Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA)2012 Updated

Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) Research Project
Institutional Research and Analysis, as part of the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) research project funded by Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), worked with the Faculty of Social Sciences to evaluate the institution’s contribution to the development of students’ key competencies in the liberal arts.

The Faculty of Social Sciences was ideal for this CLA project, because it is a large Faculty that incorporates 12 separate academic departments and has approximately 4,700 undergraduate students enrolled enabling the targeted sample size to be met.

Testing was administered in the winter of 2012 to final-year students, prior to mid-terms, and in the fall of 2012 to first-year students, as they entered McMaster. The CLA tasks were administered on the internet, via computer, through the CLA on-line portal. Participating students were required to perform either the performance or analytical/writing task, since each task takes, on average, 90 minutes to complete.

On November 30, 2012, winners of an IPad and $50 ITunes Gift Card received prizes for their participation from Dr. Charlotte Yates (Dean, Faculty of Social Science) and Lori Wright (Executive Assistant, Institutional Research and Analysis).

From left to right: Lori Wright, Sarah Hurgett, Dr. Charlotte Yates, Patricia Manrique.

The Office of Institutional Research and the Faculty of Social Sciences would like to thank all participants. We appreciate the active participation of our students in this testing stage of the project as their time and effort was valuable to the project for its success.

What is the Collegiate Learning Assessment?
Developed by the Council for Aid to Education (CAE) in 2000, the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) is a standardized test used to evaluate a postsecondary institution’s contribution to the development of students’ key competencies, including critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving, and written communication skills. More detailed information is available at http://www.collegiatelearningassessment.org/ .

What will happen during this study?

You will first be asked to fill out a short demographic survey. The survey is brief and asks questions such as gender, primary and secondary major, and how many years you have spent at McMaster.
You will complete either one performance task or two analytical/writing tasks on the internet. These tasks will examine your critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem solving, and written communication skills.
After the task is complete you will be asked to complete a short multiple-choice aptitude test.

The study should take, on average, 90 minutes to complete. In appreciation for your time, you will receive $25 and your academic skills results. You will also be entered into a draw to win an iPad and a $50 Apple gift card.

How to participate in the CLA study?
We are currently looking for volunteers who are from the Faculty of Social Sciences and who are first-year students to participate in the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) in the Social Sciences at McMaster University. If you are interested in participating in the CLA study, please click on the following link to select which session you would like to attend: http://doodle.com/f437a7e69uxnpzp4

What does McMaster do with the CLA results?
This study can help McMaster assess the feasibility of using the CLA for liberal arts programs. The results from the CLA can help us understand more about learning gains from different teaching strategies, how student skill development may differ by demographic characteristics, and whether skill development happens before a student enters university or during a students’ university education. We will use the data to conduct multivariate statistical analysis in order to produce reports of the CLA results relating to McMaster University and the feasibility for using CLA in Canadian institutions.

Am I going to be identified in any report?
Please rest assured that your answers are confidential. No individual’s answers will ever be identified in any report. While the CLA results will be linked with administrative data that contains participant’s demographic information and high school grade point averages, the Office of Institutional Research will strip away identifiers from responses. For McMaster data storage and analysis, the identifier, including the demographic information, will be stored separately from the response data. This will allow us to avoid recognition and to protect the privacy of the participants.
You can withdraw from the study at any time by emailing claproj@mcmaster.ca . This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance from the McMaster Research Ethics Board. If you have any concerns or questions respecting your involvement in the study, please contact:

            McMaster Research Ethics Board Secretariat
            c/o the Office of Research Ethics
            Telephone: 905-525-9140, ext. 23142
            E-mail: ethicsoffice@mcmaster.ca