Your job is to analyze and present the data from pre- and post-semester First Year Seminar (FYS) surveys for stakeholders. There are three key groups that have an interest in effectively applying this data in their work.
For this task, you will work in groups. Each group will choose one of the groups of stakeholders outlined below, answering, at minimum, the following questions. You are also encouraged to think of other relevant questions and analyses to present to your stakeholders.
Best on your analysis, provide a concise list of recommendations for freshman advisors to help them in best caring for students during their first semester at USAO.
[This task includes primarily descriptive statistics, though you will have the opportunity to utilize other methods.]
If time permits, use logistic regression to study what factors predict retention most strongly.
Based on your analysis, what considerations should administrators be
aware of when determining:
1) format (online vs. in-person) of FYS, and 2) staffing (choosing
instructors) for FYS
[This task includes primarily descriptive statistics, though you will have the opportunity to utilize other methods.]
Based on your analysis, provide recommendations for instructors teaching FYS in future terms. What mindset(s) should instructor focus on fostering in their classes? What other considerations should they be aware of?
[This task requires both correlational and predictive statistical methods, though you have the opportunity to utilize other methods.]
The data for this project comes from pre- and post-semester surveys given to students in First Year Seminar (FYS) in the Fall of 2024.
Your data is provided in four files, described in the following subsections:
Note: The data you are using is randomly generated (fake data), but generated to provide some of the same relationship underlying the original data.
The following institutional data was provided from USAO’s institutional records.
major_1 - major (as of the beginning of the second year
of college)major_2 - second major, if declared (as of the
beginning of the second year of college)minor_1 - minor, if declared (as of the beginning of
the second year of college)GPA_Career - Career after first year of collegeFall_Year_2_Enrolled - whether the student enrolled in
the second year of collegeThe Growth Mindset Scale (GMS) measures how much people believe that they can get smarter if they work at it.
GMS1, GMS2, and GMS3 correspond to questions 1-3 of the GMS. The mean of these three items represents a composite measure of growth mindset.
The Stress Mindset Measure (SMMS) measures “the extent to which an individual adopts a mindset that the effects of stress are enhancing or debilitating”
Items SMM1-6 correspond to questions 1-6, respectively. Questions 7-8 Were not included.
Please note that reverse scoring of the negatively worded items (1,3,5) has already been applied to the results provided. Thus, a mean of these 6 items, as provided, represents a composite measure of stress mindset.
The Next Element Outcomes Scale (NEOS) measures one’s self-efficacy for effective functioning across three dimensions: maintaining open (emotions), resourceful (thinking), and persistent (action).
The following questions are rated from 0 (No way I can) to 10 (Definitely sure I can).
A mean of these nine items (as the data is provided) represents a composite measure of effective functioning across these three dimensions.
Four additional questions were also asked using the response scale below:
Schedule: I have made my schedule for the Spring
semester with the intent to be a student at USAO next semester.
Grad_4yrs: I intend to graduate from USAO in the next four
years.
Gender: Women, Man, Transgender, Non-binary (Note, in the
pre-semester survey, the options for this were inaccurately provided as
Male, Female, Transgender.)
FYS_Section: One of 16 sections of FYS taught in Fall 2024.
Of those, 8 sections were taught by faculty, 3 by adjunct, and 5 by
staff. Three sections were online, as listed below.
In addition to all the above questions, the following questions were provided on the pre-semester survey, using the response scale below:
Value1 - The in-class sessions were a valuable use of my
time. (If you are enrolled in an online session, choose NA)
Value2 - The online asynchronous activities were a valuable
use of my time.
Value3 - I would prefer if this course involved more
in-person sessions.
Value4 - I would prefer if this course involved more online
activities.
Based on unique identifiers, respondents with matching pre- and post-semester responses were merged to study longitudinal effects.
The responses from pre- and post-semester surveys are joined by row (long data) for analysis of instrument validity.