Development and validation of surveys measuring student engagement in engineering, part 2

Abstract

This paper summarizes the development, testing and validation of the engineering versions of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and its faculty version, the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE). These engineering versions (E-NSSE and E-FSSE) assess the extent to which engineering students are being engaged by identified "best instructional practices" and are achieving certain learning outcomes desired of engineering graduates. These surveys were first pilot-tested at six engineering programs across the United States. Tests of validity and reliability were conducted on both instruments. The instruments were then refined and shortened based on the psychometric properties of the items in the original instruments. Ultimately, we hope to make the instruments available to the national engineering education community so that they might improve the ways in which they teach tomorrow's engineers. This paper will discuss the ongoing progress of both instruments as well as summarize results obtained from their administration. © 2009 Authors.