Collecting and analyzing data

This Page Includes
Relevant personal information Learning styles or preferences Relevant education or work experience Prior knowledge specific to the course Expectations of course outcomes Motivation for taking the course

If you are like most college science instructors, you will not have too many "free days" in your syllabus, when you can collect and analyze every possible fact about your students. This part of the module will introduce a variety of strategies to collect information, ranging from fairly quick to really quick.

Relevant personal information

Ask students to fill out a Student Information Sheet (or a Student Information Database, if you want to do it online) with some or all of the following items from a survey used by Dr. Kate Kinsella (1995) at SFSU:

Last name
First name
Name you prefer to be called in class
Contact information
Class level
Academic major
Your current class schedule
English courses you have completed at this college
Prerequisites you have completed for this course
Where did you attend high school?
Are you a transfer student? If so, what college did you previously attend?
If you work how many hours do you work per week?
If you were not born in the United States, please provide the following information:

Native country
Native language
Number of years in the U.S.
Permanent resident?
International student?

Learning styles or preferences

Ask students to take a learning preferences (or learning styles) survey and then inform the instructor of the strategy they believe would help them learn best. Be sure to let the students know that the strategies can be tasks for the student as well as for the instructor!

Find your own learning preferences

It will be easier for you to avoid being biased toward your own learning preferences if you first understand what they are.

Take one or more of the following online surveys:

Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire (Felder & Solomon, NC State University): Includes questions related to perception, input modality, processing, and understanding preferences.
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

A Learning Style Survey for College (C. Jester, Diablo Valley College): Focuses primarily on input modality preferences.
http://www.metamath.com/lsweb/dvclearn.htm

[Note: Keep in mind that the survey results may not reflect your own perception of how you like to learn. Use them to get a rough idea that you can refine through discussion.]

Discuss your preferences and what teaching strategies accommodate those preferences.
Discuss preferences other than your own and what teaching strategies accommodate those preferences.

Relevant education or work experience

Ask students to raise their hand if they have taken courses in your field.
Ask students to raise their hand if they have worked in your field.

Prior knowledge specific to the course

Research the syllabi of prerequisites for your courses.
Give a formal or an informal quiz designed to show students' knowledge of your course content. It is okay to create a nongraded quiz to which students may not have the answers. This will let them know what is coming in the course and will let you know if you can skip any material.
Ask the students to perform a simple lab exercise that will demonstrate their ability to apply certain concepts or their ability to use certain equipment properly.

Expectations of course outcomes

Ask students to write down their expectations for the course and turn them in after the first class session.
Ask students to state expectations while you:

write them on the board
type them into a document on a computer hooked to a projector
enter them into a concept mapping program (e.g., Inspiration) on a computer hooked to a projector

Motivation for taking the course

Research general education, department-specific, and program-specific requirements.
Conduct a personal motivation survey (written, show of hands, etc.).