Educational Effectiveness Research

Available in two different versions (undergraduate and advanced degree), the HEDS Alumni Survey asks about the quality and enduring impact of their educational experiences (curricular and co-curricular), as well as “postgraduate employment, college satisfaction, and college debt” (https://www.hedsconsortium.org/heds-alumni-survey/).

The HEDS Diversity and Equity Campus Climate Survey, asks students, faculty, staff, and administrators to anonymously report their “perceptions of their institution’s climate, perceptions of how their institution supports diversity and equity, and experiences with discrimination and harassment at their institution” (https://www.hedsconsortium.org/heds-diversity-equity-campus-climate-survey/). Biola University’s statement on Unity Amidst Diversity heavily informs how survey participants understand diversity and how findings are contextualized for our campus community.

The HEDS New Student Survey gives incoming students the opportunity to share their goals for college and career with the institution and connect with staff members to continue the conversation. Students are asked to reflect on their academic habits and strengths, identify obstacles that they expect to encounter, and share their dreams about the future. Data from this survey are used to inform programs and services that support student success and career development.

For over 50 years, the CIRP Freshman Survey (TFS) has provided data on incoming college students’ background characteristics, high school experiences, attitudes, behaviors, and expectations for college. Biola extends the CIRP/HERI Freshman Survey to all incoming undergraduate students, including transfers and post-traditional students. Designed for administration to incoming first-year students before they start classes at your institution, the data serves as a snapshot of what incoming students are like before they experience college. Key sections of the survey examine academic preparedness, expectations of college, values, and goals, demographic characteristics, admissions decisions and concerns about financing college (https://heri.ucla.edu/cirp-freshman-survey/).

The College Senior Survey, administered each spring to Biola’s graduating seniors, serves as a companion post-test to the CIRP Freshman Survey, providing longitudinal data on the students’ college experience. Rooted in Astin’s (1993) input-environment-outcomes model for determining the impact of college, paired data from the surveys allows institutions to measure how the college environment has impacted students by controlling for their first-year characteristics (https://heri.ucla.edu/college-senior-survey/). 

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) asks first-year and senior students about the nature and quality of their undergraduate experience. NSSE measures the extent to which students engage in effective educational practices that are empirically linked with learning, personal development, and other desired outcomes such as persistence, satisfaction, and graduation. NSSE has been administered since 2000 and has been used at over 1,500 colleges and universities across the U.S. and Canada (https://nsse.indiana.edu/nsse/about-nsse/index.html).

A companion to NSSE, the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) asks instructional faculty (full-time and adjuncts) to share their perceptions of how often students engage in different activities that impact their learning, the importance that they as instructors place on various learning activities, how often they meet with students and how they organize their time, both inside and outside of the classroom (http://fsse.indiana.edu/html/about.cfm). When paired, the NSSE and FSSE provide rich insight into gaps between student and faculty perceptions and experiences, suggesting areas worthy of institutional emphasis.

The National College Health Assessment (NCHA) is a nationally recognized research survey that collects precise data about Biola students’ health habits, behaviors, and perceptions.

The ACHA-NCHA Survey offers a way to map the widest range of health issues affecting our undergraduate students:

• Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use
• Sexual health
• Weight, nutrition, and exercise
• Mental health
• Personal safety and violence

At Biola we extend the NCHA survey to all enrolled students (undergraduate and graduate). We use the survey to identify and prioritize our health and wellness initiatives on campus. We use the data to inform policy and programming decisions not only in the "student health center" but also in other campus programs that care about the wellness of students.

The NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) First-Destination survey provides comprehensive and reliable data which can be used to inform and shape career expectations of current undergraduate, new alumni, and prospective students. This survey requests information about employment, continuing education, opinions about job placement and preparedness for life after graduation from Biola alumni within six months of graduation. Additionally, it helps to provide trends data to help enrich discussions over the value of higher education. (https://www.naceweb.org/job-market/graduate-outcomes/first-destination/)