Survey Instruments and Activities
As with all assessment efforts, the value of an institutional assessment survey depends on whether faculty, administrators, and staff members can use the results to support their ongoing processes and activities. This listing below provides the descriptive information (e.g., a shared purpose, target population, sample frame, etc.) of specific instruments used by the Office of Institutional Research. Many of these assessments rely on survey responses that operate on a cooperative system in which SJSU agreed to participate, in return, receive the findings and record level results for further local analysis
- To view a schedule of the survey activities listed below, visit the OIR Assessment Activities
Campus Climate Survey for Students
(SJSU Campus Climate Advisory Committee and Institutional Research)
Purpose: To assess sense of community and respect for diversity among all members of the campus community at SJSU.
Key Variables: Survey questions assess student perceptions of the campus climate, the degree of sensitivity on campus regarding racial/ethnic, gender, disability and other issues, the experiences of diversity issues within the classroom and larger learning environment, and awareness of procedures to report discriminatory behaviors. The anonymous survey also collects detailed demographic information.
Target Population and Sample Frame: The target population is the student body as a whole. The survey is administered to a 10% random sample of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the relevant semester.
Classroom Survey of Student Engagement (CLASSE) for Students
(Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University Bloomington)
Purpose: To measure variation in student engagement at the classroom level. The CLASSE is a pair of survey instruments that enable one to compare what engagement practices faculty particularly value and perceive important in a designated class with how frequently students report these practices occurring in that class.
Key Variables: A pair of survey instruments that enable one to compare what engagement practices faculty particularly value and perceive important in a designated class with how frequently students report these practices occurring in that class.
Target Population and Sample Frame: Administered in class to a randomly selected sample of the First-Year Experience (FYE) classes. The respondents include faculty as well as first-year and students from MUSE - Metropolitan University Scholar's Experience, Humanities Honors Program and Science 2 - Success in Science.
Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA)
(Council for Aid to Education)
Purpose: To examine the value added provided by colleges and university. When institutional quality is based solely on the students’ scores on entrance examinations, there is no way to know what was learned after they matriculated. Also, when student ability is only measured upon graduation, there is no way to determine the students’ relative growth without knowing their starting point. The CLA provides the evidence by comparing what students know when they start college with what they know when they finish that it is possible to assess the learning that actually occurred while in college.
Key Variables: Begins with conceptions of collegiate quality that are based on improvements in student learning, with three key elements serving as the project’s foundation: the institution, value added, and campus comparisons. The assessment focuses on a set of common areas that comprise what is central to most notions of collegiate education: critical thinking, analytic reasoning and written communication
Target Population and Sample Frame: Administered to samples of first year (native and transfer) students as well as seniors
iSkills™ - Information and Communication Technology Literacy Test (ICT)
(Education Testing Service, California State University System and SJSU Institutional Research)
Purpose: The iSkills™ assessment (the former ICT Literacy Assessment) is an Internet-based test of information and communication technology (ICT) literacy that uses scenario-based tasks to measures cognitive skills in a technological environment.
Key Variables: Students are present with 12-15 ICT tasks, each requiring no more than four minutes to complete. Each ICT task addresses one of the following ICT proficiencies: define, access, evaluate, integrate, manage, create, and communicate. Assessment is offered at two levels, Core Assessment and Advanced Assessment. Each version of the assessment is 75 minutes long.
Target Population and Sampling Frame: The target population is the undergraduate student body. The survey was last administered in Spring 2007 to a stratified random sample of undergraduate course/sections.
National College Health Assessment (NCHA)
(American College Health Association)
Purpose: To collect student's opinions about their health. The NCHA allows for generation of measures of central tendency (averages) and prevalence for a variety of health issues.
Key Variables: Items assess health status and health problems, risk and protective behaviors, access to health information, impediments to academic performance, and perceived norms across a variety of content areas including: injury prevention, personal safety and violence; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; sexual health; weight, nutrition, and exercise; and mental health.
Target Population and Sample Frame: Surveys are administered in class to randomly selected undergraduate students enrolled at SJSU.
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
(Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University Bloomington)
Purpose: To assess the extent to which students are engaged in empirically derived good educational practices and what they gain from their college experience (what they are putting into and getting out of their college experience). Thus, completing the survey itself is consistent with effective educational practice, such as level of academic challenge, enriching educational experiences, student-faculty interaction, active and collaborative learning, and supportive campus environment.
Key Variables: Items assess how and where students spend their time, the nature and quality of their interactions with faculty and peers, and what they have gained from their classes and other aspects of their college experience. The survey allows for twenty additional questions developed by Student Affairs and Academic Affairs in consultation with the Office of Institutional Research.
Target Population and Sample Frame: Surveys are mailed out to the randomly selected first-year and senior undergraduate students enrolled at SJSU.
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) - Local Administration
(SJSU Institutional Research and Center for Postsecondary Research)
Purpose: To examine the perceptions of both faculty and students about what students put into and get out of their college experience. The results will allow us to identify the similarities and differences in perceptions from both parties regarding the effectiveness of educational practices at SJSU.
Key Variables: Items assess the perceptions of faculty and students on how and where students spend their time, the nature and quality of their interactions with faculty and peers and what they have gained from their classes and other aspects of their college experience.
Target Population and Sample Frame: Administered in class to a randomly selected sample of 50 classes. The respondents include faculty as well as first-year and senior undergraduate students
Student Evaluation of Teaching Program (SOTE/SOLATE)
(SJSU Student Evaluation Review Board and Institutional Research)
Purpose: To examine the perceptions of enrolled students on the teaching effectiveness and learning experience (atmosphere) at the course level. The assessment refers to the two standardized rating instruments (SOTE and SOLATE) currently being used for collecting ratings at the end of each semester. Student Opinion of Teaching Effectiveness (SOTE) form is used in courses primarily taught in the traditional lecture/discussion mode. Student Opinion of Laboratory and Activity Teaching Effectiveness (SOLATE) form, on the other hand, is designated for use in laboratory/activity courses.
Key Variables: Items assess the perceptions of students on the teaching effectiveness and learning experience, including Content/Relevance (Q1, Q2), Helping Students Think (Q3, Q9, Q11), Learning Environment (Q4, Q5, Q8), Responsiveness to Students (Q6, Q7) and Grading/Feedback (Q10, Q12).
Target Population and Sample Frame: Administered in class to courses selected by the instructor with the chair's permission. The instructor must have at least two courses evaluated per academic year.
Student Needs and Priorities Survey (SNAPS)
(California State University System and SJSU Institutional Research)
Purpose: To assess the concerns, opinions, satisfaction, and needs of students related to quality of instruction, access to programs and services, campus climate, and perceived barriers to attainment of educational goals.
Key Variables: Items address importance and quality of services and resources at SJSU, service and resource needs, SJSU educational objectives, importance of factors in decision to attend, financial concerns, type and duration of community service, campus climate with respect to pluralism and diversity. The survey allows for twenty additional questions developed by Student Affairs and Academic Affairs in consultation with the Office of Institutional Research.
Target Population and Sampling Frame: The target population is the undergraduate student body. The survey was last administered in spring 2006 to a 10% random sample of undergraduates, supplemented by a stratified random sample of undergraduate course/sections.
Summer Survey
(SJSU Institutional Research)
Purpose: To gain insight from SJSU students regarding what attracts them to take summer classes. The findings could help the university in promoting Summer enrollments in order to meet the demand for increased enrollments, support student progress toward degree completion and improve instructional facility utilization.
Key Variables: Items assess around four areas: a) assessing the level of student interest in Summer enrollment, b) establishing reasons for attending/not attending Summer semester, c) evaluating the existing Summer semester (both attendees and non-attendees) and d) gathering ideas about improvements.
Target Population and Sample Frame: Administered electronically to students possessing a valid MySJSU account. The samples included students who had and had not attended Summer semesters in the past at SJSU or elsewhere. It provided a way to obtain feedback about the experiences of those who had been enrolled in Summer as well as reasons why students who had not attended Summer semester in the past (but could have) chose not to attend.
Wabash Study of Liberal Arts Education (WABASH NSLAE)
(WABASH, ACT and SJSU Institutional Research)
Purpose: To examine the educational progress of SJSU's Fall 2006 freshman students during their collegiate experience (4+ years). Two fundamental goals of the study are: 1). Learning of which teaching practices, programs, and institutional structures support liberal arts education and 2) Developing faculty-friendly and institutionally useful methods of assessing liberal arts education.
Key Variables: Questions address three critical factors (critical thinking, making judgments, and college experiences) to determine the effects on the outcomes of liberal arts education. The WABASH NSLAE focuses on the development of seven outcomes associated with undergraduate liberal arts education and the educational conditions and experiences that foster these outcomes. The selected outcomes include: 1) Effective reasoning and problem solving, 2) Inclination to inquire and lifelong learning, 3) Integration of learning, 4) Intercultural effectiveness, 5) Leadership, 6) Moral reasoning and 7) Well-being.
Target Population and Sample Frame: Administered in person to the Fall 2006 freshmen during their collegiate experience (4+ years).
Campus Climate Survey for Faculty/Staff/Administrators
(SJSU Campus Climate Advisory Committee and Institutional Research)
Purpose: To assess sense of community and respect for diversity among all members of the campus community at SJSU.
Key Variables: Survey questions dealt with racial/ethnic relations, the apparent fairness of professors and staff, and opinions regarding SJSU’s diversity policies.
Target Population and Sample Frame: Campus Climate Committee, in collaboration with OIR administers this survey to all faculty (Tenure, Tenure Track, and Temporary) and staff
Classroom Survey of Student Engagement (CLASSE) for Faculty
(Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University Bloomington)
Purpose: To measure variation in student engagement at the classroom level. The CLASSE is a pair of survey instruments that enable one to compare what engagement practices faculty particularly value and perceive important in a designated class with how frequently students report these practices occurring in that class.
Key Variables: A pair of survey instruments that enable one to compare what engagement practices faculty particularly value and perceive important in a designated class with how frequently students report these practices occurring in that class.
Target Population and Sample Frame: Administered in class to a randomly selected sample of the First-Year Experience (FYE) classes. The respondents include faculty as well as first-year and students from MUSE - Metropolitan University Scholar's Experience, Humanities Honors Program and Science 2 - Success in Science.
Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE)
(Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University Bloomington)
Purpose: To examine faculty expectations of student engagement in educational practices that are empirically linked with high levels of learning and development. The survey also collects information about how faculty members spend their time related to professorial activities and the kinds of learning experiences their institution emphasizes.
Key Variables: Items assess the perceptions of faculty on how and where students use their time, the nature and quality of their interactions with students and peers, and other aspects of college instruction and experience.
Target Population and Sample Frame: Administered electronically to all undergraduate faculty possessing a valid MySJSU account.
HERI Faculty Survey
(Higher Education Research Institute UCLA)
Purpose: Designed to obtain information about the attitudes, experiences, concerns, job satisfaction, workload, teaching practices, and professional activities of collegiate faculty and administrators. Information resulting from the survey can be used to facilitate self study and accreditation activities; inform campus planning and policy analysis; enhance faculty development programs; and improve students’ educational experiences.
Key Variables: Items emphasis on faculty-student interaction, undergraduate teaching, and curricular issues. Other items focus on faculty's use of PC/Internet technology and current issues of interest to today's campus, such as diversity and civic engagement. Up to 21 questions of specific interest to SJSU can also be included.
Target Population and Sample Frame: Administered electronically to all undergraduate faculty possessing a valid MySJSU account.
