Assessment, Accreditation and Strategic Planning

National Survey of Student Engagement - 2007 Campus Results

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) evaluates the effectiveness of productive student engagement each year by surveying college freshmen and seniors. The NSSE results a summarized across five nationally recognized effective educational practice benchmarks: Level of Academic Challenge, Active & Collaborative Learning, Student-Faculty Interaction, Enriching Educational Experiences, and Supportive Campus Environment. In Spring 2007, more than 323,000 students from among 610 colleges and universities participated in NSSE.

Data for Western’s 2007 NSSE results are based on the participation of the 15% of our freshmen and 18% of our seniors who elected to participate in the online national survey.

 

National Benchmark Comparisons - Longitudinal Analysis 2005-2007

Western Illinois University’s comparative levels of achievement for each of these NSSE benchmarks are determined by assigning a value of 100 to the normative score attained by all participating institutions with our same Carnegie classification.  WIU values exceeding the national Carnegie class average are above 100% and those WIU values not reaching the national average are below 100%.

Western’s comparative score is presented graphically below for each of the 5 effective educational practice benchmarks. Additional reports provide a tabular comparison for each of the considered elements of the five effective educational practice benchmarks, as well as present results by campus and college.

Level of Academic Challenge

Spring 2006 saw an increase above the Carnegie norm for Level of Academic Challenge among WIU freshmen, followed by a return to levels below the national average in Spring 2007. Western seniors have maintained a consistent Level of Academic Challenge rating at slightly below the Carnegie norm.

graph of 2007 NSSE Level of Academic Challenge

Active and Collaborative Learning

Spring 2006 saw an increase to near the Carnegie norm for Active & Collaborative Learning among WIU freshmen, followed by a decrease in Spring 2007 to well below the national average, but still notably above Spring 2005 levels. Western seniors increased to near the Carnegie norm in Spring 2006 and maintained that level in Spring 2007.

graph of 2007 NSSE Active & Collaborative Learning

Student-Faculty Interaction

Spring 2006 saw an increase well above the Carnegie norm for Student-Faculty Interaction among WIU freshmen, followed by a return to levels near the national average in Spring 2007.  Western seniors started at the Carnegie norm for Student-Faculty Interaction in Spring 2006, and saw an increase to above the national average for Spring 2006 which was maintained in Spring 2007.

graph of 2007 NSSE Student-Faculty Interaction

Enriching Educational Experience

Spring 2006 saw an increase to near the Carnegie norm for Enriching Educational Experience among WIU freshmen, followed by a decrease in Spring 2007 to well below the national average, but still notably above Spring 2005 levels. Western seniors increased closer to the Carnegie norm in Spring 2006, and then declined in Spring 2007, maintaining a level well below the national average.

graph of 2007 NSSE Enriching Educational Experience

Supportive Campus Environment

Spring 2006 saw an increase to above the Carnegie norm for Supportive Campus Environment among WIU freshmen, followed by a decrease in Spring 2007 to the Spring 2005 levels that were slightly below the national average. Western seniors began above the Carnegie norm for Supportive Campus Environment in Spring 2005, and increased further in Spring 2007 before falling decreasingly slightly in Spring 2007, but still maintaining a level above the national average.

graph of 2007 NSSE Supportive Campus Environment

 

In-Depth Analysis

A more in-depth analysis providing the individual components that comprise each of the 5 NSSE benchmarks of effective educational practices is provided below in PDF format.