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Reliability and Validity of the Engineering Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (E-FSSE): Validation of Surveys Measuring Student Engagement in Engineering Abstract The Engineering National Survey of Student Engagement (E-NSSE) and its faculty version, the Engineering Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (E-FSSE) are two new instruments designed to identify “best instructional practices” in engineering education and achieving certain learning outcomes desired of engineering graduates. This paper provides preliminary analysis in the validation process of the E-FSSE survey that began in October, 2006 (see E-FSSE Survey in Appendix I). Thus far, three of the nine universities in the validation project have completed the survey, via the web. This paper provides some preliminary analysis in the validation process and next steps. Several more validation steps are necessary before analysis is complete.

Introduction In the wake of the National Academy of Engineering’s “Educating the Engineer of 2020” report and the highly acclaimed National Academies’ “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” report, today’s engineering community is increasingly concerned with and attuned to improving the processes and outcomes of educating tomorrow’s engineers. To that end, the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education (CASEE), the first operating center at the National Academy of Engineering, conducts on-going research and implementation activities to foster excellence in engineering education. CASEE’s initial focus has been on extending the research base on engineering education within engineering disciplines and translating research results into practice in classrooms, internship sites, and work sites.

In the last several years, we have seen an influx of articles, dialogue, and meetings of engineering educators looking for ways to improve engineering education by introducing and strengthening their commitment to assessing specific approaches to teaching, learning, and student learning outcomes. The report, Engineer of 2020 Project, Visions of Engineering in the New Century, identifies the attributes and abilities engineers will need to perform well in a world driven by rapid technological advancements, national security needs, aging infrastructure in developed countries, environmental challenges brought about by population growth and diminishing resources, and the creation of new disciplines at the interfaces between engineering and science. To ensure that future engineers have these capabilities, they must be educated to be not only technically proficient, but also ethically grounded global citizens who can become leaders in business and public service.

Importance of Study More recently, educators have been trying to improve engineering education by introducing and strengthening their commitment to assessing specific approaches to teaching, learning, and student learning outcomes. In their recent article, “Assessment in Engineering Education: Evolution, Approaches, and Future Collaboration”, Olds, Moskal, and Miller describe the current movement toward the assessment of student learning outcomes within the engineering community, and assert that, as recently as 1997, the engineering community had relatively little experience in conducting outcomes assessment [1]. Further, Bjorklund and Fortenberry assert that while researchers and educators have developed a number of classroom and college-wide

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Drewery, M., & Fortenberry, N., & Bjorklund, S. A. (2007, June), Validation Pilot For Measuring Engineering Student Engagement Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2923