Quest University officials this week expressed delight with the results of the latest National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), characterizing the numbers as confirmation of the school's efforts to provide meaningful student-faculty engagement and, ultimately, prepare them for future success.
"Our first NSSE results with both first- and fourth-year students confirms the leading position we have gained in undergraduate education in North America," Quest president Dr. David Helfand said in a statement issued on Monday (Oct. 31).
"In a sense, this is unsurprising, as our educational model is built around fostering active and collaborative learning within a challenging curriculum created by a faculty with an unwavering commitment to undergraduate students. The independent assessment NSSE provides is invaluable as we continue to improve on our unique educational model."
The Squamish university is in its fifth academic year, having graduated its first class of undergraduates in the spring of 2011. Quest currently has 350 students, having welcomed its largest incoming class, 146 students, this fall.
Members of the Class of 2011 were the first fourth-year Quest students to complete the survey, which was completed by more than 280,000 first- and fourth-year students at 673 U.S. and 67 Canadian universities last spring. The survey asks students to rate their educational experience in five areas: level of academic challenge, inclusion of enriching educational experiences, intensity of student-faculty interaction, use of active and collaborative learning and existence of a supportive campus environment.
Among the results of the surveys provided by Quest students:
Eighty-four per cent of fourth-year students reported that they "very often" asked questions in class or contributed to class discussions compared to an average of 26 per cent of fourth-year students at other Canadian universities;
Ninety-one per cent of first-year students gave in-class presentations "very often" or "often" compared to 17 per cent at other Canadian institutions;
Sixty-two per cent of fourth-year Quest students reported having received "prompt written or oral feedback from faculty on assignments" compared to 11 per cent at other Canadian universities;
Fifty-eight per cent of Quest fourth-year students felt that their education "very much" equipped them to "solve complex, real-world problems" compared to 21 per cent at other institutions.
The results of the survey for Canadian universities are expected to be published in the February 2012 university edition of Maclean's magazine.
