Sally K. Murphy Director of General Education and Freshman Year Programs California State University, East Bay Julie Stein, Instructor, General Studies and General Education Advisor

Agenda Workshop Context: High Impact Practices and Your Goal The Story of Freshmen General Education Learning Communities 13 Years of Learning Community Indirect Assessment Exercise Lessons Learned and the Critical Importance of Data Some Assessment Data Sources

High Impact Educational Practices High Impact PracticeRelative Cost of Implementation High/Med/Low Value to Your Institution High/Med/Low Possible Assessment Data First Year Seminars & Experiences Common Intellectual Experiences Learning Communities Writing Intensive Courses Collaborative Assignments and Projects Undergraduate Research Diversity/Global Learning Service Learning, Community Based Learning Internships Capstone Courses and Projects *Peer Mentor (Not listed AAC & U, 2008)

Freshmen General Education Learning Communities PRIOR TO 1998 WASC report CSUEB make G.E. more coherent increase retention provide increased academic support to freshmen such as more lower division G.E. courses General education learning communities or clusters where: freshmen in cohorts of about 90 students take GE classes throughout the year that are integrated by a common theme

Assessing General Education Learning Communities Standardized assessments Authentic assessments

Freshman Learning Community Impact of Data Exercise The goal of this exercise is to see how survey data can tell a story about the impact of a program or practice. Data Set Perceived Needs Data Set Retention and Remediation Data Set Perceived Improvement

Freshman Learning Community Impact of Data Exercise 1. Open Folder #1. In your group, analyze the data for the Freshmen Learning Community program from What conclusions could you draw about the program with the data provided?

Freshman Learning Community Impact of Data Exercise 1. Open Folder #1. In your group, analyze the data for the Freshmen Learning Community program from What conclusions could you draw about the program with the data provided? 2. Next, open folder #2 and overlay the transparency on the data chart. What other conclusions could you draw about the program now?

Additional Data Still Needed Where to Deepen Learning/ Provide Support? Data tells some of the story Still need a finer grained picture for measure of direct learning. For example a portfolio assessment with 2nd-4th year writing and other academic markers to identify development over time Other relevant data (class size, socioeconomic)

Lessons Learned Start now Ideal to collect direct measures Your program is unlikely to receive long term support unless success is measured No matter what your program is, you need to collect, analyze, and compare over time whatever meaningful data is available Examine interrelationships between data Avoid the danger analyzing limited data

Some Assessment Data Sources GENERAL DATA Institutional Self Reporting Qualitative Authentic Assessment STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS Entering Student Survey (ESS) The College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ) National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), College Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) Collegiate Learning Assessment CLA

High Impact Educational Practices High Impact PracticeRelative Cost of Implementation High/Med/Low Value to Your Institution High/Med/Low Possible Assessment Data First Year Seminars & Experiences Common Intellectual Experiences Learning Communities Writing Intensive Courses Collaborative Assignments and Projects Undergraduate Research Diversity/Global Learning Service Learning, Community Based Learning Internships Capstone Courses and Projects *Peer Mentor (Not listed AAC & U, 2008)

Sally K. Murphy Director of General Education and Freshman Year Programs Julie Stein, Instructor, General Studies