Emerging evidence from using an ecological data framework for student learning and development

Abstract

Many university co-curricular programs or services are under pressure to demonstrate performance excellence and justify their continued existence. Many of these programs or services also resort to collating easily accessible data such as input, transactional and overall satisfaction data; produce some descriptive statistics; and subsequently write business reports that show the programs’ effectiveness or efficiency. However, this common practice is arguably the wrong place to start. A better starting point would be locating these programs within an ecological educational environment, and one that is aligned with the sector’s regulatory compliance requirements and expectations. A metaphor for this would be Russian dolls. Presented here is an initiative where an ecological data framework was designed by a student learning and development unit, which was then deployed with a vision of collecting significant data that can ascertain their programs’ impacts on student outcomes of progression and academic achievement.