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Colleges and universities in the United States are being challenged to assess student outcomes and the quality of programs and services (McPherson and Shulenburger, 2006; Commission on the Future of Higher Education, 2006). One of the more widely used sources of evidence is student engagement as measured by a cluster of student engagement surveys administered by the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University. They include the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and its companion projects: the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement, Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, and Law School Survey of Student Engagement. The University of Texas-Austin hosts the two-year variation of the NSSE, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement.With more than thirteen hundred colleges and universities using NSSE, many institutional researchers may benefit from guidance about how to understand and use these data. This chapter shares practical tips and recommendations for the analysis and interpretation of NSSE data. We divided the chapter into three parts. The first offers six overarching tips and recommendations for working with student engagement data. We then discuss considerations for the analysis of multiple years of student engagement data. Finally, we describe how effect sizes can be used and interpreted to make student engagement results more meaningful. 35 3 NEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, no. 141, Spring 2009

This study focused on the dispositions of entering first-year students, their perceptions of classroom and institutional environments, and their subsequent academic engagement. Total variance explained by variables included in the path model for academic engagement was 30%. The results of this study found evidence to support the theoretical model that environment does mediate the relationship between two personality constructs (Need for Cognition and Psychological Well-Being) and academic engagement. Results of this study provide additional evidence that the environment matters and that institutions should continue to focus on creating supportive, positive environments that foster engagement.

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