NSSE 2025 Topical Module Report
Development of Transferable Skills
University of Houston-Downtown
Adapted from a pilot survey that was developed by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, this module examines activities that develop useful and transferable skills for the workplace and beyond (such as verbal and written fluency, critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving, project management, and time management). The module complements questions on the core survey about higher-order learning, reflective and integrative learning, and students' perceptions of their development in a variety of areas.
Comparison group details are in the Selected Comparison Groups report, available in PDF format in your report download folder.
Prepared 2025-07-24
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First-Year Students
NSSE 2025 Development of Transferable Skills
Frequencies and Statistical Comparisons
University of Houston-Downtown
Frequency Distributionsa Statistical Comparisonsb
1. During the current school year, whether course‐related or not, about how often have you done the following?
Discussed or debated an issue of social, political, or philosophical importance TRNdebate
Made a speech to a group
Worked in a group with people who differed from you in terms of background, political orientation, points of view, etc. TRNgroup
Discussed the ethical consequences of a course of action TRNethical
Evaluated the credibility of information sources
Discussed complex problems with others to develop a better solution TRNcomplex
Generated multiple solutions to a problem or task TRNsolution
Combined dissimilar concepts to create a novel idea TRNcreate
Adapted a previously used solution to a new situation TRNadapt
First-Year Students
Referred to online content (tutorial, forum, webpage, etc.) to solve a problem
Referred to online content (tutorial, forum, webpage, etc.) to learn a new skill or procedure
Used project management tools to plan, organize, or schedule tasks
TRNonlsolve
NSSE 2025 Development of Transferable Skills
Frequencies and Statistical Comparisons
University of Houston-Downtown
TRNonlskill
TRNproject
Used a daily or weekly “to do” list
TRNtodo
Prioritized what tasks need to be accomplished
TRNtasks
Worked longer hours than usual to meet deadlines (i.e., after midnight, before dawn)
Written something (paper, report, article, etc.) that used information from a variety of sources (books, journals, Internet, databases, etc.)
Written something (paper, report, article, etc.) that assessed the conclusions of a published work
TRNhours
TRNwrsource
TRNwrassess
First-Year Students
Written something (paper, report, article, etc.) that included ideas from more than one academic discipline
Written something (paper, report, article, etc.) that presented multiple viewpoints or perspectives
TRNwrideas
NSSE 2025 Development of Transferable Skills
Frequencies and Statistical Comparisons
University of Houston-Downtown
TRNwrviews
Seniors
NSSE 2025 Development of Transferable Skills
Frequencies and Statistical Comparisons
University of Houston-Downtown
Frequency Distributionsa Statistical Comparisonsb
1. During the current school year, whether course‐related or not, about how often have you done the following?
Discussed or debated an issue of social, political, or philosophical importance TRNdebate
Made a speech to a group
Worked in a group with people who differed from you in terms of background, political orientation, points of view, etc. TRNgroup
Discussed the ethical consequences of a course of action
Evaluated the credibility of information sources
Discussed complex problems with others to develop a better solution
Generated multiple solutions to a problem or task
Combined dissimilar concepts to create a novel idea
Adapted a previously used solution to a new situation
Seniors
Referred to online content (tutorial, forum, webpage, etc.) to solve a problem
Referred to online content (tutorial, forum, webpage, etc.) to learn a new skill or procedure
Used project management tools to plan, organize, or schedule tasks
TRNonlsolve
NSSE 2025 Development of Transferable Skills
Frequencies and Statistical Comparisons
University
of Houston-Downtown
TRNonlskill
TRNproject
Used a daily or weekly “to do” list
TRNtodo
Prioritized what tasks need to be accomplished
TRNtasks
Worked longer hours than usual to meet deadlines (i.e., after midnight, before dawn)
Written something (paper, report, article, etc.) that used information from a variety of sources (books, journals, Internet, databases, etc.)
Written something (paper, report, article, etc.) that assessed the conclusions of a published work
TRNhours
TRNwrsource
TRNwrassess
Seniors
Written something (paper, report, article, etc.) that included ideas from more than one academic discipline
Written something (paper, report, article, etc.) that presented multiple viewpoints or perspectives
TRNwrideas
NSSE 2025 Development of Transferable Skills
Frequencies and Statistical Comparisons
University of Houston-Downtown
TRNwrviews
First-Year Students
NSSE 2025 Development of Transferable Skills
Detailed Statisticse University of Houston-Downtown
Seniors
NSSE 2025 Development of Transferable Skills
Detailed Statisticse University of Houston-Downtown
NSSE 2025 Development of Transferable Skills Endnotes
University of Houston-Downtown
Column percentages are weighted by institution-reported sex and enrollment status (and institution size for comparison groups). Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding. Counts are unweighted; column percentages cannot be replicated from counts. Comparison group details are in the Selected Comparison Groups report, linked in the Data & Reports table on the Institution Interface.
All statistics are weighted by institution-reported sex and enrollment status (and institution size for comparison groups). Unless otherwise noted, statistical comparisons are two-tailed independent t-tests. Items with categorical response sets are left blank.
These are the values used to calculate means. For the majority of items, these values match the codes in the data file and codebook.
Effect size for independent t-tests uses Cohen's d; z-tests use Cohen's h.
e.
Statistics are weighted by institution-reported sex and enrollment status (and institution size for comparison groups). Categorical items are not listed.
f. The 95% confidence interval for the population mean is equal to the sample mean plus or minus 1.96 times the standard error of the mean.
g. A measure of the amount individual scores deviate from the mean of all the scores in the distribution.
Degrees of freedom used to compute the t-tests. Values differ from Ns due to weighting and whether equal variances were assumed.
Statistical comparisons are two-tailed independent t-tests or z-tests. Statistical significance represents the probability that the difference between your students' mean and that of the students in the comparison group is due to chance.
Statistical comparison uses z-test to compare the proportion who responded (depending on the item) "Done or in progress" or "Yes" with all who responded otherwise.
Mean represents the proportion who responded (depending on the item) “Done or in progress” or "Yes."
Key to symbols:
▲ Your students’ average was significantly higher (p < .05) with an effect size at least .3 in magnitude.
△ Your students’ average was significantly higher (p < .05) with an effect size less than .3 in magnitude.
▽ Your students’ average was significantly lower (p < .05) with an effect size less than .3 in magnitude.
▼ Your students’ average was significantly lower (p < .05) with an effect size at least .3 in magnitude.
Note: It is important to interpret the direction of differences relative to item wording and your institutional context. You may not see all of these symbols in your report.