The QEP Team has begun its principal analyses of SmarterMeasure and what it reveals about JSRCC students. Information gleaned from these analyses will guide the team in its development of a comprehensive student orientation to learning online and in its development of remediation modules that will help students to bolster their areas of weakness. The first round of data focuses upon all of the distance learning students who both completed the SmarterMeasure assessment and enrolled in at least one online course. In the next few weeks, the data will be investigated further as the team evaluates first-time distance learners, various demographic factors, and displaced workers (the specific focus of the College’s FIPSE grant).
Within this first analysis, the QEP Team evaluated student performance in SmarterMeasure—an indication of student readiness for learning online—and student performance in online courses. SmarterMeasure provides quantifiable feedback on an individual’s level of proficiency within various subscales of each attribute. Students’ scores in the subscales were correlated with students’ performance in online courses. Academic success is defined as a passing grade of A,B,C, or S (satisfactory); lack of success is defined as a grade of D,F,W, or U (unsatisfactory).
Initial Results
Among the results, the top factors that demonstrate the highest correlation between SmarterMeasure performance and students’ academic success are the following:
· Skills (assessed within the Life Factors attribute)
· Technology Vocabulary (assessed within the Technical Knowledge attribute)
· Resources (assessed within the Life Factors attribute)
· Place (assessed within the Life Factors attribute)
· Procrastination (assessed within Personal Attributes)
Three of the top five factors, as one can see, emerge from the assessment of the life factors that either impinge upon or provide support for a student’s success in his or her academic efforts. In fact, out of the five subscales located within Life Factors, four emerged as having a significant impact upon student success rates within this College: Time also joins Skills, Resources, and Place as a major factor for student success.
Life Factors
The Life Factors section of SmarterMeasure quantifies variables in five areas: time, place, reason, resources, and skills. As SmarterServices, the vendor that distributes SmarterMeasure, points out in its literature: “Many students strongly desire to continue their education. However, often other situations in life deter them from being able to do so. The Life Factors section asks questions about other elements in their life that may impact their ability to continue their education. Students may be able to modify circumstances which impact some of these life skills. If so, they are encouraged to take appropriate action to help themselves succeed. But some of the circumstances in life may be beyond their control. If this is the case, just being aware of these realities and planning accordingly may be beneficial for the students.”
The Life Factors section contains 20 items, and each of the five factors is measured by four items which are valued at 20 points apiece. A Life Factors score near 100 points indicates that the student’s “situation in life is very conducive to online learning” (SmarterServices, LLC).
Skills: The College’s results indicate that 66% of the students who scored Medium-High to High in the Skills factor succeeded in their online classes. By contrast, only 5% of students who scored Low-Medium in the Skills section were successful. The Skills section of Life Factors evaluates a student’s level of preparation in tackling academic work, assessing the student’s knowledge of how to work within an online classroom, his or her willingness to sacrifice time and energy, effective study skills, determination in task completion.
Resources: Similarly, in its evaluation of a student’s resources, the College’s results also indicate that 66% of the students who scored Medium-High to High in the Resources factor succeeded in their online classes, and only 5% of students who scored Low or Low-Medium in the Resources section were successful. The Resources section evaluates a student’s access to financial resources, personal health, support in childcare issues, familial and employer support for academic goals.
Place: In SmarterMeasure, Place assesses a student’s access to a regular space appropriately conducive to academic work. Among those who scored Medium-High to High, 72% were successful in their online courses.
Time: In assessing the amount of time that a student is able to devote towards his or her academic work, SmarterMeasure evalautes that student's commitment of their resource of time to employment, family responsibilities, personal care, and academic work. Of those who scored Medium-High to High by demonstrating that they had an adequate resource of time, 62% were academically successful; only 10% of those who scored Low-Medium to Low were similarly successful.
The QEP Team will continue to evaluate the data gleaned from SmarterMeasure and share results with the College community.
--Ghazala Hashmi
QEP Coordinator
No comments:
Post a Comment