Las Positas College
Graduation Survey
Survey of LPC students at
Graduation Ceremonies 2008
Las Positas Graduation Survey
 Describe demographic variables and educational
outcomes of LPC students attending Grad 2008
 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 2008
 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
 142 surveys returned
 Gender
 Male
 Female
32% (45% LPC S08)
68% (55% LPC S08)
 Age




21 or younger
22-29
30-39
40+
43%
35%
11%
11%
(45%)
(23%)
(12%)
(19%)
Results
 Race/Ethnicity






African American
Asian/Pac Island
Filipino
Latino/Hispanic
White
Other
2008
5%
12%
3%
15%
60%
5%
LPC 2008
(5%)
(12%)
(4%)
(15%)
(53%)
(12%)
Awards
 Awards
 Certificate
 AS
 AA
2008
21
10
108
2006
14
10
94
 Major
 Liberal Arts/ Gen’l Studies
 Undeclared
 Specific Major
90
4
26
73
2
26
Results
 How long in years
2008




Under 2
2-3 years
3-4 years
4+ years
2%
47%
27%
23%
Results
 Did you attend every term?
 Attended every term
 Skipped 1-3 terms
 Skipped more than a year
2008
79%
14%
7%
2006
72%
13%
16%
 Did you attend mostly FT or PT?
 Full-time
 Part-time
 Mix of FT and PT
2008
54%
26%
20%
2006
50%
27%
24%
Results
 How much paid work did you usually do?
 No paid work
 Mostly part-time
 Mostly full-time
2008
11%
60%
30%
2006
16%
40%
35%
 Did you attend other colleges during this
program?
 No
 Yes, Chabot
 Yes, other college
2008
77%
11%
12%
2006
70%
19%
19%
Results
 What is your overall GPA?





Below 2.0
2.0-2.49
2.5-2.9
3.0-3.49
3.5+
2008
0%
9%
18%
64%
10%
All LPC
(32%)
(12%)
(15%)
(17%)
(21%)
Results
 Are you:





2008
A parent
18%
A single parent
9%
Disabled
4%
First to attend college
12%
First to earn a college degree 26%
2006
26%
7%
6%
11%
28%
Results
 Plans for Fall







2008
Work: I already have a job
37%
Work: I’m looking for a job
11%
Work at home caring for family
2%
Transfer to a 4 yr college
45%
Continue at LPC or another clg 32%
Attend other training program
5%
No specific plans
1%
2006
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
2008
29%
2006
21%
41%
31%
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, 2007
 Incoming Student Inventory 2005, 2007, 2008
 Graduation Survey 2006, 2008
Self-Reported Skill Development
Areas of Greatest Gains (Scale 1-5, Range 4.25-4.38)
Skills
Skills I can use in my current or future career*
AVG
4.38
Writing Skills*
4.35
Oral communication and speaking skills*
4.33
Discovering my own potential*
4.33
Performing to the best of my abilities*
4.32
Understanding myself- abilities, interests, limitations*
4.32
Developing clear career goals
4.31
Gathering information from multiple sources
4.29
Listening effectively
4.25
Critical thinking*
4.25
* Also highest in 2006
Self-Reported Skill Development
 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 2.27-2.44)
Writing Skills*
Oral communication and speaking skills*
Skills I can use in my current or future career*
Discovering my own potential
Using logic to draw conclusions from information*
Ability to set goals and develop strategies to reach them
Gathering information from multiple sources*
Apply my knowledge to new situations to solve problems*
Performing to the best of my abilities
Critical thinking*
* Also highest in 2006
2.44
2.43
2.35
2.33
2.30
2.30
2.30
2.29
2.29
2.27
Self Reported Skill Development
Lowest Attribution (Scale 1-3, Range 2.00-2.09)
Overall technological literacy
Appreciation for the arts/role that art plays in society
Clarity of my own values and ethical standards*
Appreciation of my role in a democratic society*
Accepting responsibility for my own actions*
Ability to meet challenges of a rapidly-changing society
Awareness of my civic or community responsibilities*
Ability to use computers effectively*
Exhibiting personal, professional, and academic honesty*
Demonstrating respect for rights, views, work of others*
* Also lowest in 2006
2.09
2.08
2.08
2.08
2.07
2.06
2.03
2.02
2.02
2.00
Self-Reported Skill Development
Areas of Lowest Gains (Scale 1-5, Range 4.15-3.97)
Clarity of my own values and ethical standards*
4.15
Reading Skills*
Ability to read, interpret, and generate charts and graphs*
4.13
4.13
Desire to contribute to my community/Society*
Awareness of my civic or community responsibilities*
4.09
4.09
Using numerical data*
Mathematical skills and abilities*
Appreciation for the Art/ the role art plays in Society*
4.05
4.04
4.02
Overall technological literacy*
Ability to use computers effectively*
3.99
3.97
* Also lowest in 2006
Fun with Data
 Look what we can do
Table 2:Average Self-Reported Strength/Gains:
EXPO 08, Continuing 07, Graduation 08
EXPO
2008**
(Strength)
Continuing
F 2007*
(Gains)
Graduation
2008*
(Gains)
(n=456)
(n=960)
(n=142)
Math skills and abilities
3.02
3.60
4.04
Critical Thinking
3.62
3.75
4.25
Awareness of my civic/community responsibilities
3.57
3.48
4.09
Learning to work cooperatively with others
4.13
3.65
4.19
* = 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