MEASURING AND MESSAGING IMPACT
LSAC Pacific Region Conference
Monday, December 11, 2017
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
(Chapman Learning Commons,
Irving K Barber Learning Centre)
8:45 am - 3:30 pm
The Chapman Learning Commons and Canaccord Learning Commons with support from the Centre of Student Involvement & Careers at the University of British Columbia are pleased to invite you to the Pacific Region Conference on Monday the 11th of December, 2017. The theme of the conference is 'Measuring and Messaging Impact' The theme answers calls for greater and clearer articulation of the impact that learning services and specialists have on student learning, success and experience.
CONFERENCE AGENDA:
8:30 - Doors open. Check in, refreshments, socializing.
9:15 - 9:45 - Opening remarks and a quick round of intros.
9:45 - 10:30 - Beyond Numbers: Powerful Assessment Strategies in a Learning Commons (Part 1) – Julie Mitchell, Nick Thornton, and Jeremiah Carag (University of British Columbia)
10:30-10:45 - Break
10:45-11:30 - Beyond Numbers: Powerful Assessment Strategies in a Learning Commons (Part 2) – Julie Mitchell, Nick Thornton, and Jeremiah Carag (University of British Columbia)
11:30-12:00 - Tour of UBC's Chapman Learning Commons
12:00-12:30 - Lunch (provided)
12:30 - 1:15 - Infographics - Impressive in More Ways than One! - Lyn Benn and Graeme Robinson-Clogg (Kwantlen Polytechnic University)
1:15-1:25 - Break
1:25-2:10 - We Like You! Measuring Success by Social Media - Sandra Smith (University of the Fraser Valley)
2:10-2:20 - Break
2:20-3:05 - Assessment and Evaluation of Vancouver Community College's Learning Centre's Impact on Student Success - Emily Simpson (Vancouver Community College)
3:05-3:30 - Wrap-up and LSAC Business
3:30-4:00 - (Optional) #ProfWalk around UBC Campus hosted by Neil Armitage
TO REGISTER: please click "Register" button (upper left).
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS:
Beyond Numbers: Powerful Assessment Strategies
in a Learning Commons
Julie Mitchell, Nick Thornton, and Jeremiah Carag (University of British Columbia)
Using examples from UBC’s library-based Learning Commons, this workshop focuses on assessment of front line services and learning support programs, and on organizing and communicating data. Participants will develop a framework for assessing their own learning support programs and learn how the model could apply to other library activities.
Infographics - Impressive in More Ways than One!
Lyn Benn and Graeme Robinson-Clogg (Kwantlen Polytechnic University)
Sometimes it can come as a surprise to find the extent to which our work in Learning Centres contributes to student academic success. While we can see development in individual students, it is through an analysis of metadata that we recognize the importance and effects of our various services and programs. Most faculty and administrators do not read typical statistical reports and are unaware of the influence of Learning Centre programs on the success of students, faculty and staff. Yet, data-based evidence is vital in raising awareness, providing more effective avenues for timely student support and in obtaining appropriate funding and recognition. Academic and administrative attention can be gained far better through representing data graphically. Infographics can open the doors to communication that is vital in obtaining the recognition and fiscal supports that enable us to do our work most effectively.
Workshop Objectives
- Identify the departments, administrative units, and individuals that can benefit from data that describes what help students are seeking (and what they are NOT seeking help for)
- Explore specific strategies that will demonstrate the impact of the Learning Centre activities on institutional efforts to increase retention and student success;
- Identify the types of data that can be collected to demonstrate how the Learning Centre contributes to supporting and improving student success
- Develop an action plan that participants can begin implementing immediately to move the Learning Centres to a position of prominence that is well supported with university resources
We Like You! Measuring Success by Social Media
- Sandra Smith (University of the Fraser Valley)
UFV’s Academic Success Centre has been using various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, to promote our services and share resources. As we began using social media, we had three main goals: to connect with students who are already aware of and using our services in order to take advantage of word-of-mouth marketing; to increase our visibility within UFV as a whole so as to raise awareness of ASC programming; to position ourselves as leaders within the larger community of learning support specialists in Canada and internationally.
Now that we have gained some experience and data, we’ve found that tracking social media interactions has allowed us to gain some insight into the impact we have on student learning at UFV and has served as a tool for evaluating what direction we might take next in developing our services and resources.
This presentation will give an overview of UFV Academic Success Centre’s use of several social media channels, including a description of the roles our student staff have, and will itemize what we have learned about our programming in terms of the marketing of and reaction to various projects. The presentation will conclude with recommendations and time for discussion.
Assessment and Evaluation of Vancouver Community College's Learning Centre's Impact on Student Success
-Emily Simpson (Vancouver Community College)
The VCC Learning Centre is undertaking a 2 year assessment of the impact of Learning Centre (LC) services on student success using both quantitative and qualitative measures.
Qualitative surveys based on the work by Hendriksen et al. (2005) and Colver and Fry (2016) will be used to assess how working with a tutor impacts students’ self-confidence and self-direction, along with information about how often and what kind of LC supports a student uses. Surveys will be distributed once per term. Qualitative surveys about LC group facilitated workshops will also be collected.
VCC Learning Centre has recorded quantitative data for several years on 1:1 tutoring sessions: student ID, subject and topic of tutoring, tutor type, campus, length of session, and format of session (phone/visit/email) in Banner. The Institutional Research office will compile demographics to give us a profile of LC users. Institution Research will also compare LC and non-LC users over 3 academic years to investigate impact on student persistence (completion of course), retention (term to term re-enrollment of courses), and success (GPA comparison). This analysis is based on the research of Colver and Fry (2016), Hendriksen et al. (2005), Franklin & Blankenberger (2016), Wurtz (2015), and Durancyzk et al. (2006).
HOTEL
UBC has a hotel, West Coast Suites, on campus. We may be able to secure a slightly lower group rate if at least 9 people book there. If you are planning to book there and are interested in the possibility of a group rate, please let Ruth Silverman (rsilverm@sfu.ca) know and she will keep track of numbers. At the moment though, we know of nobody who is planning to stay there, so the likelihood of reaching 9 is somewhat remote.
Directions and Parking
For those driving, you can entre campus off 4th Ave or 10th Ave/ University Blvd and navigate to the North Parkade. This parkade is located next to the Walter Gage Residence on Student Union Blvd. From the North Parkade, walk west towards the Irving K Barber Learning Centre. We will be meeting in the Lillooet Room of the Chapman Learning Commons, located on the 3rd level of IKBLC (room 301).
For those taking the bus, get off at the UBC Loop (last stop) and walk west past the AMS Nest. The bus loop is marked by the blue T on the map.
BC has a reciprocal parking agreement in certain situations with SFU and UVic. More information is available here
