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Assessing the Effectiveness of a Personal
Development Plan (PDP) for First-Year
Students: A Mixed-Method Approach
M I C H E L E J. H A N S E N , P H. D. , E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R O F R E S E A R C H , P L A N N I N G , A N D E V A L U A T I O N C A T H Y B U Y A R S K I , P H. D , E X E C U T I V E A S S I S T A N T D E A N D A N I E L J. T R U J I L L O , M. S. , Q U A L I T A T I V E R E S E A R C H C O O R D I N A T O R
U N I V E R S I T Y C O L L E G E
I N D I A N A U N I V E R S I T Y - P U R D U E U N I V E R S I T Y
I N D I A N A P O L I S
A S S E S S M E N T I N S T I T U T E I N D I A N A P O L I S
O C T O B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 1
Presentation Overview
Assessment Purposes and Approaches
Introduction to the ePDP
ePDP assessment strategies
Outcomes
Quantitative Qualitative
Implications and Future Assessment Efforts
Electronic Personal Development Plan (e PDP)
A flexible online portfolio and web-page presentation tool that allows students to plan, mark progress, and reflect on their college experience.
Implemented in first-year seminars and is easily adapted to courses, departments, and programs so that students can continue to use the PDP throughout their college experience to guide their learning.
Components of the PDP include a semester in review, personal learning goals, and a semester-by-semester plan.
(Buyarski, 2011)
Purposes of Assessment
Determine if the program (e.g., ePDP process) is attaining
intended goals and student learning outcomes.
Determine if students learn through process of structured
reflection and completing prompts (e.g., about self, integrative learning, critical thinking, writing).
Enable students to assess own strengths.
Allow more opportunities to improve teaching and
learning.
Help institution demonstrate accountability or determine
worth and value of programs.
Make data-based decisions.
Assessment Approaches
Employ qualitative and quantitative methods.
Employ multiple measures from different sources.
Employ summative and formative approaches.
Take steps to ensure results are linked to planning and
decisions.
Formative vs. Summative Assessment
Formative Assessment
Evaluations intended - by the evaluator - as a basis for improvement (Scriven, 1996).
Typically conducted during the development or improvement of a program or product and it is conducted, often more than once, for in-house staff of the program with the intent to improve.
It typically involves qualitative feedback (rather than scores) for both student and teacher that focuses on the details of content and performance.
Summative Assessment
Seeks to monitor educational outcomes, often for purposes of external accountability. Assessment of learning and is contrasted with formative assessment, which is assessment for learning. Provides information on the product's efficacy (its ability to do what it was designed to do). For example, did the learners learn what they were supposed to learn after participating in a program using the instructional module.
Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
Multiple Methods and Measures are Employed to
Assess Program Processes and Outcomes
Complementary Techniques
Work Best in Dialogue
Qualitative Assessment
Brings Awareness Of Program Implementation
Differences
Provides In-Depth Understanding of Student
Responses and Interactions
Represents Part of a Long Term Strategy of
Formative Evaluation
Quantitative Assessment
Conduct quasi-experimental designs employing multivariate
analyses of covariance, repeated measures MANCOVAs, and
hierarchical regression procedures.
Conduct analyses to determine program effects on academic
performance, retention rates, and DFW rates.
Describe retention rates and GPAs in defined populations over
semesters and years.
Examine participants compared to non-participants with regard to
GPA and retention while adjusting for academic preparation and
background differences
Examine predicted vs. actual retention, course grades, and DFW
rates.
Administer student surveys to assess student needs, satisfaction,
engagement, program impacts, reasons for leaving, etc.
Employ Multiple Methods to Assess
Learning
- Direct
Projects, papers, tests, observations
- Indirect
Questionnaires, interviews, focus groups
Unobtrusive measures such as
Grades, Syllabi, and Transcripts
Focus on Learning
Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) of Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU)
The Essential Learning Outcomes
The Principles of Excellence
Principles of Excellence
Principle Two:
Give Students a Compass
Focus each student’s plan of study on
achieving the Essential Learning Outcomes
and assess progress
Why are we implementing the PDP?
The personal development plan is designed to foster:
- Goal commitment (student commitment to earning
a degree)
- Academic achievement (through goal setting and
planning)
- Curricular coherence and meaning in the first-year
seminar
- Each of these goals is a way to foster student
development
Five Learning Outcomes for the PDP
1. Self-Assessment: Students identify success-related competencies 2. Exploration: Students research and identify realistic and informed
academic and career goals
3. Evaluation: Students analyze their academic progress over the semester
in terms of progress toward academic and career goals
4. Goal Setting: Students connect personal values and life purpose to the
motivation and inspiration behind their goals
5. Planning: Students locate programs, information, people, and
opportunities to support and reality test their goals.
