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Academic Reviews and Planning

NSSE

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is designed to obtain, on a regular basis, information from colleges and universities (in both Canada and the United States) about student participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development. The results are reported in terms of five key clusters of activities:

  1. level of academic challenge,
  2. active and collaborative learning,
  3. student-faculty interaction,
  4. enriching educational experiences, and
  5. supportive campus environment.

Survey items on The National Survey of Student Engagement represent empirically confirmed "good practices" in undergraduate education. That is, they reflect behaviours by students and institutions that are associated with the desired outcomes of university.

Institutions use their data to identify aspects of the undergraduate experience inside and outside the classroom that can be improved through changes in policies and practices more consistent with good practices in undergraduate education. This information is also intended for use by prospective students, their parents, academic advisers, institutional research officers, and researchers generally in learning more about how students spend their time and what they gain from their experiences.

For more detailed information, visit http://www.indiana.edu/~nsse/

In 2006, all 19 of the publically-assisted universities in Ontario participated in the NSSE survey. This was in response to the Ontario government’s call for greater accountability and focus on the quality of the student’s learning experience. The results from the NSSE survey are used to measure the extent to which the resources provided by the government are being used to improve the student’s educational experience. The 2006 results will be used as a benchmark against which future results will be compared.  

In 2008, Brock (along with all Ontario universities) again participated in the NSSE survey.

At Brock, the administration and analysis of the NSSE surveys is coordinated by the NSSE Steering Committee, comprised as follows:

Kim Meade Vice-Provost & Associate VP (Student Services) Chair
Pat Beard Academic Reviews and Planning  
Rick Cheel Associate Dean, Mathematics & Sciences  
Maureen Connelly Centre for Teaching, Learning & Educational Technologies  
Barb Davis Registrar  
Greg Finn Vice-Provost & Associate VP (Academic)  
Gloria Gallagher Assistant Registrar  
Dorothy Griffiths Associate Dean, Social Sciences  
Colleen Hood   Associate Dean, Applied Health Sciences  
John Lye Associate Dean, Humanities  
Deb McLauchlan Interim Associate Dean, Education  
Marilyn Rose Dean, Graduate Studies  
Barry Wright Associate Dean, Business  
Juan Xu Institutional Analysis  
TBA     BUSU  

The administration of the survey is the responsibility of Mr. Patrick Beard, Co-ordinator of Academic Reviews and Planning (pbeard@brocku.ca, Ext. 4082).

In February 2008, some 6,000 Brock undergraduate students received an e-mail inviting them to participate in the survey. Of these, 3,822 were first-year students and 2,131 were “graduating” students (third- and fourth-year students who are in a position to graduate in the spring of 2008). As a means of promoting participation, the University offered six IPODs and a half-course tuition waiver as prizes. These were randomly drawn from among survey respondents.

Benchmark Comparisons, 2006
The results of the 2006 survey, in terms of the five “benchmarks” of effective educational practice may be found here.
NSSE06 Benchmark Comparisons Report (Brock University).xls
NSSE06_Benchmark_Comparisons_Report.pdf


2008 Results
The results of the 2008 survey may be found here:
Benchmark Comparisons Report
Executive Snapshot
Respondent Characteristics

November, 2008
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