1 1 Irish National Student Survey Project Update February 2013

2 2 Project Background A priority of the National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030 Included in the Programme For Government Initial project work conducted under a NAIRTL research project in 2011 Revision and re-launch of the project scope in 2012, driven by senior academic officers from the sector

3 3 Aims of the Project A sectoral wide examination of the student experience Application of a high quality, internationally comparable instrument of student feedback Facilitating institutional planning and national policy development Development of a HEA KPI on the student experience for sectoral Institutional Profiles

4 4 INSS Governance Structure HEA, IOTI, IUA, USI INSS Plenary Group Survey Design Group Technical Group Communications & Reporting Group Project Sponsors Project Governance Working Groups Roll-out of the INSS project is overseen by a cross-institutional plenary group, and a number of working groups with representation across the sector. Appointment of a INSS Project Manager to support the work of the Plenary Group, and manage the implementation of the Project

5 5 INSS Project Timeline Oct ‘12 Dec ‘12 Plenary Group Est. Working Grps Est. Plenary and Working Group Planning INSS Student Testing Jan ‘13 Mar ‘13 INSS Student Testing Technical Grp Active Letter to Presidents/ Registrars Seminar 1 Feb Technical Testing HEI Internal Communications Student Led Communications Fieldwork Opens March 4th Ongoing Student/ HEI Communications Apr ‘13 Jun ‘13 Fieldwork Closes April 4th Data available to HEIs Data submission to HEA Data analysis and synthesis July ‘13 Sep ‘13 Publication of Survey Report Review of Pilot Initiation of 2013/14 Planning

6 6 INSS Questionnaire Based on the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE), which in turn is based on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Specifically designed to assess the extent to which students are engaged in empirically-derived good educational practices and what they gain from their higher education experience Extensive psychometric testing internationally to demonstrate the validity and reliability of the instrument Facilitate HEIs in comparing student engagement and outcomes with institutions in Australia, New Zealand, USA and South Africa

7 7 INSS Questionnaire- the Irish Context A review of the language used in the survey by an expert panel to ensure suitability of language for students at Irish HEIs, while maintaining the validity of the instrument. Extensive testing of the INSS questionnaire between November 2012 and March 2013 Suitability of the questions for Irish students has been tested in 9 institutions nationally. – Focus Groups – Cognitive Interviews

8 8 INSS- Engagement and Outcome Outputs The AUSSE instrument allows for the development of a suite of constructs to measure student engagement and student outcomes. Student Engagement Academic Challenge Active Learning Student and Staff Interactions Enriching Educational Experiences Supportive Learning Environment Work Integrated Learning Student Outcomes Higher-Order Thinking General Learning Outcomes General Development Outcomes Career Readiness Average Overall Grade Departure Intention Overall Satisfaction

9 9 INSS Roll-out 3 Approaches to Electronic Questionnaire Delivery – Two commercial products delivering an on-line survey – HEI’s learning management system Each institution will engage with one approach only First and final year undergraduates, and all postgraduate students will be included Testing suggests the survey will take around minutes to complete All approaches will be reviewed post pilot fieldwork stage Data held by individual HEIs; anonymised data submitted to HEA for sectoral reporting

10 INSS Communications and Reporting Digital staff resources Student-led multimedia campaign Institution- led Initiatives – Internal Presentations – INSS workshops – HEI newsletters and internal communications – Communication to students Development of full report evaluating 2013 pilot – Content of published report – Timeline for publication

11 Promoting INSS Internally Circulation of INSS Project Updates among staff Link to on HEI websitewww.studentsurvey.ie Key committee presentations Direct communication with students by lecturing staff Communication through Students’ Unions and student representative structures Use of internal communications media

12 A possible approach to implementing.... Feb ‘13 Apr ‘13

13 Questions/ Comments