The Dependability of the Updated NSSE: A Generalizability Study

Kevin Fosnacht and Robert M. Gonyea   |    Volume Thirteen  |   

This study utilized generalizability theory to assess the context where the National Survey of Student Engagement’s (NSSE) summary measures, the Engagement Indicators, produce dependable group-level means. The dependability of NSSE group means is an important topic for the higher education assessment community given its wide utilization and usage in institutional assessment and accreditation. We found that the Engagement Indicators produced dependable group means for an institution derived from samples as small as 25 to 50 students. Furthermore, we discuss how the assessment community should use NSSE data.

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