National Survey of Student Engagement, 2016

Results from the 2016 National Survey of Student Engagement

Each year first year students and seniors at hundreds of colleges and universities complete the National Survey of Student Engagement. The NSSE survey captures information about how much time students devote to learning, how involved they are in best learning practices, and how fully challenged and supported they feel by their college.

2016 NSSE results are summarized in ten engagement indicators, which fit within four themes of engagement:

Academic Challenge – Including Higher-Order Learning, Reflective and Integrative Learning, Quantitative Reasoning, and Learning Strategies
Learning with Peers – Including Collaborative Learning and Discussions with Diverse Others
Experiences with Faculty – Including Student-Faculty Interaction and Effective Teaching Practices
Campus Environment – Including Quality of Interactions and Supportive Environment

Table 1. NSSE 2016 Engagement Indicators: Auburn University first-year students compared with peer universities' first-year students

	Auburn	Doc/Highest & Higher			NSSE Top 50%
*Engagement Indicator*	*Indexed Mean^a*	*Indexed Mean^a*	*Sig.^b*	*Effect size^c*	*Indexed Mean^a*	*Sig.^b*	*Effect size^c*
Higher-Order Learning	91	95	*	-0.12	100	***	-0.27
Reflective & Integrative Learning	87	94	***	-0.21	100	***	-0.38
Learning Strategies	92	93		-0.01	100	***	-0.22
Quantitative Reasoning	89	97	**	-0.15	100	***	-0.20
Collaborative Learning	98	96		0.05	100		-0.05
Discussions with Diverse Others	95	97		-0.04	100	**	-0.14
Student-Faculty Interaction	75	84	**	-0.14	100	***	-0.39
Effective Teaching Practices	89	92	*	-0.10	100	***	-0.34
Quality of Interactions	98	94	**	0.17	100		-0.06
Supportive Environment	99	95	*	0.11	100		-0.03

Table 2. NSSE 2016 Engagement Indicators: Auburn University seniors compared with peer universities' seniors

	Auburn	Doc/Highest & Higher			NSSE Top 50%
*Engagement Indicator*	*Indexed Mean^a*	*Indexed Mean^a*	*Sig.^b*	*Effect size^c*	*Indexed Mean^a*	*Sig.^b*	*Effect size^c*
Higher-Order Learning	91	92		-0.02	100	***	-0.27
Reflective & Integrative Learning	89	92	*	-0.11	100	***	-0.37
Learning Strategies	89	91		-0.06	100	***	-0.32
Quantitative Reasoning	95	97		-0.04	100	*	-0.09
Collaborative Learning	104	94	***	0.23	100	*	0.09
Discussions with Diverse Others	97	96		0.03	100		-0.08
Student-Faculty Interaction	84	78	**	0.12	100	***	-0.29
Effective Teaching Practices	91	92		-0.01	100	***	-0.27
Quality of Interactions	97	91	***	0.23	100	*	-0.11
Supportive Environment	99	92	***	0.16	100		-0.03

Notes:

^a Means weighted by gender, enrollment status, and institutional size, then scaled (Mean of Top 50% = 100).

^b * p<.05, **p<.01, *** p<.001 (2-tailed).

^cEffect size is Cohen’s d, the standardized difference between the institution’s mean and the comparison group’s mean, calculated by dividing the mean difference by the pooled standard deviation.

AU scores are based on responses of 522 freshmen and 635 seniors (11% and 12% response rate), with a sampling error of +/- 4.1% for freshmen and +/- 3.6% for seniors.

Click here to see a comparison of Auburn's 2016 engagement indicators with those of national best performers.

Click here to visit the NSSE site.

Last updated: 03/09/2018