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Incorporating Advisement, First Year Seminar and Freshman Writing into the Student Living Learning Community

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.

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Incorporating Advisement, First Year Seminar and Freshman Writing into the Student Living Learning Community

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  1. Incorporating Advisement, First Year Seminar and Freshman Writing into the Student Living Learning Community

  2. Lisa Bortman, Dean of First Year Programs and Advising Charles Eastman, Director of the Writing Program Whittier College Whittier, California

  3. 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

  4. 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.”

  5. 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.

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. Our QuestionAre 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

  9. Academic Engagement Programs Theoretical Framework Academic Performance Faculty Student Relationships Student to Student Relationships • First Year Writing Program • Clustered First Year Courses • Living Learning Communities • Peer Mentor Program

  10. Academic InvolvementAlexander 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

  11. Academic EngagementGeorge 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).

  12. 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.

  13. 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)

  14. 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).

  15. Methodology: Qualitative Component Phenomenological A gathering and analysis of student perspectives

  16. Two Strands of Academic Engagement and Involvement Pedagogical Practices Relationship between student-focused classroom practices and engagement and involvement Relational Dimensions Academic interactions and relationships, between…. Students and their faculty/advisor Students and their peer mentors and classmates

  17. MeasurementsData were derived through multiple meansOverlapped questions and asked multiple times in each tool 2006-2007 • 2 questionnaires (fall) • 1 questionnaire (spring) • 2 surveys/writing evaluation (fall) • classroom observations (fall) • focus groups (fall) • review of course materials • NSSE • WABASH 2007-2008 • 1 questionnaire (fall) • 2 questionnaires (spring) • 2 surveys/writing evaluation (fall) • classroom observations • focus groups (fall and spring) • review of course materials • Questionnaire of Faculty opinions/perspective • NSSE

  18. Qualitative AnalysisConstant Comparative Analysis 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 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

  19. 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

  20. FRESHMAN WRITING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT FALL 2007 • A sample of 39 freshman writing students, representing a little over 10% of the incoming freshman class, was selected randomly for this assessment by the writing director. One paper from each student was included in the portfolio. The evaluations were conducted by a team of six faculty. • The following areas were assessed: • This paper is grammatically and mechanically sound at the sentence level. (GM) • This paper has a coherent, developable thesis. (TH) • The thesis for this paper is adequately supported and developed. (SD) • This author employs a style comprehensible to all members of the Whittier College community. (CS) • The author incorporates, cites, and documents material from external sources appropriately in this paper. (DS) • The author is aware of multiple perspectives on his/her topic. (MP) • 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

  21. Biographical Information

  22. Pedagogical PracticesResults

  23. Pedagogy: DiscussionsFall 2006, Week 4-5QualitativeQuestion 3: Do you participate in classroom discussions?

  24. Pedagogy: DiscussionsFall 2007, week 12 Qualitative2. When classroom discussions occur do you participate? Explain

  25. Pedagogy: DiscussionsSpring 2008, 12 weeks QualitativeDo you actively participate in your classes?

  26. Pedagogy: Discussions Fall 2006 Evaluative Survey Question 16: In this Course class discussions areo=completely unhelpful 1=not very helpful 2=somewhat helpful 3= extremely helpful

  27. Pedagogy: Discussions Fall 2007 Evaluative Survey Question 16: In this Course class discussions are1=completely unhelpful 2=not very helpful 3=somewhat helpful 4= extremely helpful

  28. Pedagogy: Discussions Spring 2008 Evaluative SurveyI participate in…

  29. Academic ChallengeFall 2006How challenged are you academically in ALL of your classes and course work?Very Challenged 4 3 2 1 Not Challenged

  30. Academic ChallengeFall 2007How challenged are you academically in ALL of your classes and course work?Very Challenged 4 3 2 1 Not Challenged

  31. Academic Challenge Spring 2008 How Challenged Are You Academically?

  32. Fall 2006 Evaluative SurveyQuestion 8: In this course I was able to…Ask questions whenever I wanted to:0= strong disagreement 1=mild disagreement 2=mild agreement 3=strong agreement

  33. Fall 2007 Evaluative Survey Question 8In this course I was able to…Ask questions whenever I wanted to:1= strong disagreement 2=mild disagreement 3=mild agreement 4=strong agreement

  34. Fall 2006 Evaluative Survey Question 10: In this Course I Understand how the assignments related to each other 0= strong disagreement 1=mild disagreement 2=mild agreement 3=strong N237

  35. Fall 2007 Evaluative Survey In this Course I Understand how the assignments related to each other1= strong disagreement 2=mild disagreement 3=mild agreement 4=strong agreement

  36. Fall 2006, Evaluative Survey Question 13: : In this Course I get responses to my writing assignments in a reasonable length of time 0= strong disagreement 1=mild disagreement 2=mild agreement 3=strong agreement N 237

  37. Fall 2007, Evaluative Survey In this Course I Get responses to my writing assignments in a reasonable length of time 1= strong disagreement 2=mild disagreement 3=mild agreement 4=strong agreement

  38. Fall 2006, Evaluative Survey Question 22: My professor’s comments on my papers 0=completely unhelpful 1=not very helpful 2=somewhat helpful 3= extremely helpful

  39. Fall 2007, Evaluative Survey My professor’s comments on my papers1=completely unhelpful 2=not very helpful 3=somewhat helpful 4= extremely helpful

  40. Fall 2006, Evaluative Survey In this Course I confer with my teacher outside of class 0= strong disagreement 1=mild disagreement 2=mild agreement 3=strong agreement N 235

  41. Fall 2007, Evaluative Survey In this Course I confer with my teacher outside of class1= strong disagreement 2=mild disagreement 3=mild agreement 4=strong agreement

  42. Results Pedagogical Practices This study found that students are more likely to become actively engaged and involved in academics when they Participated in classroom discussions Found the discussions to be meaningful Collaborated productively

  43. Results Pedagogical Practices STUDENTS • Had intellectual exchanges with their faculty member and peers • Receive feedback from their faculty member • Felt supported intellectually by their classroom environment

  44. RELATIONAL DIMENSION

  45. Relational Dimension: Faculty Astin (1993) states, “Student-faculty interaction also has positive correlations with every self-reported area of intellectual and personal growth, as well as with a variety of personality and attitudinal outcomes” (p. 383) Pascarella and Terenzini (1991) state that the type of interaction matters. They speculate that for interactions to have a positive effect they must be more than superficial; they must be meaningful for students.

  46. Relational Dimension: Facultywhat does the research tell us? • Students who have frequent interactions with faculty members both in and out of class • are more satisfied with their education, • are less likely to leave college, and • perceive themselves to have learned more than students who did not have this experience. • Contact between students and faculty, through discussion and the sharing of ideas, results in enhanced intellectual commitment. (Chickering & Gamson,1987; Cross,1998; Light, 2000)

  47. Fall 2006, Questionnaire, Week 4-5 Relationship with Mentor-AdvisorQualitative

  48. Fall 2006, Questionnaire, Week 4-5 Relationship with Mentor-Advisor

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