Longstanding Commitment to Use NSSE Data in Many Ways (Lessons from the Field–Volume 4)
Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) has been administering NSSE since 2002. In its NSSE 2006 results, IUPUI’s first-year students indicated they were less likely than students at peer institutions to report either serious conversations with students different from themselves or to include diverse perspectives in class discussions or writing assignments. These results informed curricular discussions on campus and led to the development of more Themed Learning Communities to create opportunities for students to discuss issues of diversity, inclusion, and equity.
At IUPUI, a Themed Learning Community (TLC) is comprised of a first-year seminar and two or more disciplinary courses in which a group of 25 freshmen co-enroll. Throughout a semester, the TLC group explores a theme, makes integrative connections between courses, and engages in out-of-class experiences guided by the TLC’s faculty team. In 2016, IUPUI had 11 different TLCs focusing on diversity. Also in 2016, TLCs formed a partnership with IUPUI’s Diversity, Enrichment, and Achievement Program from which four new TLCs were created, in 2017, to support the success of students from populations traditionally underrepresented in higher education. To monitor the effectiveness of TLCs in helping students achieve institutional learning goals, IUPUI researchers have used NSSE data. In one report, NSSE items mapped to the institution’s Principles of Undergraduate Learning (PULs) learning outcomes showed that TLC participants had higher scores than nonparticipants along these outcomes (see Figure 6).
In addition to advancing diversity, inclusion, and equity at the institution, IUPUI stakeholders are interested in increasing participation in and measuring the quality of High-Impact Practices (HIPs). One key campus initiative targeting this goal is RISE—Research, International experiences, Service-learning, and Experiential learning—which provides maps for students to enroll in RISE courses and resources for faculty (e.g., taxonomies and funding for course development). To measure the quality of RISE, the Office of Institutional Research and Decision Support uses retention data, follow-up surveys, qualitative interviews, and NSSE data. Triangulated with data from the other sources, NSSE data are used to illuminate the relationship between HIP participation and desired student outcomes. NSSE results have indicated that, among first-year and senior students, RISE participation is related to increases in engagement behaviors associated with Higher-Order Learning and Discussions with Diverse Others.
NSSE data continue to be vital in shaping conversations at IUPUI regarding student engagement and learning. Dynamic reporting from the Office of Institutional Research and Decision Support via Tableau data visualization software allows users to examine student HIP participation by (a) the total number of HIPs completed or (b) participation in a specific HIP (e.g., service-learning, undergraduate research, internships). Users can disaggregate the data by student characteristic (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, full-time or part-time status) and by school within the university; they can also compare participation rates between IUPUI and peer institutions and other public research universities (see Figure 7) This tool presents a data-rich way to inform educators skeptical of their department’s contribution to low institutional participation numbers, those interested in how they “stack up” with peers, and those who want to ensure equitable HIP participation across different student groups.
Conversations about future initiatives at IUPUI have also drawn on NSSE data. For example, NSSE 2015 results informed discussions at the winter retreat of the nationally recognized IUPUI Center for Service and Learning (CSL). Specifically, discussing IUPUI’s low scores (relative to those of peer institutions) on the Diverse Interactions Engagement Indicator, CSL staff used Design Thinking strategies to better conceptualize how diversity affects their work and how reflection strategies might be used to enhance student development around diversity. CSL staff have also used data from the Deep Approaches to Learning Scales in their scholarly work on the relationship between participation in service-learning and deep approaches to learning. Data like these were used in the 2015 application for the Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification, which identified IUPUI as one of the 240 engaged campuses in the US. IUPUI has historically used data to inform the creation of educational interventions, and the institution’s ongoing innovation keeps data alive in present-day conversations about the institution’s future.IUPUI continues to put NSSE results to good use. Over several NSSE administrations, both IUPUI senior and first-year respondents were more likely to indicate that they were working more than 20 hours per week off campus compared to similar students at peer institutions.
As a result, IUPUI plans to remain focused on several initiatives designed to encourage more students to work on campus. In the last 15 years, IUPUI has used NSSE data in comprehensive ways, from measuring achievements related to their PULs to informing needed conversations regarding campus diversity.
