The UniLOA is an indirect measure of student
learning outcomes, as is any instrument designed to
collect self-report data. Because of the inherent
challenges posed by attribution error, the results
of any self-report instrument should not be relied
upon as a wholly accurate measure of actual
outcomes. However, any effective assessment
protocols should include collection of multiple data
points, including both indirect and direct measures. The UniLOA,
when triangulated with other measures of student learning outcomes will provide a
far better understanding of the degree to which
students are achieving desirable learning outcomes.
Because the UniLOA reflects the desires of broad
constituencies having an interest in student growth,
learning, and development (including employers,
higher education faculty and administrators,
accrediting agencies, parents, and students
themselves) and is consistent with contemporary
empirical research in student development, its
content validity is high. Findings of the
UniLOA continue to be consistent with findings of
other human and student development research which
supports a high degree of concurrent validity.
The UniLOA's high degree of external reliability is
strongly supported as response patterns are
consistently replicated.
Internal reliability estimates for each of the seven
domains are:
|
Critical
Thinking……………………
|
.87
|
|
Self-Awareness……………………
|
.80
|
|
Communication……………………
|
.81
|
|
Diversity……………………………
|
.80
|
|
Citizenship…………………………
|
.85
|
|
Membership
and Leadership……
|
.84
|
|
Relationships………………………
|
.80
|
The
UniLOA’s seven domains are of interest to
institutions of higher education. Because of the
constructs measured, the UniLOA’s utility stretches
far beyond the basic data set its results produce.
The UniLOA itself can be used as an anchor point to
measure programs and supports from across campus.
Programming can be developed to bolster GLD in any
of the UniLOA’s domains as a whole, or by targeting
one of more individual items. In that sense, the
UniLOA provides diagnostic data as well as
offering guidance for prescriptive responses.
Many assessment instruments measure individuals’
cognitive state by asking questions dealing with
perceptions, beliefs, and affective states.
While cognition and affect are appropriate to
measure, the UniLOA's authors believe that student GLD is most
accurately reflected in actual behaviors. The
construction of the UniLOA’s individual items are
purposely built with a cognitive trigger to assist
the student in understanding an underlying
construct, and a behavioral stem,
which asks the test-taker to report actual behaviors, making the UniLOA unique in
the means by which it measures GLD.
A 10-point Likert-like scale is used to answer each item on the
UniLOA, which produces the practical equivalent of a ratio scale from which
scores can be derived and appropriately interpreted.
|
