EMCC Financial Aid needs to assess learning/determine effectiveness when presenting FA information to groups (HS students, college students, parents, employees, community members, etc.).
If FA presentations/workshops are not effective other methods/approaches are needed. To determine if they are effective an assessment method is needed for each type of participant.
FA used Kahoots for a pre and post test for each presentation. The pre test was done before the FA presentation and the post test was done after the FA presentation. The test questions were developed based on the type of participants in the presentations/workshops. For example, the test for students did not include technical terms only college employees would fully understand. The test for High School students used even more basic language and test for employees was more technical.
EMCC employees had a pre-test score of 66.7%, post test score of 96.7%. All employees participated in both pre and post test, answered every question, provided valid responses and were not distracted by cell phone.
High School students showed a pre-test score of 78.6%, post test score of 90.91%. Students did not participate in both tests, did not answer every question, appeared to purposefully provide incorrect responses and were distracted by cell phone.
The FA office provides workshops for employees as well as students because Financial Aid and Scholarship processes are complex. This is especially true with Title IV FA federal regulations. EMCC FA staff are responsible for these regulations/processes and assisting students. Non-FA employees who work with students often request general financial aid and scholarship workshops so they can better service students in relation to how their roles affect the student's FA. As money is critical to EMCC students they may make decisions about their education based on the financial aid impact. Examples of non-FA employees who participated in the FA employee workshops are: Outreach, Recruitment, VA, and Advising.
FA is now working to develop alternative methods to assess the effectiveness of presentations and workshops. For example evaluating FA/Scholarship applications before presenting in a CPD class and after to see if additional students submit applications after the presentation.
This is the first year FA has been able to hire a Short Term position for on campus FA outreach. This CATS included approximately 3 employee sessions and 5 student sessions.
Comments
I appreciate that you reported on how the assessment method was effective for one population (employees) but not another (H.S. students). Knowing what doesn't work is also useful!