Basic Technology Skills Assessment
AVOIDING CRASHES ON THE
INFORMATION SUPER HIGHWAY
By Matt Butcher & Andra Goldberg
Mohave Community College
Mohave Community
College has 5
campus sites in the
5th largest county in
the United States.
THE SITUATION
High tutoring demand for CIS classes – 2nd only
to Math
 Requests from adjunct faculty for better
placement or prerequisite courses in some
classes
 CIS classes required across curriculum
 Advisors notice student frustration with Angel,
My Math Lab, My Skills Tutor, and online
registration system

A SOLUTION?
CIS Faculty recommended a Technology
Assessment during program review of 2009
 How to implement?
 Dean of Students approved pilot of Angel
delivered assessment in Spring 2011
 Bumps in the road – who manages it, who
delivers it, and how is the data interpreted?


Prezi
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
•
Development of basic skills evaluation tool
•
Implementation – cooperation of Student Services
and technology staff
•
Cost constraints – faculty developed their own
exam question pool
•
Angel course developed to house assessment and
track student progress
PILOT OF ASSESSMENT
•
Procedures developed with Student Services –
20 questions from a pool of 50 – need 85% to
enroll in courses higher than CIS 110 Introduction
to CIS
•
Advising guidelines only – college policy to be
developed based on results of pilot
•
Access and tracking of assessment scores
EVALUATION OF NEW PROCEDURE
•
Student success in classes where introductory level
technology classes were completed before taking
online courses
•
Tutoring resources – changes in student requests
for tutoring in technology and online courses
DISTRIBUTION
16
16
14
12
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
4
2
2
2
0
Did not
Enroll
ORT
PCS
TRE/TRM
CIS 105
>CIS 105
Online
FINDINGS





Average Score 85%
Sampled 40/650 – those that scored at or below 65
16.25% of this sample scored below 65/100 points –
within the 85% success rate parameters
Most students did not sign up for any classes – 40% students waiting for Spring 2012 classes
Of those that did –




35%
10%
23%
5%
needed developmental courses
enrolled in CIS 105
enrolled in courses higher than CIS 105
enrolled in online classes
CONCLUSIONS
Need to wait to see if students that scored low
are still successful in online or higher level CIS
classes
 Is reading a factor? – students that scored low
also appear to be scoring low in
reading/writing/math

CONCLUSIONS - CONTINUED

What is preventing students from
enrolling in classes?
 July
and August tested students – are they
waiting for January or Financial Aid issues?
 Are they discouraged with low Reading,
Math, and Tech scores?
 Waiting for more data – need completion
rates of these students for this semester
DISCUSSION WITH THE GROUP
•
Prerequisite courses versus assessment tools
•
Advising and testing services constraints – staff,
training, logistics – students taking 3 and 4 tests
before starting classes
•
Budget issues regarding assessment demands –
very low with Angel – but difficult to access data in
a useable format