A sample of UW-Madison freshmen and seniors were reminded to participate in the biennial National Survey of Student Engagement this week.
The national survey was sent to about 2,800 first-year students and 3,900 seniors, according to Margaret Harrigan, a UW-Madison senior policy and planning analyst.
Harrigan said questions on the survey ask students to evaluate university experiences, weighing activities they engage in with what they think is beneficial to learning.
The survey really was developed to provide a useful diagnostic tool to colleges and universities about the quality of undergraduate education,"" Alex McCormick, NSSE director, said.
According to McCormick, the survey identifies five categories of effective educational practices: level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, enriching educational experiences and supportive campus environment.
McCormick said the survey was first implemented nationally in the year 2000, and that more colleges and universities were participating this year than ever before.
""A challenge for all of our participating institutions is getting students to complete the survey,"" he said.
Harrigan said previous surveys have said students were more likely to say they would start over again at UW-Madison if they could redo their college experience than students at other universities.
""I think we all naturally want to think about '¦ how did Madison do compared to other research universities, but one of the most important findings that we have is that there's much more variation in these quality of experiences within campuses than between campuses,"" McCormick said.
After receiving survey results next fall, the university will use the findings in a report to the UW System Board of Regents with a list of goals to implement, Harrigan said.
""We also look at [the results] for our own purposes,"" she said, adding the university will look to see what students said about their experience at UW-Madison. She said the School of Nursing plans to use results from their students to consider curriculum changes.
Harrigan said the survey would be open until the end of the semester.
UW-Madison data from the last NSSE in 2006 can be found online at www.apa.wisc.edu.
