Engaging Faculty in Using Data to Increase Student Success Dr. Karen Stout, President Leon Hill, Director of Institutional Research David Whalen, Instructor of Biology Barbara Lontz, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Diane McDonald, Assistant Professor of English 2012 D.R.E.A.M. Annual Meeting

About the College  More than 33,000 annual unduplicated credit and non-credit students  14,900 fall 2011 credit students  Two campuses  Suburban Philadelphia location in County with 800,000 residents  Highly competitive higher education marketplace

Engagement of the Data

Gateway Courses ACC 111 BIO 121 BIO 131 CHE 121 ENG 010 ENG 011 ENG 101 HIS 205 MAT 010 MAT 011 MAT 011B MAT 106 MAT 100 SCS 101

Examples of Our “Stage 1” Data Analysis: MAT 010

Next Steps Creation of strategies to address these issues in certain courses. BIO 131 MAT 010 ENG 101

BIOLOGY 131: Human Anatomy & Physiology

The Problem Low overall success rates (<55%) in Anatomy & Physiology I, a “gatekeeper” Biology course Anatomy & Physiology I prerequisite:  High school biology within the past 5 years or successful completion of General Biology General Biology students successfully complete Anatomy & Physiology at a FAR higher rate than high school biology students

Past Success Rates in A&P I % Successful 73% 38%

Relationship between Placement Exam Score and A&P I Success Rates for Percent Success in A&P I Biology Placement Exam Score 2009/FA 2010/SP N=767 students

Implementation of Biology Placement Exam A&P I prerequisite for new students:  Successful completion of General Biology or passing score on the Biology Placement Exam Cutoff score: Students scoring >55% place into A&P I (BIO 131) Students scoring <55% place into General Biology I (BIO 121) Online review materials are available to students preparing for the Biology Placement Exam For more information:

MATH 010: Fundamentals of Arithmetic

Developmental Math Crisis  Data received identified the arithmetic/prealgebra course as having the lowest success rate of any course at the College  Challenge was to increase success rates without changing or lowering learning outcomes  Potential solutions included Learning Communities & Supplemental Instruction

Course Redesign  The delivery format changed from a presentation of topics to an understanding of concepts  The teaching approach switched from a mastery of skills to a discovery approach  Concepts of Numbers for Arithmetic & Prealgebra was developed in fall 2008  Awarded a Hewlett Scaling Innovation grant in fall 2011

Concepts Data Fall 2008 Spring 2009 Fall 2009 Spring 2010 Fall 2010 Spring 2011 Fall 2011 Concepts of Numbers 74%63%68%60%*58%**57.4%57.72% N = 19 N = 255N = 380N = 289 N = 704 Traditional Arithmetic 45%34%41%40% 37.8% n/a N = 664 N = 429N = 567N = 236N = 284N = 150N = 0

ENGLISH 101: Composition

Writeplacer 4 Scoring Rubric Develops a viable point of view on the issue May stray from audience and purpose Demonstrates some critical thinking, though perhaps inconsistently May lack control of organization or focus Contains some errors in sentence structure and grammatical conventions English 101 Learning Outcomes Read Critically Evaluate a writing task for purpose, audience, context, and point of view Address a topic using a rhetorical strategy appropriate to the writing task Develop coherent and persuasive essays that present carefully developed and well- supported theses Use formal, standard usage, grammar, and punctuation

Placement Cut Off Scores WriteplacerAccuplacer

SAT Exemption

Evaluation of Initiatives Confounding Variables Type of Data: Qualitative/ Quantitative/ Mixed Method? Collection Method How will the data be analyzed Targeted Outcome Does the data match the question? Can we estimate or predict fiscal cost if any? Different faculty may be teaching the course; no textbook MixedGrade Data Pre & Post Tests Student Evaluations One Minute Papers Percentages, Mean, Median, Mode, Standard Deviations Theme Analysis Success Rate of XX% Yes$300 supplies

Dissemination of Results Research and Practice Academic Division Presentations General Faculty Meetings President’s Cabinet Board of Trustees National/Regional Conferences

Gateway Course Academy Outgrowth of the initiatives:  Goal is to provide faculty with the necessary support to develop, implement and evaluate improvements  Cross-disciplinary team (Economics, Beginning Algebra, Criminal Justice, Intro to Education, US History & Basic Writing 2)  Members identify a course-based research question

Gateway Academy  Broader issues of student motivation, college readiness and faculty development are discussed  Future expansion of the group will be on-going

Final Thoughts