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National Survey of Student Engagement 2002

CU-Boulder Results, by College and Major

Guide to Interpreting the By-College and By-Major Graphs

The symbols in the NSSE graphs of CU-Boulder by-college and by-major results represent mean (average) scale or item responses for a particular group of students. For example, in the by-college graphs, the first row labeled SC: Course availability represents mean scale responses, by college, for 2002 CU-Boulder NSSE participants. The scales used in the 2002 analyses are similar to those used in 2000. However, because some items used in the 2000 NSSE administration differ from those in the 2002 administration, the 2000 and 2002 scales differ somewhat. For example, a question about examinations differed considerably in 2000 and 2002 and was therefore not included in the 2002 cognitive skills scale, even though it was included in the 2000 cognitive skills scale. All scale scores for 2000 participants were recalculated using 2002 methods for the subgroup analyses. Therefore, the results for 2002 will not necessarily match those previously posted for the 2000 analysis. To view a table containing item numbers and names for each item within each of the scales, see NSSE Item Numbers and Variable Names, by Scale.

The red diamond in the by-college graphs denotes CU-Boulder Arts and Sciences seniors, and the blue circle denotes CU-Boulder Arts and Sciences freshmen. The blue and red letters denote freshmen and seniors, respectively, in different CU-Boulder colleges. A key showing the particular college or Arts and Sciences subgroup denoted by each letter appears at the bottom of each graph.

In the by-major graphs, the red diamond denotes majors in Arts and Sciences, the blue circle denotes majors in Business, and the green square denotes majors in Engineering. Letters in the graphs denote different majors, within colleges. Note that only results for CU-Boulder seniors are illustrated in the by-major graphs. Because of the large number of majors displayed in the graphs, separate sets of highlighted graphs that allow efficient viewing of results for individual majors are provided. In these graphs, each major is highlighted in turn by a purple triangle.

NSSE items have several different response formats. For example, some items have a five-point scale, whereas others have a four-point scale. Consequently, response values for all items in the graphs have been re-scaled. This allows items with different response formats to be plotted on one graph that has a horizontal axis ranging from "low" to "high." The vertical bar in the center of the graph simply indicates the midpoint of that axis.

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Last revision 02/14/03