{"id":2479,"date":"2024-02-14T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T16:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=2479"},"modified":"2024-07-24T11:56:52","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T18:56:52","slug":"ecampus-releases-learning-skills-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/ecampus-releases-learning-skills-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon State Ecampus releases new tool to help students improve their learning strategies and skills"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joann

Every year, Oregon State Ecampus supports thousands of students who are pursuing degrees, certificates and microcredentials online. Joann Malumaleumu, pictured above, earned her B.S. in Human Development and Family Sciences online from Oregon State.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Learning Skills Journey Tool is the result of an in-depth research study, conducted by OSU Ecampus and Brigham Young University, and is now freely available under a Creative Commons License.<\/h3>\n

As a longtime student advocate, Oregon State University\u2019s Kyle Whitehouse knows the skills and strategies that most contribute to online learning success.<\/p>\n

Back in 2019, Whitehouse reached out to Oregon State\u2019s Ecampus Research Unit<\/a> asking for help. She wanted to find a research-backed assessment tool that could help students develop the skills most needed to succeed in an online learning environment. For example, measuring things like a student\u2019s motivation to complete their coursework, their ability to communicate with classmates and instructors, and their comfort level with common technologies used in online courses.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdult learners have so<\/b> much going on,\u201d says Whitehouse, the OSU Ecampus associate director of student services. \u201cSo, when it comes to online learning, they really want to understand from the beginning what skills and strategies it takes to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitehouse wanted a self-evaluation tool to empower students with these insights and then link them to support resources \u2014\u00a0and she wasn\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n

Around that same time, Carolyn Andrews, associate dean of continuing education at Brigham Young University, was on the hunt for a similar tool. She also mentioned her interest to the OSU Ecampus Research Unit.<\/p>\n

“<\/span>A lot of our very bright students don\u2019t want to chance failure,”<\/span> Andrews explains. “<\/span>If there\u2019s a perception that they won\u2019t do as well in an online environment, they\u2019ll avoid it.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From these conversations, and after a further survey of the existing tools at the time, the Ecampus Research Unit recognized there was a clear opportunity to create a better assessment tool in support of students.<\/p>\n

To address these challenges, Oregon State Ecampus and BYU embarked on a highly collaborative and research-backed development process. All of their hard work recently came to fruition with the launch of the Learning Skills Journey Tool<\/a>, which helps students identify their key areas of strength as well as areas for growth and improvement.<\/p>\n

How the tool works<\/h2>\n

Now freely available for anyone to download, the Learning Skills Journey tool can be used in three ways:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. By administrators, advisors and coaches<\/b> to more quickly and accurately assess where a student might be struggling, so they can offer targeted interventions and recommendations.<\/li>\n
  2. By students <\/b>to self-assess their skill sets and pinpoint growth areas.<\/li>\n
  3. By researchers <\/b>to better measure student readiness.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The team stresses that while their study is rooted in the online learning readiness literature, the tool was never intended to define and divide people as \u201cready\u201d or \u201cnot ready\u201d to learn. Rather, it\u2019s all about personal empowerment, increasing confidence, and having a growth mindset. The overall goal is to better equip 21st-century learners with the attitudes, skills and strategies they\u2019ll need not just for college, but for a lifetime of learning.<\/p>\n

    \u201cTo me, a learner readiness tool is not<\/b> about weeding people out,\u201d explains Andrews. \u201cThe process is about identifying where you can improve, and then having the resources and mentoring available to be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

    How are OSU Ecampus and BYU using the tool?<\/h2>\n

    The Ecampus and BYU teams both built digital iterations of the Learning Skills Journey tool that they are currently using with students.<\/p>\n

    In each case, the tool offers students an evaluation of their strengths and where they can improve, based on their responses. The digital versions offer students customized links to support resources that can help them learn more on their own. Students can also connect with success coaches<\/a> for advising and support. These teams are already deploying the tool in some of their one-on-one sessions.<\/p>\n

    \u201cSome students will say \u2018I\u2019m having a hard time managing my time,\u201d says Whitehouse. \u201cThis tool helps pull apart the why. Is it about balancing priorities? Is it about their motivation to do things? Can they reach out to an instructor with questions when they have them?\u201d<\/p>\n

    Our methodology<\/h2>\n

    Building the Learning Skills Journey Tool was a labor of love, but it was also a technically sophisticated accomplishment, led by Oregon State\u2019s Ecampus Research Unit<\/a> \u2014 a division that\u2019s dedicated to actionable online education research.<\/p>\n

    The process began with an extensive literature review that included online learner readiness tools and studies from as far back as the year 2000. Simultaneously, the Ecampus Research Unit worked with the Ecampus student success team to get their perspective and insights.<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe led focus groups with the success team to discuss what would be most useful,\u201d says Mary Ellen Dello Stritto, director of the Ecampus Research Unit. \u201cThrough that process, we updated, added and dropped questions. They really informed the language of the tool.\u201d<\/p>\n

    After undergoing validity testing, the team arrived at 41 questions for the initial instrument. They then tested that instrument with over 10,000 students\u00a0 \u2014\u00a0a truly significant effort.<\/p>\n

    “<\/span>Often scale validation studies involve a few hundred participants at most,”<\/span> says Dello Stritto. “<\/span>So, the fact that this study was validated with over 10,000 students is very<\/i> rare.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Furthering the uniqueness and credibility of the study, the findings were cross-validated in two different student populations \u2014 OSU and BYU.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIn research, we often build a scale and try it out,\u201d explains Dello Stritto. \u201cBut it\u2019s important to know if we take it to another population, will we get similar results? In this case, we did.\u00a0 So that gives us confidence that we have a good measurement scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

    If you want to read more about the statistical analysis involved, the Ecampus Research Team and Andrews recently published their findings in the December 2023 issue<\/a> of the Online Learning Consortium’s Online Learning Journal, where you can read their full journal article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    All of the teams are excited about the latest implementation and possible future developments.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe work of our success team is so individualized and relational, so it can be hard to put metrics that matter behind our work,\u201d says Whitehouse. \u201cHow do we measure whether what we\u2019re doing is effective or not? For the research team to help us out with even a sliver of that \u2014\u00a0it feels amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Want to use the tool with students at your university?<\/h3>\n

    The OSU Ecampus and BYU teams made the Learning Skills Journey Tool available under a Creative Commons License. You can download a PDF version that\u2019s designed for advisors, coaches and administrators to use with students.<\/p>\n

    Download the tool<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    <\/span> 4<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>The Learning Skills Journey Tool is the result of an in-depth research study, conducted by OSU Ecampus and Brigham Young University. Learn more about the tool’s creation, how it’s being used, and how it can help students at your university.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":2480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,14,679,670,674],"tags":[52,664,163,30,475],"class_list":["post-2479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","category-research","category-leadership-and-innovation","category-division","category-tips","tag-academic-advising","tag-featured-division-of-educational-ventures","tag-oregon-state-ecampus-research-unit","tag-student-success","tag-student-success-coaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/News-Learning-Skills-Journey-Tool-Joann-Malumaleumu-800x450-1.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-DZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2498,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/ecampus-2023-online-education-scholarly-publications\/","url_meta":{"origin":2479,"position":0},"title":"Want to know what some of the top minds in online education are thinking about?","author":"Elena Moffet","date":"March 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The team at Ecampus offered up eight scholarly articles and trade publications in 2023. 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