faculty survey of student engagement using what faculty say about improving their teaching thomas f....

Faculty Survey of Student Engagement

Using What Faculty Say about Improving Their Teaching

Thomas F. Nelson Laird, IUB

Jennifer Buckley, IUBMegan Palmer, IUPUI

Presentation at the POD Annual Meeting, Portland, OR, October, 27, 2006

But first…

Quiz: Teaching Improvement Activities

What percent of faculty members reported participating in workshops?

a) 64%

b) 54%

c) 44%

d) 34%

Quiz: Teaching Improvement Activities

What percent of faculty members reported participating in individual consultations?

a) 15%

b) 37%

c) 59%

d) 81%

Quiz: Teaching Improvement Activities

What percent of faculty members reported participating in at least one type of activity?

a) 76%

b) 80%

c) 84%

d) 88%

e) 92%

Quiz: Teaching Improvement Activities

What percent of faculty members reported participating in 3 or more different types of activities? a) 38%

b) 47%

c) 56%

d) 65%

e) 74%

Overview

Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE)

Teaching improvement items from 2006

Teaching improvement results

How IUPUI is using this information

Where do we gofrom here?

AssessingStudent Engagement

National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Annual survey of first-year students and seniors at four-year institutions that measures students’ participation in educational experiences that prior research has connected to valued outcomes

Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) Parallel survey 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

Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE)

Survey administered in the fall of students’ first year designed to measure students entering characteristics and the importance they place on student engagement

Why FSSE?

Institutions sought ways to include faculty in the discussion of effective educational practices

Several campuses demonstrated success with homegrown faculty surveys that paralleled NSSE

IU Center for Postsecondary Research pilot tested a faculty survey in 2003 and launched in 2004

It is important to understand faculty expectations and perceptions as institutions seek to target areas of improvement

FSSE Administration

Third party administration--IU Center for Survey Research

Faculty surveyed in the spring

Institutions choose faculty to be surveyed

Questionnaire online

Survey options Course-based questions

Typical student questions

FSSE Survey

Faculty perceptions of how often their students engage in different activities

The importance faculty place on various areas of learning and development

The nature and frequency of interactions faculty have with students

How faculty members organize class time

FSSE Reporting

Frequency Distributions

Item-level frequencies

NSSE/FSSE Report

Student/faculty frequency comparisons for similarly worded items

No institutional comparisons

Annual Report (FSSE is a component of the NSSE annual report)

FSSE 2006

131 institutions 20% doctoral, 45% master’s, 35% baccalaureate

52% private

Over 21,000 faculty respondents 46% women

16% faculty of color

23% Professor, 22% Associate, 25% Assistant, 22% Lecturer/Instructor, 7% other

Average institutional response rate = 54%

Asking Faculty aboutTeaching Improvement

Additional Items in 2006

During the current academic year, about how many times have you participated in teaching improvement activities of the following types? Individual consultations

Classroom observations with feedback

Meetings with a small group of colleagues

Workshops

Web-based instructional programs

Campus-wide forums

Conference sessions

Additional Items in 2006

How important is it that your institution provides services for you to improve your teaching in the following areas? Incorporating active learning strategies

Developing students’ critical thinking/problem-solving skills

Improving student-faculty interactions

Facilitating classroom experiences with diversity

Using technology to improve student learning

Creating a supportive classroom environment

Assessing student engagement and learning

Faculty Teaching Improvement Results

Importance of Teaching Improvement Services

Faculty who tended to place greater (or less) importance on their institution providing teaching improvement services

Women

African, Asian, and Hispanic American faculty

Faculty from professional fields

Associate (-) and Full (-) professors

Importance of Services for Creating a Supportive Classroom Environment by Race

2%

8%

21%

68%

4%

14%

24%

58%

2%

15%

36%

46%

8%

17%

32%

43%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Not important Somewhatimportant

Important Very important

African American

Hispanic

Asian

White

Importance of Services for Assessing Student Engagement and Learning by Rank

5%

13%

31%

51%

11%

18%

31%

40%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Not important Somewhatimportant

Important Very important

Number of Times

Lecturer/Instructor

Full Professor

Participation in Individual Consultations

59% of all faculty participated in individual consultations at least once

Faculty who tended to participate more (or less)

No meaningful differences observed

Faculty Participation in Individual Consultations by Course Level

41%

15% 14%

8%4%

19%

42%

16%14%

8%4%

17%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

0 1 2 3 4 5 or more

Number of Times

Lower Division Upper Division

Participation in Classroom Observations

49% of all faculty participated in classroom observations at least once

Faculty who tended to participate more (or less)

Social science faculty (-)

Faculty Participation in Classroom Observations by Disciplinary Area

59%

18%

11%

5%2%

5%

44%

19%

14%

6%4%

13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

0 1 2 3 4 5 or more

Number of Times

Social Sciences Education

Participation in Meetings with Colleagues

74% of all faculty participated in meetings with colleagues at least once

Faculty who tended to participate more (or less) Women

Full-time faculty

Faculty teaching more undergraduate courses

Social science faculty (-)

Faculty Participation in Meetings with Colleagues by Number of Undergraduate Courses Taught

36%

16% 15%

9%5%

19%23%

13%16%

13%

6%

28%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

0 1 2 3 4 5 or more

Number of Times

1 Course 6 Courses

Participation in Workshops

64% of all faculty participated in workshops at least once

Faculty who tend to participate more (or less)

Women

Full-time faculty

Education faculty

Faculty Participation in Workshops by Gender

42%

22%

17%

9%4% 6%

29%

21% 20%

13%

7%11%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

0 1 2 3 4 5 or more

Number of Times

Men Women

Participation in Web-Based Programs

31% of all faculty participated in web-based programs at least once

Faculty who tend to participate more (or less)

Faculty from Professional Fields

Education faculty

Faculty from “Other” fields

Faculty Participation in Web-Based Programs by Disciplinary Area

54%

22%

10%7%

3%5%

59%

17%

10%

5%3%

6%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

0 1 2 3 4 5 or more

Number of Times

Professional Education

Participation in Campus-Wide Forums

48% of all faculty participated in campus-wide forums at least once

Faculty who tend to participate more (or less)

Women

Full-time faculty

Education faculty

Faculty Participation in Campus-Wide Forums by Employment Status

71%

14%

8%

3% 1% 2%

47%

21%

16%

8%4% 5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

0 1 2 3 4 5 or more

Number of Times

Part-time Full-time

Participation in Conference Sessions

54% of all faculty participated in conference sessions at least once

Faculty who tend to participate more (or less) Women

Full-time faculty

Education faculty

Biological science faculty (-)

Faculty Participation in Conference Sessions by Disciplinary Area

60%

20%

11%

4%2%

4%

26%

15%17%

13%9%

21%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

0 1 2 3 4 5 or more

Number of Times

Biological Sciences Education

Teaching Improvement at IUPUI

IUPUI vs. National Results

No Practical Difference• Individual consultations• Meetings with colleagues• Workshops• Web-based programs• Campus forums

Slightly More Faculty at IUPUI Participate • Classroom Observations (IUPUI=63%, National=49%)

FSSE vs. IUPUI Institutional Data

FSSE Database

Consultations 398 (58%) 603 (30%)

Events

Workshops

Campus Forums

383 (62%)

249 (40%)

536 (27%)

Implications for IUPUI

Education Increased web or print materials Departmental workshops

Collaboration FACET Faculty Involvement Faculty Council P&T Workshops

Data Collection and Analysis Record Keeping Transparency FSSE and Database Investigation

IUPUI Data Collection

Small Group Activity

Guiding Questions

From the presentation, what’s of most interest to you?

What have the results made you think about?

How is the information from the presentation useful to your practice?

Faculty Development Items and Presentation Feedback

If you were running the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, what questions would you ask about faculty development?

For More Information

Email: tflaird@indiana.edujeabuckl@indiana.edummpalmer@indiana.edu

FSSE website: http://www.fsse.iub.edu

NSSE website: http://www.nsse.iub.edu

Copies of papers and presentations, including this one, as well as annual reports and other information are available through the websites