Truman State University Uses NSSE to Advance Learning

Truman State University, a public liberal arts and sciences university in Kirksville, Missouri, established a committee to evaluate frameworks and rubrics associated with the university’s commitment to enhancing the following characteristics in its graduates: (a) understanding and articulating well-reasoned arguments; (b) demonstrating courageous, visionary, and service-oriented leadership; and (c) living emotionally and physically healthy lives. The committee looked to Truman’s NSSE results on higher- and lower-order learning skills to learn more about their students’ experiences. NSSE results revealed, for example, that first-year students and seniors reported a much greater emphasis on the lower-order task of memorization than Truman faculty reported in the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), suggesting a significant difference between the perceptions of faculty and students. More broadly, NSSE data suggested that in areas related to higher-order learning, Truman students were performing near or slightly above the level of students at comparison institutions. Truman’s findings on higher-order learning influenced their Higher Learning Commission Pathways Project to assure quality and demonstrate continuous improvement. Moving forward, the university will craft rubrics for higher-order thinking to help students and faculty recognize connections across courses and among disciplines, creating an integrated understanding of the curriculum while helping faculty be more efficient and intentional in their teaching and letting students know better what is expected of them.