EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF ONLINE INSTRUCTION ON LIFELONG LEARNING SKILLS

The Health Services Administration (HSA) Program is a Bachelor of Science degree program at the New York City College of Technology (NYCCT) of the City University of New York (CUNY). Development of lifelong learning skills is a central component of the HSA program. In 2008, the then relatively new HSA program made a commitment to transition the majority of its core courses from the traditional classroom-based instruction format to the partially-online (or hybrid) instruction format. Today, all six of the HSA core courses have an online component enhanced by a course management system (Blackboard). Of these six courses, four are hybrid and one is fully online. This shift in instructional methodology was seen as necessary to prepare students for the technological rigors of the ever-changing global health care environment. Web enhanced, hybrid, and online instruction formats were noted as pathways for students to develop self-directed learning skills, to confidently become proficient in the use of technology, and to develop information literacy skills. In combination, these skills would ensure success in lifelong learning, which concurs with the missions and plans of CUNY, NYCCT, and the HSA Program.

To better understand the HSA program’s success in preparing students with the above mentioned skills, a skills assessment tool was piloted in fall 2008. This assessment asks fifty content questions and each of these questions is followed by a confidence question. This allows for cross-tabulation analyses that provide information on what students think they know and what they truly know in five different skill areas, including information technology, information access, and information competency. The skills assessment tool is in its eighth semester of being administered to incoming students. In the past two years, HSA has been able to administer the assessment to students whom have completed the six HSA core courses. Analyses of incoming and exiting students and comparisons of pre- and post-HSA core courses have been most revealing and are influencing curriculum development.