DePaul exceeds urban peer institutions in important measures of effective educational practice
The student experience at DePaul differs significantly from that which is typical of America’s urban universities. According to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)[1] DePaul’s scores on five important benchmarks of effective educational practice are significantly higher than that of a peer group of urban institutions, reflecting that DePaul’s students report experiences at DePaul that are distinctly different than those reported by students at urban institutions, according to national averages.
The NSSE defines five dimensions of institutional practice and the student experience which are characteristic of exemplary learning environments. These benchmarks[2] are composite measures of many specific attributes of the student experience and are scored in a way to show how strongly each dimension is reported by students to be characteristic of their experience. These scores can be used to compare DePaul with the average outcomes for similar institutions as well as to compare the experiences of various subgroups of DePaul students. The chart above shows DePaul’s aggregate score on each dimension compared to an average for its urban peers.
The following is a description of each benchmark and how it is measured by the NSSE[4]:
1. Level of Academic Challenge - Challenging intellectual and creative work is central to student learning and collegiate quality. Colleges and universities promote high levels of student achievement by emphasizing the importance of academic effort and setting high expectations for student performance. To measure academic challenge, the survey assesses the amount of work required, the amount of time spent by students on coursework, and the emphasis the institution places on quality work. DePaul scores significantly higher than its urban peers on the level of academic challenge described by its students.
2. Active and Collaborative Learning - Students learn more when they are intensely involved in their education and asked to think about what they are learning in different settings. Collaborating with others in solving problems or mastering difficult material prepares students for the unscripted problems they will encounter outside of the classroom. To measure active and collaborative learning, the survey assesses the level of student involvement in discussions of course material in and out of the classroom and participation in co-curricular activities. DePaul scores significantly higher than its urban peers on the level of active and collaborative learning described by its students.
3. Student-Faculty Interaction - Students learn firsthand how experts think about and solve practical problems by interacting with faculty members inside and outside the classroom. As a result, their teachers become role models, mentors and guides for continuous, lifelong learning. To measure student-faculty interactions, students are asked to report on the frequency with which they engaged in a number of activities with faculty at their institution. DePaul scores significantly higher than its urban peers on the level of student-faculty interaction described by its students.
4. Enriching Educational Experiences - Complementary learning opportunities enhance academic programs. Diversity experiences teach students valuable insights about themselves and others. Technology facilitates collaboration between peers and instructors. Internships, community service, and senior capstone courses provide opportunities to integrate and apply knowledge. To measure such experiences, students are asked to indicate whether they had engaged in a variety of such activities. DePaul scores significantly higher than its urban peers on the level of enriching educational experiences described by its students.
5. Supportive Campus Environment - Students perform better and are more satisfied at colleges that are committed to their success and cultivate positive working and social relations among different groups on campus. To measure the level of a supportive campus environment, the survey asked students about the quality of their relationships with other students, faculty and staff on campus, as well as the degree to which they believe the institution cultivates a climate of support for success both in and out of the classroom. DePaul scores significantly higher than its urban peers on the supportive campus environment as described by their respective students.
Comparing DePaul to Liberal Arts Colleges: The chart above also provides comparisons between DePaul and a national sample of Liberal Arts colleges. Liberal Arts colleges provide students an experience notably different than that at most urban universities, and those differences are reflected in NSSE data and in this chart. These data suggest, however, that in many ways the experience students describe at DePaul is more like that of a smaller liberal arts college than a large urban university. As would be expected, DePaul’s score is lower than that of Liberal Arts colleges for dimensions of the student experience like Student-Faculty Interactions, Enriching Educational Experiences and a Supportive Campus Environment. It is noteworthy, though, that DePaul’s score for the Level of Academic Challenge is equal to that of Liberal Arts colleges. More noteworthy is the fact that DePaul’s score actually exceeds that of the Liberal Arts colleges in the area of Active and Collaborative Learning, meaning that students at DePaul describe a level of Active and Collaborative Learning that exceeds not only peer urban institutions but smaller liberal arts colleges as well.
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[1] The NSSE (commonly referred to as the “nessie”) collects information annually from first-year and senior students across the nation and measures the extent to which students engage in educational practices that have been empirically linked to various outcomes such as persistence and graduation. DePaul has been an active participant in the NSSE for more than five years. One feature of participating in NSSE is the ability to join a consortium of institutions that share a common trait and receive data about institutions within the consortium for comparative purposes. DePaul is a member of the Urban University consortium. The NSSE is administered during the winter quarter. Only the responses of the seniors are included in this summary.
[2] These benchmarks have multiple items associated with each, the responses for which were combined statistically to yield institutional benchmark scores and comparisons. The items within each benchmark were converted to a 0-100 scale, and averaged to create the benchmark score.
[3] The benchmark descriptions were taken from the NSSE 2008 Benchmark Comparisons Report (August 2008).