Title: Enhancing Student Success in a Vibrant and Supportive Learning Environment Part II: Using NSSE Resul
1Enhancing Student Success in a Vibrant and
Supportive Learning EnvironmentPart II Using
NSSE Results at the University of Alberta
- Alexander C. McCormick
- Jillian Kinzie
- NSSE Institute for Effective Educational Practice
- www.nsse.iub.edu
- May 14, 2009
2The NSSE Challenge
- How might the U of A more effectively use data
about quality in undergraduate education to - provide evidence of student learning,
- motivate and inspire effective educational
practice, - strengthen the learning environment?
3Reflective Moment
- Take a look at the NSSE instrument. What items
might you want to know how your students score? - - what comparison group (to peers at other
similar institutions, among faculty/departments,
criterion reference) is compelling? - What items do you want to know more about what
students responses really mean? - What does prompt feedback mean to students?
- What assignments do students think require them
to synthesize ideas?
4What to Do? Localize Findings
- Variation in levels of student engagement within
the university is greater than variation between
universities - Improvement initiatives might best be designed
and implemented at the department faculty level
to maximally impact overall student engagement on
campus.
5Study effective practices
- Teaching Learning Center at University of
Wisconsin-Stout interviewed students to develop a
more contextualized understanding of student
engagement results - TLC staff distilled a list of effective
educational practices from the interview data,
particularly around the most important factor to
their students student-faculty relationships.
6Focus on desired pedagogy
- First-year students less involved in
service-learning than JMU desired. - Workshops conducted to encourage faculty to adapt
courses to include service learning - Studied change in participation of students and
instructional practice
7Explore students learning experiences
- NSSE and CIRP pointed to problems with first year
students academic engagement, but WTAMU desired
more holistic picture of students experience - Conducted Student Engagement Audit Focus Groups
2 focus groups per college to discover what
faculty and students found educationally engaging
and identify classroom experiences that were
engaging and disengaging
8Converting Results to Action
- Assessment information should be actionable
- If assessment doesnt help improve teaching and
learning activities and ultimately, student
success why bother with it? - However, implementing large-scale,
transformational change in colleges and
universities is difficult
9Sharing Results at U of A
- How have you shared NSSE results and other
information about the quality of the
undergraduate experience in your unit? - What results captured the interest of faculty
members and staff? - How have you used results?
10Levels for Thinking about Acting on NSSE Results
- Institution
- Explore institutional performance, use in quality
assurance reports, strategic planning, retention
studies inform institutional initiatives such
as, space planning, first year experience
programs, learning communities etc. - School/College or Department/Faculties
- Examine variation by department faculties
inform discipline-specific practices - Program, Project or Course
- Influence pedagogy, support services, programs
for targeted groups, co-curricular events
11Institutional action
- What institutional action is needed at U of A to
improve the quality of the student experience? To
improve retention and graduation rates? - What educational practices best illustrate the
vision Dare to Discover? - What does a vibrant
learning environment
look like?
12Findings from NSSE and AACU
- Growing evidence that high-impact practices
provide substantial educational benefits to
students
13Effective Educational Practices
- First-Year Seminars and Experiences
- Common Intellectual Experiences
- Learning Communities
- Writing-Intensive Courses
- Collaborative Assignments and Projects
- Science as Science Is Done
Undergraduate Research - Diversity/Global Learning
- Service Learning, Community-Based Learning
- Internships
- Capstone Courses and Projects
14Learning More about High Impact Activities
- NSSE Explored
- Learning Communities
- Service Learning
- Research with a Faculty Member
- Study Abroad
- Culminating Senior Experience
15What is it about these high-impact activities
that appear to be so effective with students?
- Practices Increase Odds That Students Will
- Invest time and effort
- Interact with faculty and peers about substantive
matters - Experience diversity
- Get more frequent feedback
- Discover relevance of their learning through
real-world applications
16Promise ofStudent Engagement
If faculty and administrators use principles of
good practice to arrange the curriculum and other
aspects of the college experience, students
would write more papers, read more books, meet
with faculty and peers, and use information
technology appropriately, all of which would
result in greater gains in such areas as critical
thinking, problem solving, effective
communication, and responsible citizenship.
Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, Whitt Associates, Student
Success in College, 2005
17What does an educationally effective university
look like?
- Project DEEP
- To discover, document and describe what high
performing institutions do and how they achieved
this level of effectiveness.
18 Project DEEP Schools
Higher-than predicted NSSE scores and
graduation rates
- Doctoral Extensives
- University of Kansas
- University of Michigan
- Doctoral Intensives
- George Mason University
- Miami University (Ohio)
- University of Texas El Paso
- Masters Granting
- Fayetteville State University
- Gonzaga University
- Longwood University
-
Liberal Arts California State, Monterey Bay
Macalester College Sweet Briar College The
Evergreen State College Sewanee University of
the South Ursinus College Wabash
College Wheaton College (MA) Wofford
College Baccalaureate General Alverno College
University of Maine at Farmington
Winston-Salem State University
19DEEP Results Conditions to Promote Student
Success
- Living Mission and Lived Educational
Philosophy - Unshakeable Focus on Student Learning
- Environments Adapted for Educational Enrichment
- Clearly Marked Pathways to Student Success
- Improvement-Oriented Ethos
- Shared Responsibility for Educational Quality
20Lessons from Project DEEP
- Living Mission and Lived Educational
Philosophy - Missions, values, and aspirations are transparent
and understandable. - Sustained widespread understanding and
endorsement of educational purposes. - Complementary policies and practices tailored to
the schools mission and students needs and
abilities.
21Living Mission
- Macalester College students, faculty and staff
understand and articulate the Colleges core
values of academic excellence, service,
multiculturalism and internationalism. These
values are enacted in the curriculum and
co-curriculum.
22Lessons from Project DEEP
- Unshakeable Focus on Student Learning
- Student learning and personal development are
high priorities. - Extensive use of engaging pedagogies
- Faculty and administrators challenge students
with high standards Work with the students we
have, in contrast to focusing only on the best
and the brightest - Make time for students
23Ample applied learning opportunities
- CSUMB requires all students to complete a lower
and upper-level service learning experience. The
capstone experience requires students to connect
their project to community needs and reflect on
how will you act on what you know?
24Lessons from Project DEEP
- Environments Adapted for Educational Enrichment
- DEEP schools make wherever they are a good place
for a college! - Connected to the local community in mutually
beneficial, educationally purposeful ways. - Buildings, classrooms, and other physical
structures are adapted to human scale. - Psychological size fosters engagement with peers,
faculty and staff.
25U of Kansas Digital Environments
Technology-enriched learning
- Faculty make large lecture classes engaging via
PowerPoint, Blackboard software, and other
technology including slides and videos, and
interactive lecturing, which incorporates
various opportunities for students to
participate.
26Lessons from Project DEEP
- Clearly Marked Pathways to Student Success
- Mutually reinforcing student expectations and
behavior, institutional expectations, and
institutional reward systems. - Redundant early warning systems and safety nets
- Clear messages to students about the resources
and services available to help them succeed and
clear expectations for their use.
27Socialization to academic expectations
- At Wheaton, new students read a common book
and essays by faculty that respond to the
reading. Assigned readings, faculty responses,
and the website combine to introduce incoming
students to preferred ways to grapple with
intellectual issues.
28Intentional acculturation
Rituals and traditions connect students to each
other and the institution
KUs Traditions Night. 3,000 students gather
in the football stadium to rehearse the Rock
Chalk Chant, listen to stories about the Jayhawk,
learn the Im a Jayhawk school song, and hear
stories intended to instill students commitment
to graduation
29Intentional acculturation
- Miamis First Year Experience (FYE) brings
coherence to the first-year by linking (1) Miami
Plan Foundation courses taught by full-time
faculty (2) optional first-year seminars (3)
community living options that emphasize
leadership and service and (4) cultural,
intellectual, and arts events.
30Lessons from Project DEEP
- 5. Improvement oriented ethos
- Self-correcting orientation
- Positive restlessness
- Continually question, are we performing as well
as we can? - Decision-making informed by data
- We know who we are and what we aspire to.
31Lessons from Project DEEP
- 6. Shared responsibility for educational quality
- Leaders articulate and use core operating
principles in decision making - Supportive educators are everywhere
- Student and academic affairs collaboration
- Student ownership
- A caring, supportive community
32Difference Makers
- Student success is the product of thousands of
small gestures extended on a daily basis by
caring, supportive educators sprinkled throughout
the institution who enact a talent development
philosophy.
33To Ponder
- What institutional action might
U of A consider given its student engagement and
success results? - Which conditions from DEEP institutions might be
useful to consider at U of A? - How do community members students, faculty,
staff, others describe the institutions
physical setting and appearance? To what extent
do they identify a vibrant, supportive
environment for learning?
34DEEP Practice Briefs
- DEEP Practice Briefs - Promoting Student
Success Series 16 Papers available
www.nsse.iub.edu - Kuh, G.D. (2005). What campus leaders can do.
Occasional Paper No. 1. - Kinzie, J. (2005). What faculty members can do.
Occasional Paper No. 6. - Chickering, A.W. Kuh, G.D. (2005). Creating
conditions so every student can learn. Occasional
Paper No. 3. - Kezar, A. J. (2005). The importance of shared
leadership and collaboration. Occasional Paper
No. 4.
35Faculties - Department Action
- School/College or Department/Faculties
- What are the signature learning experiences
in your faculty? - To what extent are these reflected in your NSSE
results? - Which educational experiences could be enhanced?
36(No Transcript)
37Focusing on Engaging Practice at U of Alberta
- Exercise for faculty
- Which activity listed in NSSE question 1 if
increased would lead to greatest learning and
development for U of Alberta first-year students?
for 4th years/seniors? - What can your department or you do to influence
this item?
38Active Collaborative Learning and
Student-Faculty Interaction
- Active Collaborative Learning (ACL)
appreciation of varied learning styles
experience in collaboration, working with others
is desired learning outcome - Student-Faculty Interaction (Stu-Fac) important
to stretch students thinking get feedback on
performance connect to adults on campus not
just about AMOUNT but quality - no research shows
more contact is better. - ACL Stu-Fac represent dimensions that faculty
can do something about in class,
department-level, to increase engagement
39NSSE Results and the First Year Experience at U
of A
- First year students experiences with active and
learning - 23 FY never asked questions
- 51 FY never made a presentation in class
- 28 FY never worked with peers on projects in
class - The good news 4th year-seniors do these things
to a greater degree, but how might you expose
students to these engaging practices earlier in
their career?
40Active and Collaborative Learning
- Reinforce academic engagement outside the
classroom - University of Michigan, George Mason and UTEP
sponsor writing centers, science centers, math
centers to help students connect with peers and
study in groups. Students are advised, and in
some courses, required to use these services to
complete assignments.
41Program, Project, Course
- Dare to Discover
Create exceptional experience for students
through curricular extra-curricular offerings
that integrate learning, discovery, and
citizenship - Service-learning experiences rare
- FY and 4th year/seniors report high levels of
institutional emphasis on spending significant
time studying - FY and 4th year/seniors report low levels of
institutional emphasis on attending campus events
activities
42Dare to Discover A Vision for a Great
University
- Vibrant and supportive learning
environment - Create exceptional experience for students
through curricular and extra-curricular offerings
that integrate learning, discovery, and
citizenship - Engage students through peer-based activities to
inspire and improve retention and success
43For discussion
- Which engaging teaching practices interest you?
What might you do differently in your own
practice to increase student engagement? To
realize the vision of Dare to Discover at U of A? - Identify 1 student behavior to be changed. Note
how the behavior is to be changed and indicate
how you will determine if it has. - Identify 1 faculty behavior to be changed
(preferably your own behavior!)
44Improvement Positive Change
- Implementing large-scale, transformational change
in universities is difficult start in units,
faculties - Link data to develop a solid foundation for
action. - Improvement begins in small ways so start
something! - Evaluate effectiveness of action. Celebrate and
tweak.