Assessment

Learning Outcomes Summary

Bonnie Sugiyama, Assessment Lead for the Centers

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the Fall Peers in PRIDE (PIP) mentoring program, mentees will be able to identify:

• Two ways they can practice self-care (e.g. physical, emotional, and/or spiritual).
• Two ways they can be good listeners.
• Three modalities of non-verbal communication as measured by Direct Measures: pre and post-tests, essays and behavioral observations during focus groups.

Overview

In summer 2013, the team updated our assessment process for the Peers In PRIDE (PIP) mentorship program, a 5+ year collaborative effort between the SJSU LGBT Resource Center & Counseling Services. From the PIP seminar course, pre and post -tests were administered to gather specific data on workshops and skill building exercises.

Participants were also assigned an essay at the end of the semester to find out what they felt they attained from the program and an end-of-the -year wrap-up (similar to a focus group activity) for these students to voice how they felt the program impacted them and what they had learned in the process.

The analysis of the Peers In PRIDE mentor pre/post and mentor program evaluation for the spring of 2014 included:

1. Pre-assessment surveys which were conducted during our spring retreat
2. Post assessment surveys which were conducted at our 5/14 final meeting session
3. Program evaluations conducted and a final reflection paper also collected at the final 5/14 meeting session.

Findings: Outcomes Met

The mentors found the peer counseling seminar sessions most helpful and could identify ways in which they can be good listeners and surfaced non-verbal communications such as reflecting emotions and paraphrasing. They could also articulate self-care practices, the most frequently identified of which were working out/exercise and spending time with friends.

Implications / Next Steps

The team determined that there are possibly too many data points attempted to be measured. Even though the team was not able to gain as much perspective as anticipated from the pre/post text analysis, there appears to be enough data to conclude the program has been successful in its goals of student learning, I. e., teaching mentors how to practice self-care, become stronger listeners, and understand non-verbal communication. After an analysis of our pre/post-tests, the team also highlighted some needed survey revisions for the coming year.

Learning Outcomes Plans

Follow up with participants of the Leading with PRIDE retreat to identify skills applied to campus interactions. How did the experience contribute to:

• Feeling of connectedness to the LGBT community on campus.
• Becoming more involved with the LGBT community on campus.
• Identifying and following through with a campus leadership goal.