Connecting the dots: Multi-faceted analyses of the relationships between student engagement results from the NSSE, and the institutional practices and conditions that foster student success

Abstract

Connecting the Dots: Multi-Faceted Analyses of the Relationships between Student Engagement Results from the NSSE, and the Institutional Practices and Conditions That Foster Student SuccessToo many students who begin college do not earn a baccalaureate degree.One promising line of inquiry is research showing links between student engagement in educationally purposeful activities, achievement, persistence and graduation.Student engagement represents both the time and energy students invest in educationally purposeful activities and the effort institutions devote to using effective educational practices.Additional evidence confirming these positive relationships with the current cohort of undergraduate students would give institutional leaders, faculty and staff members, and policy makers more confidence in urging intentional, widespread use of effective educational practices in postsecondary education.The purpose of the Connecting the Dots (CTD) project is to determine the relationships between student engagement as measured by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and selected measures of success in college for students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds attending different types of four-year colleges and universities.First, we examined the relationships between NSSE results, pre-college experiences, college grades, and persistence to the second year of study for about 11,000 first-year and senior students at 18 baccalaureate-granting institutions including four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and three Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).Student-level data from NSSE responses, academic transcripts and financial aid information, and ACT/SAT score reports were analyzed to determine the effects of engagement on grades and persistence, controlling for a variety of pre-college and first-year experience variables.Then we tested for conditional or interaction effects to determine whether the impact of engagement on college achievement and persistence differed by students' prior academic achievement and racial or ethnic background.The findings were generally consistent with prior research and extant theory.That is, while precollege characteristics, such as academic achievement, predict first-year grades and persistence, student engagement during college also has modest positive effects.Moreover, while exposure to educationally effective practices is associated with desired outcomes for all students, historically underserved students benefit more from engaging in these activities than White students in terms of earning higher grades and persisting to the second year of college.Second, we examined the validity and reliability of the NSSE survey for different types of students and institutions.Using NSSE data from thousands of students at scores of Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), the results show that the NSSE survey works equally well for students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds attending different types of institutions.The similar patterns of findings affirm the construct validity of the NSSE -that it consistently measures what it claims to measure.Stability tests indicate that the instrument produces comparable results from one administration to another at both MSIs and PWIs.In addition, cognitive interviews and focus groups with 163 students at four MSIs and four PWIs indicate that almost all the NSSE items represented on its five benchmarks of effective educational practice are generally interpreted in the same way by students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds.Thus, the NSSE benchmarks can be considered valid, reliable indicators of the quality of the student experience for historically underserved students at MSIs and PWIs.These findings point to four conclusions about the relationships between student engagement as measured by NSSE, grades, and persistence.1. Engagement has positive, modest effects on grades and persistence for students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, even after controlling for key pre-college variables.2. Engagement has compensatory effects on first-year grades and persistence to the second year of college at the same institution for historically underserved students.3. The NSSE instrument works equally well for students of color and White students in different institutional contexts, such as PWIs, HBCUs, and HSIs.4. Nuanced, context-specific judgments are needed when interpreting the results from a few items for students attending certain MSIs.