Student Engagement Indicators in the Educational Process and Good Educational Practices in Undergraduate Education
Student Engagement Indicators in the Educational Process
The survey of students engagement in the educational process consolidates the quality dimensions in college education. It provides information for colleges, universities and other institutions to improve the student learning process. The main objective of the survey is to collect students’ opinions and analyze them annually to measure their engagement extent in the educational process that includes high-level learning and development. The annual report is available on the website
In 2014, the survey of student engagement in the educational process (NSSE) amended the mechanism used to measure the extent of student engagement through setting standards for distinguishing the indicators of engagement measurement and high-impact practices.
Following is a brief background cited from the website of the survey of student engagement in the educational process (NSSE) for four themes used in the survey as well as engagement indicators associated with each theme. Bear in mind that you should use these themes together in your course in order to create an interactive learning experience for students.
- First theme: Academic Challenge
- Second theme: Learning with peers
- Third theme: Experience with faculty
- Fourth theme: Campus Environment
Engagement Indicators
Academic Challenge
This theme includes four indicators:
Higher-Order Learning
Challenging intellectual and creative work is central to student learning and collegiate quality. Colleges and universities promote high levels of student achievement by calling on students to engage in complex cognitive tasks requiring more than mere memorization of facts. This Engagement Indicator captures how much students coursework emphasizes challenging cognitive tasks such as application, analysis, judgment, and synthesis.
Reflective & Integrative Learning
Personally connecting with course material requires students to relate their understandings and experiences to the content at hand. Instructors emphasizing reflective and integrative learning motivate students to make connections between their learning and the world around them, reexamining their own beliefs and considering issues and ideas from others' perspectives.
Learning Strategies
College students enhance their learning and retention by actively engaging with and analyzing course material rather than approaching learning as absorption. Examples of effective learning strategies include identifying key information in readings, reviewing notes after class, and summarizing course material. Knowledge about the prevalence of effective learning strategies helps colleges and universities target interventions to promote student learning and success.
Quantitative Reasoning
Quantitative literacy-the ability to use and understand numerical and statistical information in everyday life - is an increasingly important outcome of higher education. All students, regardless of major, should have ample opportunities to develop their ability to reason quantitatively - to evaluate, support, and critique arguments using numerical and statistical information.
Learning with Peers
This theme includes two indicators:
Collaborative Learning
Collaborating with peers in solving problems or mastering difficult material deepens understanding and prepares students to deal with the messy, unscripted problems they encounter during and after college. Working on group projects, asking others for help with difficult material or explaining it to others, and working through course material in preparation for exams all represent collaborative learning activities.
Discussions with Diverse Others
Colleges and universities afford students new opportunities to interact with and learn from others with different backgrounds and life experiences. Interactions across difference, both inside and outside the classroom, confer educational benefits and prepare students for personal and civic participation in a diverse and interdependent world.
Experiences with Faculty
This theme includes two indicators:
Student-Faculty Interaction
Interactions with faculty can positively influence the cognitive growth, development, and persistence of college students. Through their formal and informal roles as teachers, advisors, and mentors, faculty members model intellectual work, promote mastery of knowledge and skills, and help students make connections between their studies and their future plans.
Effective Teaching Practices
Student learning is heavily dependent on effective teaching. Organized instruction, clear explanations, illustrative examples, and effective feedback on student work all represent aspects of teaching effectiveness that promote student comprehension and learning.
Campus Environment
This theme includes two indicators:
Quality of Interactions
College environments characterized by positive interpersonal relations promote student learning and success. Students who enjoy supportive relationships with peers, advisors, faculty, and staff are better able to find assistance when needed, and to learn from and with those around them.
Supportive Environment
Institutions that are committed to student success provide support and involvement across a variety of domains, including the cognitive, social, and physical. These commitments foster higher levels of student performance and satisfaction. This Engagement Indicator summarizes students' perceptions of how much an institution emphasizes services and activities that support their learning and development.