Aritcle 2. A Letter from the Publisher
Aritcle 3. Shaw University, Raleigh, NC. By Marguerite Jordan, Adult and Community College Education
Aritcle 4. New Versions of LASSI
Aritcle 5. New Assessments from Weinstein, et al.
In the Fall of 1993, the English/Reading Department of the Terry Campus of Delaware Technical & Community College, in collaboration with the Assessment Center, decided to administer the E-LASSI as a pre/post-assessment for students enrolled in College Reading and Study Skills. The members of the department felt that the study skills content was extremely valuable to students entering post-secondary educational environments; however, data to support this idea did not exist.
Prior to any classroom instruction, all students enrolled in College Reading and Study Skills were scheduled in the Assessment Center to take the E-LASSI as a pre-assessment.
At the completion of the test, each student was given a computerized profile sheet which showed specific strengths and/or weaknesses in each of the ten study skill behaviors. This profile was used throughout the semester by the students and the instructors as a diagnostic/prescriptive instrument.
At the conclusion of the semester, the ninety-six students who completed the course requirements took the E-LASSI as a post-assessment. The average mean difference for each study skill behavior (post- test percentile minus pre-test percentile) was calculated and ranged from 6.8646 to 31.5417 with the significance level for each test less than 0.0010. This indicates that the probability of obtaining these mean difference results, if there were no average gains for each of these tests, was less than 1 chance in 1,000.
Therefore, a statistically significant improvement in student performance, as measured by the E-LASSI pre/post-test scores, occurred; the English/Reading Department had the statistical data to prove that learning behaviors were affected positively. As a result, the department is continuing the collaborative effort with the Assessment Center and is continuing to collect data to determine the "value" that is added to the educational experience of students enrolled in College Reading and Study Skills at the Terry Campus of Delaware Tech.
Usually, our LASSI in Action is devoted to reports of the experiences of others in using LASSI, Learning and Study Strategies Inventory. For this edition we have varied slightly from that practice. Besides our reports from Shaw University and Delaware Technical Community College, we have included some news items related to LASSI that are of interest to our readers and matters of pride for this publisher.
Hopefully, you have recognized in the past that our LASSI in Action has not been a thinly disguised advertising piece. We have been so secure with the quality of LASSI that we were content with merely passing along some of the wonderful reports we received about it. It is intended that our editorial posture will remain informative rather than commercial, but we are just bursting to tell you our other news, and LASSI in Action seems the best vehicle for getting that news to you.
Accordingly, in this issue are two news articles that should be of special interest to you. One article is on LASSI publications in languages other than English; its emphasis is on two new Spanish versions which have just become available. The second article gives information on a new inventory, PEEK, developed by Claire E. Weinstein. PEEK, Perceptions, Expectations, Emotions, and Knowledge about College, is designed to accurately describe belief systems with regard to situations that are likely to occur in a college setting.
Also, in this edition of LASSI in Action is a flyer describing two books that represent an effort H&H is making to assist the professionalization of developmental educators. One book, Self-Evaluation Guides, was published in partnership with NADE, National Association for Developmental Education, and provides standards for evaluating programs. In addition, the Guides can also be useful in describing and/or defending your programs to other faculty, administrators, or political critics. The second book, From Access to Success, A Book of Readings on College Developmental Education and Learning Assistance Programs, edited by Martha Maxwell, is a compilation of 44 articles. H&H is particularly pleased that a person of Martha's renowned reputation would edit this work for us. We are currently working with Martha to produce other high quality professional publications.
I have used the LASSI with educationally-at-risk students, all African-Americans. I begin with a questionnaire they fill out concerning troubles they encounter in getting started in college. Invariably, their answers dovetail exactly with the LASSI scales. Then I have them take the LASSI and use the ten scales as topics for lectures used to teach my course. I then use the LASSI as a post-test instrument. These students enroll in a follow-up course the next term and many ask to take the LASSI again.
Although we do not use the LASSI for the next term, student enthusiasm about the instrument speaks for its success. I am now using the LASSI as part of my dissertation research as a doctoral candidate at North Carolina State University.
Just published this March are two new versions of LASSI: A Spanish version for students in the U.S., the Caribbean, or South America; and a special Spanish version for college students in Mexico.
Scoring of the Spanish version is identical to the scoring of the English version already in widespread use in the United States and a number of foreign countries.
These are the first two non-English versions of LASSI published by H&H, but the inventory has already been published in Switzerland and South Africa under agreements with other publishers. Negotiations are now under way for two other versions to be published outside the U.S.
The cross-culture effectiveness of LASSI has been a pleasant surprise. The major difficulty with these other versions of LASSI has been to maintain the meaning of each item instead of relying on any word-by-word translation. When successful, the resulting version is valid and reliable for its new, intended population.
Another new version comes in the form of the E-LASSI. We are very happy to introduce a version for the Macintosh. Please request a sample disk if you would like to see this user-friendly Macintosh version.
PEEK
PEEK, Perceptions, Expectations, Emotions, and Knowledge about College, is a new inventory published this spring of 1995. Authored by a team headed by Claire E. Weinstein, PEEK explores expectations and beliefs about college experiences. This 30-item inventory uses a self-report format and is easy to administer and score.
Expectations and belief systems frequently over-ride information or knowledge and can greatly influence success or failure. For example, students who believe mathematics is best learned by rote memorization, often ignore the fact that their professor emphasizes understanding. As another example, students who believe college is an environment for learning specific job skills may not properly attend to courses not directly related to job training.
Each PEEK statement is written from a student's perspective, but faculty, staff, and administrators can also take PEEK to assess their own beliefs about student perceptions and expectations. "From our extensive use of LASSI, we predict that each individual taking the PEEK will immediately benefit merely by the process of clarifying expectations," states Bob Hackworth, H&H President.
PEEK is formatted on a single, computer-scoring page. In classroom settings, the PEEK can be scored by hand, however, software is available with any PEEK purchase so that all scoring and record-keeping can be completed using either Scantron or NCR scanners. In addition, individual and group data will be provided for the following three categories (10 items per category): Academic experiences, Personal experiences, and Social experiences.
Unlike most inventories, there are no national norms or "correct" responses. PEEK scores will be unique to each institution or peer group within that institution. Each individual within a peer group will have a score that indicates the extent to which his/her expectations differ/agree with the peer group. Professional interventions can be planned for individuals whose expectations vary considerably from their peer group. When peer group scores vary considerably from institutional perceptions and expectations, PEEK can be used to help initiate actions to narrow the gaps.
PEEK is designed to identify differences within and between peer groups which may be valuable clues to developing programs to change inaccurate perceptions and expectations. For example, comparing the responses of first and second-year students may help to identify reasons for student success or failure. Comparing the responses of the faculty in an area to the responses of incoming and advanced students may help to identify mismatched expectations within or between each of the groups.
The uses of PEEK are expected to provide each institution a valuable source of information for adjusting and/or improving admissions, orientations, instruction, faculty development, counseling, and administration.
START
Workplace learning is a huge, decentralized undertaking which is often seemingly unrelated to learning in schools. That may be changing as governments (local, state, and federal) seek ways for improving the quality of their workforces. H&H has a new inventory published last spring and authored by Claire E. Weinstein. START, Strategic Assessment of Readiness for Training, assesses abilities to benefit from workplace learning experiences.
If your institution is becoming involved in workplace learning, you might want to see a review copy of START. To request a copy of START, please fill in form on page three of this publication.
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