The Evaluation of an Integrated Growth & Goals Module to Better Equip Students with Learning Skills in Postsecondary Courses: Systematic, Scalable, and Explicit

Abstract

<p><a></a><a>In this dynamic and rapidly changing world, students need to be able to continually learn and adapt throughout their lives. However, most students spend years in formal education settings without being explicitly taught how to learn effectively. </a>To reach our goal of explicitly and effectively equipping all students with learning skills, we developed and evaluated a Growth & Goals module. The module is an Open Education Resource for postsecondary students that educators integrate in their courses to teach core learning skills of metacognition, goal-setting, growth mindset, and mindfulness. Over 5000 students at ten institutions have now used the module. In the present study, we evaluated the module using a Practical Participatory Evaluation approach and the 4-level Kirkpatrick Evaluation model. To answer ten questions aligned with the Kirkpatrick model, we collected data from 1845 students and 5 educators from nine undergraduate courses in science, engineering, and mathematics, which were used to investigate ten research questions aligned with Kirkpatrick’s four evaluation levels. For Level 1 (Reaction), students and educators reported high satisfaction and gave constructive suggestions that centred on expanding the module. The training was new to 88% of students. Most completion rates were over 75% when professors provided an incentive (³ 1%). Students in some demographics used the module less than others: lower-achieving, first-generation university students, from outside the Ottawa-Gatineau area, male, and in certain programs. In Level 2 (Learning), students’ metacognitive skills increased throughout the semester. They could identify SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Accountable, Reachable, and Time-specific) and differentiate growth/fixed mindset statements. At Level 3 (Behaviour), students applied the module within the originating course, indicated their intent to use the module in the future, and a survey of a subsample indicated that most students used or intended to use the module in a new course. Most educators created course-level learning outcomes for the first time to integrate with the module. As an Open Education Resource with a nearly complete “plug-and-play” format, using the module required little time and low technological skills of students and educators; however, greater support, incentives, and rewards could be provided. Research and development require sustained resources. Finally, in Level 4 (Results), educators have used the module in courses in a number of disciplines, including sciences, engineering, mathematics, education, and psychology. The module addresses institutional goals of transformational learning and agility, as well as two provincial degree level expectations that are rarely explicitly taught in courses. In summary, the Growth & Goals module explicitly teaches core learning skills in a way that is systematic, scalable, and explicit for science, engineering, and mathematics courses, with a potential to expand to any discipline.</p>

Growth and Goals Module: A Course-Integrated Open Education Resource to Help Students Increase their Learning Skills

“…Educators do not need expertise in learning skills to use the module in their courses. The module is available in English and French and can be adapted to any postsecondary context across disciplines, either integrated in a course (FR, EN) or as an independent resource (FR, EN) (Flynn, 2018a). Zimmerman, B. J., Moylan, A. R., Hudesman, J., White, N., & Flugman, B.…”

“…As part of the process of sharing our module with potential adopters, we have given multiple presentations in various settings outlining the problems we set out to solve, the approaches we took to addressing these problems, and the early findings of our evaluation (Flynn, 2018;O'Connor, Roy, Flynn, 2018a;O'Connor, Roy, Flynn, 2018b;O'Connor, Roy, Flynn, 2019;Flynn, 2022). Prior to the pilot semester, the module was presented to staff and faculty within uOttawa to stimulate interest in implementing the module in their classrooms.…”

Food Intervention Programs on Food Security in Nassir County, South Sudan

“…Different researchers in various fields have applied the ToC in their work. O'Connor, et al(2021) on the other hand, emphasized that the theory seeks to allow agents to draw on present knowledge and better contribute to the collective knowledge regarding how to achieve meaningful change.…”