is to help the students form a more systematic approach to studving and learning, rather than just providing
a bag of tricks. In fact, the last two weeks of the semester are totally devoted to an integrated review,
focusing on learning and studying as interactive systems rather than as isolated events.

Individual Assessment and Course Evaluation

Using the LASSI and the other assessment instruments at the beginning of the course helps each student
to know where his/her strengths and weaknesses lie. Students can see what they know about learning
strategies and skills and what they do not know and need to concentrate on in the course. The general
goals of the course focus on the broad area of learning-to-learn phenomena, but the specific student goals
are derived from the results obtained with the assessment instruments (as well as student interviews and
initial class discussions). Using this information, students select problem areas for more intense attention
and work.

For example, the student might concentrate on a particularly weak area in a series of problem papers.
These papers represent a type of assignment in which students must identify a personally relevant problem
and keep a log, explaining how they are trying to solve the problem and describing the progress they are
making (including any difficulties they have along the way). They could also select practice exercises from
one of their weaker areas during lab sessions. Instructors conduct individual and small group focus sessions
on narrower topic areas than can be addressed in class. Instructors also encourage students to select their
particular problem areas as a focus for many of the in-class practice, as well as homework, assignments.

The LASSI is also used as a post-course measure. All students complete the same (or an alternate form)
battery of tests at the end of the semester. These data are used in two ways. First, each student's progress,
particularly in relation to his/her entry-level performance, is monitored. We are currently working on ways
to improve the methods used to get this feedback to students, along with prescriptions about where they
need to concentrate their future efforts using resources such as the Learning Skills Center. Presently,
students obtain this information on a more informal drop-in basis to gather teacher impressions and to look
at test scores. However, using the LASSI we can be far more diagnostic in our assessment and give specific
information to students about where they still have deficiencies, how serious these deficiencies seem to be,
and what they need to do to enhance their chances for academic success in a postsecondary setting.

The second way we use the assessment information is to evaluate the course. These data allow us to
address questions related to planning, implementing, and improving the instructional content and delivery.
For example, using the LASSI we now evaluate the topics emphasized in the course to see if they fit with
the profiles of the students taking it. We address such questions as: Are we emphasizing topics that are
already in the students’ repertoires? Do we need to add content in a certain area because many students are
particularly weak in that area and still have some problems upon course completion? We also use the LASSI
to evaluate our instruction. Are we seeing improvement in the areas we emphasize in the course? Are the
changes we see meaningful or do we need to try to improve the outcomes we are getting? In which areas
should we be concentrating our efforts at producing supplementary student materials and exercises? Finally,
we conduct a global assessment that relates our stated goals for the course to the outcomes we have
obtained on the assessment measures and the in-class performance measures, such as in-class discussions,
lest performance, journals, and assignments.

The LASSI has made a significant impact on the quality of the information we can give to students as part
of the advising process. In addition, the ten scales give more detailed information for course planning and
evaluation. From both an individual and a departmental perspective, the availability of a
diagnostic/prescriptive learning and study strategies and skills instrument has impacted significantly the
effectiveness of our learning-to-learn course.

Claire E. Weinstein
Professor, Educational Psychology

For further information, contact the author at The University of Texas at Austin, Education Building 504,
Austin, TX 78712-1296.

 

 

 

 

Suanne 1. Rouechie, Editor

April 8, 1988, Vol x. Ne
INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, EDB 348, The University of
Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512)471-7545. Subscriptions are available to nonconsortium members for $35 per year. Funding in

part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly when classes are in session during fall and spring
terms and once during the summer.

The University of Texas at Austin, 1988

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