UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-PLATTEVILLEUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-PLATTEVILLE

NATIONAL SURVEY OF

STUDENT STUDENT ENGAGEMENTENGAGEMENT

RESULTS & ANALYSIS

REPORT ORGANIZATION

•INTRODUCTION

•RESULTSWHAT ARE OUR STRENGTHS?WHAT NEEDS ATTENTION?

•ANALYSIS & COMMENTS

NSSE INTRODUCTION

•NATIONAL SURVEY OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT (NSSENSSE) ADMINISTERED ONLINE TO 1,745 UWPUWP FRESHMEN & SENIORS IN FEBRUARY & MARCH 2004

•PARTICIPANTS SELF-SELECTED

NSSE INTRODUCTION

•UWPUWP: 41% RESPONSE RATE•PARTICIPANTS’ GENDER

DISTRIBUTION MATCHED UWPUWP SENIOR POPULATION.

•HIGHLY RELIABLE RESULTS•ABLE TO COMPARE UWPUWP

WITH UW SYSTEMUW SYSTEM SCHOOLS, “MASTER’S CLUSTER” & NATIONAL DATA

NSSE INTRODUCTION

•NSSE DATA ARE “NOMINAL,” I.E., CATEGORICAL.

•AVERAGES ARE “LESS MEANINGFUL.”

•STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE ASKS, “WHAT’S THE POSSIBILITY THIS AVERAGE WAS CAUSED BY ‘RANDOM CHANCE’ ALONE?”

NSSE RESULTS

WHAT IS UWPUWP “GOOD AT?”•WHAT ARE OUR HIGHEST

AVERAGES?•WHAT ARE OUR COMPETITIVE

ADVANTAGES OVER OTHER UW SYSTEMUW SYSTEM SCHOOLS?

•WHAT CONTRIBUTES TO OUR STRENGTHS?

NSSE UWPUWP STRENGTHS

•UWPUWP STUDENTS WORK WELL WITH COMPUTERS & INFO TECHNOLOGIES.

•HIGHEST AVERAGE … STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT AT .001 LEVEL, COMPARED TO UW SYSTEMUW SYSTEM SCHOOLS

•STRENGTH OF ENGINEERING, MATH & SCIENCE PROGRAMS

NSSE UWPUWP STRENGTHS

•UWPUWP STUDENTS WORK EFFECTIVELY WITH OTHERS.

•EMPHASIS ON TEAM WORKTEAM WORK WILL SERVE OUR GRADS WELL IN ‘THE REAL WORLD.’

•CRITICAL IN PROGRAMS LIKE ENGINEERING, BUSINESS, CRIMINAL JUSTICE, ETC.

NSSE UWPUWP STRENGTHS

•UWPUWP STUDENTS ARE GOOD AT APPLYING THEORIES OR CONCEPTS TO PRACTICAL PROBLEMS OR IN NEW SITUATIONS …

•AND GOOD AT CRITICAL THINKING & ANALYSIS.

• WHILE OTHER UWSUWS SCHOOLS SEEM TO STRESS MORE ROTE MEMORIZING OF FACTS, IDEAS AND METHODS.

NSSE UWPUWP STRENGTHS

•UWPUWP STUDENTS ARE GOOD AT IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF BASIC ELEMENTS OF AN IDEA, EXPERIENCE, OR THEORY …

•AND THEN INTEGRATING IDEAS OR INFORMATION FROM VARIOUS SOURCES INTO PAPERS & PROJECTS.

NSSE UWPUWP STRENGTHS

•UWPUWP STUDENTS ARE MORE ENGAGED THAN ARE OTHER UWSUWS STUDENTS …

• IN PREPARING FOR CLASS (STUDYING, READING, DOING HOMEWORK OR LAB WORK, WRITING, ANALYZING DATA, REHEARSING, AND ACTIVITIES RELATED TO ACADEMICS).

• STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT @ .001

NSSE UWPUWP STRENGTHS

•UWPUWP STUDENTS ARE MORE ENGAGED THAN ARE OTHER UWSUWS STUDENTS …

• IN PARTICIPATING IN CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES (ORGANIZATIONS, STUDENT GOVERNMENT, SPORTS, CAMPUS PUBLICATIONS, ETC).

• STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT @ .001

NSSE WHAT NEEDS ATTENTIONWHAT NEEDS ATTENTION??

•UWPUWP STUDENTS DON’T WRITE AS MUCH AS WE’D LIKE (ALTHOUGH NOT SIGNIFICANTLY LESS THAN DO STUDENTS AT OTHER SCHOOLS).

•UWPUWP STUDENTS DON’T ATTEND AS MANY THEATRE PERFORMANCES, DANCES, PLAYS, OR ART EXHIBITS AS WE’D LIKE.

NSSE WHAT NEEDS ATTENTIONWHAT NEEDS ATTENTION??

•UWPUWP STUDENTS DON’T HAVE AS MUCH EXPOSURE TO ETHNIC & RACIAL DIVERSITY AS WE’D LIKE.

•FEWER CONVERSATIONS WITH STUDENTS OF OTHER RACES OR ETHNICITIES

• LESS CONTACT, LESS APPRECIATION & LESS UNDERSTANDING

NSSE WHAT NEEDS ATTENTIONWHAT NEEDS ATTENTION??

• UWPUWP STUDENTS HAVE NOT RECEIVED ‘PROMPT FEEDBACK’ ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE FROM FACULTY …

• AS PROMPTLY AS THEY’D LIKE (SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTION).

• MAY BE A FUNCTION OF THIS GENERATION’S NEED FOR INSTANT GRATIFICATION

NSSE WHAT NEEDS ATTENTIONWHAT NEEDS ATTENTION??

• UWPUWP STUDENTS HAVE NOT PARTICIPATED IN MANY COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS AS PART OF A REGULAR COURSE.

• “VERY LITTLE” TO “SOME” IS IDENTICAL TO UWSUWS, BUT LOWER THAN NAT’L AVERAGE (BUT NOT STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT) …

• DESPITE ON-GOING EFFORTS OF C-U-PC-U-P AND UWPUWP FACULTY.

NSSE WHAT NEEDS ATTENTIONWHAT NEEDS ATTENTION??

• UWPUWP STUDENTS DON’T SEEM TO APPRECIATE OUR GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAM AS MUCH AS WE’D HOPED.

• STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT AT .001 LEVEL BELOW UWSUWS SCHOOLS, BUT …

• BOTH FRESHMEN & SENIORS SAY THEIR UWPUWP EXPERIENCE HAS CONTRIBUTED TO A BROAD GENERAL EDUCATION “QUITE A BIT” (3 ON A SCALE OF 1-4).

NSSE WHAT NEEDS ATTENTIONWHAT NEEDS ATTENTION??

• RECENT UWP UWP ALUMS (2001~03) PARTICIPATED IN ACTACT STUDY ASSESSING QUALITY OF COLLEGE EXPERIENCE

• PERHAPS TOO RECENT TO APPRECIATE THE VALUE OF GENERAL EDUCATION

• SOME CONSISTENCIES WITH NSSENSSE RESULTS …

ACTACT STRENGTHS

• EFFECTIVE VERBAL SKILLS• EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP SKILLS• DEFINING & SOLVING PROBLEMS• WORKING COOPERATIVELY WITH

OTHERS IN GROUPS• EFFECTIVE WRITTEN SKILLS

ACTACT WEAKNESSES• UNDERSTANDING & APPRECIATING

ART, MUSIC, LITERATURE … AND CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AMONG PEOPLE

• UNDERSTANDING INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

• UNDERSTANDING INTERACTIONS BETWEEN HUMAN BEINGS & THE ENVIRONMENT

• APPRECIATING / EXERCISING RIGHTS, RESPONSIBILITIES & PRIVILEGES AS A CITIZEN

NSSE ANALYSIS & COMMENTSANALYSIS & COMMENTS

•STUDENT PERCEPTIONS ARE NOT THE SAME AS REALITY.

•NSSENSSE’S NOMINAL DATA STRUCTURES MAKE COMPARISONS OF MEANS SOMEWHAT AWKWARD …

•AND “STAT’L SIGNIFICANCE” MAY BE LESS VALUABLE.

NSSE ANALYSIS & COMMENTSANALYSIS & COMMENTS

EXAMPLE• SECT. 4: READING & WRITING …• ITEMS C, D & E ASK ABOUT WRITING

• C: 20 PAGES OR MORE … D: 5~19 PAGES … E: FEWER THAN 5 PAGES

• IN OTHER WORDS, A 5-PAGE PAPER IS MORE LIKE A 19-PAGE PAPER THAN LIKE A 4-PAGE PAPER.

NSSE ANALYSIS & COMMENTSANALYSIS & COMMENTS

• WE ARE “LOCKED INTO” SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN …

• LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS …

• FOR ETHNIC EXPERIENCES & CULTURAL DIVERSITY …

• FOR THEATRE, MUSIC, DANCE, ART, AND OTHER CULTURAL EXPERIENCES.

NSSE ANALYSIS & COMMENTSANALYSIS & COMMENTS

•UWPUWP DOES PRETTY WELL, CONSIDERING GEOGRAPHIC & CULTURAL CONSTRAINTS.

• ON-GOING EFFORTS LIKE STUDY STUDY ABROAD ABROAD & EXCHANGE EXCHANGE PROGRAMSPROGRAMS, C-U-PC-U-P & FINE ARTS’ PERFORMANCES MAKE OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE.

NSSE ANALYSIS & COMMENTSANALYSIS & COMMENTS

•UWPUWP ACADEMIC INITIATIVES LIKE “WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM” & GENERAL EDUCATION REVISIONS ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PREPARATION …

• EVEN IF STUDENTS MAY NOT APPRECIATE IT AT THE TIME.

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-PLATTEVILLEUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-PLATTEVILLE

NATIONAL SURVEY OF

STUDENT STUDENT ENGAGEMENTENGAGEMENT

RESULTS & ANALYSIS

QUESTIONS1. SHOULD WE “REFERENCE” SPECIFIC

NSSENSSE ITEMS?2. SHOULD WE “TAILOR” THIS

CONTENT FOR SPECIFIC AUDIENCES (E.G., DEANS, STUDENT AFFAIRS, ETC.)?

3. SHOULD WRITTEN SUMMARIES BE PREPARED FOR SUCH AUDIENCES?

4. WHAT ROLE FOR HLCHLC?