General Education Assessment: The Computer Literacy Outcome Goes Full Circle

Mary T. ZegarskiProfessor , Computer Information Technology

Dr. Jill HirtDirector, Planning Assessment & Institutional Effectiveness

Northampton Community CollegeBethlehem, PA

REVISING THE COMPUTER LITERACY GENERAL EDUCATION STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOME

Where We Began

• General Education core revision prompted by Middle States Self-Evaluation in 2005

• Committee formed to study General Education Outcomes 2006

• The Computer Literacy General Education Outcome read: “Employ the computer as a tool in one’s personal and professional life”

• Computer Literacy Outcome revised in 2008

New Computer Literacy OutcomeStudents will use computer technology as a tool for

communication and productivity both professionally and personally

1. Students will demonstrate knowledge of computer concepts and terminology.

2. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the ethical use of current technologies.

3. Students will use technology for communication and research with tools such as email and the internet.

4. Students will create, store, retrieve and print appropriately formatted documents using assorted software such as word processors, spreadsheets, and other applications required by their field of study.

ASSESSING THE COMPUTER LITERACY GEN ED SLO

Planning the Assessment

• How to assess– Embedded assignment– Third party assessment tool– Objective exam

• Decision– Use an Office simulation for SLO 4– Create short objective exam for SLO 1 and 2– Use Community College Survey of Student

Engagement 2009 (CCSSE) for SLO 3

• Who to assess– Students with more than 36 credits completed– Traditional and online students

Pilot• Fall 2010

– Multiple choice 15 item quiz to assess SLO 1 & 2– Online Office simulation used to assess SLO 4

• Results– 61 students participated in the multiple choice tool– 35 students completed the online simulation– Students were successful on both instruments– Student Learning Outcomes Committee deemed the multiple

choice tool to be fair– Modifications were made

• Items with 100% success were removed• Replaced by items on ethics

Official Assessment Spring 2011

• Tools– SLO 1 & 2 - 15 item multiple choice written

assessment– SLO 4 - SAM2007 Word assessment– SLO 3 - CCSSE data used for “indirect” evidence to

support SLO

Word Items• Create a new blank document• Save the document under the name ‘services.docx’ in the current directory.• Close the document without exiting word.• Save the current, previously saved word document into the folder ‘2007’ located in the documents

folder. Do not change the file name or type.• Print six copies of page two of this document.• Display a preview of what the document will look like when printed.• Select the text ‘translations one’ – do not click and drag.• Change the font of the selected text to Comic Sans MS• Change the font size of the selected text to 14.• Bold the selected text.• Specify that the selected text will be italicized.• Change the color of the selected text to orange.• Specify that the selected text will appear as a bulleted list. Use the default bullet.• Center the selected paragraph.• Add a graphic file (not a clip art image) named ‘logo’ to the current document at the insertion

point.

• Participants– Written assessment• 18 classes• 179 students with more than 36 credits completed• 59 exclusively online students with more than 36

credits completed• 238 Total participants

– Online Word assessment• 92 students with more than 36 credits

Results

• Goal – 80 % of students achieve 80%• Written assessment– Average score 12 with a range of 6 to 15– 62% scored 80% or above– 80 % scored 73% or above

• Word assessment– Average score 14 with a range of 11 to 15– Almost 100% scored 80% or above

• Community College Survey of Student Engagement– 51% of NCC students reported using such tools for any

purpose “multiple times per day”• Lower than reported by CCSSE participants (55%)

– 40% use these tools to communicate with other students, instructors, or college staff about their coursework at least once a week• Higher than CCSSE participants (35%)

– 55% of NCC students are likely to use course management systems• Higher than CCSSE participants (41%)

CLOSING THE LOOP

Where to Start• SLO 4 – Survey of faculty and students

– Information on assignments requiring Word, Excel or PowerPoint

– Self-evaluation by students and faculty on facility with Word, Excel and PowerPoint

• SLO 1 & 2

– Three ways to fulfill Computer Literacy General Education Outcome1. Complete a CISC course (usually Introduction to Computers)2. Embedded computer literacy in program courses3. Competing English 101c and English 151c

The Plan

• Address all three areas1. CISC101 Intro to Computers• Common Blackboard site for all adjuncts

2. Meet with English instructors3. Meet with Division Dean’s to discuss programs

which have embedded Computer Literacy

Meeting With The Deans

• Speak at division meetings on Professional Days • Send a letter to all programs with embedded

Computer Literacy– Discuss the new Computer Literacy Gen Ed SLO– Share the results of the assessment– Ask for assistance in making improvements

• Request that program courses are reviewed to find where SLO 1 & 2 are embedded

• Address those SLO’s in some new way

• English 101C & English 151C– Course coordinators are reluctant to continue as Comp

Lit Gen Ed fulfillment– Meeting with the Dean to be scheduled

• Program with embedded Comp Lit– Allied Health and Science division asked for assistance

from the Computer Cluster particularly a workshop to be planned for professional days before the Fall semester

– Discussions are on-going with other programs

Suggestions• Always use the correct terminology. For example: Submitting an

assignment by emailing the file is sending the file as an attachment. Submitting a file in Blackboard is uploading the file.

• If you make your selection in a program by selecting an item from a list of choices, you are using a menu driven user interface. If you make your choice by clicking an image, called an icon, you are using a graphical user interface (GUI, gooey). You could point this out to your students as you use your software.

• You can discuss where files are stored. If they are stored internally on the computer’s hard drive, they are stored on the C drive. My Documents, often the default storage location, is on the internal hard drive. Portable storage is now usually a flash drive which is inserted into the USB port of the computer. It’s important for students to keep their files in an organized way.

• If you talk about employment, you could mention how Social Media is being used by prospective employers. Suggest that students look at their Facebook page from that perspective. Point out good job search sites that students can use.

• Always mention the system requirements for any software. You can find that info by doing a search for the software. That reinforces the idea that software can’t be run on all computers and that you have to be aware of these things when purchasing computers or software.

WRAP UP

• The assessment went very well – no problems• Closing the Loop proves to be more difficult

than expected• On the whole the faculty has been very

cooperative

Contact Information

• Mary Zegarski– mzegarski@northampton.edu