Improving Student Outcomes: Using Causal Analysis To Determine Which Interventions Actually Work

Date: November 4 ~ 3:00-4:30pm (Eastern)
Type: online webinar

Info:
With the proliferation of interventions in all levels of education, it is imperative to know which interventions actually work to improve student outcomes. As such, it is also important for administrators and instructors alike to know the fundamental concepts of causal analysis, or studies that help determine whether an intervention is actually causing outcomes to improve over time.

This webinar will introduce participants to the basic concepts of experimental design, with a focus on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental methods, such as difference-in-differences and regression discontinuity designs. We will also discuss the concept of matched comparison designs using propensity scores. This webinar is an introduction to the fundamentals of causal analysis and is appropriate for anyone interested in knowing more about cause and effect. Participants will leave the webinar with an understanding of how causal analysis can be used to improve student outcomes on their campus. 

Goals:
* Understand how to use causal analysis to assess interventions and improve student outcomes
* Learn the basic concepts of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and why they are considered to be the “gold standard” of causal analysis
* Understand the difference between levels of assignment to treatment and comparison conditions, as well as levels of inference
* Discuss other options for running a causal analysis study if RCTs are not possible
* Discover the importance of measuring baseline equivalence in non-RCT studies

Web address: http://www.innovativeeducators.org/Improving-Student-Outcomes-Using-Causal-Analysis-p/3251.htm

Webinar: From Silver Bullets to Embedded Assessments: Focusing on What Counts in a Distracted Educational World

Date: September 25^th, 2014 at 2-3:00 PM Eastern

Virginia Tech

Website: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/322017114

Education, writ large, has a tendency to look for and accept "silver bullets," uber-easy and uber-effective solutions to complex and complicated problems, without the necessary scrutiny. Unfortunately, this silver bullet search has taken our collective eyes off of more solid approaches to assessment in education. This webinar will move the conversation from silver bullets to embedded assessments in the teaching and learning process, resulting in "assessment for free." The concept of "assessment for free" results from situations where the focus is on creating learning environments/activities/experiences that naturally yield an artifact - presentation, product, paper, processing, performance - that can then be used to assess student learning and development. There is plenty of rhetoric and noise in today's educational systems; it's time to move forward proactively in creating instructional environments that focus on student learning and assessment, using the process itself as a catalyst. 

 About the Presenter 

Peter E. Doolittle is Assistant Provost for Teaching and Learning, Executive Director of the Center for InstructionalDevelopment and Educational Research (CIDER), and Professor of Educational Psychology in the Department of Learning Sciences and Technologies at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia. His academic background includes 25 years teaching undergraduate and graduate students in public and private universities; using traditional, blended, and online formats; across several subject areas, including advanced educational psychology, cognition and instruction, constructivism and education, and college teaching. In addition, he created the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, the Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy, and the Mastering Flipped Classes: Building Better Learning Environments professional development seminars. At Virginia Tech, he was awarded the University Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Certificate of Teaching Excellence and Graduate Student Advising Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, and the Outstanding Teaching Award from the School of Education. His current research focus includes the investigation of working memory capacity and learning efficacy in multimedia learning environments. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, provided over 50 keynote and invited addresses, presented at over 100 conference presentations, and received in excess of $2 million in grants.

The Webinar: Era Of Big Data: Tracking Students To Completion Using Longitudinal Data

Tuesday, June 17, 3:00-4:30 (Eastern)
online webinar

Info:
In all levels of education, the emphasis on using data to help improve student outcomes has never been greater. Institutions are collecting information on student characteristics, academic readiness, and eventual outcomes. As concentration increases, it is incredibly powerful to take a close look at tracking students through completion with longitudinal data. Using community colleges as a framework, this webinar will help participants think about their longitudinal student-level and course-level data, as well as applications of the data in their work.

We will begin with the fundamentals of longitudinal data and discover how researchers ask questions on data availability and evaluations of interventions. We will then use a sample dataset that records course-taking behavior over a number of years, and use commands in Stata (a general purpose statistical software package) to run descriptive statistics and create new variables using the extant data. Finally, we will apply this approach to a real research question and evaluate an intervention.

Objectives:
- Learn the fundamentals of longitudinal data structures
- Learn how to examine longitudinal data and account for missing observations
- Learn basic commands in Stata to create descriptive statistics and new variables
- Explore how to apply quantitative data analysis to real-life research questions
- Identify their own research questions that can be investigated using their institution's data

Web address: http://www.innovativeeducators.org/product_p/2175.htm

Webinar: Recruiting And Retaining International Students: Designing Support Services To Meet Their Needs

Date: Wednesday, May 28, 3:00-4:30 (Eastern)
Type: Online webinar

Post-secondary institutions facing enrollment shortages often recruit international, English Language Learners (ELL) and English as A Second Language (ESL) students to bolster their rolls. Yet do these organizations really understand the needs, desires, and nuances affecting international student programs? Some post-secondary institutions neglect to do their research on developing quality education and services for these specialized populations resulting in attrition, the very problem that attracting these students is intended to solve. Often, this attrition results from a lack of planning, poor status of the program, insufficient understanding of the student population, and/or inadequate support services.

This webinar will question participants' assumptions about international students and English Language Learners (ELLs) and explain commonalities and differences among students in these populations. The presenter will feature effective academic strategies for faculty and staff, and highlight research designed to advise program administrators on successful strategies for program building and support at the student services level.

Objectives: 

- Challenge their assumptions about international students and English Language Learners (ELLs)
- Differentiate commonalities and differences in ELL demographics
- Examine factors that affect ELLs' learning and cultural adjustment
- Build empathy for the challenges that ELLs sometimes overcome
- Analyze common methods institutions use to measure ELL language proficiency
- Explore strategies for enhancing instructor and staff classroom and group dynamics for ELLs, as well as reading and vocabulary comprehension
- Explore comprehensible input and use this understanding to communicate effectively with ELLs
- Investigate general functions of successful international student services offices
- Critique the status of traditional international/ELL programs
- Examine trends in ELL programs
- Identify useful academic support services for ELLs/ international students
- Explore ways to enhance the social development of international students/ELLs

Website: http://www.innovativeeducators.org/product_p/2146.htm

Webinar: Persistence Vs. Retention: Legislation And The Changing Paradigm Of Student Success

Wednesday, May 7, 2014  1:00-2:30 EDT
Venue: online webinar

Overview:  
Improving the retention and success rates of undergraduate students continues to be a major topic of discussion for higher education administrators and other stakeholders. Retention refers to an institution's ability to retain students from one performance period to the next. Persistence is the student's ability to continue enrollment from one term to subsequent terms. While postsecondary institutions have emphasized retention, the push for greater accountability by tying student completion outcomes to eligibility for federal student aid programs (Partnerships for Affordability and Student Success Act, S. 1874), requires postsecondary institutions to focus on strategies to increase student persistence to degree completion.

This interactive webinar will discuss the higher prioritization of persistence as a driver of student success to bolster retention. Participants will learn the importance of shifting priorities from a retention-based approach to a persistence-driven student success model.

Objectives:
*Examine the impact of proposed legislative changes on how student success is measured
*Explore student perspectives on the correlation between persistence, retention, graduation, and ultimately, successful student outcomes
*Infuse persistence into student success programming as part of the strategic plan
*Review cost-benefit analysis (return on investment or ROI) for persistence

Web address: http://www.innovativeeducators.org/product_p/2159.htm