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Irish National Student Survey

Project UpdateFebruary 2013

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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

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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

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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

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INSS Project TimelineOct ‘12

Dec ‘12Plenary 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

Seminar1 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 ReportReview of Pilot

Initiation of 2013/14 Planning

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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

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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

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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

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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 10-15 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

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INSS Communications and Reporting• www.studentsurvey.ie

• 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

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Promoting INSS Internally• Circulation of INSS Project Updates among staff

• Link to www.studentsurvey.ie on HEI website

• Key committee presentations

• Direct communication with students by lecturing staff

• Communication through Students’ Unions and student representative structures

• Use of internal communications media

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A possible approach to implementing....Awareness raising from 18/02

Awareness raising from 25/02

Roll out of survey ‘link’ from 04/03

Monitor response rates from 11/03

Reminder email from 18/03

Final reminder from 01/04

Survey closed from 04/03

•Distribute INSS poster 1 across institution•Place adverts on institution and SU homepages•Post notice of launch on social media•Finalise institution comms schedule

•Provide all staff with details of launch date & survey details•Distribute INSS information slide to all lecturers•Place INSS website link on student portals•Liaise with SU on comms

•Distribute INSS poster 2-3 across institution•First email to survey respondents•Survey link on student portals•Survey link on institution website•Promote using social media

•Review participation rates•Review comms schedule•Discuss any appropriate actions to promote participation

•Send reminder email•Place reminder message on student portals•Reminder using other social media

•Send reminder email•Place reminder message on student portals•Reminder using other social media

•Send ‘thank you’ email•‘Thank you’ message on other platforms used•Provide details of feedback structures

Feb ‘13

Apr ‘13

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Questions/ Comments