Children’s Studies’ SLO Assessments

The Main Idea  Self-report survey to assess acquired skills and understanding  Administered at the beginning of CDST 301  Administered at the end of CDST 301  Administered at the end of Capstone and Portfolio classes  Linked by student ID Number

AY Assessed SLOs 1.Students will increase their ability to draw from a variety of disciplinary knowledge in addressing children’s learning, development, well-being, or other important issues. 2.Students will increase their ability to reflect on their own practices and interactions with children. 3.Students will increase their understanding of children’s cultures and children’s perspectives. 4.Students will increase their understanding of children’s diversity, including gender, race and class differences. 5.Students will increase their ability to critically evaluate a variety of approaches to working with children.

Survey Assessment  14 items to measure from 5 Children’s Studies SLO domains  Three Items per SLO 1-4  Two Items for SLO 5  5 point Likert-scale  Administered before and after Introduction to Children’s Studies Course (Groups A & B)  Administered during Children’s Studies Capstone and Portfolio Courses (Group C)

Survey Example Please Identify your familiarity with the following skill sets as accurately as possible using the following scale: 1) Not at all = no knowledge of this concept or skill 2)Have been introduced to this concept or skill 3) Somewhat = Have had a course in this concept or skill 4)Have a good understanding of this concept or skill and have applied it successfully 5) A great deal = Highly competent with concept or skill

Survey Example The various approaches to understanding children’s lives  Theories of learning  Developmental Theories  Sociological Theories

Analyses  One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s Post Hoc to test for differences in the three groups (A,B & C)  For each tested SLO  For overall program  One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s Post Hoc to test for differences in three groups: Face-to-face classes in Cheney (A) and Bellevue (B), and Online classes (C)  Paired samples T-tests  Between Groups A and B  Each tested SLO for Intro class  Intro to Children’s Studies Class

Results

Overall Program SLO Survey Means (Range: 1-5) One Way ANOVA F(2,73)= 14.6, p<.001

Five SLOs (Intro Class) SLO Survey Mean (Range: 3-15) SLO 5 Survey Mean (Range: 2-10) Paired Samples T-tests p<.001 for all

Five SLOs (A, B, & C) SLO 1-4 Survey Mean (Range: 3-15) *p <.001 **p >.05 One Way ANOVA

Cheney, Bellevue, and Online One Way ANOVA SLO 5 Survey Mean (Range: 2-10) SLO 1-4 Survey Mean (Range: 3-15) No significant differences

The Future

Plans to refine assessment  Greater emphasis on consistency  Information collected  Survey administration  More collaboration & communication among faculty  New assessment tool

New SLO Assessment  24 items measuring all 12 Children’s Studies SLOs  5 point Likert-scale  Reverse scale items  More specific items  Improve validity?  Improve ceiling effect?

New Assessment Example

Q & A