Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Occupational Therapy Holistic Admissions At A Public, Urban Research University: Process, Outcomes, And Transitions, Ashley Stoffel, Dalmina Arias, Toni Van Denend, Caitlin Smith, Jenica Lee, Maria Larson, Gail Fisher

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Implementing a holistic admissions process reflecting the mission of the university provides the means to expand enrollment of students from diverse backgrounds who have life experiences and values that are well matched to the communities they serve. This article explores the historical significance, outcomes, and transitions of a holistic admissions process in a public, urban research university.

The holistic admission process outlined in this article offers a balanced and equitable approach to student selection by considering a broad array of backgrounds, experiences, and attributes beyond traditional metrics, such as grades. With a commitment to inclusivity, access, and belonging, the department …

The Effects Of Fluency Building On Undergraduate Student Performance, Lauren B. Shibley

Dissertations

Online learning has become integral to higher education, with enrollment steadily increasing over the past decade and accelerating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research highlights the importance of flexibility, learner autonomy, and self-regulated learning skills in this environment, with studies demonstrating that strategies such as mastery-based, self-paced instruction, fluency training, and timely feedback support student engagement and academic success. Early work adapting personalized instruction for online use (Pear & Crone-Todd, 1999) and subsequent studies on fluency practice (Quigley et al., 2018; Urbina et al., 2019) emphasize how these supports can improve concept retention. Despite these advances, more quantitative research is needed …

The Need For ‘Soft Skills’ In Occupational Therapy Curricula: A Descriptive Analysis Of French Students’ Internship Comments, Cynthia Engels, Nadia Oubaya, Aliki Thomas

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

A competent occupational therapist needs soft skills. Although the French national occupational therapy (OT) curriculum lists 10 competences to be acquired, they do not include soft skills. The objectives of this study were to (a) Identify the proportion of soft skills in OT students’ internship comments written by internship tutors and (b) characterize the mentioned soft skills to help determine whether and which soft skills should be included in the new OT curriculum nationwide in France. This was a qualitative descriptive analysis of tutors’ comments on internship evaluations based on the framework method. Of the 1060 internship reports, 1035 (98%) …

Transgressive Body, Open Mind, And Perceptive Spirit For Nurturing Soul: A Reflection On Teaching To Transgress, Akie F. Wenk

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

In this reflection essay, I discuss my journey into the liberatory pedagogy bell hooks champions. As a foreign-born Japanese woman, who speaks English as her second language, being in the classroom itself can be seen as a transgressive act. Positioning myself as an educator who strives to creates an environment that is liberatory for me and my students, I discuss my specific experience and relationship to theories surrounding critical feminist pedagogy and how I practice these theories in my own classroom.

Journal Of Communication Pedagogy, Complete Volume, 2025

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Faculty & Student Insights: Setting And Achieving Goals In Experience Driven Learning, Ashlyn Kuersten, Luchara Wallace, Jacklyn Brickman, Kailyn Howe, Jordan Johnson, Lisa Trapp

Measures of Success Series

Hear directly from faculty and students who have successfully implemented experience-driven learning projects at Western Michigan University. This moderated panel features 2024 Venture Grant winners sharing insights on goal-setting, progress tracking, and measuring success in real-world learning. The panel was moderated by Evan Heiser, and panelists included Ashlyn Kuersten and student colleague Kailyn Howe; Luchara Wallace and student colleague Jordan Johnson; and Jacklyn Brickman and student colleague Lisa Trapp.

Estimating And Applying Parameters Necessary To Plan Cluster Randomized Trials (Crts) And Multisite Cluster Randomized Trials (Mscrts), Dea Mulolli

Dissertations

Cluster randomized trials (CRTs) are commonly used to study the effectiveness of educational interventions. During the design phase of a study, it is critical for researchers to ensure their studies are adequately powered to detect meaningful treatment effects, including both main and moderator effects. Designing CRTs with adequate power to detect main and moderator effects requires accurate estimates of design parameters. This research aims to advance the literature on design parameters for power analyses, specifically focusing on empirical estimates of intraclass correlations (ICCs). The work consists of three research papers that examine the role of including the teacher level in …

(Non)Cognitive Dissonance? A Stakeholder-Based Exploration Of The Consideration Of Graduate Admissions Applicants' Personal Skills And Qualities, Reginald M. Gooch, Joseph H. Paris, Sara B. Haviland, Jose Sotelo

Journal of College Access

Prospective graduate students’ noncognitive attributes are commonly evaluated as a part of a holistic review of their admission applications. Yet it is difficult to determine which noncognitive attributes are considered by those who evaluate graduate admissions applications and what approaches they take to measure applicants’ noncognitive attributes. It is even less clear to what degree prospective graduate students understand how they are evaluated for graduate admissions and how the evaluation of their noncognitive attributes factor into admissions decisions. Drawing on surveys of graduate enrollment management (GEM) professionals and prospective graduate students in the United States, our study investigates the noncognitive …

From Pre-College Grads To Undergrads: Encouraging Full-Time Enrollment After Summer Programs, Meghan Buckley Ph.D.

Journal of College Access

This guest perspective argues that converting in-person summer pre-college program participants into matriculated, degree-seeking undergraduate students at that same institution is a multi-step process that involves: 1) strategic pre-college program recruitment, 2) a curated and well-rounded summer pre-college experience that is both academically rigorous and socially dynamic, and 3) continued and consistent post-program engagement. It also argues that summer pre-college programs should work intentionally with Admissions departments during pre- and post-program development to create the most effective recruiting and enrollment pipelines from pre-college to eventual matriculation

Associations Between Learning Environment And Study Satisfaction Across Time: Two Cross-Sectional Analyses Of Occupational Therapy Students, Gry Mørk, Susanne G. Johnson, Astrid Gramstad, Linda Stigen, Tove Carstensen, Tore Bonsaksen

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

There is increasing attention toward students’ satisfaction and how they perceive the quality of the program they attend. This study examined stability and change across time with regard to the relationships between learning environment factors and occupational therapy students’ satisfaction with the program. In the two consecutive cross-sectional analyses performed in this study, 163 second-year students and 193 third-year students from all six occupational therapy education programs in Norway participated. The Course Experience Questionnaire was used to assess learning environment factors and study satisfaction. The data were analyzed with Pearson’s correlation coefficient r and with hierarchical linear regression. Bivariate associations …

Gathering Student Voices: A Qualitative Assessment Of Learning And Experiences At Merze Tate College, Bonnie Pfingst

Assessment Grants

This mini-grant proposal seeks funding to gather qualitative data through interviews and focus groups, exploring student learning and experiences at Merze Tate College. Analyzing this data will provide valuable insights for both marketing and quality improvement initiatives. The project aligns with Merze Tate College's commitment to DEI work and excellence in student engagement. A student employee will be hired to assist with data collection and analysis, ensuring student perspectives are directly integrated into the project. The findings will inform strategic decision-making, leading to enhanced marketing materials that resonate with prospective students and improved programs and services that better meet the …

Formative Assessment Of Writing To Improve Exit Portfolios, Anderson Hagler

Assessment Grants

In one semester students will attend six hybrid workshops hosted by the Department of World Religions and Cultures. Each workshop will address the mechanics and components of persuasive writing to assist the department’s graduate students with assigned coursework. Students will read one assigned textbook and assess their peers’ writing samples using rubrics provided by the instructor. Doing so will help to develop a cohort and improve the quality of writing for assigned coursework as well as the final exit portfolio.

Lee Honors College - Assessing College-Wide Student Learning Outcomes, Anthony Helms, Ajani Wilson

Assessment Grants

The goal of this project is to review the LHC SLOS and accompanying assessment plan and to launch the first data collection from LHC alumni. The Lee Honors College (LHC) created college-wide student learning outcomes (SLO) for the first time in 2019. Due to unforeseen changes in college staffing, the assessment plan for the SLOS has never been implemented. Funding for this proposal would allow the LHC to provide compensation for a WMU graduate student to make the implementation of our assessment plan their sole focus to ensure a smooth transition from design to data collection, storage system and analysis. …

Bcm Assessment Update Application, Marie Moreno

Assessment Grants

This grant application seeks support for the BCM Department to address challenges in teaching professional writing in today’s educational landscape. The plan involves collaborating with the Haworth Communication Center, attending a webinar on teaching underprepared students, creating a workshop for students, and updating assessments in the BCM 1420 curriculum based on the results and experiences. Aligned with university goals, this proposal will empower faculty and students, foster community building, and promote equity and inclusion. It supports students’ retention, academic success, and intellectual and occupational well-being. Emphasizing continuous improvement and data-informed decision-making, the budget covers webinar expenses and workshop coordination.

The Value Of 360-Degree Assessment In Higher Education, Daniela Schroeter, Heather Jach Turner

Assessment Grants

This assessment project aims to examine the value of 360-degree assessment for higher education with the goals of (a) enhancing undergraduate and graduate students' learning experiences and outcomes, (b) developing an assessment toolbox for broad dissemination, (c) fostering curriculum alignment, and (d) contributing to program and unit level learning outcomes assessment while keeping a strong alignment with WMU’s strategic priorities. Funding will be applied toward strategic examination of data derived from exploratory implementation of 360-degree assessment within four School of Public Affairs and Administration courses. Dissemination products include a 360-degree assessment toolbox, presentations and reports, and possible journal manuscripts.

Identification Of Interventions To Elevate The Sense Of Belonging Of Lgbtqia+ Students Of Haworth College Of Business: A Qualitative Study, Ann Veeck, Robert Harrison

Assessment Grants

Sense of belonging has been found to be positively associated with multiple important traits related to student success. Conducted in spring 2023, a survey conducted of Haworth College of Business (HCOB) undergraduate students (n=1,140) found that students who identify as LGBTQAI+ (n=) have a significantly lower sense of belonging at HCOB. The proposed grant will provide funding for a set of focus groups to probe as to why LGBTQAI+ students report a lower sense of belonging and to help identify interventions to elevate the sense of belonging of these students.

Developing A Graduate Program Assessment Plan For The Department Of History, Bill Warren

Assessment Grants

The WMU Department of History's assessment and graduate studies committees propose to develop a graduate program assessment plan. The department has not had an assessment plan for its graduate programs. The department's assessment and graduate studies committees will work together to develop a comprehensive plan to assess a sample of students' written work on an annual basis; conduct annual surveys with students to gauge their satisfaction with the program; and also examine the Graduate Student Annual Activity Reports (GSAARs). The papers, surveys, and GSAARs would then be used to determine the effectiveness of the MA and PhD programs and decide …

Refining The Fashion Merchandising And Design Program Assessment Components, Mary Simpson, Chitra Singh, Zee-Sun Yun

Assessment Grants

To establish a strong and consistent assessment foundation, a program level assessment plan needs to be reevaluated periodically. The overarching goal of this project is to refine the current assessment plan of the Fashion Merchandising and Design program, which includes three components: curriculum evaluation, student learning outcomes, and student exit survey. Particularly, this proposal addresses two main assessment focus areas: i) alignment of the capstone course outcomes and assessments to the program-level outcomes and ii) refining the student exit survey as a tool for program-level assessment. In addition, this project aligns with assessment goals of the program accreditation Textile and …

Closing The Loop: Data-Informed Decisions For Program Success, Megan Slayter

Measures of Success Series

Join Megan Slayter, Professor and Associate Director from the School of Theatre and Dance, as she shares about the multi-year process that she and her colleagues used to develop one example learning outcome to assess the Bachelor of Arts in Dance program, “students are able to articulate and apply a personal aesthetic related to their career goals”. Along the way, she will discuss the tools used for this process, and show how dance faculty integrated assessment data with understanding of the changing landscape of the field of dance to make data-informed decisions to prepare students for success in a wide …

Learning From Our Assessment Heroes: The 2023 Mini Grant Recipients, Office Of Institutional Effectiveness

Measures of Success Series

Come and meet the 2023 University Assessment Steering Committee’s Assessment Mini Grant awardees. Learn about key accomplishments of these WMU instructors and administrators as they share highlights from their assessment projects focused in a variety of subjects and areas ranging from anthropology, finance and commercial law, geological and environmental sciences, Fulbright Foreign Student Program, history, and interdisciplinary health.

The Possibility Of Cognitive Kindness, Karen Yu

Measures of Success Series

Empowering everyone’s very best thinking has perhaps never mattered more. And yet for all the value that colleges and universities place on learning and thinking, we often work in ways that are forcefully counter to this goal. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can be more cognitively kind. Across various levels and aspects of higher education, we’ll explore some ways to intentionally apply what science tells us about how our minds work to design interactions, processes, and spaces that better empower and liberate each person’s full cognitive potential. Along the way, we’ll also see how cognitive kindness can …

Osces’ Impact On Occupational Therapy Student Learning: Insights From Second- And Third-Year Focus Groups, Craig R. St. Jean, Karin Werther, Mary R. Roberts

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) are widely used in health programs to assess clinical skills. We present results of a qualitative study investigating occupational therapy students’ perceptions of OSCEs’ impact on their learning and readiness for clinical practice.

Method: Six second and six third year students in the University of Alberta’s Master of Science in Occupational Therapy program were interviewed in separate focus groups. Independent reviewers applied thematic analysis to the focus group transcripts to identify, analyze, and report themes in the data.

Results: Five themes were constructed from the data: from learning to action, transition …

A Critical Comparison Of Answering Behavior Threshold Determination Methods As An Indicator Of Engagement On The 2015 Pisa Science Items, Lauri Elizabeth Mackelburg-Davis

Dissertations

The validity of low-stakes achievement tests is questionable when disengaged answering (i.e., rapid-guessing and rapid-omitting) is present in even moderate amounts. Thus, identifying these disengaged test-takers is important so that statistical or behavior mediation practices can be put into place. The first step in identifying disengaged examinees is to determine the divide between the engaged examinees and those that are disengaged. Many methods for discriminating between disengaged from engaged answering behavior on computer generated assessments exist. Many methods require expertise in statistical methods, while others require little to no mathematics knowledge. However, these simpler methods are routinely used with little …

Unpacking And Illustrating Coiro’S Multifaceted Heuristic Of Digital Reading Through The Development Of The Cot-R Assessment, Jodi Pilgrim, Sheri Vasinda

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Although much research exists on digital reading, confusion about literacy terminology persists. Inspired by a recent article in Reading Research Quarterly, the authors explore a multifaceted heuristic of digital reading developed by Julie Coiro. The heuristic, which offers a way to systematically organize, label, and define complex terms, concepts, and practices related to digital reading experiences, served as a reference point to examine the authors’ journey of defining digital reading. Highlighting three aspects of Coiro’s heuristic--text, activity, and context--the authors begin by describing the development of an authentic online reading assessment instrument (COT-R), which focuses on elementary students’ processes of …

The Basic Communication Course And College Student Retention: A Longitudinal Analysis, David E. Schneider, Jennifer D. Mccullough

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

This longitudinal study examined the relationship between two formats of the basic communication course (BCC) and first-year college student retention over a four-year period. Chi-square and logistic regression models indicated students who completed the BCC were more likely to be retained than those who did not complete the BCC. While completing the BCC was associated with retention for both formats, the hybrid BCC format was more consistently related to retention than the public speaking BCC. Students from certain demographic groups who completed the hybrid BCC were retained more frequently than students from the same demographic who did not complete the …

School Accountability Within The Dominican Republic: A Qualitative Study Of School Principals’ Beliefs And Knowledge, Massiel Cohen Camacho

Dissertations

The school accountability system in the Dominican Republic (DR) involves the use of several national assessments, the reporting of such data, and the training of principals on how to use such data as part of school improvement efforts. While this type of indicator accountability system does not include specific consequences, there is still significant measuring and reporting of student achievement data, with the implied connotation of teacher and principal responsibility for specific school outcomes. The problem addressed in this study was the lack of research on what school principals know about such school accountability in the DR, and how they …

Sequential Simulations During Introductory Part-Time Fieldwork: Design, Implementation, And Student Satisfaction, Kaitlin R. Sibbald, Diane E. Mackenzie

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Simulation is used in various ways in occupational therapy education and is recognized as a replacement for some conventional fieldwork hours. However, design and student satisfaction has had limited exploration.

Method: Sequential best practice simulations were designed for Level 1 fieldwork objectives in mental and musculoskeletal practice. The Satisfaction with Simulation Education scale (SSES) and qualitative feedback were used to assess student satisfaction. An exploratory factor analysis was used to validate the SSES in occupational therapy, and a three-factor repeated measures ANOVA was used to determine factors contributing to satisfaction across simulations.

Results: A three-factor model …

Occupational Therapy Curricula Patterns For Acquired Brain Injury-Related Vision Disorders For Entry-Level Programs: A Survey, Laura Schmeiser, Alicia Reiser, Caitlyn Foy

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapists are among the first providers to encounter individuals after an acquired brain injury (ABI). Evidence suggests that most occupational therapists learn about ABI-related vision disorders from continuing education and on-the-job training. A better understanding of entry-level curricula patterns for ABI-related vision disorders is important because of their high prevalence and impact on occupational performance. A descriptive online survey was administered to occupational therapy educators at ACOTE-accredited entry-level programs to explore curricula patterns for ABI-related vision disorders. Of 1,391 occupational therapy educators invited to participate, 71 (5%) began the survey, and 66 met the inclusion criteria. Vision screening methods …

Fulbright Foreign Student Program At Wmu Assessment Of Student Needs & Support, Michelle Metro-Rolland

Assessment Grants

Funding is sought to conduct a survey and focus groups with the Fulbright Foreign Students (FFS) at Western Michigan University and recent Fulbright graduates in order to assess student needs and better align program support. Fulbright students are supported by the Fulbright Foreign Student Advisor who liaisons with the placement agencies, departments, and international admissions as well as provides guidance to students in navigating university bureaucracy. The FSA also provides cultural programming.

Take A Bite Out Of Health Disparities, Betty D. Dennis

Assessment Grants

In spring 2023, the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) launched a new lunch and learn series called “Take a bite out of health disparities.” Speakers, internal and external to CHHS, are invited to lead informal conversations about four specialty topics to address the myriad of individual, environmental, and social factors that contribute to these various health disparities. We also discuss the intersectionality of race, gender, and sexual identity. The goal is to teach faculty, staff, and students in health services their role in teaching compassionate care. We will expand this series in 2023-2024 by adding new topics and …