Using Peer Reviewed
Research to Teach Reading,
Critical Thinking and
Information Literacy in
Student Success Courses
Dr. Christine Harrington
Middlesex County College
charrington@middlesexcc.edu
New Jersey Council of County Colleges
Best Practice Conference
2012
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
1
EXPECT
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
2
What are your learning outcomes?
What skills
do college
students
need?
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
3
SSD 101-Learning Outcomes
1. Discuss and apply study skills and student success
research to daily practices as a college student.
2. Identify and critically evaluate information related to
success in college.
3. Develop personally meaningful oral, visual, and written
summaries of student success concepts.
4. Identify and engage in productive and ethical student
behaviors.
5. Demonstrate effective interpersonal skills in groups and
connections outside of the classroom.
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
4
Student Success Research
• Credibility for
students and campus
• Beyond “advice”
• Research based
practice
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
5
QUESTION: SHOULD YOU POST YOUR
POWER POINT SLIDES
FOR STUDENT USE?
1. Before
2. After
3. Not at all
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
6
Babb, K. A., & Ross, C. (2009). The timing
of online lecture slide availability and its
effect on attendance, participation, and
exam performance. Computers &
Education, 52(4), 868-881.
doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2008.12.009
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
7
The Study
175 College
Students
Power Point
Available
BEFORE Lecture
Final Grades
Attendance
Participation
Power Point
Available
AFTER Lecture
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
8
Average Attendance
Babb & Ross (2009)
Significant Difference
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
9
Average Participation
Babb & Ross (2009)
Significant Difference!
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
10
Exam Performance
Class
BEFORE
Average Exam
Performance
AFTER
Average Exam
Performance
Research Methods
69.49 (SD 11.61)
66.75 (SD 11.35)
Cognitive
Development
70.25 (SD 11.75)
68.91 (SD 12.49)
NOT Significantly Different!
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
11
Student Success Research:
Doing What Works!
Reading
Information
Literacy
Critical Thinking
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
12
GIVE
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
13
Support
• Believe in their Ability
• Tasks within Reach:
Breaking it down
• Tutorials and Models
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
14
Knight, L. J., & McKelvie, S. J. (1986).
Effects of attendance, note-taking,
and review on memory for a
lecture: Encoding vs. external
storage functions of notes. Canadian
Journal of Behavioral Science, 18(1),
p. 52-61.
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
15
Purpose of Study:
Note-taking
Note-reviewing
• Encoding function
• External storage function
What matters more?
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
16
Method
144 Students
• 7 Sections of
Psychology
CourseRandomly
assigned
Watched
video on
Nature of
Consciousness
(if condition
required this;
some took
notes)
Study (if
condition
required this;
some
reviewed own
and some
reviewed
professor
notes)
Multiple
Choice and
Short Answer
Test
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
17
7 Conditions
1. Took Notes, Reviewed Own Notes
2. Took Notes, No Review
3. Took Notes, Reviewed Professor Notes
4. Did Not Take Notes, No Review
5. Did Not Take Notes, Reviewed Professor Notes
6. Did Not Attend, Reviewed Professor Notes
7. Did Not Attend Lecture; Did Not Review
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
18
THE RESULTS!
Mean Test Score
(max was 35)
Best to worst
performance
Took Notes, Reviewed Own Notes
14.16
4
Took Notes, No Review
10.04
6
Took Notes, Reviewed Lecture Notes
18.76
1
Did Not Take Notes, No Review
10.88
5
Did Not Take Notes, Reviewed Lecture
Notes
17.15
2
Did Not Attend, Reviewed Lecture Notes 16.89
3
Did Not Attend Lecture; Did Not Review
7
9.96
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
19
So What?
Storage is more important than encoding
Reviewing
Complete,
Thorough
Notes is
Important!!
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
20
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
21
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
22
GET
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
23
Students:
• High academic self-efficacy
• Know what student success
strategies work
• Know value of peer reviewed
research
• Comfortable using databases
and reading research
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
24
Does this approach work?
Our population:
Community college
students who need 2
or more
developmental
courses
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
25
Assessment Data:
The Course is More Rigorous
70
65.3
62.6
60
50
40
30
21.6
24.9
2007/2008
2010/2011
20
10
2007/2008
1931 Students
0
2010/2011
2996 Students
A,B, or C Grade in Course
F Grade in Course
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
26
Assessment Data:
Good News- Lower Withdrawal Rates
9
8.1
8
7
6.4
6
5
2007/2008
2010/2011
4
3
2
1
2007/2008
1931 Students
0
Withdrawal Rate
2010/2011
2996 Students
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
27
Assessment Data:
Good News- Higher Retention Rates
76.4
76.3
76.2
76
75.8
2007
2010
75.6
75.4
75.3
75.2
2007
749 Students
75
74.8
Fall-Spring Retention
2010
1594 Students
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
28
Assessment Data:
Good News- GPA
2.05
2.01
2
1.98
1.95
1.92
2007/2008
2010/2011
1.9
1.86
1.85
1.8
2007/2008
1931 Students
1.75
2010/2011
2996 Students
Cumulative GPA
Term GPA
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
29
The PopulationIt’s Working Despite More Students in
Lowest Developmental Courses
1000
863
900
800
700
600
500
400
428
368
2007/2008
2010/2011
300
200
63
100
0
RDG 009
ENG 009
2007/2008
1931 Students
19% RDG 009
2010/2011
2996 Students
29% RDG 009
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
30
SSD 101 Data
• Presentation Rubric:
• Consistent scores of 3+ on 4 point scale
• Self-assessment:
• Ability to locate and identify components
of research studies
• General Course: 74%
• Course with Research: 81%
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
31
SSD 101 Fall 2011 Data
Direct Measures:
• 74.83% correctly
answered question on
PSYCINFO
• 71.03% correctly
answered question on
value of peer reviewed
research
n= 449
Indirect Measures:
• 78.38% agreed or
strongly agreed that
they could student
success research to
daily practices
• 76.67%
agreed/strongly agreed
that they could
identify and evaluate
information
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
32
HOW?
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
33
Zooming in on Research Worksheet
Introduction:
What question did the researcher seek to
answer?
Method:
Who participated in the study? What did the
researchers ask the participants to do?
Results:
What were the findings?
Application:
So What?
How can you use this information as a student?
What should we do with this information?
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
34
Howard (2000)
Research Question:
Does taking a student success
course help students
• Feel more prepared for
college
• Be more confident
• Know about campus
resources and study skills
• Have a stronger commitment
to a college major?
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
35
The Study
154 College
students
completed
questionnaires
Took Student
Success course
Students
completed
questionnaires
again
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
36
The Results!
Students reported high levels of preparation,
confidence, and knowledge of resources and
study skills
No difference in commitment to career was
found
Regardless of high school performance, all
students scored higher at the end of the course
(though students with lower GPA learned more
about study skills)
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
37
The So What Factor!
• Student success courses are
valuable
• All students (even high achieving
ones) benefitted from the course
• Career decision often leads to
exploration first and commitment
later
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
38
Here’s the Plan:
Teach the “elements” of research
studies
No Stakes- Read with Modeling
Low to Moderate Stakes- Individual or
Group Assignments
In Class Peer Review and Support
Feedback, Review and More Models
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
39
Reading, Critical Thinking and
Information Literacy
Reading
• What do you do when
you don’t know a
word?
• Taking notes while
reading
• Extracting key ideas
and points
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
40
Reading, Critical Thinking and
Information Literacy
Critical Thinking
• Can the results of the
study apply to you?
• How do you know the
findings are accurate?
• Look for additional
evidence!
• What else should the
researchers investigate?
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
41
Reading, Critical Thinking and
Information Literacy
Information Literacy
• How do you access
information?
• What type of information is
available?
• How do you evaluate
whether the information is
credible?
• Where do you find scholarly
sources like journal articles?
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
42
Work Collaboratively with Other
Departments on Campus
• Library
• English
• Communications
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
43
Questions?
Contact Dr. Christine Harrington at
charrington@middlesexcc.edu
THANK YOU:
KEEP EXPECTING
SUCCESS!
Christine Harrington, Middlesex County College, charrington@middlesexcc.edu
44