Sampling Terms 101

“Terminology Used in Sampling” – Johnson and Christensen

            It’s very interesting to read about all the different types of sampling. After talking about putting on our own assessment projects for weeks, I had an idea of how I would create my evaluation. I did not even try and think about what type of sample audience I would be pulling in. I knew that they each would have the commonality of attending the same conference but that their age, home institution, and identity within the LGBTQIA umbrella would be different. Those variables did not matter to me though because I wanted to ensure that everyone was getting the same or at least a positive experience out of the conference.

            I’ve also realized that I am doing a homogenous sample selection for my action research class. The article defines a homogenous sample selection as a relatively small case or set of cases for intensive study. My research partner and I have selected specific groups of students within residence halls to study to try and find answers to possible solutions for a group of students on campus, specifically first-year students. We are using focus groups for this type of research too because our topic is living learning communities; we feel that our interviews should provide a similar sense of community which is why we went with focus groups, hoping that they would build their answers off of one another.

You're Doing an Assessment: Now What?

“Assessment Methods” – Bresciani

I think Astin’s I-E-O model was extremely applicable when I was creating my evaluations. Astin talks about the importance of recognizing the inputs of the students as they enter college and then how the environment affects the student. When creating my evaluation, I had to remember that the conference was not only for students and staff here at Pacific but from institutions all over the western region. Some of these institutions were public, private, and 2-year, each having their own unique experience with LGBTQIA life on campus. This also made me think that when it came to student learning outcomes, I had to be a bit more broad knowing that students would take different things back to their campus or respond to sessions in different ways based on their experience prior to attending.

            When I decided to do a survey, it was because I thought it was the easiest to distribute to all participants and would have a great return rate because they would complete it before leaving the conference. While constructing my survey, it was hard to make sure that every learning outcome was being represented or that answers were corresponding to each. I found it easier to think of ways to relate to one or two but giving each a valid portion of the survey was tough. For some of the learning outcomes, I realized that open-ended questions would provide greater understanding than a Likert-scale question. The final part of my survey has the section where people can express any improvement they’d like to be made about the conference so that we are assuring that it is at its highest level and also provides them an opportunity for their individual voice to be heard, something that might not be as likely at their institution.

Making the Vision a Plan for Success

“Components of an Effective Outcomes-Based Assessment Plan and Report” – Bresciani

            This chapter starts off by discussing the amount of assessment plans any given department should have. The authors discuss how the head of a department may create completely different assessments, each catered towards the individualized components of the office. Another option is to have a universal assessment done to see if there is benchmarks hit in each area or subdivision of the office. I see this happening within the Greek Life office here on campus. Our staff includes two professional staff members as well as six graduate assistants. At times, it can be great to have so many people on staff working together and there are also times when there are just too many cooks in the kitchen. Because of the surplus of staff, some GAs, myself included, will assess the work of their collateral (focus within the office) to see what practices can be done better. This; however, is not always in line with what the head of the office has in mind or it is and they don’t have the time to approve it and see the results because there are so many other things going on each semester.

            Another point in this chapter is defining learning outcomes and being able to recognize what is institutional, divisional, and program specific. One of the major efforts we as a Greek Life office make is to have the community shift their focus from internal to external. Our chapters are so focused on the operations and success of themselves that they don’t see the larger picture of similarities between chapters, resources within the office, and image from outside factors. We have been trying to have effective programming that follows the learning outcomes of our office that also fits with the goals of each chapter, which is quite the task.

Pulling Pieces from the Texts

“Putting Together Your Research Project” – Hesse-Biber

This article had new ideas to conduct this research experiment that all seems practical and can be used throughout my process. I had always through that the process of developing a topic and assessing the topic was done sequentially, having to complete one stage before moving onto the next.

I found it so interesting to conduct a literature review on the topic before solidifying the research question. Often times, the questions is created and then the researcher is reading articles, trying to fit the findings in a way that supports their question. Reading on the topic beforehand provides the reader with questions that they want to answer.

The key words, phrases, and definitions that are compiled during the literature review process can be used to be the groundwork for your research, as the author says, and I think it can be a great starting point for creating the learning outcomes of your research.

Another tactic that I found to be very useful is reflexively writing the ideas about the analysis and interpretation of the data during the process. In past projects, I have waited until my full analysis is completed before interpreting it into a discussion, reflecting back to the literature review. This process makes things more cyclical and creates a better and fuller understanding of the data.

Goals, Goals, Goals

“Developing Learning Goals” – Suskie

Early on in the article, the author states that goals “can describe aims outside the teaching and learning process as well as within in.” In reading this, I was reminded of various staff trainings that I have participated in and facilitated. There are usually certain group activities that have goals set out for the participants and the facilitators usually have their goals of how the activity will go as well as goals for what the participants will take away from the activity and experience.

The author also weighs out whether or not professors and educators should focus time and effort on material that can be quickly lost or should the focus be on the development of thinking skills so that they can master new concepts post graduation. I have two thoughts on this:

1.     This should be reflected in any institution’s mission statement. Most schools do not solely focus on major competency, let along mention memorization. To effectively create global citizens or have a holistic, student-centered approach, there needs to be a focus on the future.

2.     Department chairs as well as the head of each major should sit down with faculty and discuss the focus of each degree, noting what each course should highlight so that students move through the program retaining the most important information, topics, and skill set.

On the very first page of the article, there was bullet point that jumped out at me. “Employers, policymakers, and other higher education audiences increasingly value three skills: communication, information literacy (research and problem solving), and interpersonal skills. I think it spoke to me considering the current process I am in of searching for a summer internship. In speaking with all potential employers, I’ve noticed that these are the areas of focus. My ability to answer these questions has come from the transferable experiences I’ve encountered in my undergraduate work and currently here at Pacific.