Practices

, y, Rf* Ku” resources and not routinely encounter classes or take part in activities that engage them in authentic learning. Moreover, with more than 70 percent of an increasingly diverse pool of high school graduates going on to some form of postsecondary education, it makes little sense now (if it ever did) to focus on measures that pertain only to a small fraction of institutions. A more meaningful approach to evaluating an institution is to determine how well it fosters student learning. Decades of studies show that college guage of effective educational practice into discussions about collegiate quality, both on and off the campus. The engagement premise is deceptively simple, even self-evident: The more students study a subject, the more they learn about it. Likewise, the more students practice and get feedback on their writing, analyzing, or problem solving, the more adept they become. The very act of being engaged also adds to the foundation of skills and dispositions that is essential to live a productive, satisfying life after college. That is, tive practices. This effort, NSSE (pronounced “Nessie”), was initially bankrolled by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Now, institutional fees cover the cost of participating (for more information about NSSE’s mission, philosophies, and guiding principles see the May/June 2001 Change issue or visit the NSSE Web site at www. iub. edu/-nsse). After a word about the evolution and status of the NSSE project, this article summarizes some of what we have learned so far about the engagement patterns of different