OATdb Archive

2014 - 2015

Academic Success Center

Goal
Provide Quality Writing Support And Instruction
The Academic Success Center will assist students, staff, faculty, and community members with written and oral work.

Objective
Increase Academic Success Center (ASC) Writing Services Impact
 The ASC will serve as a resource for writing services and writing tutoring for the university and the community beyond the university through the ASC’s website, presentations and workshops, and interactions with local community organizations and school districts, including the Students in the Nursing Program, Students in the College of Business, Students enrolled in Online Classes, and Students at The Woodlands Center.


KPI
Student, Class, And College Tracking Database
Students who visit the ASC for writing services sign-in prior to their tutoring session, and they sign-out when departing the ASC.  When students complete the in and out transactions a record of their visit is recorded in the SHSU Legacy Database, including the class for which they are attending.  From class information stored in database, college numbers can be extrapolated.  

Result
Approximately 8400 Writing Tutoring Sessions Conducted In 2014-2015
In Fall 2014 and Spring 2015, the Academic Success Center (ASC) conducted 8387 individual writing tutoring sessions.

In Fall 2014, the Academic Success Center conducted 4719 individual writing tutoring sessions, serving 230 courses across the university. Breakdown of sessions by college results follow:
Arts and Sciences: 49 courses, 460 sessions
Business: 16 courses, 316 sessions
Criminal Justice: 22 courses, 182 sessions
Education: 54 sessions, 373 sessions
Humanities and Social Sciences: 81 courses, 2737 sessions
Other (UNIV, ESL, Thesis, Personal Work): 573 sessions

For Spring 2015, the Academic Success Center conducted 3668 individual writing tutoring sessions, serving 204 courses across the university. Breakdown of sessions by college results follow:
Arts and Sciences: 39 courses, 264 sessions
Business: 22 courses, 198 sessions
Criminal Justice: 24 courses, 253 sessions
Education: 59 sessions, 378 sessions
Humanities and Social Sciences: 54 courses, 2251 sessions
Other (Honors, UNIV, ESL, Personal Work): 180 sessions


KPI
Support Students In Nursing Program
The ASC will serve students in the nursing program, with a goal of conducting 10% more writing sessions in 2014-2015 than the 169 sessions conducted in 2013-2014. 

Result
304 Writing Tutoring Sessions For Students In Nursing Program
In 2014-2015, the ASC conducted 304 writing tutoring sessions for students who identified as participating in the nursing program compared to the 169 sessions conducted in 2013-2014.  We exceedeed the goal of a 10% increase, with an actual increase of 80% for the 2014-2015 academic year. Much of the increase in overall visits was due to the opening of new Nursing Program and the ASC at The Woodlands Center in 2014-2015.  The large increase may be considerd an anamoly, but steady growth should continue to occur as the Nursing Program at The Woodlands Center grows to capacity.  

KPI
Increase Use In College Of Business
The ASC will seek to increase the numbers of students and faculty from the College of Business using the ASC writing services. Our goal for 2014-2015 is to increase the number of writing tutoring sessions for Business students by 5%, which will increase services from 295 to 325.


Result
Increased Writing Tutoring Sessions For College Of Business Administration
Comparing 2013-2014 College of Business Administration writing tutoring sessions with the 2014-2015 data, the number of sessions increased from 295 to 514, which is a 175% increase.  The increase in the number of writing tutoring sessions indicates that targeted emails and face-to-face communication with faculty and students in the College of Business Administration have been effective. 

KPI
Online Tutoring Services
The ASC will serve students enrolled in online classes, with a goal of conducting 10% more writing sessions in 2014-2015 than the 331 sessions conducted in 2013-2014. 

Result
Decrease In Online Writing Tutoring Sessions
The number of online tutoring sessions decreased from 331 in 2013-2014 to 225 in 2014-2015, representing a 32% decrease. One factor that may explain a portion of the decrease in online writing tutoring sessions is the creation of the ASC at The Woodlands Center. 

KPI
Woodlands Center Writing Tutoring Services
The ASC will provide writing services and writing tutoring at The Woodlands Center. For 2014-2015, writing tutoring sessions at The Woodlands Center and University Park by 100%, increasing sessions from 173 to 346.

Result
Increased Writing Tutoring Sessions At The Woodlands Center
For 2014-2015, over 625 writing tutoring sessions were conducted at The Woodlands Center(ASC @ TWC), which is a 361% increase over the 173 writing tutoring sessions conducted at TWC in 2013-2014.  Although the increase appears large, the 2014-2015 number of 625 sessions should be considered a baseline for the ASC @ TWC in future academic year.  In past years, only one tutor was at TWC for a limited number of hours each week.    

Action
Focus On Maintaining, Enhancing, And Expanding Of ASC Writing Services
The Academic Success Center will continue to track the number of writing consultations and requests for writing tutoring sessions at the Huntsville location, The Woodlands Center, and the online Writing Center.

To expand services for 2015-2016, the ASC will be offering writing tutoring services at the Newton Grisham Library Sunday through Wednesday evenings from 7:00-10:00pm.  We are offering walk-in services for quick questions that can be discussed effectively and efficiently in a short timeframe.  This service will allow the ASC to serve many more students in less time.  Student visits will not be recorded unless tutors have time and deem that an actual 30 minute or one-hour session is needed.   

We are working with administrators and faculty in several academic disciplines—business management, business communication, nursing, and educational leadership—to enhance writing tutoring services for their programs by tailoring our writing tutoring services to meet the specific writing needs of their students.  


Goal
Writing Knowledge And Skills
The Academic Success Center help all clients become better writers and develop more confidence in their writing abilities


Objective
Increase Client Knowledge Of Writing Principles And Skills
The ASC will provide writing tutoring services that facilitate the growth and confidence of all levels of writers by promoting techniques of effective writing and teaching basic writing skills. The ASC will maintain and enhance the quality of SHSU's campus wide writing program. To determine student learning, tutor will make observations, which are: (a) student was able to identify and self-correct errors, (b) student was able to choose appropriate sources for improvement (i.e., style manuals, handouts, databases, and writing handbooks), and (c) student was able to articulate a plan for the next step in the writing process.


Indicator
Client Survey Of Learned Skills
A survey of clients' perceptions of the writing skills they have learned by using the ASC writing services.  The survey includes 13 questions.  Seven questions pertain to satisfaction with ASC tutors and student growth and confidence in their writing abilities.  The last six questions are included for feedback about overall ASC services.

Criterion
Client Learning
Near the end of each semester, students are asked to complete an ASC writing services survey.  Students complete the survey anonymously and submit before leaving the ASC.  The information from the survey is to evaluate students’ perceptions of their writing skills and confidence in their abilities as writers. Of the clients surveyed, 95% will indicate that ASC writing service consultations have improved their confidence as writers, and 90% will indicate that ASC writing service consultations have improved their skills as writers.


Finding
ASC Wtiting Tutorials Perceived To Be Beneficial
At the end of the Spring 2015 semester, approximately 360 students were surveyed at the conclsuion of individual writing center sessions. Survey items pertaining to students' perceptions of learning were:
1. The ASC writing services has helped me gain confidence as a writer.
2. What effect has the ASC writing services had on your writing abilities?

The following results were recorded:
1. Approximately 96% of students surveyed indicated that the ASC writing services improved their confidence levels.
2. Approximately 94% of students felt that their writing was either "getting much better" or "getting better" as a result of ASC writing services.

Indicator
Student Attainment Of Key Learning Objectives
Based upon tutor observations, records will be kept indicating which learning objectives students displayed in the tutoring session. The learning objectives are listed on the intake form on which students fill in information about themselves and their writing visit. 


Criterion
Student Learning
ASC writing services tutors indicate on each session write up whether or not they observed students meeting one or more of three student learning objectives. For the 2014-2015 school year, the ASC Writing Services staff will determine if students are meeting the learning objectives of:

  1. Being able to identify and self-correct errors
  2. Being able to choose appropriate sources (i.e. style manuals, handouts, databases, writing handbooks).
  3. Being able to articulate a plan for the next steps in the writing process.
 


Finding
Approximately 93% Of Students Met One Or More Learning Objectives
For Fall 14, 4719 total sessions were held. During these sessions, 4409  (93.43%) had at least one learning objective met.

3366 (71.33%)    Student self-identified errors and made corrections
3111 (65.92%)    Student selected and used appropriate resources
3724 (78.92%)    Student articulated an action plan for next step in process

For Spring 15, 3668 total sessions were held. During these sessions, 3376 (92.04%) had at least one learning objective met.

2754 (75.08%)    Student self-identified errors and made corrections
2155 (58.75%)    Student selected and used appropriate resources
2899 (79.03%)    Student articulated an action plan for next step in process

Combined, 8387 total sessions were held. During these sessions, 7785 (92.82%) had at least one learning objective met.

6120 (72.97%)    Student self-identified errors and made corrections
5266 (62.79%)    Student selected and used appropriate resources
6623 (78.97%)    Student articulated an action plan for next step in process

Based on tutor observation, approximately 73% of student writers were observed to meet the learning objective: "the writer identified and self-corrected errors."

Based upon tutor observation, approximately 63% of student writers were observed to meet the learning objective: "the writer selected and used appropriate resources."

Based upon tutor observation, approximately 79% of student writers were observed to meet the learning objective: "the writer was able to articulate a plan for the next step in the writing process."

Collectively, approximately 93% of all students receiving one-on-one tutoring sessions were observed to meet one or more of the learning objectives.

These results demonstrate that students attending ASC writing tutoring sessions are observed to meet ASC learning objectives, with 2014-2015 showing overall increases and significant increases in "the writer was able to articulate a plan for the next step in the writing process." The stated goal was for 90% of students to meet one or more learning objectives; this goal was met, as was the goal of having 65% of students able to articulate the next step in the writing process.  However, the goal of having 65% of students able to select appropriate resources was not met. 


Action
Focus On Learning Objective Of "Selecting And Using Appropriate Resources"
According to the results, the learning outcome of "the writer selected and used appropriate resources" was observed less frequently than the other learning objectives. Although the goal for 65 percent was not met, the goal for 2015-2016 will be for 70 percent of all writers to select and use appropriate resources. To attain the new goal, we will devote increased tutor training to strategies designed to familiarize writers with various resources. Additionally, ASC administrators and lead tutors will provide ongoing training and drop-in observations throughout the year to ensure that tutors are working toward this goal in the session.

Goal
Provide Quality Mathematics And Statistics Support And Instruction
The Academic Success Center will assist students, faculty, and staff with mathematics and statistics work.

Objective
Increase ASC Mathematics And Statistics Impact
The ASC will serve as a resource for mathematics and statistics services and tutoring for the university and the community beyond the university through the ASC’s website, interactions with local community organizations, and interactions with local school districts.

KPI
Student And Class Tracking Database
Students who visit the ASC for math/statistics services sign-in prior to their tutoring session, and they sign-out when departing the ASC.  When students complete the in and out transactions a record of their visit is recorded in the SHSU Legacy Database, including the class for which they are attending.  From class information stored in database, college numbers can be extrapolated.

Result
Over 9600 Students Attended Math/Statistics Tutoring Sessions
In Fall 2014 and Spring 2015, the Academic Success Center (ASC) conducted 9660 math/statistics tutoring sessions.

In Fall 2014, the Academic Success Center conducted 3848 math/statistics tutoring sessions, serving 69 courses across the university. Breakdown of sessions by college results follow:

Sciences: 41 courses, 3758 sessions
Business: 18 courses, 65 sessions
Criminal Justice: 1 courses, 8 sessions
Education: 1 course, 1 session
Humanities and Social Sciences: 6 courses, 14 sessions
Fine Arts & Mass Com: 1 course, 1 session
Health Sciences: 1 course, 1 session


For Spring 2015, the Academic Success Center conducted 5812 individual writing tutoring sessions, serving 59 courses across the university. Breakdown of sessions by college results follow:

Sciences: 44 courses, 5633 sessions
Business: 4 courses, 76 sessions
Criminal Justice: 2 courses, 12 sessions
Education: 1 course, 1 session
Humanities and Social Sciences: 7 courses, 89 sessions
Health Sciences: 1 course, 1 session

KPI
Woodlands Center Statistics Tutoring Services
The ASC will provide statistics tutoring services at The Woodlands Center. Goal for 2014-2015 is to create a baseline for the number of students using the statistics tutoring services offered by The Woodlands Center.


Result
Statistics Tutoring Baseline At The Woodlands Center
For 2014-2015, approximately 262 statistics tutoring sessions were conducted at The Woodlands Center(ASC @ TWC).  This number should be considered a baseline for the ASC @ TWC in future academic year.

Action
Focus On Enhancing Mathematics And Staistics Tutoring Services
The Academic Success Center will continue to track the number of mathmatics and statistics consultations and requests for mathematics and statistics tutoring sessions at the Huntsville campus and The Woodlands Center.

For 2015-2016, one major focus is to hire a Coordinator of the Math Center who can supervise and mentor mathematics and statistics tutors, develop a quality mathematics and statistics tutor training program, and build relationship with mathematics and statistics department administrators and faculty. To this end, enhancing mathematics and statistics tutoring services will be a priority.

Although the ASC would like to offer increased mathematics and statistics tutoring sessions, increasing student visits for 2015-2016 will be difficult because of  limited physical resources to offer mathematics and statistics tutoring services. 

Goal
Provide Quality Academic Support Through Supplemental Instruction
The Academic Success Center will assist students and faculty with specific discipline course content.


Objective
Increase ASC Supplemental Instruction (SI) Impact
ASC staff and SI leaders will serve as a resources to increase student retention in traditionally high DFW courses with targeted intervention using Supplemental Instruction.  DFW courses are courses in which high numbers of students earn a grade of “D” or “F” or “Withdraw” from the class.

KPI
SI Student And ClassTracking Database
Students who attend SI sessions will indicate the class for which they are attending in the ASC tracking database. Data will be collected to examine the classes for which students attended SI sessions.




Result
Approximately 1978 Students Attended SI Sessions
In Fall 2014 and Spring 2015, the Academic Success Center (ASC) conducted SI sessions for approximately 1978 students.

In Fall 2014, the ASC conducted SI sessions for approximately 745 students.  Breakdown of classes follow:
ECON 2302: 117 students
GEOG 1401: 500 students
MATH 1410: 26 students
PHYS 1305: 102 students
 
In Spring 2015, the ASC conducted SI sessions for approximately 1233 students.  Breakdown of classes follow:
BIOL 1411:  212 students
BIOL 1413:  257 students
GEOG 1401: 490 students
MATH 1410: 157 students
PHYS 1305:  117 students
 
 


Action
Focus On Increasing SI Constituents And Services
Supplemental Instruction is the newest program within the Academic Success Center.  Coordinators attended an extensive SI training workshop in the Spring semester of 2014.  In the Summer of 2014, the coordinators collaborated with faculty to select courses that typically had high D, F, W rates, hired SI leaders, and developed the program.  The new SI program was implemented at the beginning of the Fall 2014 semester. 

In the Summer of 2015, two SI leaders attended the SI training to become SI mentors, four additional courses, with several sections each,were added to the SI program, more SI lesders were hired, and improvements were made to enhance the effectiveness of the program.

With the newness of the SI program and the continual improvements, changes and the addition of SI leaders and courses, predictiing outcomes will be tenuous, at best. We predict the number of students availaing themselves to SI service will increase, but the size of the increase is difficult to predict. 

Objective
Increase Student Learning And GPA
Increase student learning and GPA in traditionally high DFW courses with targeted intervention using Supplemental Instruction

Indicator
Trackin Student Course Performance
Attendance records will be kept for each SI session.  These records will be analyzed in conjunction with student course grades.

Criterion
Semester Grade
Students who attend 3 or more SI sessions will have a higher semester course grade than those students who did not participate in SI intervention

Finding
Higher Semester Grades For SI Attendees
For the Fall 2014 and Spring 2015 semesters, students who attended 3 or more SI sessions attained a higher GPA than those students who did not attend SI sessions.  Mean GPA results are shown in the information below.

Fall 2014 
Class:                 SI GPA                  Non SI GPA                                       
ECON 2302:         2.03                     1.76 
GEOG 1401:         2.50                     2.31 
MATH 1410:         1.33                       .43   
PHYS 1305:          3.50                     2.95
 
Spring 2015
BIOL 1411:           2.50                     1.86  
BIOL 1413:           2.18                     2.09  
GEOG 1401:          2.65                     2.38
MATH 1410:          1.49                     1.59
PHYS 1305:           2.83                     2.76


Action
Enhancing SI Program Effectiveness
For 2015-2016, the ASC will use the same criteria to measure the mean success rate between students who attend three or more SI sessions and those students who choose not to participate in the SI program.

Goal
Provide Quality Teacher Certification Test Preparation Services
The Academic Success Center (ASC) will assist pre-service and professional teachers with preparation for their TExES Teacher Certification Exams.


Objective
Teacher Certification Preparation Services
The ASC will serve as a resource for TExES Teacher Certification Exam preparation for the university and the community by offering certification preparation services.


KPI
ASC Teacher Certification Review Intake Forms
Students who attend certification preparation sessions will complete their portion of the ASC Teacher Certification Review Intake Sheet.  The 2014-2015 year will be the year to create the baseline for teacher certification review sessions.


Result
Approximately 473 Visits For Teacher Certification Preparation
In 2014-2015, approximately 473 visits were made to the ASC @ TWC for the following teacher certification exams.

EC-6 Generalist Exam:     202 visits
ESL Supplement Exam:    112 visits
PPR Exam:                      136 visits
SPED Exam:                      15 visits
4-8 ELAR/SS Exam:             6 visits
4-8 ELAR Exam:                  2 visits


Action
Provide Teacher Certification Test Review Sessions
For 2015-2016, the ASC will offer the same services to help preservice teachers pass their certification tests.  We will continue to work diligently with the Educator Preparation Services staff and faculty in the College of Education to promote ASC teacher certification test review services.  Realistically, this should not be a steady growth area.


Objective
Increase Client Knowledge Of Test-Taking Strategies For Teacher Certification Exams
The ASC will provide teacher certification preparation services that facilitate the growth and confidence of pre-service and professional teachers by reviewing domains and competencies included on the teat and teaching them test-taking strategies that will enable them to develop quality test-taking strategies and pass their certification exams.  To determine student learning, the TExES Teacher Certification Exam scores will be used.

Indicator
Teacher Certification Review Sessions Evaluation
For 2014-2015, Teacher Certification Review Session effectiveness will be measured by the pass rate of students on the TExES Teacher Certification Exam.

Criterion
Teacher Preparation Client Learning
Of clients who attended two 2-hour review sessions, 90% will pass the certification test for which they attended review sessions. 

Finding
TExES Teacher Certification Exam
For 2014-2015, the overall pass rate was 98%.  Pass rates for individual TExES Teacher Certification Exam were:

EC-6 Generalist Exam: 90% pass rate

101 students attended secssions
  83 students took the exam
  75 students passed exam 

ESL Supplement Exam: 100% pass rate

56 students attended review sessions
35 students took the exam
35 students passed the exam

PPR Exam: 100% Pass Rate

68 students attended review sessions
42 students took the exam
42 students passed the exam

SPED Exam: 100% Pass Rate

8 students attenced review sessions
5 students took the exam
5 students passed the exam

4-8 ELAR Exam: 100% Pass Rate

1 student attended review sessions
1 student took the test
1 student passed the test

4-8 ELAR/SS Exam: 100% Pass Rate

3 students attended review sessions
3 students took the test
3 students passed the test

  

Action
Teacher Certification Test Preparation Services Performance Criteria
For 2015-2016, we will use the same outcome measure to report the effectiveness of ASC teacher certification test preparation services. 


Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement For the 2014-2015 school year, the Academic Success Center was formed by consolidating the Writing Center, the Reading Center, the Math/Statistics tutoring program. Also, the Supplemental Instruction Program and the coordination of developmental education classes were included in the creation of the Academic Success Center. Additionally, the Academic Success Center became a viable entity at SHSU-The Woodlands Center. 

The realignment of physical, human, and financial resources was a massive undertaking in the short transition time we were allowed, but we accomplished the task, at least on the surface level, before Fall 2014 began.  Throughout 2014-2015, we have been working diligently to refine, enhance, and increase services to the entire SHSU community--students, faculty, and staff. 

As we revised, reconfigured, rearranged existing services and developed and implemented new services, the vision for the ASC began to become more clear in incremental steps throughout the year. 

We still have much work ahead of us, but we have an excellent team of administrators and tutors who are dedicated to helping students become more proficient in several academic and professional areas.

As a group, we chose to gather data on writing tutoring services, mathematics and statistics tutoring services, SI services, and teacher certification test preparation services. For our new department, we set meaningful goals in the areas that would allow us to deliver quality services to the most students. Our data collection methods revealed that some portion of over 20,035 visits was conducted in each of the four areas on which we decided to focus.

Plan for continuous improvement For the 2015-2016 cycle, we will maintain the same goals for writing tutoring and mathematics and statistics tutoring sessions because we are limited by physical space to increase numbers of sessions.  Our mini-sessions in the Newton Grisham Library may allow for a few more writing sessions, but without a significant space increase the number of writing tutoring and mathematics and statistics tutoring sessions will increase minimally.  Additional visits may occur because more students from the main campus may avail themselves to writing and statistics tutoring services at the ASC@TWC.

In regard to SI sessions, participant numbers should increase at a rate proportionate to the number of courses and SI leaders added to the SI program. We will use the 2015-2016 school year, and possibly the 2016-2017 school year, for data collection to make reliable predictions once the number of courses and the number of SI mentors and leaders are more consistent from year-to-year.

As we work to improve the teacher certification test preparation services, a small increase should occur for the 2015-2016 school year.  As we work closely with Educator Preparation Services to promote the ASC teacher certification test prepatration services, more students will be aware of services that can help them be successful on the exams, which in turn, should increase student visits.