Cindy Rote EDUC 804 Assignment 3A by Cindy

Current academic issues impacting student-athletes.

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

The University of North Carolina academic scandal news story concerning student-athletes is not of surprise to anyone who works in athletics. Priorities at major institutions are not always academic driven for SA in high profile sports.
Many at-risk SAs are recruited and admitted to major Universities based on their athletics skills.
Many SAs restricted on what they can and cannot do academically at their University due to practice schedules and athletics demands.
Many athletic departments invest in academic support services to assist at-risk SA.
Universities need to evaluate the student-athlete academic support services to determine if the academic needs of the SA are being met and if the priorities are academics.

Important details about the program that I am focusing on.

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

Perceptions of students and staff may differ on what is needed or of value for a SBP. How can the SA perception be captured as meaningful data?
Determining the type of data that will be most useful in showing the perception and needs of the SAs.
Determining how the data can be used and presented to stakeholders to allow academics more autonomy in planning a SBP tailored towards the specific needs of the SA without any athletic factors such as practice times.
How can the data be used best by the stakeholders (SAAS faculty, athletic administrators, coaches, University faculty, donors) for the benefit of the SAs?

Brief introduction

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

The Student-Athlete Academic Services (SAAS) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) provides a summer bridge program (SBP) designed specifically for recruited incoming student-athletes who have been identified as academically at-risk and underprepared.
The program is an intensive highly structured 6-week academic readiness and transitional program that includes two academic courses, daily meetings, tutor sessions and athletically related activities such as summer practices.
The current program is designed around the needs of the athletic program first and then academics.

University of Hawaii Student-Athlete Academic Services Summer Bridge Program Evaluation Plan

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

Brief Narrative of SBP evaluation plan

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

Logic Model

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

Data Collection and Analysis

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

Qualitative data collection using a case study design.
Small focus groups of 8-9 students, individual interviews and a short online survey with two open ended questions. tilize voice recordings, notes and memos.
SA may not be familiar with surveys and response rate with open ended questions may be limited. Intention of focus groups and interviews are to ensure descriptive data of SA perceptions is collected.
Data will be transcribed and organized with a chart by themes prior to coding. Looking for similarities, differences, patterns.
Considering using a sample focus group after transcribing to ensure data accurately reflect how SA responded.
As transcribing, answer the question, "What are the students saying that answer my questions?” , re-read and re-listen multiple times.

Sample questions

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

Concerns about my plan?

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

Do the key focus questions capture what I am trying to ask of this evaluation plan?
Will the qualitative data capture enough to show the perceptions of the SAs?
When the SA participate in the evaluation, how may they respond?
For data collection, should I have all the questions asked during the focus group? Is it worth having the online survey? I was also considering having the same focus group answer the same questions at the completion of their first semester. The academic advisers and coaches have full control of the SA and participation and completion rates are not a concern. Time will be scheduled during regularly schedule team study session to complete the evaluation if I were to add a data collection component at the end of the first semester. The reason for adding this component would be to see how the SA reflects after they have experienced. I left this component to keep everything as simple as possible to focus.
How can I organize the data best when transcribing.
How long will transcribing take and will the small group element need to be adjusted if time is an issue?
What challenges will the evaluation encounter and how can the plan be prepared for different scenarios?

Purpose of SBP Evaluation

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

The purpose of the SBP evaluation is understand the SA perception of the program to determine what elements they value to redesign and strengthen the program to meet their needs. The focus is getting descriptive feedback from the SA on the program.

Key focus questions for the evaluation.

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

1) In what ways do student-athletes feel prepared for their first semester at the University of Hawaii after after participating in the summer bridge program?

2) In what ways could the summer bridge program be improved to assist student-athlete during their first semester at the University of Hawaii?

Purpose of SBP program

crote6 — 2014-11-10 21:50:17 UTC

The purpose of the program is to prepare at risk student-athletes for their first semester at UHM.