NSSE 2023 Institutional Report

Academic Challenge: First-year students

Challenging intellectual and creative work is central to student learning and collegiate quality. Colleges and universities promote student learning by challenging and supporting them to engage in various forms of deep learning. Four Engagement Indicators are part of this theme: Higher-Order Learning, Reflective & Integrative Learning, Learning Strategies, and Quantitative Reasoning. Below are three views of your results alongside those of your comparison groups.

Mean Comparisons

	UMD	Your first-year students compared with
		UMD Peers				UMD Competitors				NSSE Carnegie
Engagement Indicator	Mean	Mean		Effect size		Mean		Effect size		Mean		Effect size
Higher-Order Learning	36.4	37.7	**	-.10		37.1		-.06		38.1	***	-.13
Reflective & Integrative Learning	35.0	35.2		-.02		34.3		.06		35.4		-.03
Learning Strategies	36.0	36.9		-.06		36.6		-.04		37.9	**	-.14
Quantitative Reasoning	29.8	29.2		.04		29.1		.05		29.5		.02
Notes: Results weighted by institution-reported sex and enrollment status (and institution size for comparison groups); Effect size: Mean difference divided by pooled standard deviation; Symbols on the Overview page are based on effect size and p before rounding; *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001 (2-tailed).

Score Distributions

Notes: Each box-and-whiskers chart plots the 5^th (bottom of lower bar), 25^th (bottom of box), 50^th (middle line), 75^th (top of box), and 95^th (top of upper bar) percentile scores. The dot represents the mean score.

Performance on Indicator Items

The table below displays how your students responded to each EI item, and the difference, in percentage points, between your students and those of your comparison group. Blue bars indicate how much higher your institution's percentage is from that of the comparison group. Purple bars indicate how much lower your institution's percentage is from that of the comparison group.

				Percentage point differencea between your first-year students and
Higher-Order Learning		UMD		UMD Peers			UMD Competitors			NSSE Carnegie
Percentage responding "Very much" or "Quite a bit" about how much coursework emphasized...		%
4b.	Applying facts, theories, or methods to practical problems or new situations	69		-1			-2			-0
4c.	Analyzing an idea, experience, or line of reasoning in depth by examining its parts	67		-2			-1			-3
4d.	Evaluating a point of view, decision, or information source	60		-8			-6			-10
4e.	Forming a new idea or understanding from various pieces of information	68		-2			+1			-4
Reflective & Integrative Learning
Percentage of students who responded that they "Very often" or "Often"...
2a.	Combined ideas from different courses when completing assignments	56		+3			+3			+3
2b.	Connected your learning to societal problems or issues	48		-3			+0			-4
2c.	Included diverse perspectives in course discussions or assignments	50		-5			+1			-6
2d.	Examined the strengths and weaknesses of your own views on a topic or issue	61		-1			+1			-1
2e.	Tried to better understand someone else's views by imagining how an issue looks from his or her perspective	72		+2			+3			+2
2f.	Learned something that changed the way you understand an issue or concept	68		+1			+3			-1
2g.	Connected ideas from your courses to your prior experiences and knowledge	79		+1			+2			+2
Learning Strategies
Percentage of students who responded that they "Very often" or "Often"...
9a.	Identified key information from reading assignments	67		-4			-2			-7
9b.	Reviewed your notes after class	61		-2			-3			-5
9c.	Summarized what you learned in class or from course materials	62		-1			+0			-2
Quantitative Reasoning
Percentage of students who responded that they "Very often" or "Often"...
6a.	Reached conclusions based on your own analysis of numerical information (numbers, graphs, statistics, etc.)	56		+2			+1			+1
6b.	Used numerical information to examine a real-world problem or issue	44		-0			+3			-2
6c.	Evaluated what others have concluded from numerical information	42		-1			-0			-2
Notes: Refer to your Frequencies and Statistical Comparisons report for full distributions and significance tests. Item numbering corresponds to the survey facsimile.
a.	Percentage point difference = Institution percentage – Comparison group percentage. Because results are rounded to whole numbers, differences of less than 1 point may or may not display a bar. Small, but nonzero differences may be represented as +0 or -0.

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