activities that creates an institutional culture of planning and decision making based on evidence. This cycle includes institutional planning (goal setting), implementation of plans, assessment of outcomes, use of findings…

This chapter describes the ongoing development of a survey of students' workplace skills, civic engagement, and global awareness that colleges and universities can use to document their contributions to the public good. The student growth survey currently under development offers colleges and universities an opportunity to refocus the attention of…

College and university administrators, as well as faculty members, are more likely to take responsibility for student learning if they believe that the assessment data represent their students and suggest specific actions for improvement. This study examined whether it is feasible to develop scalelets (i.e., focused measures, usually consisting of…

Affirmative action in college admissions is based on the premise that a diverse student body contributes to interactions among students from different backgrounds, which are in turn positively related to desirable outcomes of college. This study evaluates the merits of this rationale for affirmative action by examining the direct and indirect…

Mississippi State University is participating in a pilot test of the Beginning College Student Survey (BCSS), the newest addition to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The BCSS is designed to provide information about students' experiences in high school and expectations for college and parallels NSSE's premier survey of college…

Recently the Educational Testing Service (ETS) has modified its Student Instructional Report II (SIR II) for use in online distance education courses. The SIR II is a second-generation survey based on more than thirty years of experience with student evaluations (Centra, 1998; Centra and Gaubatz, n.d.). The e-SIR II is based on the highly…