Posted 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023
Seniors, first-year students: Respond to Feb. 22 email survey about your UWL experience for a chance to win
UW-La Crosse first-year students and seniors can help campus improve. Starting Wednesday, Feb. 22, first-year students and seniors will receive an email asking them to participate in a 15-minute survey about their campus experience — the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The survey will remain open through May 14. Students who respond early — by March 24— will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $25 UWL Bookstore gift card.
A total of 40 gift cards will be awarded and chances of winning depend on how many complete the survey; the last time UWL administered this survey about 1131 students responded.
Faculty are asked to encourage student participation in the survey. NSSE results are shared internally with faculty and staff groups to make decisions to improve campus support for students and their overall undergraduate educational experience.
The survey is administered about once every three years, allowing campus officials to track progress or changes in student needs.
Questions from the NSSE cover a broad range of topics, including:
- How often students have experienced certain types of learning activities in their courses, such as collaborative work and faculty-mentored research
- How students spend their time and their satisfaction with their interactions with students, faculty and staff
- Beliefs about how their UWL experience has impacted their skill development such as writing, speaking, and working effectively with diverse groups of people
- Student experience with advising and the quality of experience doing high-impact practices, such as study abroad or research.
- Questions related to information literacy.
The university has learned valuable information in the past. For instance, 2020 NSSE data shows:
Over 75% of UWL first-year students and over 80% UWL seniors reported faculty:
- Clearly explained course goals
- Taught in an organized way
- Used examples for teaching difficult concepts
80% of UWL first-year students and 77% of UWL seniors reported that UWL emphasizes spending significant amounts of time studying and doing academic work
UWL first-year students indicated their courses were academically challenging, with activities that involved higher-order and reflective learning.
- 77% reported being asked to apply facts, theories, or methods to practical problems, indicative of higher-order learning (i.e. above pure memorization).
- 57% reported being asked to connect their learning to societal problems or issues, indicative of reflective learning.
- 85%** indicated their courses challenged them to do their best work. (**Ratings at 5 or above on a scale from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much).)
Over 50% of UWL students reported learning activities and skills related to understanding diverse others and diverse perspectives.
- 65% of UWL first-year students and 69% of UWL seniors reported they often tried to understand someone else’s views by imagining how an issue looked from their perspective.
- 54% of UWL first-year students and 52% of UWL seniors indicated they often included diverse perspectives (political, religious, racial/ethnic, gender, etc.) in course discussions or assignments.
- Close to 60% of UWL students (first year 59%, seniors 57%) reported that their UWL experience has contributed quite a bit or very much to their understanding of people of other backgrounds (economic, racial/ethnic, political, religious, nationality, etc.).