National Survey Of Student Engagement Research Articles

Student Engagement Variations across Institutions and Disciplines: Findings from Azerbaijan

Although student engagement has been a widely researched area known to improve student learning and a topic of scholarly debate for many decades now, this has yet to be the case in Azerbaijan. Data from the National Survey of Student Engagement, conducted among 433 undergraduate students of the 18-23 age range (M = 21.37, SD = 1.43) at eight universities in Azerbaijan, allowed us to examine variations in the conditions meant to foster student engagement, as well as students’ perspectives on improving their educational experiences. Specifically, we looked at differences related to academic challenges, learning with peers, teacher experiences, and campus environment. Student engagement varied across disciplines. Small universities in the capital city provided better collaborative learning conditions. However, students at regional universities were more satisfied with the quality of student-faculty interactions. Nonetheless, students saw a strong need for fundamental changes in higher education in Azerbaijan, focusing on improving the quality of teachers, teaching and the curriculum. The study provided an overview of student engagement variations across institutions and disciplines and how students conceptualise necessary improvements in student experiences. Institutional leaders must understand the variations for seeking essential changes in the HE system to effectively accommodate students’ needs and expectations.

The fraternity/sorority experience revisted: The relationships between fraternity/sorority membership and student engagment, learning outcomes, grades, and satisfaction with college

Fraternities and sororities are an important part of American higher education. However, some scholars question the value of fraternities and sororities. Recent research on the educational outcomes of fraternity/sorority membership is limited, with more research focused on health and safety issues. The present research addresses the gap in the literature by examining the direct and indirect relationships among fraternity/sorority membership, student engagement, and college outcomes using structural equation modeling and data from the 2017 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Results revealed fraternity/sorority membership had significant, positive direct relationships with student engagement and strong positive indirect relationships with self-reports of learning, and acting through student engagement. Moreover, despite being less diverse than students in general, fraternity/sorority members reported higher levels of interaction with people different from themselves than did other students. In addition, the largest positive effects were generally found for first-year students, arguing against deferring recruitment until the second semester or second year. Membership in a fraternity or sorority was negatively related to self-reported grades, particularly for males and seniors.

Exploring the Peer Tutor Experiential Learning Process

While peer tutoring is a valued experiential activity, little is known about the peer tutoring experience and its relationship to desired 21st century outcomes of college. This paper features the results from a multi-institution study of the characteristics and benefits of peer tutoring for tutors. The National Survey of Student Engagement was administered along with a set of experimental questions specifically designed to interrogate the process of peer tutoring at 30 four-year institutions. In general, peer tutors who identified as seniors in college showed patterns of engagement and gains in learning and personal development that exceeded substantially those of their non-tutor counterparts, especially for those who received training and feedback from supervisors. The findings have implications for tutoring program administrators, experiential educators, and others to enhance the effects of peer tutoring and other experiential learning activities.

Effects of Project-based Learning on Students' Learning Performance and Engagement in Computer Science

Attention has been drawn to the benefits of integrating project-based learning (PjBL) into educational curricula to enhance student engagement. This study investigated how well project-based learning fosters student engagement and achievements in computer science courses. Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used for this experiment. A total of 60 first year undergraduate students included in the study were divided into the two following groups: experimental group (n=30) and control group (n= 30). National Survey of Student Engagement’ (NSSE) based on Coates’ five-dimensional framework theory of student engagement was used to collect the data. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the pretest scores between the experimental group and the control group (p >0.05) before the intervention. However, after the experiment, the post test scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group (p <0.01), indicating an improvement in engagement. The mean grades and mean engagement of the experimental group were also higher compared to the control group. The difference in engagement between the experimental group before and after the intervention was statistically significant (Z=-3.522, p <0.05), with the median data after intervention being higher than before. Specifically, students engaged in project-based learning (PjBL) were more actively involved in self-perception and self-worth compared to students in traditional learning settings. These findings suggest that highly contextualized project-based learning has a positive impact on student engagement and achievements.

Educational Aspirations of Diverse Groups among Undergraduate Statistics Majors

Understanding the educational aspirations of diverse groups among statistics majors provides insight into the discipline of statistics. This study utilizes multi-institution data from the 2019 and 2020 administrations of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to explore educational aspirations for statistics majors through comparisons to other major types as well as among gender identity and race/ethnicity in a sample of 225,892 seniors, including 521 majoring in statistics. Preliminary results from a series of chi-squared analyses suggest that while other STEM majors are more likely to aspire for doctoral or professional degrees, statistics majors are more likely to aspire for a master’s degree. However, among the statistics majors there were no significant differences in educational aspiration by gender identity and race/ethnicity.

That’s your cue: Comparing male and female students’ perceptions of social norms around involvement on campus

Co-curricular activities have been shown to impact many measures of academic success, such as academic self-confidence, leadership abilities, identity development, personal development, and student thriving. Borrowing from established research paradigms on pluralistic ignorance, the current study sought to explore whether first-year and senior students' perceptions of themselves and others vary when it comes to attending and participating in campus activities and whether sex has an impact on those perceptions. Using data from the 2018 National Survey of Student Engagement, the study included 10,512 students attending 33 institutions. The results suggest significant differences across the sexes and within reference group (self vs. other) for attending campus activities and participating in co-curricular activities. These findings can help guide faculty, advisors, and administrators to better understand how students' perceptions of peer co-curricular activities might relate to their own, and how those perceptions might affect their behavior positively and negatively.

Investigating the Future of ‘Engineer of 2020’ Attributes: Moving from Access to Engagement & Sense of Belonging

Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), this study seeks to explore the presence and relevance of NAE’s ‘Engineer of 2020’ competencies and key student learning outcomes (SLOs) among samples of undergraduate engineering majors (UEMs). Data were analysed using a battery of statistical tests assessing UEMs achievement of NAE SLOs, the extent to which SLO achievement in NAE domains influence UEMs’ key outcomes (e.g., grades, satisfaction) and sense of belonging. Follow-up tests explored meaningful differences among groups by race, gender, disability status, to name a few. Implications for future engineering education policy, practice, pedagogy and research are highlighted.

Unlocking Undergraduate Student Success: A Study of High-Impact Practices in a Comprehensive and Diverse College

This study examines undergraduate senior students’ participation in high-impact practices (HIPs) and the relationship of that participation with engagement indicators, perceived gains, and overall satisfaction, as well as institutional outcomes of persistence and graduation based on race/ethnicity, first-generation status, and low-income status. Drawing on multiple years of data from 1,482 undergraduate seniors who completed the 2015 through 2019 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and enrolled in a comprehensive four-year state college, this study indicates that HIP participants reported higher levels of engagement, perceived gains, and overall satisfaction. Participation in HIPs is also positively related to improved persistence or graduation, particularly for racially minoritized students. While overall participation patterns were similar regardless of race/ethnicity or first-generation status, low-income students had higher participation rates in HIPs and participated in more kinds of HIPs as compared to their non-low-income counterparts. Implications of implementing and increasing access to HIPs for enhancing student success in similar institutions are discussed.

Relevant, practical and connected to the real world: what higher education students say engages them in the curriculum

ABSTRACT The discourse on preparing job-ready graduates has led to calls for more authentic methods of teaching and learning that allow higher education students to enhance their employability. The literature identifies authentic approaches to teaching as those that situate learning in contexts that correspond to the ‘real world’. However, little is known about whether, or how, students in Irish higher education view their learning as authentic. Drawing on Ireland’s national survey of student engagement, this paper examined the free text responses of 93,743 students over a five-year period when asked what their institutions could do to improve engagement in their learning. Using both an automatic content and manual analysis, it was found that the theme of ‘work’ was strongly represented in the data. Strongly connected to ‘work’ were the concepts ‘real world’, ‘real life’ and ‘group’ with students requesting learning that was relevant, practical, and job- or career-related. While group learning was seen in a positive light, students valued projects that were connected to the world of work. In contrast to the literature, these students don’t frame their narratives in terms of ‘authentic’ learning, rather they speak of learning that has real-world relevance. The paper concludes with suggestions for institutions.

Understanding student success in higher education in Azerbaijan: the role of student engagement

ABSTRACT Research on student engagement in higher education (HE) has addressed the conceptualisation, measurement and criticism of the phenomenon over the last two decades, predominantly in Western countries. The conceptualisation of student engagement has received little attention in countries of a lengthy association with the Soviet realm. This study investigated student engagement in Azerbaijani universities using the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) tool, under licence granted by Indiana University in 2018, to gather data. The survey was conducted among more than 430 students at eight Azerbaijani universities to explore what universities do to engage their students in learning. After a preliminary examination of the data for reliability, only the data from urban universities comprising 266 students were considered suitable for further analysis. The data were analysed to look at descriptive statistics and to identify linkages between student activities and student outcomes in Azerbaijan through bivariate correlation and regression analysis. The study revealed that, according to the NSSE categories, a supportive student environment and the quality of interactions, combined under the campus environment theme, and student–faculty interactions were essential elements for student learning, success, satisfaction and engagement in academically challenging practices.

The deficient factual basis of the main explanatory models of dropout in higher education

In the last 40 years in much of the western world dropout rates in higher education have remained almost unchanged. Although student retention seems to be the most studied and discussed aspect, nearly every empirical study on the causes of dropout in higher education and even more the impact of retention actions carried out by universities, in most cases have achieved modest results. This paper argues that this fact finds its explanation, to a certain extent, in the nature of the methodological approaches and factual supports of the empirical studies that most of those actions were based on. In this regard, there are strong arguments and empirical evidence that reveal the deficient nature of the factual basis of the most accepted models, theorizations and measurements on dropout in higher education. Among them are those that underlie the models proposed in 2012 by Vincent Tinto and Adam Seidman, the two main current references on the subject. The most significant questions point to the low reliability of the inferences produced from the application of surveys, especially the national survey of student engagement, very recurrently applied throughout the western world in empirical studies on dropout in higher education.

Social media usage in relation to their peers: Comparing male and female college students' perceptions

Administrators at many higher education institutions are capitalizing on the pervasive use of social media, but there are still disagreements about whether or not the use of social media has a positive impact on college students. With the wide use of social media and its possible effects, understanding students’ perceptions of their own social media usage in reference to their peers has implications for research and practice. With the research paradigm on pluralistic ignorance as a guide, this study used a subset of data from the 2018 online administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement, which contained responses from 5025 first-year students and 5487 seniors attending 33 institutions throughout the United States, with a majority being of traditional age (less than 24 years old). For both first-years and seniors, the results demonstrate that students perceive others to be posting and viewing social media more frequently than themselves, and this effect is even more pronounced for males. There was also a main effect for sex, such that females perceived both themselves and other students to be posting and viewing social media more frequently than males. These findings add nuance to the social media usage of college students, a topic that is continuously expanding as technology changes. These findings can help guide faculty, advisors, and administrators to better understand how students’ perceptions of peers’ social media usage might relate to their own, and consider how those perceptions of their classmates might affect their own behavior in both positive and negative ways.

Pattern of Out-of-Class Activities of Korean University Students: Latent Profile Analysis

This study examined how HIP participation patterns differ among students in different Korean universities. Moreover, this study explored whether there is an association between the likelihood of a student belonging to a specific group and their individual characteristics along with their university’s supportive campus environment. This study analyzed the data from the 2019 wave of the Korean-NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement), and the samples included 12,784 college seniors from 112 institutions. Furthermore, it employed latent profile analysis and multinomial logistic regression. As a result, this research identifies five distinctive HIP participation patterns. Family income and student-faculty interaction levels determine which group a student belongs to. For example, economically disadvantaged students tend to belong to a group with lower participation in study abroad programs. Finally, the supportive campus environment was strongly associated with being a member of actively participating groups compared to being in a less engaged group.

Connecting creativity, confidence, and unconventional career plans

ABSTRACT Previous research suggests that creativity training is effective in academic settings, and that creative skills are increasingly important for success within unconventional careers such as self-employment or starting a business. This study extends research on creativity and entrepreneurial training in higher education, using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Responses from over 64,000 seniors at 274 different U.S. colleges and universities were used to explore whether exposure to creative coursework and confidence in creative thinking skills can predict future entrepreneurial career plans. The results of binary logistic regression models suggest that creative coursework and confidence in creative ability are significant positive predictors of future plans for self-employment and starting a business, even after controlling for demographic and institutional characteristics. These findings can help to enrich educational experiences within higher education, informing curricular enhancements and career advising for students across all disciplines.

The impact of faculty-in-residence programs: A difference-in-differences and cross-sectional approach

Purpose: Faculty-in-Residence (FIR) programs are implemented based on research that shows positive effects on student success when students interact with faculty outside of the classroom. However, most research is limited by cross-sectional studies of only students and does not look at the Faculty-in-Residence programs from a holistic perspective that investigates the impact on faculty. This study focuses on the impact, not only on students over time but additionally on the perceived impact on faculty who participate in Faculty-in-Residence programs. Methods: We examined the effect of FIR programs at a large, public California university on both student success (i.e., cumulative grade point average, retention, and credits earned per unit attempted) as well as student experience (i.e., based on data from the National Survey of Student Engagement). Results: The quantitative results confirm the literature that faculty-student interactions outside of the classroom are statistically significant but point to differences between the demographics of students and that the mere presence of faculty is not as important as the quantity and quality of interactions. Conclusion: FIR programs can contribute to student success, but the magnitude and direction of this link depend on the level of the interaction between students and faculty as well as the specific outcome of interest.

The Adaptation of National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) into Turkish: A Validity and Reliability Study

Bu çalışmanın amacı yükseköğretimde öğrenci bağlılığını ölçmeye yönelik geliştirilen Yükseköğretim Öğrenci Bağlılığı Ölçeği’nin (YÖBÖ) Türk dili ve kültürüne uyarlamasını gerçekleştirmek ve ölçeğin geçerlik ile güvenirliğini test etmektir. Araştırma 450 öğretmen adayı üzerinde yürütülmüştür. Ölçeğin uyarlanma sürecinde sırasıyla çeviri geçerliği, dil ve anlam geçerliği, içerik geçerliği, yapı geçerliği ve güvenirlik analizi çalışmaları yapılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgular neticesinde YÖBÖ’nün uyarlaması yapılan orijinal ölçekte olduğu gibi yükseköğretimdeki öğrenci bağlılığını on boyutlu bir yapı olarak ölçebildiği doğrulanmıştır. Ölçek için elde edilen geçerlik ve güvenirlik sonuçlarına göre, ölçeğin Türkçe formunun orijinali gibi kabul edilebilir düzeyde geçerlik göstergelerinin bulunduğu ve yeterli güvenirlik katsayılarına sahip olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak YÖBÖ’nün, yükseköğretimdeki öğrenci bağlılığını ölçebilecek güvenilir ve geçerli bir ölçme aracı olduğu ortaya konmuştur.

Thai Menschenbild: A Study of Chinese, Thai, and International Students in a Private Thai University as measured by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

Thai Higher Education (Thai HE) is changing, due to international reform. This paper presents data collected in a longitudinal study carried out in Thailand during 2017–2018 using the US version of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and qualitative interviews. We offer a case study about the cultures and engagement of three groups of students found at an international private university in Thailand. The groups studied were international students, Chinese students in a mixed Thai/English curriculum and Thai students studying in Thai, all situated in a Thai HE institutional community. The (NSSE) was administered to 179 students: 89 in an International College, 54 Chinese students and 36 Thai students, as a control. Our results showed different attitudes toward studying, teachers, memorisation, participation, critical thinking, and empathy. This paper concludes with a discussion of how students in an international university in Thailand arrange themselves socially, and why this matters.

A comparative analysis of institutional commitment: are business students different?

ABSTRACT In management education, research combining job design and institutional commitment theory with management students’ co-creation of their learning is underdeveloped. Some findings suggest identifiable differences between different courses of study based on relationship quality and student loyalty approach. However, much of the current research has not explored degree-focused applications of concepts, so job design theory’s core elements could better suit the university business student population. This manuscript makes a significant new contribution through testing a conceptual job design model using structural equation modelling (SEM), which includes antecedents of institutional commitment, an important indicator for retention. The study found autonomy and task significance have an important relationship with commitment for general university students. These relationships did not exist as such for business students. Therefore, special consideration of business students is required to enhance retention. Implications are enhanced by leveraging data (i.e. National Survey of Student Engagement) currently gathered by most universities.

Comparing Students' Engagement in Classroom Education Between China and Germany.

Since the mid-1980s, there has been an academic shift toward students’ involvement in the learning process. A great number of studies have focused on the relationship between student engagement and educational achievement. They have highlighted that appropriate educational input and a supportive classroom environment are necessary, but optimum learning should occur when students are engaged with the curriculum as well as the institution, particularly in higher education institutions. Many scholars claimed that higher levels of engagement will help students deal with academic anxiety and develop a sense of belonging, which may lead to higher academic success. Educational experts and policymakers have begun to propose nationwide and international strategies and programs to promote student engagement in the classroom, which has led to the proposal of well-known programs such as the National Survey of Student Engagement, the UK Engagement Survey, and Program for International Student Assessment. Such engagement-centered international measures have been used across the globe (e.g., Germany) and translated into different languages (e.g., Chinese). Although the findings of relevant studies confirm the effectiveness of engagement on learning achievement, there is still the need to conduct further (cross-sectional) studies considering the implementation of such programs in a different context. The present study is an attempt to review the related literature regarding student engagement among Chinese and German students across a variety of disciplines. The findings suggest that researchers should devote more time and budget to investigate the significance of learner engagement, especially in Germany and China.

Editor's notes

Editor's notes