|
1)
Be clear
about what outcomes will be measured.
The UniLOA eases this
step by measuring seven domains of common interest that
represent holistic learning and as such, serves as a
stand-alone assessment platform. However, some
institutions may have an interest in collecting
information in addition to the UniLOA itself.
Institutions are free to add additional items to the
basic 70-item instrument, but in order to preserve the
integrity of the nationwide UniLOA database,
participating institutions are asked to administer all
existing demographics questions from the UniLOA as well.
Locally-added question results will not be stored in the
UniLOA National Database.
2)
Design a
protocol for your methodology, including:
Participants: To fully
exploit the power of the UniLOA to inform an institution
of the efficacy of its programs, it is recommended that
all students complete the instrument on a yearly basis
at the end of each academic year. Administering the
UniLOA to the entire population of students allows a
full understanding of student learning outcomes at the
unit, school, division and institutional levels. Some
institutions may find that administering the UniLOA to
all students is not warranted, and in lieu of such an
approach, a random sampling may allow sufficient
information from which conclusions might be drawn. Use
of convenience samples is not recommended as that
approach would degrade the quality of the data
collected.
Recruitment: Recruiting
volunteer participants creates some challenges in that
those participants alone may not accurately reflect the
student population’s mean. However, since large group
results
typically regress to the mean, a large number of
participants is desirable. It is likely that students
will not see a value-added quality to their
participation, so the venue of administration will
impact the total number of participants.
Location of Study:
Because the most common point of contact for students is
through their classroom attendance, it is strongly
recommended that the UniLOA be administered during
regular class meetings. The UniLOA can be completed in
an average of 20 minutes, so the time taken during a
regular class meeting is minimal.
3)
Data
Collection:
The UniLOA
can be completed through hard-copy or electronic
formats. Electronic methods of data capture has
has been shown to be no different
in reliability from hard-copy, but response rates can be
somewhat lower.
Depending
upon the institution’s desire to use the information
collected, approval for the investigation might be
required by the local Human Subjects Institutional
Review Board, especially due to the collection of
information that might easily be linked to a specific
participant. Please contact your HSIRB after you have
designed your protocol for guidance as to whether a
review will be required or not.
The UniLOA User’s
Agreement must be submitted to the authors, which
clearly outline procedures to be followed in the sharing
of your institution’s results. Your institution’s raw
data, minus any identifying information (i.e., name,
identification number) must be submitted to the UniLOA
National Database for purposes of dynamic norming.
A standard report form is used to report results back to
the institution but special reports can be generated at
the institution's request at no additional charge.
Prior to and during the
planning and administration phase of the investigation,
close communication with the authors will minimize any
confusion and will maximize the potential for
discovery. The authors can be contacted at:
|
