Other Assessments

Iowa State University annually participates in two well-established national student surveys, the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP). Student responses to these surveys provide valuable information that is helpful for improving student learning. They also provide opportunities for assessing the effectiveness of Iowa State’s teaching/learning through comparison with national norms and peer-university benchmarks.

Iowa State participates in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), conducted annually by Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research. The NSSE survey, which assesses the extent to which students engage in educational practices that promote learning, is administered each spring to random samples of freshmen and senior students.

With the exception of 2004, Iowa State has participated annually in the NSSE survey since its inception in 2000. The results are used in several ways. First, a summary of the results, comparing Iowa State with the national norms and peer-university benchmarks, is annually prepared by the Office of Institutional Research and presented at a President’s Council meeting, a one-hour monthly meeting of the University’s administrative officers. This provides an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of teaching/learning at Iowa State, and helps make the University community aware of the institution’s strengths and challenges in student learning. The summary report is posted on the President’s website following the presentation. With respect to student outcomes, data is also published, for example,“http://www.celt.iastate.edu/newsletter/v15n3/vpup-newsletter.doc” from 2002. In addition to presentations of data, reports are available through the Provost’s Academic Programs website.

Second, Iowa State has established several performance indicators to gauge progress in its Strategic Plan (2005-2010). Five of those indicators are NSSE benchmark results:

(1) Level of academic challenge,
(2) Active collaborative learning,
(3) Student-faculty interactions,
(4) Enriching educational experiences, and
(5) Supportive campus.

For each benchmark, a goal (in the form of a score) has been established that considers trends in the University’s performance, national norms and peer-university benchmarks. Performance in a given benchmark is to be gauged annually against the established goal. Such use of NSSE results also serves to partially meet the University’s accountability obligations to its governing board.

Third, in conjunction with the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Programs and the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), the Iowa State University Research Institute for Studies in Education (RISE) conducted a longitudinal analysis of the NSSE data in 2004 in support of institutional efforts to prepare its self-study related to accreditation.

The results of longitudinal analysis identify successful efforts to enhance student engagement. For example, when considering rank, senior students scored significantly higher on higher-order thinking, academic integration, active and collaborative learning, student interactions with faculty, gains in practical competence, and general education gains. In contrast, first-year students rated themselves higher in the areas of diversity experiences, quality of academic advising, supportive campus environment, and overall satisfaction. These results highlight important gains over time and successful efforts to support first-year students.

The analyses also offer insight into potential curricular models and programmatic efforts that enhance student engagement. For example, the results indicated differences in engagement, satisfaction, and learning with students in specific colleges reporting higher levels of student engagement, perceptions of campus environment, and gains in learning outcomes.

RISE also conducted an analysis that examined whether participation in an Iowa State learning community is linked with student engagement, gains in educational outcomes, and overall student satisfaction. These reports have been shared with the deans and associate deans of the colleges. The results have also been presented at the annual Iowa State Learning Community Institute and shared at national presentations on the Iowa State Learning Community program.

Fourth, the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) has sponsored campus-wide Faculty Forums, which have provided opportunities to discuss ways to enhance learning related to NSSE results, benchmarks, and student engagement. The benchmarks are also shared at the annual University Teaching Seminar, new faculty orientation, and at CELT workshops throughout the year.

In 2005, Iowa State participated in the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) survey, also conducted by the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research and designed “to measure faculty expectations for student engagement in educational practices that are known to be empirically linked with high levels of learning and development.” The results of the FSSE survey, when combined with those of the NSSE, will undoubtedly provide valuable information for improving teaching, learning and the general quality of student educational experience. Iowa State is participating in the 2006 administration of the FSSE as well.

Iowa State also participates in the Freshman Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), conducted annually by the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). The CIRP survey collects a wide range of data on demographic characteristics, background experiences, educational aspirations, personal goals and values, views on political and social issues, and expectations about college. The survey instrument seeks responses to more than 200 nationally defined and about 25 institutionally defined questions.

Iowa State has participated in the CIRP survey since 1971. Results of the survey are annually disseminated to the university community in two ways:

(1) highlights are presented at the President’s Council, a monthly meeting of the university’s administrative officers, and
(2) an annual detailed report, including college level data, is prepared and widely distributed.