Incorporating Advisement, First Year Seminar and Freshman Writing into the Student Living Learning Community
Lisa Bortman, Dean of First Year Programs and Advising Charles Eastman, Director of the Writing Program Whittier College Whittier, California
This assessment model was a joint effort between the Dean of First Year Programs and the Writing Department The model was a comprehensive assessment that examined the first year programs: academics, advising residential life Benefits • Examine the student experience in its entirety • Combined efforts • Input and Analysis from more than one perspective
Two Year Study • 2006-2007 • 2007-2008 We combined our assessment effort with the Assessment Committee’s examination of our Liberal Education Program —the “4 C’s.”
Whittier College: Study Site Whittier College is a four-year, independent, residential, liberal arts college Interdisciplinary programs, and diverse student population 59 % of the faculty are men and 41 percent are women 20 % belong to minority and international ethnic groups The student-faculty ratio is 13 to 1. As of fall 2006, Whittier College enrolls 1,427 students from 16 states 55% are women and 45% are men. 41% percent are American minorities, and 5% are international students More than 27 % of Whittier’s student body is Hispanic— one of the highest percentages among the 73 independent colleges in California.
Whittier College: Integrated First Year Experience • Associate Dean of First Year Programs • Director of Writing Programs • Faculty Based Advising ----- First Year Advisors -- Mentors • Clustered Freshman Writing Course Freshman Writing, 3 credit course Housed in Interdisciplinary Studies Linked with another First year Course Class size – 16 or less All classes have a peer mentor 27 sections offered fall 2007 Freshman Writing Seminar (non-writing faculty) • Living Learning Communities • Peer Mentors • Poet to Poet Seminar
Assessment Model: Research Based The assessment culture at Whittier emphasizes a research model: Step One: pose a research question Step Two: Develop a method Step Three: Decide on analysis Step Three : Reflect on Results Step Four: Discuss and report to a wider audience Step Five: Recommend and adopt change
Our Question Are students academically engaged and socially integrated having gone through the first year programs at Whittier College? Theory: Good educational practice leads to Academic Engagement and Involvement. Indicators of engagement and involvement are Engaged in Academics Development of Faculty/Advisor- Student relationships Student to Student relationships
Academic Engagement Programs Theoretical Framework • First Year Writing • Academic Performance Program • Faculty Student • Clustered First Year Relationships Courses • Student to Student • Living Learning Relationships Communities • Peer Mentor Program
Academic Involvement Alexander Astin 1984 Academic Involvement • “Refers to the quantity and quality of the physical and psychological energy that students invest in college experience” • Greater involvement leads to greater learning and personal development • Examples: enrollment in classes, studying, attendance
Academic Engagement George Kuh 1998 Academic Engagement is: The extent to which students take part in educationally productive activities that are linked to desired outcomes of college. Kuh (2003) states “ students who are involved in educationally productive activities in college are developing habits of the mind and heart that enlarge their capacity for continuous learning and personal development” (p.8).
Writing Across the Curriculum • The freshman writing seminars at Whittier College are organized on the “Writing Across the Curriculum” model. • “Writing Across the Curriculum” (or “WAC”) is difficult to define succinctly.
W.A.C.: UNDERLYING IDEALS • C. W. Griffin, surveying 194 programs in "Programs for Writing Across the Curriculum: A Report" (1985), identified three recurrent ideals which form a core WAC ethos: 1) Writing must be practiced and reinforced throughout the curriculum in order to maintain skills learned at the beginning of one’s education; 2) To write is to learn; and 3) Since written discourse is central to higher education, the quality of student writing is a university-wide responsibility. (398-403)
W.A.C. and ENGAGEMENT • As Karen Spear describes it in “Controversy and Consensus in Freshman Writing: An Overview of the Field” (1997), the increasing acceptance of WAC has been accompanied by a shift in focus within composition programs from the production of documents to the use of process and interaction to deepen and extend learning, the building of communities of faculty and students across disciplines, and the development of better critical thinking and engagement (322-3; 332-4).
Methodology: Qualitative Component • Phenomenological • A gathering and analysis of student perspectives
Two Strands of Academic Engagement and Involvement Relational Pedagogical Dimensions Practices Academic interactions and relationships, Relationship between between…. student-focused classroom practices and engagement and involvement Students and their faculty/advisor Students and their peer mentors and classmates
Measurements Data were derived through multiple means Overlapped questions and asked multiple times in each tool 2006-2007 2007-2008 • • 2 questionnaires (fall) 1 questionnaire (fall) • • 1 questionnaire (spring) 2 questionnaires (spring) • • 2 surveys/writing evaluation (fall) 2 surveys/writing evaluation (fall) • • classroom observations (fall) classroom observations • • focus groups (fall) focus groups (fall and spring) • • review of course materials review of course materials • • NSSE Questionnaire of Faculty opinions/perspective • WABASH • NSSE
Qualitative Analysis Constant Comparative Analysis • Axial Coding: initial categories were developed from a Pilot Study • Open Coding: during the analysis new categories were identified • Researcher and two Research Assistants coded the questionnaires Analysis: Pattern Matching Involved the predication that pedagogical practices as well as the interactions occurring with faculty and among students affect academic involvement and engagement in First Year Programs
Writing Program Assessments Portfolio-based assessment of student skill growth Quantitative survey (end of semester — also serves as course evaluation) Student evaluations of peer mentors Student focus groups Class observations
FRESHMAN WRITING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT FALL 2007 • A sample of 39 freshman writing students, representing a little Summary Data on Fall 2007 FWS Evaluation over 10% of the incoming freshman class, was selected randomly for this assessment by the writing director. One paper from each Raw Data student was included in the portfolio. The evaluations were 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Means conducted by a team of six faculty. Grammar/Mechanics 2 4 14 48 38 11 117 4.3 • The following areas were assessed: Thesis 2 5 8 39 51 12 117 4.4 • This paper is grammatically and mechanically sound at the sentence level. (GM) Support/Development 4 14 20 40 33 6 117 3.9 • This paper has a coherent, developable thesis. (TH) Comprehensible style 2 9 16 32 41 17 117 4.3 • The thesis for this paper is adequately supported and developed. (SD) Documentation 10 16 22 35 24 9 116 3.6 • This author employs a style comprehensible to all members of the Multiple Perspectives 5 14 26 45 21 6 117 3.7 Whittier College community. (CS) • The author incorporates, cites, and documents material from Analysis 1 7 31 37 30 11 117 4.0 external sources appropriately in this paper. (DS) Synthesis 12 19 22 33 26 5 117 3.5 • The author is aware of multiple perspectives on his/her topic. (MP) Total 38 88 159 309 264 77 935 4.0 • The author is able to define relationships between elements of a problem. (ANL) • The author is able to synthesize ideas and information from multiple sources. (SYN) • The scale for evaluation was as follows: • 6=Very Well Demonstrated • 5=Well Demonstrated • 4=Mostly Demonstrated • 3=Occasionally Demonstrated • 2=Minimally Demonstrated • 1=Inadequately Demonstrated
Biographical Information Demographics Demographics Demographics Fall 2006 4-5 Spring 2008 Fall 2007 # weeks Female 121 Female 84 50.0% Male 110 Male 84 50.0% Male 100 Female 146 In State 124 Instate 152 In-State 54.8% 54.8% Out State 70 Out-of-State 85 Out-of- State 37.5% 37.5% Resident 207 N/A 27 No Commuter 46 N 221 Respons e 7.7% 7.7% Demographics African- Fall 2006 12 American 7 4.2% weeks Asian 11 6.5% Caucasia Male 115 n 97 57.7% Female 165 Hispanic 28 16.7% Instate 173 Other 25 14.9% Out-of-State 100 Resident 224 Commuter 47
Pedagogical Practices Results
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