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The National Survey of Student Engagement (nsse) was developed in the late 1990s with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts and launched in 2000 at 276 bachelor's-granting colleges and universities. NSSE doesn't assess student learning directly, but survey results point to areas where colleges and universities are performing well and to aspects of the undergraduate experience that could be improved." In contrast to cognitive tests or attitudinal surveys, NSSE results reveal concrete student and faculty behaviors as well as institutional practices that support student success. [Extracted from the article]

This chapter examines the differences between institutions with high and low levels of involvement in service learning as well as the differences between students with high and low levels of involvement. The study shows a correlation between institutional organization and service-learning emphasis and describes, at the student level, correlations between service-learning involvement and both deep approaches to learning and self-reported gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND The authors partnered with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to examine how persistence within the engineering major and engagement of undergraduate students in engineering compare to other majors. PURPOSE (HYPOTHESIS) We explored three research questions: How do engineering students rate their college engagement compared to students in other majors? How do engineering persisters, non-persisters, and migrators compare in terms of collegiate engagement, time on task, and enriching educational experiences? What college engagement factors predict persistence in engineering? DESIGN/METHOD Data are from nearly 12,000 students who completed the NSSE survey in their first and senior years as undergraduates. Surveys were analyzed using ANOVA and Chi-square calculations to determine whether differences emerged in three dimensions of student engagement based on students' self-reported major. Due to the large sample, effect size was used to determine statistical significance. Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors that predict persistence among first year students and seniors in engineering. RESULTS Results show that engineering majors are similar to non-engineering majors on most variables. However, engineering majors reported significantly higher gains in practical competence and higher order thinking, but the lowest means on reflective learning and gains in general education. Engineering majors reported significantly more time preparing for class and less time participating in educationally enriching experiences. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that different educational outcomes between majors are the result of programmatic differences. The packed engineering curriculum requires students to make trade-offs between gaining practical/marketable skills and participating in educationally enriching activities. We question this trade-off and suggest alternative approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After setting forth a vision of accountability rooted in professional responsibility, the author discusses how a substantial number of institutions report their NSSE results publicly, both on their own as well as using mechanisms provided by others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This concluding chapter illustrates the practical results of the five classification proposals. Each classification model has been applied to a common sample of colleges, and the authors review the key implications of this collective exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A credible and reliable classification system for two-year colleges will advance our understanding of this important sector of higher education. But developing such a system involves a number of challenges and may lead to unintended and largely unforseeable consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2000 edition of the book 'Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education' lists nearly 1,700 public and private accredited, degree-granting institutions in its 'Associate's Colleges' category. Unlike other major groupings, this very large and diverse group of institutions is not broken down into subcategories, nor has it ever been since the initial publication in 1973. This classification was developed as a way to gain analytic purchase on the great diversity of U.S. institutions of higher education by creating categories of roughly comparable institutions. While its promise has largely been realized with respect to four-year institutions, as attested to by its wide adoption and endurance over three decades, the same cannot be said for the two-year sector.

It is increasingly common for students to attend multiple institutions, and this involves more than transfer between institutions. Although sophisticated bureaucratic mechanisms for dealing with course-taking at other institutions have been developed, there is an urgent need to understand its educational implications and to develop ways to enhance educational coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]