National Survey of Student Engagement, 2008

1. National Survey of Student Engagement, 2008 Results for UBC-Okanagan

2. NSSE Overview Supported as an assessment tool by UBC and many other Canadian Universities including all of G13 Over 1200 colleges and universities across Canada and the U.S. have participated in NSSE since the first pilot in 1999; ~450,000 first and senior year respondents in 2008 Supported by strong research; NSSE provides an estimate of how undergraduates spend their time and what they gain from attending college Survey items represent empirically confirmed "good practices" in undergraduate education. That is, they reflect behaviors by students and institutions that are associated with desired outcomes of college. 125+ questions (core, contextual, experimental, consortium) and 5 composite engagement benchmarks Results provided for participating university and selected comparator groups Additional info at http://nsse.iub.edu

3. Engagement Benchmarks NSSE provides five benchmarks of effective educational practices: Level of Academic Challenge (LAC): amount of time studying, reading, writing; academic effort; coursework emphasis on analysis, synthesis, applying theories Active and Collaborative Learning (ACL): asking questions, class presentations, teamwork in class, discussions and learning activities outside of class and involvement in community based projects Student Faculty Interaction (SFI): discussions with faculty on grades, coursework, careers, research involvement with faculty, worked on other projects or committee with faculty Enriching the Educational Experience (EEE): participation in co-curricular activities, volunteer work, field experience, co-op, community service, serious conversations with students from different ethnic backgrounds, political/religious beliefs, etc. Supportive Campus Environment (SCE): student, faculty, staff relationships; campus services to help students with both their academic and non-academic responsibilities

4. Peer Groups Cdn Peers consists of Brock University, Lakehead University, Malaspina University College, Thompson Rivers University, Trent University, University of Prince Edward Island, Wilfrid Laurier University Selected Peers consists of the following: Black Hills State University, Spearfish, SD Clayton State University, Morrow, GA Colorado State University-Pueblo, Pueblo, CO Delaware State University, Dover, DE Fayetteville State University, Fayetteville, NC Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, PA Savannah State University, Savannah, GA University of South Carolina Aiken, Aiken, SC University of the District of Columbia, Washington, DC University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kenosha, WI Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC NSSE 2008 consists of all participating institutions. View the complete list at http://nsse.iub.edu/nsse_2008/2008-colleges.cfm

5. Interpreting the Data Responses are reported in the form of means and frequencies. Items that make up the five benchmarks of effective educational practices are identified in the means report and are also aggregated in the benchmarks report. This year we report differences among peer groups AND differences for UBC-O since 2006. Important differences are identified by: a) statistical significance (is the change unlikely to be simple chance variation?) and b) effect sizes Effect size indicates the “practical significance” of the mean difference. In practice, an effect size of .2 is often considered small, .5 moderate, and .8 large.

6. Summary of Findings UBC-O 2006 compared to UBC-O 2008: Areas of improvement and decline UBC-O compared to Canadian Peers UBC-O compared to U.S. Peers Overall Satisfaction Next Steps

7. Changes in Supportive Campus Environment are statistically significant.

8. Changes in Supportive Campus Environment are statistically significant.

9. Areas of improvement, First Year, 2006 - 2008 Very small, statistically significant increases ACL, Worked with other students on projects DURING CLASS ACL, Participated in a community-based project (e.g., service learning) as part of a regular course EEE, Had serious conversations with students of a different race or ethnicity than your own EEE, Institutional emphasis: Helping you cope with your non-academic responsibilities (work, family, etc.) LAC, Hours per 7-day week spent working for pay ON CAMPUS LAC, Institutional emphasis: Providing the support you need to help you succeed academically SCE, Institutional emphasis: Encouraging contact among students from different economic, social, and racial or ethnic backgrounds SCE, Institutional emphasis: Providing the support you need to thrive socially SFI, Discussed ideas from your readings or classes with faculty members outside of class

10. Areas of decline, First Year, 2006 - 2008 Very small, statistically significant decreases; few areas of decline. EEE, Community service or volunteer work LAC, Number of written papers or reports BETWEEN 5 AND 19 PAGES SFI, Foreign (additional) language coursework

11. Areas of improvement, Fourth Year, 2006 - 2008 Very small, statistically significant increases EEE, Institutional emphasis: Helping you cope with your non-academic responsibilities (work, family, etc.) LAC, Worked harder than you thought you could to meet an instructor's standards or expectations SCE, Quality: Your relationships with faculty members SCE, Institutional emphasis: Providing the support you need to thrive socially SFI, Foreign (additional) language coursework

12. Areas of decline, Fourth Year, 2006 - 2008 None of the decreases in benchmark items for senior year students were statistically significant.

15. UBC compared to Canadian and U.S. Peers Canadian Peers: For most benchmark scores, UBC-O scores slighlty lower than Canadian Peer Universities. For first year, UBC-O scores for Level of Academic Challenge and Supportive Campus Environment are lower and these scores are statistically significant (small to moderate effect sizes). For senior year, UBC-O scores for Active and Collaborative Learning, Enriching Educational Experiences and Supportive Campus Environment are lower and also statistically significant (moderate effect sizes). U.S. Peers: UBC-O’s scores are significantly lower on all benchmarks compared to U.S. Peer Institutions (first and fourth year, statistically significant, moderate effect sizes) except for senior year, Level of Academic Challenge (same score as peers). We can hypothesize several reasons for this: Different demographics Different Socio-Economic status of students Lower funding

16. Overall Satisfaction In addition to the questions which comprise the five educational benchmarks, NSSE also asks questions which explore overall student satisfaction as well as other areas related to both the academic and non-academic environment. UBC-O scores lower than Canadian Peers on: quality of academic advising, students’ entire educ. experience and whether students’ would select the same institution again. UBC-O also scores statistically significantly lower than U.S. Peer Institutions on the quality of academic advising

17. Next Steps Analyze student comments Provide NSSE data to deans at faculty level NSSE Deep learning scales and analysis by aboriginal, visible minority, international Use NSSE as the stimulus for discipline specific learning outcomes (e.g.: what more do you need to know to guide learning in your discipline?) Focus NSSE discussion to align with institutional strategic goals