201 1 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Structure, Quality, and Benchmarks Summary I. Information Collected in the NSSE Questionnaire The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is an annual survey collecting information from nearly 1,500 baccalaureate-granting colleges and universities in the United States and Canada (NSSE 2011 Overview, 2011). The purpose of the survey is to examine freshmen and senior student participation in program and activities that institutions provide for learning and personal development. The NSSE questionnaire collects information in five content categories to measure undergraduate experience, document effective educational practice, and assess collegiate quality (Kuh & Gonyea, 2002). Structure of the NSSE Instrument Student Behaviors
Institutional Actions and Requirements
Student Learning and Development
Reactions to College
Student Background Information II. Data Quality The overall quality of the FSU NSSE data yielded a continuous improvement. The FSU NSSE 2011 data consisted a sample of 3,271 respondents (FR: n=1,102; SR: n=2,169). The sampling errors associated with the 2011 NSSE data were reduced from 4.2% in the year of 2005 to 2.7% for the freshmen and from 3.9% to 1.9% for the senior students, indicating FSU had sufficient respondents to represent the entire student population. The improvement of data quality also allowed a more precise and reliable estimate of the benchmark scores and future researches. FSU NSSE Data Quality Indicators Year 2011
Sampling Error1 FR SR 2.7% 1.9%
Response Rate FR SR 17% 21%
Number of Respondents FR SR 1,102 2,169
Black student population was underrepresented in the 2011 NSSE survey (freshmen: 11% of the population vs. 7% of the NSSE sample; seniors: 8% of the population vs. 11% of the NSSE sample). Male students were underrepresented in the 2011 NSSE survey (freshmen: 42% of the population vs. 30% of the NSSE sample; seniors: 48% of the population vs. 39% of the NSSE sample).
1 Sampling Error is the deviation of the selected sample from the true characteristics, traits, behaviors, qualities or figures of the entire population. “A large degree of sampling error limits the precision of the estimation about the population provided by the survey� (NSSE Psychometric Portfolio, 2010).