First Year Experience
Results of Assessment
2001-2002 (submitted
10/21/02)
Outcomes assessed in 2001-2002:
Students should have learned to do the following:
-
Master such academic skills as note taking, textbook
reading, test taking, writing, and time management.
-
Demonstrate a knowledge and use of campus resources.
-
Demonstrate effective interpersonal skills with a
variety of people.
-
Develop a sense of belonging to the WSU community
through the connections with other students, teachers, peer mentors, and WSU
employees in order to eventually move toward to graduation.
Means of Assessment and Criteria for Success:
1. Chitester
a. FYE
populations assessed their experience using a Chitester online evaluation during
the last week of each semester.
b. Although
each population was represented in the online evaluation process, the 2001-2002
outcomes focused on FYE students who evaluated their
own accomplishments.
c. The number or respondents for fall, spring, and summer semesters were
as follows:
1) Students:
476
2) Education
1105 Instructors: 19
3) Mentors: 12
4) Academic
Faculty: 16
d.
Criteria for success:
1) Respondents were asked to rank statements about
student performance in class as
“poor,” “below average,” “average”, “above
average,” or “excellent.”
2)
Data were reported on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being “excellent).
3)
Above a 3 would be considered a successful ranking.
2. Institutional
Research
a.
FYE student ID numbers are collected and sent to Institutional Research
each semester to compare the FYE students with the non-FYE students. The data
are collected yearly and reported on in the fall.
b.
Criteria for success:
1)
FYE students are expected to have a GPA equal to or better than non-FYE
students.
2)
Numbers of FYE students who continued enrollment at WSU after taking
Education 1105 are expected to exceed those of students who did not participate
in the program.
3. National
First Year of College Benchmarking. Inc
a. A national survey comparing WSU to 5 similar institutions throughout the U.S. was administered to 424 Educ 1105
students in the fall to determine student satisfaction with the course and
university.
b. Criteria for
success:
1)
Relating to all four outcomes, the study did reveal the following
predictors of overall satisfaction at WSU:
a)
Course instruction -- extreme impact (6.49)
b)
Course was effective in identifying academic strengths –moderate impact
(4.51)
c)
Overall satisfaction with the university – slight impact (3.14)
d)
Course improved life skills – slight impact (2.87)
*
Impact is a scaled value of the variance from a range of 0-7.
2)
As usefulness to follow trends becomes obvious, the instrument may
again be used in the future.
Outcome One
1. Students will master academic skills such as note taking, textbook
reading, test taking, writing, and time management.
a. Chitester was the first means of assessment. A ranking of 3 or
above met the criteria for success. Summary of data collected:
1) The students ranked their mastery of academic skills at an average of
3.8
2) The Educ 1105 Instructors ranked
the students’ mastery at an average of 3.6
3) The mentors ranked the
students’ mastery at an average of 4.2
4) Academic Faculty ranked the
students’ mastery at an average of 3.0
b. The results show that, although the ranking is above average, there is
room for improvement.
Use of results to improve the
program:
Determine the need for continued
use and upgrade of the planner, a text used in Educ 1105 to enhance the
teaching of time management. Each student has a planner with an evaluation form.
The evaluation forms will be used to assess how the students value the planner.
c. Institutional research was the
second means of assessment. Criteria for
success
are a GPA for FYE students that is
equal to or greater than that of non-FYE students.
1) Data collected reflected cum GPA of FYE students to be down .17 as
compared to non-FYE students.
2) Use of results to improve the program:
The FYE Program will continue to
emphasize approaches to help FYE students increase their GPA:
a)
Help students learn academic skills, resulting in a GPA equal to or
greater than non-FYE students and leading to a greater retention of students in
the FYE program, compared to non-FYE students.
b)
Help students understand policies and procedures of WSU that will enable
them to stay in good academic standing (e.g., being aware of options such
as “Withdrawal,” “NC/C,” and “Audit” as well as the deadline and
consequences for exercising such options).
Outcome Two
2. Students will demonstrate a knowledge of --and the ability to use--
campus resources.
a. Chitester was the first means of assessment.
A ranking of 3 or above met the criteria for success. Summary of data
collected:
1) Students rated their ability to use campus resources at an average of
3.8
2) Education 1105 Instructors ranked the students’ ability at an average
of 4.1
3) Mentors ranked the students’ ability at an average of 4.2
4) Academic Faculty ranked the students’ ability at an average of 3.0
b. Data reflect that the FYE Program successfully teaches students to use
campus resources. Use of results to improve program:
1) Use the FYE Web site to disseminate information on a weekly basis to
faculty, mentors and students. It is hoped that individuals will have visited
the Web site five to eight times during the semester. Visits to the
Web site will be self-reported on Chitester.
2) Students should report using or visiting 3 campus resources or departments during the semester.
Outcome Three
3.
Students will demonstrate effective interpersonal skills with a variety
of people.
a. Chitester was the first means of assessment. A ranking of 3 or
above met the criteria for success. Summary of data collected:
1) Students ranked their ability to demonstrate effective
communication/interpersonal skills at an average of 3.8
2) Education 1105 Instructors ranked the student’s ability at an average
of 3.8
3) Mentors ranked the students’ ability at an average of 3.9
4) Academic Faculty ranked the students ability at an average of 3.2
b. Data reflect that the FYE Program successfully teaches students to use
communication skills. Use of results to improve program:
Students should show that they have developed effective communication
skills with fellow students, peer mentors, and instructors by giving one oral
presentation, completing two to five writing assignments, sending three e-mails,
and attending the class social.
Outcome Four
4. Students will develop a sense of belonging to the WSU community through
the connections with other students, teacher, peer mentors, and WSU employees.
a. Chitester was the first means of assessment. A ranking of 3 or
above met the criteria for success. Summary of data collected:
1) Students rated sense of belonging to the WSU community at an average of
3.6
2) Education 1105 Instructors rated display of students’ ability to
belong at 3.8
3) Mentors rated display of students’ ability to belong at 4.3
b. Data reflect that the FYE Program successfully incorporates students
into the WSU community
c. Second means of assessment was the retention data from the WSU
Institutional Research. Criteria for success would be that more FYE students
continued enrollment at WSU than did non-FYE students.
1) Summary of data collected reveals a retention rate for FYE students that
is 3% higher that that of non-FYE students.
2) Data reflect that the FYE Program successfully retained students.
Retention rates are closely connected with student’s sense of belonging to the
university community that comes from knowing faculty or staff.
3) Use of results to improve program: On Chitester,
students should self-report the following:
a) Students should meet with one faculty or staff member two or
more times during the semester.
b) Students should join at least one campus organization.
c) Students should participate in extra-curricular events.
d) Students should be able to report that they have become closely
acquainted with one or more individuals (to include classmates, mentor,
and instructor) in the Educ 1105 class. Hopefully, lasting
friendships would be developed which would encourage students to return to
these friends and "support groups" on campus.
Patterns for Discussing Data with Staff
1.
The Chitester online evaluation results were tabulated each semester. A
summary of all results and comments were sent to the appropriate instructor for
review.
2. A summary of the results from WSU Institutional Research and from the
National Benchmarking study were presented at Spring 2002 Training for all
cohorts of the FYE Program.
3. Those in attendance at the training were shown how to access the FYE Web
site to keep current on information.
Outcomes to be Assessed for 2002-2003
The FYE Program will keep the first four outcomes. The
following two outcomes will be added to bolster the foundation which supports
FYE students:
- Education
1105 Instructors will be able to connect with the WSU campus community
(instructors will keep their fingers on the "pulse" of the campus,
maintain direct connection with first year students, broaden personal
repertoire of skills, and develop a network beyond the individual's
discipline or work area).
Criteria for success will
be the self-reporting of visiting the FYE Web site five or more times, attending training and cluster
meetings, and participating in two out of three FYE Department Meetings per
semester. Teachers will also self-report on Chitester how effective
their interaction with the students in Educ 1105 has been, how they have been
able to expand their personal knowledge through teaching, and how an
instructor's networking base has grown due to teaching the class.
- Peer
Mentors will learn leadership skills which will enhance their career
goals. Requirements will be the
following: attending the FYE Fall Retreat, participating in Education 3170, and
mentoring in Education 1105. In Educ 1105, mentors will organize an in-class
social, give weekly 5-minute presentations, and facilitate one class meeting
under the direction of the instructor.
Criteria for success
will be a grade of “B” or above in Educ 3170 which takes all of the above
listed areas into account.
Mission Statement /
Student Learning Outcomes /
Curriculum Grid / Assessment Plan / Contact
Person
|
