Unit: Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Program: Learning Assistance Center
Date: Thu Oct 23, 2014 - 11:40:38 am

1) Below are your program's student outcomes (SOs). Please add or update as needed.

  1. Students will use appropriate study skills to achieveacademic goals.
  2. Students will learn how to adjust learning approaches to fit their individual learning needs.
  3. Students will learn how to study effectively with others.
  4. Students will use effective learning practices.
  5. Students will use self-reliant learning behaviors.
  6. Students will have a functional understanding of course content.

2) Your program's SOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.

Program's Website. URL: http://manoa.hawaii.edu/learning/
Student Handbook. URL, if available online: LAC's Laulima site
Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure. URL, if available online:
UHM Catalog. Page Number:
Other: Annual Report submitted to OAVCUE
Other:

3) Provide the program's activity map or other graphic that illustrates how program activities/services align with program student outcomes. Please upload it as a PDF.

Activity Map File(s) from 2014:

4) Did your program engage in any program assessment activities between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014? (e.g., establishing/revising outcomes, aligning activities to outcomes, collecting evidence, interpreting evidence, using results, revising the assessment plan, creating surveys, etc.)

Yes
No (skip to question 14)

5) For the period between June 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the student outcomes that were targeted, if applicable.

In addition to the determination of the achievement of the LAC's SLOs, two new goals have been advanced: 1) greater alignment of indicators with SLOs, and 2) revising the assessment plan.

6) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #5.

For the determination of SLO achievement, grade comparisons as well as number of visits were used as indirect indicators of LAC's impact on the achievement of SLO #6: students will have a functional understanding of course content. Student feedback, i.e., percentages of agreement with statements aligned with SLOs, on LAC services addressed the achievement of SLOs 1-5. 

To better align indicators, i.e., survey items, with the SLOs, a follow-up survey using the language of the SLOs was sent to all spring users of the LAC. 

Participation in the 2014 Assessment Summer Institute helped spur a revision of the LAC's assessment plans; specifically,  soliciting tutor responses to scenarios would add another point of triangulation, and creating an LAC advisory board would include consituents' input for assessment of overall programming.

7) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.

Approximately 1,000 individuals filled out feedback forms, and about 200 individuals' grades were used in grade comparisons. Grade comparisons were only selected for courses in which 50 or more were LAC students.

Tutor responses to scenarios were solicited recently, so data are not yet available. 

8) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected? Check all that apply.

Program faculty/staff member(s)
Faculty/staff committee
Ad hoc faculty/staff group
Director or department chairperson
Persons or organization outside the university
Students (graduate or undergraduate)
Dean or Associate Dean
Advisory Board
Other:

9) How did he/she/they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence? Check all that apply.

Compiled survey results
Used quantitative methods on student data (e.g., grades, participation rates) or other numeric data
Used qualitative methods on interview, focus group, or other open-ended response data
Scored exams/tests/quizzes
Used a rubric or scoring guide
Used professional judgment (no rubric or scoring guide used)
External organization/person analyzed data (e.g., Social Science Research Institute)
Other:

10) For the assessment questions/goals stated in Question #5, summarize the actual results.

According to the student feedback, all six SLOs are being achieved at a high rate. SLOs 1- 5 have at least 90% agreement while SLO #6 has 88% agreement. By incorporating grade comparisons and LAC students' GPAs as achievement indicators for students having a functional understanding of course content, the high achievement of SLO 6 is further supported. Additionally, academic progress of all students who utilized the LAC services was reviewed at the close of the Fall 13 semester--75% of LAC students achieved a 2.5 or above semester GPA, and 86% had registered for the Fall 14 semester indirectly indicating that those LAC students are using appropriate study skills, adjusting their learning approaches to fit their needs, studying effectively with others, using effective learning practices and gaining learning strategies (SLOs1-6) in order to succeed in college. 

11) What was learned from the results?

The LAC continues to impact student learning and retention in a highly positive fashion. Student feedback surveys have been tailored for both tutoring and SI, which yielded clearer results; however, assessments for workshops and presentations have not been implemented. They are in development. Hopefully, with the assistance of the advisory board, the assessments will be refined. 

12) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.

In addition to reporting results in the LAC's annual report, findings are being used in communication with faculty when asking permission to conduct SI sessions for their courses. The results are also being used to recruit potential tutors, and entice students who may be struggling in their courses. Furthmore, the results will be shared with the advisory board as a starting point for exploring new ways to impact student learning. 

13) Reflect on the assessment process. Is there anything related to assessment procedures your program would do differently next time? What went well?

As usual, much of the assessment report information was drawn from the LAC's academic year report (AYR). As I clarified information for the AYR, I was able to streamline data collection for analysis for both the AYR and this report. Next, greater alignment of survey items with SLOs is forthcoming, so reporting will be more precise with items matched to SLOs. Along with greater alignment of survey items, more timely distribution of the follow-up survey (i.e., after weeks 6 and 12) may allow for a greater repsonse rate which will further increase the precision and verity of the reporting. 

14) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please explain.
Or, if the program did engage in assessment activities, please add any other important information here.

The activity map will be revised as programming is adjusted to meet the growing needs of students. I look forward to creating an advisory board to bring in constituents' voices to LAC programming.