Busted! Challenging Myths about the Effectiveness of Online Student Support Services OLC Presentation by Ivy Tech Community College System and Penn State University World Campus By Dr. Stacy Atkinson, Strategic Initiatives Project Manager Ivy Tech Community College System November 16, 2016

OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION Introducing our roles at our institutions and our online programs Identifying student support services for online students Identifying similarities and differences in 2 year versus 4 year online students Busting the myths Q&A

WHAT ARE THE MYTHS? Myth #1 No measurable difference in student success for an online student using support services or not Myth #2 Faculty do not buy into online support services Myth #3 Students won’t take advantage of online support services

IVY TECH COMMUNITY COLLEGE Indiana Community College System member 31 campuses in 14 regions 81,000 students with 20,000 students at least 1 online course Ivy Tech Online: 14,000 exclusively online students 16 fully online degrees and 350 courses Mostly part time and “traditional age” IPEDS Data Retention Rates = Full Time (48%) and Part Time (37%) Graduation Rate = 11%

PENN STATE WORLD CAMPUS Penn State University was founded in 1855 Penn State World Campus started in 1998 15,000+ exclusively online degree students 120+ fully online degree programs Associate’s, Bachelor’s, Masters, and Doctoral Programs Degree seeking students from all 50 states and 60 countries Most online adult learners are >30 years old and part time IPEDS Data Retention Rates = Full Time (53%) and Part Time (46%) Graduation Rate = 40%

STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES BOTH SCHOOLS Academic Advising Asynchronous help and academic resources Online Tutoring and Library Services HelpDesk Staff with and Online technical help Veteran’s Resources Online Bookstore Ivy Tech: “Campus Connect” World Campus: Student Affairs Director for Online Students and Career Counselors

2 YEAR vs. 4 YEAR? – MANY SIMILARITIES AND KEY DIFFERENCES Often working students with packed schedules Seek convenience and flexibility Look to advance education and credentials Prefer regionally-located institution Often bring prior credits from other institutions Often challenged by personal and family schedules Often have military-related connections May have been out of the classroom for many years Career oriented

2 YEAR vs. 4 YEAR? – KEY DIFFERENCES 2 Year Online Student 4 Year Online Student Traditional learner Affordability Shift careers Often needs to take General Education Requirements Adult learner Brand identification Enhance career qualifications Comes with Associates degree and/or many transfer credits earned

Will use Online Tutoring to address myths WHAT ABOUT THOSE MYTHS? Myth #1 No measurable difference in student success for an online student using support services or not Myth #2 Faculty will never buy into online support services Myth #3 Students won’t take advantage of online support services Will use Online Tutoring to address myths

#1 – SUPPORT SERVICES DO NOT DRIVE STUDENT SUCCESS Recommend: Involve Institutional Research to assess impact on student success Design analysis to capture success metrics like: Course completion rates Grade rates of C or above DFIW rates Measures of persistence Retention rates Graduation rates Collect student by student use data (by # of sessions, subjects, etc.) Assess by different student attributes (e.g., GPA, gender, ethnicity, etc.)

STUDENT SURVEY RESULTS FROM USERS Ivy Tech – survey response rate of 34.15% from 25,345 sessions, Sept. 2015-2016 Live one-to-one Sessions Feedback   Are you glad your organization offers this service? 98% Would you recommend this service to a friend? 97% Is this service helping you complete your homework assignments? Is this service helping you improve your grades? Is this service helping you be more confident about your school work? Penn State– survey response rate of 48.35% from 5,991 sessions, Sept. 2015-2016 Live one-to-one Sessions Feedback   Are you glad your organization offers this service? 98% Would you recommend this service to a friend? 96% Is this service helping you complete your homework assignments? Is this service helping you improve your grades? 94% Is this service helping you be more confident about your school work?

STUDENT SUCCESS FOR USERS OF SUPPORT SERVICES Ivy Tech Penn State World Campus Analysis in process Preliminary Propensity Matching Analysis conducted across 25 attributes Discovered positive contribution to course completion and graduation rates Continue to work with Institutional Research on analysis of impact Analysis in process Pilot assessed on: Student usage Student satisfaction Faculty satisfaction Success metrics Continued service beyond pilot Analysis of efficacy ongoing

STUDENT COMMENTS ON SUPPORT SERVICES From Ivy Tech Students “If everyone took advantage of these resources we would have a lot more college graduates in the world! I have never had such a useful resource while in school! Such an amazing thing, and now I can move on to my next assignment.” “I think this service is outstanding, especially for people who do not have time to go to the in-person tutoring center.” From World Campus Students “This is my first time using this service and I am blown away. This is awesome! thank you Penn State for this.” “Super great to be able to get such quality people at any time. This is a GREAT value add to my Penn State World Campus Experience.”

#2 – FACULTY WON’T BUY INTO SUPPORT SERVICES Common Attitudes How Resolved Opposition to contracting out instructional support Skepticism on ability to build relationships with online tutors Belief there would be minimal knowledge of “our” course, assignments, preferred learning styles Belief that students didn’t manage their time well Belief that students should come to them for help Pilot (for the World Campus) Formal meetings with faculty to address concerns, issues Transparency of services – access to sessions, usage data Use of early alert to assist in student success (Ivy Tech faculty experience) Instructional load sharing (World Campus writing experience)

#3 – STUDENTS WON’T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SUPPORT SERVICES At Ivy Tech At Penn State World Campus 25,400 sessions since March, 2015 21,545 active student accounts Average session length of 31.08 minutes Implemented with the Spring term of 2015 Covers 43 courses plus a writing center Primary service occurs in the Gen Eds 10,000 sessions since January, 2015 2,307 active student accounts Average session length of 34.56 minutes Piloted for four academic terms from January, 2015-May, 2016 Started with 12 courses and now up to 70 courses covered, plus a writing center Service across undergrad and grad programs

IVY TECH TOP 10 TUTORING SUBJECTS 18,639 OF 25,300 SESSIONS – 43 COURSES IN ALL

WHEN IVY TECH STUDENTS CONNECT FOR HELP   Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Total by Hour 0:00 0.27% 0.58% 0.53% 0.54% 0.28% 0.25% 2.98% 1:00 0.22% 0.39% 0.35% 0.21% 1.91% 2:00 0.18% 0.20% 0.15% 0.14% 1.28% 3:00 0.11% 0.09% 0.13% 0.08% 0.69% 4:00 0.06% 0.59% 5:00 0.03% 0.07% 0.45% 6:00 0.12% 0.65% 7:00 0.19% 0.85% 8:00 0.23% 0.31% 0.29% 0.37% 0.10% 1.77% 9:00 0.55% 0.46% 0.50% 0.24% 2.95% 10:00 0.43% 0.78% 0.71% 0.77% 0.51% 4.29% 11:00 0.62% 0.92% 0.79% 0.72% 0.52% 4.93% 12:00 0.73% 0.81% 1.10% 0.90% 0.66% 0.60% 5.65% 13:00 0.93% 1.00% 0.89% 5.79% 14:00 0.84% 0.99% 1.04% 1.03% 0.68% 6.16% 15:00 1.06% 0.88% 1.05% 0.63% 0.74% 6.06% 16:00 1.22% 0.82% 6.23% 17:00 1.09% 1.08% 6.15% 18:00 1.20% 1.14% 0.98% 6.25% 19:00 1.18% 1.40% 1.30% 1.16% 0.83% 7.01% 20:00 1.42% 1.38% 1.32% 7.70% 21:00 1.51% 1.34% 1.24% 7.74% 22:00 1.41% 1.11% 1.01% 0.57% 6.83% 23:00 0.95% 0.76% 0.42% 0.44% 5.07% Total by Day 16.13% 16.85% 16.77% 16.40% 14.61% 9.40% 9.84% 100.00% 1,734 sessions have occurred at 10:00 pm and 2,499 sessions on Saturdays

WORLD CAMPUS TOP 10 TUTORING SUBJECTS 6,456 OF 10,0000 SESSIONS – 70 COURSES IN ALL

568 sessions have occurred at 10:00 PM and 1,397 sessions on Saturdays WHEN WORLD CAMPUS STUDENTS CONNECT FOR HELP 568 sessions have occurred at 10:00 PM and 1,397 sessions on Saturdays

Questions Stacy Atkinson Ivy Tech Community College satkinson17@ivytech.edu 317-921-4564 www.ivytech.edu Amanda Mulfinger Penn State World Campus arm10@psu.edu 814-865-0653 www.worldcampus.psu.edu