National Survey of Student Engagement, 2017

Results from the 2017 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.

2017 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 2017 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	96	97		-0.02	100		-0.02
Reflective & Integrative Learning	87	95	***	-0.25	100	***	-0.25
Learning Strategies	96	94		0.05	100		0.05
Quantitative Reasoning	97	98		-0.02	100		-0.02
Collaborative Learning	100	96	**	0.10	100	**	0.10
Discussions with Diverse Others	92	98	***	-0.15	100	***	-0.15
Student-Faculty Interaction	84	84		0.00	100		0.00
Effective Teaching Practices	90	93	*	-0.09	100	*	-0.09
Quality of Interactions	99	95	***	0.17	100	***	0.17
Supportive Environment	99	97		0.08	100		0.08

Table 2. NSSE 2017 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	90	93	**	-0.12	100	**	-0.12
Reflective & Integrative Learning	89	93	***	-0.14	100	***	-0.14
Learning Strategies	90	92		-0.06	100		-0.06
Quantitative Reasoning	103	98		0.08	100		0.08
Collaborative Learning	106	95	***	0.27	100	***	0.27
Discussions with Diverse Others	98	98		0.01	100		0.01
Student-Faculty Interaction	89	79	***	0.19	100	***	0.19
Effective Teaching Practices	92	92		-0.02	100		-0.02
Quality of Interactions	95	92	*	0.12	100	*	0.12
Supportive Environment	97	94		0.07	100		0.07

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 690 first-year students and 601 seniors (14% and 12% response rate), with a sampling error of +/- 3.5% for freshmen and +/- 3.8% for seniors.

Click here to see a comparison of Auburn's 2017 engagement indicators with those of national best performers.

Click here to visit the NSSE site.

Last updated: 08/20/2018