Best Practices Webinar describing the 7 P's

1. Users’ Group 2013
Best Practices
Julie Owen, VP Marketing & Operations
SmarterServices
Provided by

2. Remember When?

3. DID YOU KNOW?
• SmarterMeasure has helped over 2.4
MILLION students!
• We have a k12 version that serves 7-12
graders.
• You can modify your readiness ranges to
make the tool more predictive.

5. Best
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Practices
Popularize – buy in
Plan – strong implementation model
Personalize – use custom features
Petition - Call to Action
Pursue - Follow Through
Produce – Conduct Research
Present– co-present with us at a
conference or webinar

6. POPULARIZE/PROMOTE
• Advertise & Promote
• Educate with our Training
• Get Everyone Involved

7. PLAN
• Integrate SmarterMeasure into a required
orientation course
• 68% of client schools administer the
assessment to all students, not just
eLearning students

8. J. Sargeant Reynolds
Community College
• Required as admissions
assessment
• Integral part of their QEP
• Computed correlations
with grades and
Life
Factors
SmarterMeasure
sub-scales of over 4000
students.
• P
Attributes
Grades
Learning
Styles
Technical

9. Findings
• Statistically significant correlations:
- Dedicated place, support from employers
and family, access to study resources, and
academic skills (Life Factors)
- Tech vocabulary (Technical Knowledge)
- Procrastination (Individual Attributes)
Scores
Grades

10. Academic Success Rates
70
60
50
40
High Score
Low Score
30
20
10
0
Skills
Resources
Time
Less than 10% of students with low scores
experienced academic success.

11. PERSONALIZE
• Utilize custom features
• Modify Readiness Ranges

12. Student Login Page

13. Adjusting Readiness Ranges
Adjusting the cut
points can make
the reporting a
more accurate
predictor of
success.

14. PETITION
Add call to action in text of student report
Read Feedback on report
Write reflection paper on results
Work through appropriate resources for
support

16. PETITION
Add call to action in text of student report
Read Feedback on report
Write reflection paper on results
Work through appropriate resources for
support
Discuss results with administrator
Discussion or chat about learning style

18. PURSUE
• After measuring student
readiness, what action will you take
based
on the scores?
Coaching
Assign mentor
Ongoing communication
Provide faculty member with results
Evaluate & Provide remedial
resources

19. PRODUCE
Progression of SmarterMeasure Data Utilization
Predictive
Correlation
Comparison
Descriptive
Student Service

20. Research
Ideas on the
Research
Page of the
Website

21. CEC - The Need
• We need to know which students to advise
to take online, hybrid or on-campus
courses.
• We need to know which students to direct
to which student services to help them
succeed.
• We need to know how to best design our
courses so that new students are not
overwhelmed.

22. The Analysis
• What is the relationship between
measures of student readiness and
variables of:
– Academic Success - GPA
– Engagement – Survey (N=587)
– Satisfaction – Survey (Representative Sample
based on GPA and number of courses taken
per term)
– Retention – Re-enrollment data

23. The Findings
• Statistically Significant Relationships
Academic
Achievement
Engagement
Retention
Individual
Attributes
X
X
X
Technical
Knowledge
X
X
X
X
X
Learning
Styles
Life Factors
Technical
Competency
X
X
X

24. The Recommendations
• We need to know which students to advise
to take online, hybrid or on-campus
courses.
– A profile of a strong online student is one
who:
•
•
•
•
Has a dedicated place to study online
Possesses strong time management skills
Demonstrates strong technical skills
Exhibits a strong vocabulary of technology terms

25. The Recommendations
• We need to know which students to direct
to which student services to help them
succeed.
– An online student who should be directed toward
remedial/support resources is one who:
• Has a weak reason for returning to school
• Has weak prior academic skills
• Is not likely to seek help on their own
• Is prone to procrastinate
• Has low, internal locus of control
• Has weak technology skills

26. The Recommendations
• We need to know how to best design our
courses so that new students are not
overwhelmed.
– Limit advanced technology in courses offered early in
a curriculum
– Foster frequent teacher to student interaction early in
the course
– Require milestones in assignments to prevent
procrastination
– Clearly provide links to people/resources for
assistance

27. Middlesex Community College
• 6% to 13% more students failed online
courses than on-ground courses.
• Intervention Plan
- Administer SmarterMeasure
- Identify which constructs best predicted success
- Provide “Success Tips” as identified
Distributed by website, email, orientation
course, records office, library, posters, and
mail

28. Research Findings
• Analyzed 3228 cases over two years
• Significant positive correlation between
individual attributes and grades
Motivation
Impacts
Grades

29. Results of Middlesex Research
Before SmarterMeasure™ was implemented, 6%
to 13% more students failed online courses than
students taking on-ground courses. After the
implementation, the gaps were narrowed: 1.3%
to 5.8% more online students failed than onground students.

30. Results of Middlesex Research
Failure rates reduced by as much as 10%

31. PRESENT
• http://www.smarterservices.com/conferences.cfm
• http://www.smarterservices.com/webinars.cfm

32. Getting Better

33. Best is defined as better
than all others: of the
highest quality or
standard or the most
excellent type