Las Positas College
Graduation Survey
Survey of LPC students at
Graduation Ceremonies 2006
Las Positas Graduation Survey
 Describe demographic variables and educational
outcomes of LPC students attending Grad 2006
 Compare graduation students to the general LPC
population
 State the limitations of this survey and interpret results
within the confines of these limitations
 Connect gains in student knowledge, abilities,
attitudes with Core Competencies
Methodology
 Pen and paper survey
 Students attending graduation May 2006
 Given to students when registering
 Voluntary
 $50 raffle prize
Limitations
 Not a random sample
 Not generalizable to all graduates
 Not generalizable to all LPC students
 Self report
 Snapshot of a very specific cohort of
students
Results
 119 surveys returned
 Gender
 Male
 Female
33% (45% LPC S06)
67% (55% LPC S06)
 Age




21 or younger
22-29
30-39
40+
36%
22%
20%
22%
(44%)
(21%)
(13%)
(22%)
Results
 Race/Ethnicity






African American
Asian/Pac Island
Filipino
Latino/Hispanic
White
Other
3% ( 4%)
5% (10%)
3% ( 3%)
17% (14%)
60% (59%)
8% (10%)
Awards
 Awards
 Certificate
 AS
 AA
14
10
94
 Major
 Liberal Arts/General Studies 73
 Undeclared
2
 Specific Major
26
Results
 How long in years?





Under 2
2 years
2-3 years
3.5-4 years
4.5+ years
11%
19%
21%
21%
28%
Results
 Did you attend every term?
 Attended every term
 Skipped 1-3 terms
 Skipped more than a year
72%
13%
16%
 Did you attend mostly FT or PT?
 Full-time
50%
 Part-time
27%
 Mix of FT and PT 24%
Results
 How much paid work did you usually do?
 No paid work
 Mostly part-time
 Mostly full-time
16%
40%
35%
 Did you attend other colleges during this
program?
 No
70%
 Yes, Chabot
19%
 Yes, other college 19%
Results
 What is your overall GPA?





Below 2.0
2.0-2.49
2.5-2.9
3.0-3.49
3.5+
0%
10%
5%
40%
45%
(32%)
(12%)
(15%)
(18%)
(23%)
Results
 Are you:





A parent
26%
A single parent
7%
Disabled
6%
First to attend college 11%
First to earn a college degree 28%
Results
 Plans for Fall







Work: I already have a job
Work: I’m looking for a job
Work at home caring for family
Transfer to a 4 yr college
Continue at LPC or another clg
Attend other training program
No specific plans
39%
12%
4%
50%
23%
3%
3%
Results
 If working, are you planning to:
 Work in a new career
 Work in a new job or advance
in same career
 Use knowledge in present career
21%
30%
49%
Self-Reported Skill Development
 Compared to when you first entered LPC,
how would you describe yourself now in the
following knowledge, skills, abilities?
 Asked to self-rate 34 academic and affective
areas
 5 point scale
 Much Weaker
Much Stronger
 Modeled on a Q from national survey
Self-Reported Skill Development
 Refer to handout for detailed frequencies
and averages
 Q has been asked on many LPC Surveys
 Student Satisfaction Surveys 2001, 2003, 2005
 Incoming Student Inventory 2005
 Graduation Survey 2006
Self-Reported Skill Development
Areas of Greatest Gains (Scale 1-5, Range 3.94-4.30)
Skills
Skills I can use in my current or future career
AVG
4.30
Writing Skills
4.28
Discovering my own potential
4.28
Oral communication and speaking skills
4.25
Understanding myself- abilities, interests, limitations
4.24
Ability to learn on my own, pursue ideas, find information
4.22
Performing to the best of my abilities
4.22
Critical thinking
4.21
Recognizing my own biases and values
4.19
Ability to get along with different kinds of people
4.19
Self-Reported Skill Development
 New to Graduation Survey: Attribution
 How much of that change is due to your
experiences at LPC such as courses, student
services, extra-curricular activities?
 3 point scale
 Not at all
Somewhat
Very much
Self Reported Skill Development
Highest Attribution (Scale 1-3, range 2.03-2.52)
Writing Skills
Gathering information from multiple sources
Critical thinking
Skills I can use in my current or future career
Oral communication and speaking skills
Mathematical skills and abilities
Understanding myself- abilities, interests, limitations
Using logic to draw conclusions from information
Apply my knowledge to new situations to solve problems
Using numerical data
2.52
2.45
2.41
2.40
2.38
2.35
2.30
2.29
2.27
2.26
Self Reported Skill Development
Lowest Attribution (Scale 1-3, Range 2.02-2.52)
Accepting responsibility for my own actions
Exhibiting personal, professional, and academic honesty
Awareness of my civic or community responsibilities
Demonstrating respect for rights, views, work of others
Clarity of my own values and ethical standards
Desire to contribute to my community/Society
Ability to use computers effectively
Appreciation of my role in a democratic society
Listening effectively
Developing clear career goals
2.02
2.03
2.03
2.05
2.05
2.05
2.11
2.12
2.13
2.13
Fun with Data
 Look what we can do
Table 2:Average Self-Reported Strength/Gains:
EXPO 05, Continuing 01, Graduation 06,
EXPO
2005**
(Strength)
Continuing
2001*
(Gains)
Graduation
2006*
(Gains)
(n=263)
(n=564)
(n=119)
Math skills and abilities
2.82
3.63
4.00
Critical Thinking
3.44
3.78
4.21
Awareness of my civic/community responsibilities
3.37
3.41
4.04
Learning to work cooperatively with others
4.03
3.70
4.09
* = Scale: 1=much weaker, 2= weaker, 3 = no change, 4 = stronger, 5= much stronger
** = Scale: 1 = very weak, 2 = weak, 3 = neither weak nor strong, 4 = strong, 5 = very strong
Fun with Core Competencies
 Each of the 34 skills connect to one of the
College Core Competencies
 Reading Skills
Communication
 Discovering my own potential
Respect and
Responsibility
 Groupings can be reshuffled as needed
 Part of the “evidence” of student learning
 Does not replace class/program level
assessment of learning