March 2018

Executive Summary

In the spring of 2017, 1,305 first-year students and 1,117 seniors on Miami's Oxford campus completed the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). NSSE's "Engagement Indicators" provide information about student engagement by summarizing students' responses to sets of related questions. Miami students, compared to students at peer institutions (same Carnegie Class), were more likely to engage in challenging intellectual and creative work and to report collaborating with others in their learning process. Miami students reported higher levels of Student-Faculty Interaction and were more satisfied with faculty interactions than were their peers. However, Miami students rated the quality of their interactions with advisors and other individuals less favorably than did their peers.

Miami Student Engagement Compared with Peer Institutions - Detailed Results

Academic Challenge

Institutions can promote student learning by challenging students to engage in various forms of deep learning and providing support for this learning. Miami seniors reported higher levels of engagement than their peers on three of the four Engagement Indicators (Higher-Order Learning, Reflective and Integrative Learning, and Quantitative Reasoning). Miami first-year students scored higher on Quantitative Reasoning compared to their peers, but they showed no differences on the other Academic Challenge Engagement Indicators. Miami is more likely to challenge seniors to engage in higher-order learning and reflective and integrative learning than are peer institutions, but it could increase the extent to which first-year students engage in challenging intellectual and creative work.

Learning with Peers

Collaborating with other in mastering difficult material and developing interpersonal and social competence prepares students to deal with complex, unscripted problems during and after college. Miami first-year students and seniors both scored higher than peers on Collaborative Learning, while there was no difference between Miami students and peers on Discussions with Diverse Others.

Experiences with Faculty

Students learn firsthand how experts think about and solve problems by interacting with faculty, and through course material and feedback delivered in student-centered ways. Miami first-year students and seniors both scored higher than their peers on the Student-Faculty Interaction Engagement Indicator, while there was no significant difference on the Effective Teaching Practices Indicator.

Campus Environment

Students benefit from supportive settings that cultivate positive relationships among students, faculty, and staff. There was no difference between Miami students and peers on the extent to which they reported a Supportive Environment, but Miami first-year students and seniors reported lower Quality of Interactions than did their peers. The largest gaps between Miami students and peers were on the Quality of Interactions with academic advisors and other administrative staff and offices. However, Miami first-year students and seniors reported better interactions with faculty members than did their peers.

Additional Information

Additional results, including comparisons with other peer groups and results for the Regional Campuses, are available by contacting the Office of Institutional Research at InstitutionalResearch@MiamiOH.edu.