Amplifying Student Voice in Assessment
Getting students involved and invested in promoting, interpreting, and disseminating National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) data is a proven strategy for deepening the impact of results.
Lindenwood University’s Office of Academic Effectiveness created a student internship, the Student Assessment Scholars program, to increase student involvement in assessment. The Student Assessment Scholars program uses a real-world approach to institutional assessment that promotes student-led assessment research (Elder et al., 2023).
The Student Assessment Scholars is a yearlong program consisting of a credit-bearing fall internship focused on developing students’ research skills. The program introduces students to the complete life cycle of a research or assessment project from beginning to end – including completing CITI training to work with human subjects and seeking IRB approval. Campus stakeholders then apply to work with a team of student assessment scholars to elicit student input about their issue or program.
In the spring semester, student assessment scholars complete a 2-credit internship. During this time, they conduct focus groups and interviews, analyze the data for important themes, and write results in an insight report, presentation, or poster. Scholars have worked on projects examining involvement and engagement at Lindenwood, general education revision, and student perceptions of humanities.
In 2022-2023, Lindenwood’s Office of Institutional Research worked with the program to contextualize and disseminate NSSE results on campus. The emphasis on NSSE explicitly offers the chance to improve faculty and students’ understanding of student engagement and how it is realized at Lindenwood. The scholars’ project educated students on NSSE’s content and terminology, encouraged participation, and provided general information on Lindenwood’s past NSSE participation. The scholars presented their findings at Elevate Leadership, a student leadership program. They also reviewed student comments and historical NSSE results and helped create a website to disseminate results.
Lindenwood University’s student assessment scholars highlight the value of student voice in planning, conducting, and sharing assessments. The program demonstrates how engaging undergraduate students in assessment projects allows for more authentic and informed action and creates opportunities to participate in multiple high-impact practices. Lindenwood University provides students an engaging opportunity to participate in undergraduate research, have collaborative experiences with students and faculty, and participate in credit-bearing internships.
References:
Elder, R., Shilling, A., Waters, M. October 2023. Student Voice in Assessment: Collaborating with Student Assessment Scholars to Gain Feedback and Change How NSSE Data are Shared. Assessment Institute, Indianapolis, IN.
