Running head: ECP EVALUATION PLAN

Educational and Career Planning Lesson Evaluation Plan

A Current Focus on Interests to Look Toward the Future
within the

Common Hour
at

DePaul University
Samantha M. Ng and Katerina P. Reilly
Loyola University Chicago

ECP EVALUATION PLAN

Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 4
DePaul University and the Career Center .................................................................................. 5
Office Structure ............................................................................................................... 5
Educational and Career Planning Lesson Plan.......................................................................... 6
History of Program .......................................................................................................... 7
Program Description and Rationale ................................................................................ 8
Stakeholders .................................................................................................................... 9
Logic Model ................................................................................................................................. 10
Inputs ............................................................................................................................. 10
Outputs .......................................................................................................................... 11
Short Term Outcomes. ............................................................................................... 11
Medium Outcomes. .................................................................................................... 12
Long Term Outcomes................................................................................................. 13
Assumptions .................................................................................................................. 13
External Factors............................................................................................................. 14
Evaluation Rationale .................................................................................................................. 15
Approach ....................................................................................................................... 15
Quantitative Approach ............................................................................................................... 16
Participants .................................................................................................................... 16
Evaluation Design ......................................................................................................... 17
Instrument Description .................................................................................................. 17
Pilot Testing .................................................................................................................. 18
Implementation and Administration.............................................................................. 19
Statistical Analysis ........................................................................................................ 19
Results Presentation ...................................................................................................... 20
Qualitative Approach ................................................................................................................. 21
Design............................................................................................................................ 21
Sampling........................................................................................................................ 22
Protocol Instrument ....................................................................................................... 22
Implementation.............................................................................................................. 23
Analytical Approach ..................................................................................................... 24

ECP EVALUATION PLAN

Dissemination ................................................................................................................ 26
Timeline ....................................................................................................................................... 26
Budget .......................................................................................................................................... 27
Next Steps and Limitations ........................................................................................................ 27
References .................................................................................................................................... 29
Appendix A .................................................................................................................................. 31
Appendix B .................................................................................................................................. 34
Appendix C .................................................................................................................................. 36
Appendix D .................................................................................................................................. 37
Appendix E .................................................................................................................................. 39
Appendix F .................................................................................................................................. 41
Appendix G .................................................................................................................................. 43
Appendix H .................................................................................................................................. 44
Appendix I ................................................................................................................................... 45
Appendix J ................................................................................................................................... 46

ECP EVALUATION PLAN

A students major can be a significant predictor of their experiences during and after
college: what kind of jobs and internships they pursue, the field they will enter upon graduation,
and the kind of involvement they have with on-campus groups. However, more young people
are entering college feeling unsure about their major of choice or the area of
specialization. Even after determining their major, many still feel uneasy about their transition
into the field or graduate school (Komarraju, Nadler, & Swanson, 2014). Thus, it is important
that career centers at universities provide services that help students determine their interests,
both academically and professionally.
The Career Center at DePaul University hopes to ease the uncertainty of majors and
interests within their first year and underclassmen transfer students by providing the Education
and Career Planning (ECP) lesson within the institutions Common Hour. In an interview with
E. Childs, an Assistant Director of the Career Center, he mentioned that programs such as these
are shown to effect retention as well as impact enrollment for institutions. Oftentimes, the
Common Hour and the ECP are highlighted in discussions with perspective students (personal
communication, September 23, 2015). As majors are becoming more and more imperative for
students, it is important that the Centers lesson is meeting its goals of helping students explore
their interests, and connect them to potential majors and career options.
For the purpose of this evaluation project, we will be examining if the ECP is meeting its
objectives for their participants. Specifically, we will be looking to see if the program meets the
short-term goals by surveying participants and facilitating a focus group. The following
evaluation proposal will outline an overview of the ECP, as well as our quantitative and
qualitative approaches. We will also discuss a timeline and budget for the evaluation plan, as
well as next steps for the Career Center.

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DePaul University and the Career Center

DePaul University is a private, four-year Catholic institution situated in Chicago,
Illinois. As the largest private, nonprofit institution in the Midwest and the largest Catholic
university in the nation, DePaul prides itself with the commitment to an educational experience
that weaves together mind, place, people, and heart (Office of Mission and Values, 1991).
DePaul provides undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as professional programs. The
university is known for their diverse student body, where 37 percent of the undergraduate
population is made up of students of color (Enrollment Management and Marketing,
n.d.). DePaul is comprised of two campuses, Lincoln Park and the Loop. Lincoln Park is the
home of the majority of the liberal arts, sciences, and social science departments, provides
students with the traditional feel of a campus. The Loop campus, located in the heart of
downtown Chicago, houses the professional departments, including law, business, and
communication.
Office Structure
There are two offices for the Career Center at DePaul, one located at each campus. The
Loop campus Career Center office primarily serves the professional school students, including
law, business, and communication. The office in the Lincoln Park campus serves students in the
liberal arts, science, and social science majors. According to the mission statement of the Career
Center, their goal is to create connections to the world of work, providing comprehensive,
centralized employment and career services for members of the DePaul University community
(The Career Center, n.d.).
The Career Center is under the Department of Student Affairs. The Center is comprised
of a total of 29 staff members, plus additional graduate student interns. The managerial team has

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six staff members, where the executive director oversees the entire department. The five
associate directors oversee career services, employer and college relations, and the university
internship program. There are also eight staff members who make up the career advising team
accompanied by six graduate interns.
DePaul students may utilize the many services the Career Center offers in order to help
with their career development. Students may meet with career advisors, take career assessments
to determine their personality strengths and interests, attend various workshops, and develop
their resume and portfolio. The Career Center offers students the University Internship Program,
which provides students with the opportunity to explore potential industries, while completing
their Experiential Learning Requirement. The Center also hosts job and internship fairs,
networking events, campus recruiting days, and on-campus interviewing. Students may also
connect with various employers, alumni, and career mentors.
Educational and Career Planning Lesson Plan
The Common Hour at DePaul University is a mandatory program for first-years and
second-year transfer students (DePaul University, 2015). Students are required to attend nine of
the ten available lessons, focusing on different areas of university life, resources, and holistic
student development. There are three major sections within the Common Hour, which include
the Community, Academic and Career, and Wellness (DePaul University, 2015). The Education
and Career Planning (ECP) lesson is housed under the Academic and Career unit. According to
the lesson plan (Appendix A), the ECP is focused on exploring ones interests, and connecting
these interests with potential majors and careers.
Within the 50 minute Common Hour lesson, there are a number of objectives. The
objectives are for students to be able to articulate their general interests, and explore ways to

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connect their interests to majors and careers. There is a focus on interests in this lesson because
the Career Center hoped students would consider a major or resources on campus based on what
they enjoy, not what they think they should major or participate in for other purposes, such as
choosing a major solely because one has the opportunity to make more money over ones
interest. Additional objectives include the ability to connect their interests to the DePaul
mission, community, and Chicago, and to reference two strategies or next steps to assist with this
exploration. The final objective is to identify campus resources to connect with during and
beyond their first quarter for support. This lesson serves to correct the myths about students
future careers. For example, a hope for the program is that students will not just seek jobs and
paths that lend them the most money or societal laud. This lesson works to discover students
passion, not just a major that appears most realistic. This program focuses on honing in on
students interests as a starting point and movement into the journey of using their interests to
find a meaningful career.
History of Program
The ECP lesson has been in existence for almost thirty years. Chuck Shtucar was the
founder of the lesson, and it has been running smoothly with some minor effective changes.
Additionally, the class is in a lecture style, meant developmentally for first-year students. The
Career Center believes that this classroom style is a good fit for students who are new to the
college setting and need more structure in their learning and activities (E. Childs, personal
communication, September 23, 2015).
The DePaul Interest Finder (Appendix B) has recently been added to the lesson plan. The
DePaul Interest Finder is a tool created by Ed Childs from the Career Center along with a team
of professionals to create a measure for students to consider possible career options and areas for

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exploration based on areas they identify with enjoying (DePaul University, 2014). The Interest
Finder caused concern from some faculty members that this measure was too limiting and may
stereotype or label students (DePaul University, 2014). However, the Career Center finds its use
wonderfully helpful and effective for students in the period of its existence. There is also a print
fee of two dollars for each interest finder that plays a role in the implementation of the program.
Program Description and Rationale
The focus of the ECP lesson emphasizes students interests and uses an inventory of
career interests. At the end of the lesson, facilitators highlight the importance of taking into
consideration ones skills, values, personality, and goals to deepen their career journey and use a
wider approach in their own search ignited or continued by this lesson (DePaul University,
2014). Identification and pursuit of resources connected to their interests in the Career Center
and the larger DePaul community is another outcome of this lesson. There is a reflection
element, goal setting activities, as well as an interactive group activity. The session hopes to be
experiential in nature and engaging for students.
This lesson takes place 115 times in one academic year, occurring in each quarter of the
year. Students may only participate in the lesson once. Each lesson takes approximately 50
minutes to execute. Student Mentors, as well as Career Center staff and graduate interns
facilitate the lessons.
Currently the program does not take part in any benchmarking but is aware of similar
programs at other schools and would like to start this process as a next step in their evaluation
plan. At the end of the lesson, students participating provide feedback to the Career
Center. This year a formal evaluation will take place from the doctoral students for

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effectiveness, and Childs is looking forward to having outside lenses review the program through
this evaluation (personal communication, September 23, 2015)
Stakeholders
Stakeholders in this program range from students to higher-level administration. The
students that are directly affected are first-year students who are experiencing the impact of this
program from the Career Center (Fitzpatrick, Sanders, Worthen, & Worthen, 2011). There are
special sections for transfer students who are in their second year of college, but once past this
year, transfer students there is no longer a requirement for graduation to be part of the Common
Hour or this lesson. Another group of students who are stakeholders is the Student Mentors,
students who have already experienced the Common Hour at DePaul University who aid in
facilitating the discussion. By focusing on interests this early in the students careers, this could
have a significant effect on the academic departments and class sizes. Bringing faculty and
individuals within academic affairs, such as advisors to the table as could be very beneficial as
they are stakeholders as well. Another group would also be parents and guardians of students
participating in the lesson. They are involved with the students choices at times financially,
emotionally, and could become effected by the outcomes of student decisions based on this ECP
lesson. Involving all of these voices is essential because the evaluator must identify and
communicate with each stakeholder group or its representation to learn that groups perceptions
and concerns about the program and evaluation (p. 287, Fitzpatrick, Sanders, Worthen, &
Worthen, 2011). Additional stakeholders include the Career Center staff and Common Hour
board. The Career Center presents this lesson to this group for feedback on their program. The
final stakeholders are the doctoral students who support the Career Center in working with the
details of the lesson, such as content, curriculum, and evaluation. There could be gain or loss

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from this program, and taking into consideration all stakeholders is needed in the beginning
stages of evaluation (Fitzpatrick, Sanders, Worthen, & Worthen, 2011).
Logic Model
As a program with many stakeholders, there is significant input into the Education and
Career Planning lesson within the Common Hour. The individuals who may have the largest
input in regard to time allotted and investment in this lesson are the staff members within the
Career Center. Many hours go into the creation of the curriculum planning, evaluating,
presenting, and communicating with faculty, staff, students, and administration about the lesson
and the DePaul Interest Finder from those in the Career Center. Other inputs are teams such as
the doctoral students who evaluate and develop curriculum and the Common Hour board who
approves and critique the lesson. Student Mentor time is also a valuable input as students are
very busy and can be overcommitted. Lastly, the input of first year and transfer students are the
essential component of the program.
Inputs
There are a significant amount of human resources needed to run this lesson and
program. The board of the Common Hour reviews the lesson which is presented by each unit for
analysis and critique. Time for planning curriculum, activities, and implementation are
significant human resources in this program. Although very time consuming, the programs head,
E. Childs, says that he truly enjoys teaching this lesson and makes it a high priority in his work
(personal communication, September 23, 2015).
Outputs
Activities. The lesson is divided into five pieces: an introduction with Student Mentors,
participation in the DePaul Interest Finder, result discussion, group activity, and discussion of

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resources and goal setting. The first activity encompasses a logistical and introductory
opening. The next piece necessitates the aid of the Student Mentors to facilitate a large group
discussion with the students about their knowledge and insights about potential majors and
career decisions in the future as well as completing the DePaul Interest Finder (DePaul
University, 2014). The third portion of the lesson is an explanation and discussion about
Holland Theory. A group activity placing students into randomly assigned groups to complete a
task involving St. Vincent coming to tour DePaul and Chicago is completed. Lastly, there is a
small portion at the end of the lesson to discuss campus resources and set goals for the students
time at DePaul and in their future.
Participation. The ECP lesson requires the participation of all stakeholders to ensure
this programs success. For example, the Career Centers staff dedicates time and effort to
curriculum development and continual improvement of the lesson. Individuals from the
Common Hour board as well as the doctoral students who aid in development and evaluation of
the program are also participants of this lesson. Finally, the participation of the students is what
brings this program to life. The undergraduate participants as well as the Student Mentors will
be most affected by the lesson through engagement, reflection, and opportunities for leadership
(Fitzpatrick, Sanders, Worthen, & Worthen, 2011).
Short-Term Outcomes. This evaluation is focused on the short-term outcomes for
students discovering and primarily delving into their interests using the DePaul Interest Finder,
through discussions, and activities (DePaul University, 2014). The first outcome is participating
in meaningful and ongoing analysis of interests initiated by using this tool through action stated
in the second learning outcome. The next short term outcome is to have students become ignited
by this lesson and enact involvement in the DePaul community through organizations, clubs, or

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connect with resources on campus based on their interests. The next short-term learning
outcome is that students will set personal goals based on their interests. The part of the lesson
which will highlights these two outcomes is the fifth part of the lesson, the discussion of
resources and goal setting. The last short term outcome is interaction and relationship building
between students and their peers, the Student Mentors, and the Career Center staff through this
hour lesson. This will occur throughout the entirety of the lesson rather than in a specific activity
within the lesson. We hope that modeling upperclassmen student involvement and caring staff
members will model lifelong learning in the developmentally considered outcomes mentioned by
Bresciani, Zelna, and Anderson (2004).
Medium Outcomes. Once the short-term outcomes have been accomplished, the
medium outcomes become deeper and build upon the short-term outcomes. They do this
developmentally, by a maturing attitude, as well as putting their interests into practice (Bresciani,
Zelna, & Anderson, 2004). The first outcome in this timeframe is that students will connect their
interests within the next year and a half towards am academic major or show movement towards
career choices related to their interests. Emphasized at the end of the lesson, interests are a
starting point for educational and career exploration. Students will be able to take into
consideration their values, skills, and personality in making decisions for their future after
considering their interests. By beginning with interests, students may be able to consider these
ideas which shape their future in stages, intentionally done in the lesson creation. By first
engaging with the Student Mentors and committed staff, the medium outcome is related to
relationship development with these models. Although potentially not with these specific
individuals, the outcome is to foster a connection between students and Student Mentors, Career
Center staff, or any mentor on campus through experiencing this lesson. Through the first and

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third part of the lesson, the introduction to the interest approach and sharing results of the test,
this outcome of positive leadership with an ethic of individual care is modeled to begin those
relationships with students (Bresciani, Zelna, & Anderson, 2004).
Long-Term Outcomes. When examining of the long-term effects, the program aims to
obtain broad and meaningful outcomes. By participating in this lesson, a desired outcome is for
students to continually seek out opportunities on campus and within their larger communities
that are ignited by their interests identified through this program. For example, not only become
involved in their first year of college but throughout their experience, continually seeking and
deepening their experience. The second long-term outcome is students will continue to have
direction and purpose upon graduation in their educational and career interests. This could
manifest itself in vocationally driven career moves or volunteering into adulthood for a
personally meaningful cause. The last outcome is that students will examine multiple facets of
their lives, including the interests, values, personality, and goals highlighted within the lesson,
and contribute to an improved society. The group activity within the lesson begins the process of
working with peers toward a common goal. The hope is that the ECP lesson will provide
students with reflection and group skill tools to create positive social change through their unique
contribution. By taking these initial steps as done in the program hour, deeper and more
intentional actions can be taken to best use their skills to improve the world.
Assumptions
First and foremost, there is an assumption that students will be excited and desire to
engage in the ECP lesson and with the Student Mentors presented by the Career
Center. Additionally, it is assumed that students hope to learn more about themselves, the
DePaul community, and be inspired to set goals from this lesson. The lesson and Common Hour

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in general running smoothly as well as printing, budget, and logistics concerns are presumed to
be executed as planned. As this program has been running for almost thirty years, there is a
culture around career planning at DePaul University, beginning in their first or second year as a
result of this program. Therefore, it is assumed that administration will support the lesson as
well as have staff prepared, invested, and enthusiastic about this program. This program
assumes the diverse student population will interact respectfully and also be positively affected,
not controlling for social identities (Ware, 1986). This lesson is broad enough to potentially be
beneficial for all students, regardless of their college readiness level or ability status, gender, etc.
because of its individualized nature (Sampson, McClain, Musch, & Reardon, 2013). However,
highlighting the resources before closing the lesson may provide students with support they may
need.
External Factors
As there are many stakeholders involved in the process, implementation, and effects of
this lesson, there are many external factors, which could significantly alter the ECP
lesson. There are certain staff members who are highly involved and entrenched in the success
and planning of the program within the Career Center, and if there were any staff turnover, the
lesson has the potential to become a lower priority for a new staff member or have the
curriculum altered. Also regarding the staff of the Career Center, if the office was faced with
downsizing, the attention and investment in the lesson could decrease. Another external factor is
student choice. Within the Common Hour lessons, there are ten presentations to attend, and only
nine are required. If students choose to be a part of the other nine lessons, the ECP lesson could
lose attention and resources from the lack of interest from students. The largest external factor is
the continuation and maintenance of the Common Hour at DePaul University. This program has

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been seen as essential in the culture of DePaul but if decisions are made to significantly alter or
terminate the Common Hour then the Career Center lesson would no longer exist.
Evaluation Rationale
The Educational and Career Planning Common Hour has never been formally evaluated
in the past 30 years. Currently, participants fill out a brief survey on their experiences from the
ECP. However, there has yet to be a formal evaluation of the lesson plan that examines if the
objectives are being met. In our evaluation, we will focus on whether the ECP meets its shortterm goal of providing students with the ability to articulate their interests in a general way.
Since the ECP lesson has been a core part of the Common Hour for almost three decades, we are
interested in seeing what kind of impact it has on students and their major and career interests.
Approach
Our evaluation will be formative in nature. Formative evaluations look at the program
and determine what improvements can be made (Fitzpatrick, Sanders, Worthen, & Worthen,
2011). Since the ECP is a permanent component of the Common Hour, the stakeholders are
interested in determining what, if any, improvements to the lesson could be made.
Since we are primarily interested in examining short-term outcomes of the ECP, we will be
performing a combination approach, looking at both the process and outcomes of the lesson.
Based on the ECPs lesson plan (Appendix A), the learning objectives for the students are
primarily short-term goals. When looking at the process, we are most concerned with how the
ECP lesson is conveyed and delivered to the participants. Examining the outcomes of the
students would also be important as it is a result of the process. If we are able to see any
negative correlations between the process and results, then we can see where to start the
improvements.

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Quantitative Approach

The first approach we will utilize in our evaluation of the ECP is a quantitative approach.
The quantitative method can be arguably the most concrete aspect of an evaluation because its
utilization of survey instruments and data analysis (Creswell, 2008, p. 145). In evaluating the
ECP, we will administer short paper surveys at the end of the first 25 ECP lessons of the
academic year. The survey will ask various questions about the demographics of the students, as
well as their feelings towards the lesson and the impact it may or may not have had on
developing their major or career interests. The survey will also be used in finding participants
for the qualitative approach of our evaluation.
Participants
The focus of this evaluation will be on all students, first-year and undergraduate transfer,
who take part in the Education & Career Planning lesson. This population of students choses
nine out of ten lessons to attend throughout the year as part of the Common Hour requirement at
DePaul University, so we estimate about ninety percent of the first-year and undergraduate
transfer students who will be attending will provide insight for the lesson through the
survey. The number of first-year students at DePaul in 2014 was approximately 2,544 (DePaul
University: Enrollment Management and Marketing, Freshman Enrollment, n.d.). The
undergraduate transfer student population was 1,580 and estimating one half of this population
are first and second year students, there 790 students who will participate in this lesson (DePaul
University: Enrollment Management and Marketing, Transfer Enrollment, n.d.). In total, transfer
and first-year students would equal 3,334 participants. As Ed Childs, the program coordinator,
previously mentioned, the session runs 115 times a year. If the ninety percent of the first 25
lesson participants complete this survey, that totals approximately 625 students. As the survey

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will be administered directly after the lesson within the classroom, we anticipate having close to
a 100 percent response rate.
We will use purposeful random sampling for this survey, as every student participating in
the first 25 lessons will be administered a survey at the end of the lesson, with five minutes
allotted for instrument completion (Wholey et al., 2010).
Evaluation Design
A pre-experimental, cross-sectional design will be the research design for our qualitative
approach (Creswell, 2009; Wholey et al., 2010). Based on the nature of this sampling frame,
there will be no comparison group. As stated by Childs, this lesson within the Common Hour at
DePaul is incredibly unique, which makes it very difficult to find a benchmarking comparison
with other national university programs (personal communication, September 23, 2015). There
are no control groups as all students, meaning one single group or population, will experience the
survey as an intervention. Also, no random assignment is used within this lesson
evaluation. For the ECP lesson, a longitudinal design was discussed, but upon further
consideration, there was already incredibly limited time to have students complete the survey
after the lesson. As the entire lesson is fifty minutes, taking ten minutes for a pre-test and posttest would be too time consuming and take away from valuable content and students class
schedules. An additional method of evaluation, a focus group, will be discussed in the next
section of this evaluation.
Instrument Description
The ECP survey (Appendix D) is made up of 18 questions total, including five questions
regarding the students demographics. We chose to do a short survey because the instrument
will be administered at the end of the lesson plan, thus it could not be too lengthy. The survey

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should take the students no longer than five minutes. For the demographic related questions, we
asked about the students current status (first year or transfer; commuter or residential), their
gender, and race. We believed that these four demographic statistics would be important to the
DePaul community. Specifically, since 90 percent of the total DePaul population commutes, it
would be significant to know how many in that population are utilizing the ECP lesson plan
(DePaul University, n.d.).
The remaining 12 questions in the instrument ask questions regarding the students
experience and outcomes after the ECP lesson. Eleven of the questions utilize the Likert scale,
ranging from strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, to strongly agree. When ordering the
questions, the instrument firsts asks questions regarding participants awareness of interests and
majors prior to completing the lesson. Then, the next set of questions ask about the actual lesson
plan and process. Finally, the last set of questions ask about the students outcomes after the
lesson and if they would recommend the lesson to classmates.
The last questions in the ECP survey ask two open-ended questions. The first question is
asking what the student most enjoyed about the lesson and the second questions ask what they
would change about the lesson. We believed that it was important to have space for students to
write in their answers so they could express their opinions on elements of the lesson that our
questions may not have covered. The ultimate space provided is for students to write their email if they are interested in participating in the focus group.
Pilot Testing
In regards to pilot testing the created survey, we will test our survey instrument with the
Student Mentors who have participated in the ECP lesson in their first years at DePaul
University. We will invite all of the Student Mentors to a workshop where we will administer

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the survey. Then, once completed, a discussion of the instrument will take place. Open-ended
questions will be asked to the Student Mentors such as, What did you think of the flow of
questions within the survey? Do you believe the right questions were asked? Were the questions
clear? What were your interpretations of the questions asked? They will be told that their
answers will inform the survey moving forward when used with students within the
lesson. Additionally, Student Mentors have participated in the Common Hour and the ECP
lesson, which will provide much value as they have experienced first-hand the program being
evaluated.
Implementation and Administration
As previously stated, the surveys will be administered to the first 25 ECP lessons after the
50-minute lesson is completed. The first 25 lessons will receive the survey purely for feasibility
concerns in completing this evaluation within the allotted 6 month period. According to Wholey
et al. (2010), face-to-face surveys result in high response rates, especially if all of the target
respondents are together at a facility. The facilitator will hand out the surveys once the lesson is
done and collect them when the students are complete. One of the main purpose of
administering the survey immediately after the lesson is to ensure that there is no recall problem
from the participants.
Statistical Analysis
The data collected from the surveys will be used in a statistical analysis to provide
stakeholders information on the ECP lesson plan and the students experiences. First, we will
use descriptive statistics to see the frequencies of the different demographic questions, including
student status, race, and gender. It is important to report data on who is taking the lesson and
responding to the surveys.

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Then, we will use measures of central tendency in order to determine any general
patterns, calculating the mean, median and mode for the first ten questions of the survey. Then,
based on the initial analysis, we will compare the Likert-type questions across all of the
demographics, including student status, race, and gender. Additionally, we will run an ANOVA
test to see if there are significant mean differences in the outcomes across the different
demographics grouping variables. The results will reveal if there are any major differences in
the outcomes between first-year or transfer students, commuter or residential students, and
differences in the participants race and gender.
For the two open-ended questions, we will analyze the data using a coding system. We
would utilize the grounded coding approach for this portion of the survey. Since we have
provided only a small space for students comments, grounded coding should be the most
practical and efficient method. Grounded coding will allow us to read the responses first and
determine the codes based on the emerging themes (Creswell, 2009).
Results Presentation
We will present that final report to the Career Center as well as the Common Core board.
Additionally, since there are current DePaul doctoral students evaluating the ECP concurrently,
we will present the final evaluation along with their presentation to provide a more extensive
report. The final report will highlight the significant findings and key outcomes. Tables will be
used to present the data, as well as bar graphs in order to provide the stakeholders with a visual
of the data. The report will ultimately reveal the ECPs effectiveness in achieving its outcomes,
as well as provide a better understanding of the audience.

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Qualitative Approach

Once the survey results are collected, the graduate students will present the information
to the Career Center staff. Discussions of identity, volunteer numbers, and additional details will
occur to create the most effective focus group possible. Another aspect of the focus group will
be whether students have selected or are unsure of their major. We would like to monitor this
aspect as well in the focus group for ECP lesson effectiveness based on specific characteristics of
students.
Design
The qualitative approach in this evaluation of DePauls Education and Career Planning
Common Hour lesson will be used in conjunction with the survey instrument (Appendix A;
Appendix D). Together, the results will provide a deeper understanding of the participants
experiences within the ECP lesson. While the quantitative data will provide a general trend in
the participants experiences, the qualitative data will allow us to gain an understanding that
goes beyond numbers and statistical inference...Qualitative data can provide deep insights into
how programs or policies work or fail to work and more compelling accounts of success and
failure (Wholey et al., 2010, p. 429). For the ECP evaluation, we will utilize focus groups in
order to gain further insights from the quantitative data. Focus groups can provide information
for formative and summative evaluations (Wholey et al., 2010, p. 378). Focus groups are also
beneficial in that the questions asked are focused on the main objectives and the participants are
comfortable giving their opinions (Wholey et al., 2010, p. 381). Since our survey instrument is
only a total of 17 questions, 12 of which are pertaining to the actual lesson plan, the focus group
with provide us with a better, more in depth understanding of the participants thoughts.

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Sampling
The intent of using a focus group in our evaluation of the ECP is to provide more indepth look into the students experiences and to see if the goals of the lesson are matched with
the outcomes. According to Schuh (2009), the goal of the focus group is to elicit ideas,
attitudes, feelings, or perceptions about a particular topic (p. 88). At the end of our survey
instrument (Appendix D), we included a question at the end asking if students would be
interested in participating in a focus group, they should include their email. We would conduct a
stratified, purposeful sampling for this focus group. This type of sampling allows for researchers
to explore a phenomenon across different populations. For the purpose of our focus group, the
two populations we are interested in are students who were sure and students who were unsure of
their studies and career interests prior to participating in the lesson. We believed that comparing
these two groups would provide with great insights into the purpose of this evaluation. We would
contact students through email, providing information on the focus group study and send
reminder emails the day of the study (Appendix F).
Our focus group will consist of five to eight ECP participants. Wholey et al. (2010)
suggest that a focus group of this size is reasonable, especially if we want to give each
participant an opportunity to give longer responses. Larger groups may not allow for all
participants to speak and elaborate on their answers. When we invite students to participate in
our focus group, we will accept at least ten participants because most likely, there will be
students who do not attend once confirmed (Wholey et al., 2010).
Protocol Instrument
The protocol instrument (Appendix F) is intended to guide the focus group and provide a
structure for the moderator. We predict that the focus group session should not last more than 90

ECP EVALUATION PLAN

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minutes. The protocol is divided into three major sections with questions regarding to the
students experiences before, during, and after the ECP lesson.
The moderator will first introduce their self and the graduate intern, who will be the
scribe. The moderator will explain the purpose of the focus group and what the next 90 minutes
will entail. The participants will also be sign an Informed Consent Form (Appendix G), which
will indicate that they consent to participating in the focus group and understand the guidelines.
Once this is settled, the moderator will begin inquiring about the participants interests before the
ECP lesson. It would be interesting to know if the students came into the lesson with an idea of
what they would like to major in or if they had any preexisting career interests. In the second
section of the protocol, the moderator would ask participants about their specific experiences
with the ECP lesson. We are interested in learning why students chose the ECP lesson and what
kind of impact it had on their major and career interests. In the final section, the moderator will
ask questions regarding their likes and dislikes of the lesson. In these questions, the moderator
would ask what they enjoyed about the lesson and what improvements could be made. The
focus group will conclude with the moderator opening it up to the participants and asking if any
of them had any other comments to add.
Implementation
The graduate assistant and graduate intern within the Career Center at DePaul University
will moderate this focus group. By having these students in the office on a fairly regular basis,
understand the ECP program well, and fully grasp the intended outcomes of the program, there is
an assumption that these individuals will be comfortable and prepared to moderate. Before
leading the focus group of students, a suggestion of basic focus group training as well as active
listening skills may be reviewed to avoid issues such as groupthink and leading questions

ECP EVALUATION PLAN

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(Schuh, 2009; Wholey et al., 2010). The focus group questions will be evaluated through a pilot
test with the Student Mentors. We hope by engaging them again in this qualitative evaluation
along with the quantitative evaluation, they will feel heard and witness their ideas being put into
action. No incentives will be provided but the graduate students will work with the Student
Mentors to discuss this evaluation experience on their resume. Additionally, this pilot test will
give the graduate student moderators practice with facilitation.
The focus group will take place in the beginning of October before the midterm season
begins. The location will be within the conference center of the Career Center, which is located
in a central building on campus, on the first floor, making it an accessible and well-known area
for first-year students. As the group will occur during dinner, food and drinks will be provided
and advertised in the e-mail invitation for participation. This is one incentive provided for the
first-year students to motivate them to attend the group. University favors, such as Career Center
t-shirts and drawstring backpacks, and gift cards, for example, will be given for attending and
participating in the focus group. By providing desirable university gear the hope is to spread by
word of mouth the benefits of the incentives and having their voice heard (Wholey et al.,
2010). We hope this will create a snowball effect and there will be a high interest from students
if the Career Center hopes to moderate an additional focus group in the future. The Consent
Form (Appendix G) will be handed out once students get settled, and the group will begin. Once
the session is over, the university favors will be given out.
Analytical Approach
When analyzing the data, the graduate assistant will take the lead in being the main
moderator with the focus group questioning and the graduate intern will take notes on a laptop of
the themes, which arise and direct quotes from students which will be included in the final

ECP EVALUATION PLAN

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presentation. The focus group will also be audio recorded and transcribed at a later date to save
the data for future reference and use.
Limitations to this approach may be time and resources. If a graduate assistantship or
internship ends, finding another individual to transcribe the focus group may present
difficulties. Using an individual associated with the office is the hope for this evaluation as
hiring a transcriber appears beyond the scope of this projects need and may be a financial
burden. To counter this limitation, the transcription of the focus group may begin promptly after
the date, as internships and assistantships may have a fall semester end date. Another limitation
of this focus group may be student interest. As previously mentioned, there will be preemptive
steps using incentives taken to recruit students to participate in this focus group.
The approach used will be grounded codes, reviewing the data before creating codes for
the focus group (Creswell, 2009). The rationale behind this is to allow organic yet pertinent
conversation to flow and prevent the danger of the moderator overlooking students comments
while searching for responses to fit into specific predetermined themes. Additionally, the codes
which surface using an emergent approach may provide new insights not seen within past
literature, as the ECP lesson as well as the Common Hour are customized specifically to DePaul
University and the Career Center (personal communication, E. Childs, September 23,
2015). The creation of the DePaul Interest Finder supports the uniqueness of the program as
well as the need for evaluation of the edited lesson with this instrument (personal
communication, E. Childs, September 23, 2015).
To address the personal biases and positionality of the researchers, a statement of
positionality will be included in the final evaluation report of the qualitative data. The survey
questions within the quantitative data analysis will aid in triangulation of data as well as the

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audio recording of the focus group. To ensure proper interpretation of responses, we will ask
students to meet in the Career Center conference room with the graduate students in the weeks
after the focus group to discuss their responses in a casual and comfortable manner. This
member checking will hopefully aid in analyzing the focus group properly.
Dissemination
In a similar fashion to the data presented in the quantitative survey, the qualitative data
gathered from this focus group will be presented within the same venue. This focus group will
provide deeper insight to the survey that will be used as quantitative data and will be discussed
together with the parallel doctoral students evaluation. Visuals of direct quotes from students
will be displayed in the presentation for stakeholders as well as bar graphs depicting students
answers to the questions asked by moderators. As previously stated, this presentation will aid in
analyzing if the stated lesson outcomes are being met by students.
Timeline
The allotted timeline for this evaluation will be approximately 6 months (Appendix H).
The rationale behind this short time frame is the typical internship period of one semester. This
evaluation could be the primary focus of the graduate intern and assistant, beginning in August
and presenting results in January. Before the lessons begin, a discussion with the director of the
Career Center about the finalized evaluation plan will take place. Once Student Mentors are on
campus before the school year begins, there will be a pilot test of the survey instrument.
Throughout the first month of the semester, the first 25 ECP lesson participants will complete the
survey (Schuh, 2009). During this time, Student Mentors will also pilot test the focus group.
The focus group will take place around October, before midterm exams, to reduce attrition rates.
For the rest of the semester, the graduate intern and assistant will be analyzing, member

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checking, and aggregating the data. In early January, this evaluation will be presented alongside
the doctoral students evaluation to the Career Center and Common Hour board to allow time for
edits within the lesson before the semester begins.
Budget
The budget spreadsheet (Appendix I) shows that this evaluation would not be very costly
for the Career Center. Most of the work would be done in-house. For example, the human
resources would not cost any money because we would utilize the existing Graduate Student
Workers and Interns. The technology, including laptops and the recorder for the focus group,
would also be cost-free because we would utilize DePauls Technology Support Center. We
would also utilize the conference space that the Career Center already has in their office and
print all documents in the office. The main costs would come from the incentives used for the
focus group. We would need to budget money for the pizza and beverages, as well as the gift
cards to the DePaul bookstore.
Next Steps and Limitations
This evaluation period is an exciting time for the Education & Career Planning lesson.
Not only is this formal evaluation taking place, but also a parallel comparison evaluation will
provide a comprehensive look at this lesson for first year and undergraduate transfer students.
We hope that this evaluation will deepen a culture of evaluation with this specific program.
Once successfully performed, we suggest that additional evaluations take place in the future.
Three times throughout the academic yearthe beginning, middle, and endwould provide an
in depth look at the effectiveness of the lesson and student responses. There was intentionality
about having the evaluation take place at the beginning of the academic year, because the
validity concern of conflating experiences may occur if students were evaluated at the end of

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their first year of college. Questions that might be asked are, Is the lesson more effective before
decisions to join organizations? Are students more likely to participate in the beginning of the
academic year? When are students most likely to open up to Student Mentors?
Once students have participated in the lesson, involving them in the curriculum
development and continued evaluation is a future recommendation. Students may be interested
in a future in higher education, career counseling, or evaluation, and this opportunity could
provide guidance, leadership, and relationships in their college careers. Additional
recommendations include surveying seniors who participated in the ECP lesson to evaluate how
it informed their path through college. Also, surveying alumni asking how this lesson informed
their career trajectory and compare this data to alumni responses who did not participate in the
ECP lesson may provide useful data. In regard to the long-term outcomes of the program, asking
alumni how they have contributed positively to citizenship and society as a result of this lesson
may be another future recommendation.
To accomplish these lofty plans were beyond the scope of the initial evaluation approach
but strongly suggested upon further evaluation of the lesson. Solely asking students these
questions in the beginning of their college experience may be a significant limitation to this
evaluation, which is the reasoning behind the suggested future recommendations. The small
number of staff involved and inexperience of graduate students in the evaluation are additional
limitations, but with the above steps taken to train facilitators and the present culture of
evaluation within the Career Center in this academic year, we hope these limitations will be
partially controlled for in this evaluation.

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References

Brescani, M.J., Zelna, C.L., & Anderson, J.A. (2004). Techniques for assessing student learning
and development: A handbook for practitioners. Washington D.C.: NASPA, Inc.
Creswell, J.W. (2009). Qualitative procedures. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and
mixed method approaches (p. 173-202, 4th Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Creswell, J. W. (2009). Quantitative Methods (4th edition, p. 145-171). [PDF]. Designing
Research: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches.
DePaul University. (2015). Common hour lesson plan: Educational and career planning
[Document]. Retrieved from www.depaul.edu
DePaul University: Commuter Services (n.d.). Retrieved from: http://offices.depaul.edu/studentaffairs/support-services/for-specific-populations/Pages/commuter-services.aspx

DePaul University. (2014). DePaul interest finder [Pamphlet & PDF]. Retrieved from
www.depaul.edu
DePaul University: Enrollment Management and Marketing, Freshman Enrollment
(n.d.). Diversity. Retrieved from: http://offices.depaul.edu/emm/facts-andfigures/Pages/freshman-enrollment.aspx
DePaul University: Enrollment Management and Marketing, Transfer Enrollment
(n.d.). Diversity.http://offices.depaul.edu/emm/facts-and-figures/Pages/transferenrollment.aspx
Enrollment Management and Marketing (n.d.). Diversity. Retrieved from:
http://offices.depaul.edu/emm/facts-and-figures/Pages/diversity.aspx

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Fitzpatrick, J. L., Sanders, J. R., Worthen, B. R., & Worthen, B. R. (2011). Program evaluation:
Alternative approaches and practical guidelines. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education.
Komarraju, M., Nadler, D., & Swanson, J. (2013). Increased career self-efficacy predicts college
students motivation, and course and major satisfaction. Journal of Career Assessment,
22(3), 420-432. doi: 10.1177/1069072713498484
Office of Mission and Values (1991). Mission Statement. Retrieved from:
http://offices.depaul.edu/mission-and-values/about/Pages/MissionStatement.aspx
Sampson Jr., J. P., McClain, M., Musch, E., & Reardon, R. C. (2013). Variables affecting
readiness to benefit from career interventions. Career Development Quarterly, 61(2), 98109. doi:10.1002/j.2161-0045.2013.00040.x
Schuh, J.H. & Associates (2009). Assessment methods for student affairs. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass
The Career Center (n.d.). Mission. Retrieved from:
http://careercenter.depaul.edu/about/mission.aspx
Ware, M. E. (1986). Assessing student's career needs at a small private university. Teaching Of
Psychology, 13(4), 185.
Wholey, J. S, Hatrey, H. P., & Newcomer, K. E. (Eds.) (2010). Handbook of practical program
evaluation (Third Edition). Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.

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Appendix A

Common Hour Lesson Plan: Educational and Career Planning

Content Overview
This lesson will require students to consider how they define how their interests might relate
to academics and career possibilities. The conversations around these topics will lead into
activities that will provide students an opportunity to connect their interests to the DePaul
community and Chicago to encourage exploration and setting goals. Mentors and Staff
Professionals will be contacted by a staff professional from the Career Center to assist in
presenting this module. The primary contact is Ed Childs: echilds@depaul.edu

Learning Objectives
By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

Articulate what kinds of things interest them in a general way

Explore and brainstorm ways to connect their interests to majors and careers
Explore and brainstorm ways to connect their interests to the DePaul community and
Chicago
Contemplate ways their interests might connect to DePauls mission
Reference two strategies or next steps to assist with this exploration
Identify campus resources to connect to during and beyond their first quarter for
support

Lesson Plan Sequence

Check-In & Lesson Intro/Overview

5 minutes
Reflection of interests using the DePaul Interest Finder 10 minutes
Sharing Results and Explanation of Holland Theory
10 minutes
Group Activity
15 minutes
Resources and Goal Setting
5 minutes
=45 minutes
Starting the Discussion 5 Minutes
(Student mentors will lead this portion)
Student mentors will begin a discussion with the class about where they are in the process
of choosing a major and thinking about possible directions after DePaul. In addition to
telling their stories, the student mentors will also compare theirs with a friends story (it
would be helpful if the friend has a different story from the mentors story). Student mentors
can address any of following points in talking about their process and that of their friends:
Did you both know what you wanted to major in during your first year?
Did either of you change your minds about your major or the direction you were
heading during your first year? What was that like?
What are you both studying now? How did you both arrive at this decision?

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What has been the most helpful to you both in choosing a major?
What do you both envision doing after DePaul?
Were outside influences a factor? (Parents, friends, the economy).
Was there a lack of knowledge about certain majors? (I never really looked into this
major).
Student mentors should explain how it is common for students to be currently exploring, and
for students who are decided, to change their majors.

Before passing out the DIF (next step), please be sure to mention that this is only looking at
interests, that student should consider their values, personality, and skills and how these all
interact so that they have a comprehensive understanding to make the most informed
academic and career decisions (see page 13 in the DIF)
DePaul Interest Finder Assessment 10 Minutes
(Career Center staff member will lead this portion.)
Students will complete the DePaul Interest Finder assessment to measure their interests
and identify DePaul majors, student organizations, and internship/career options that align.
Instructions for completing the assessment are included in the assessment booklet, but
Career Center staff can answer specific questions that may arise.
Sharing Results and Holland Theory 10 Minutes
Ask students to compare results with someone sitting next to them (2 min)
Staff professionals will overview the basics of theory on page 5 of the DePaul Interest Finder
Holland Theme Group Breakout-15 Minutes
St. Vincent Tour Game: Holland Interests to Academics and the Community (15 minutes)
A student discovered time travel and went back in time to meet St. Vincent. This student
persuaded St. Vincent to explore the future to visit a university that is named after his
legend. Your group was selected to present a tour of both DePaul and Chicago to St. Vincent
based on your specific interest area (see attached hexagon model and the DePaul Interest
Finder to assist you with answering the questions).
Please fill out the questions below based on the theme of your group
1. ICEBREAKER/PRACTICE: (1 MIN) 2 members from your group are designated to pick
up St. Vincent at OHare airport where the time machine is parked. Based on your
groups interest, what type of vehicle/transportation will members use to pick up St.
Vincent and bring him to the DPU campus?
2. ACADEMICS/COMMUNITY
Use pages 6-11 of the DePaul Interest Finder to assist you with these questions:
While traveling back to campus, St. Vincent is quite interested in listening to your story
as a DPU student. He wants to know what classes you are thinking about taking. He also
is curious to know about the majors being offered at DePaul University.
a. Please suggest classes/majors, that would impress St. Vincent based on the specific
interests of your group.
You finally arrive on campus, and your entire group is there to greet him.
b. What are some buildings, labs, activities, or clubs that your group thinks he might
enjoy during his campus tour?

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c. Based on the interests of your group, what organizations, places, or activities in the
greater Chicago community would you show him to represent the DePaul mission?
Resources and Goal Setting-5 minutes
Indicate how this Common Hour presentation only examines Interests. Note the
comprehensive importance of exploring Skills, Values, Personality and Goals.
Highlight ONET
Highlight Handshake (especially how this focuses on skills and interests connects to skills)
Highlight ASK
1) While St. Vincent loves what he hears, he is practical and wants to know what goals
you might make over the next 6 months to ensure your success? He asks each group
member to take 2 minutes to select/write down 2-3 activities to incorporate interests
so that each is member is successful. Take 2 minutes to circle a few and/or jot down
ideas:
a. Make an appointment with an OAAS advisor to explore major/minor options
b. Make an appointment with a Career Advisor to explore how your interests relate
to possible career paths
c. Speak to a ASK mentor/graduate of DePaul working in a role/industry youd like
to explore, or possibly shadow
d. Take classes around X majors/subjects_______________________
e. Explore joining a group on campus to help you develop teamwork, leadership and
professional development in your interest area to help bolster your resume
Finally, note where the offices are located, and thank everyone for their time.

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Appendix B

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Appendix C
Logic Model
Outputs

Outcomes -- Impact

Inputs
Activities

Career Center
Student Mentors
First-year and transfer
students
Common Hour board
Doctoral students
Time to create
curriculum
Time to present in
sessions from staff and
student mentors
Common Hour and
Career Center budget
Materials for lesson

Group discussion
DePaul Interests
Finder
Holland Theory
Student Mentor
discussions
Goals activity

Participation

New incoming
students (first years
and second year
transfer students)
Student mentors
Career Center staff
Administrators of
Career Center and
Common Hour

Short

Assumptions
Students will want to participate in lesson
Students are ready to learn and excited
Students will care about goal setting
Logistics will run smoothly
Staff are prepared and see enthusiastic about the lesson
Educative/Career-based culture on campus
Students will engage with other students and Student Mentors
The program is supported by all administration

Student will begin

meaningfully
examining and identify
their interests related to
career aspirations
Students will become
involved in the DePaul
community based on
their interests
Students will set goals
that ensure success at
DePaul based on their
interests
Students will discover
general interests based
on the DePaul Interest
Finder
Students will engage
with Student Mentors,
peers, and Career
Center staff

Medium

Students will be able

to connect their
interests to
major/minor and
career choices
Students will consider
their values,
personality, and skills
once they have a more
firm grasp on their
interests
Students will develop
relationships between
students, Peer
Mentors, and
organization/office
advisors/staff

Long

Students will
continually seek out
opportunities on
campus which are
ignited by their
interest examination
Upon graduation,
students will continue
to have direction in
their career and
educational
development interests
Students will
examine multiple
facets of their lives to
contribute to an
improved society

External Factors
Budget cuts
Staff cuts
Staff turnover
Student selection in lessons
Structural changes of university schedule/removal of Common Hour

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Appendix D
Education and Career Planning Common Hour Lesson Survey
Thank you for participating in the Education and Career Planning Common
Hour! Please answer the following questions on your experience from the past
hour. Your answers will remain anonymous. We appreciate your feedback!
I identify as (please circle one):
a.
First Year
Transfer
b.

Commuter

On-Campus

c.

her/she/hers

him/he/his

d.

Asian/Pacific Islander

Black/African-American

Hispanic/Latinx

Multi-racial

Native American

White

Other

they/them/theirs

other (please specify: ___________)

Prefer not to identify

If not listed, please specify: _______

Please indicate the extent to which you agree or

disagree with the following statements regarding

the lesson you just completed:

Strongly
Disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly
Agree

1. Prior to participating in the lesson, I was unsure of

my major.

2. I had a firm grasp on my interests before attending

this lesson.

3. This lesson provided insight for me with

major(s)/minor(s) for my future at DePaul.

4. This lesson provided insight for me with careers for

my future beyond DePaul.

5. I am able to connect my interests to the DePaul

community because of this lesson.

6. I am able to connect my interests to Chicago

because of this lesson.

7. The lesson was engaging.

8. The DePaul Interest Finder helped me to articulate

my interests.

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9. This lesson informed me of new resources to

connect to the DePaul campus in regard to interests,
careers, and majors.

10. I feel comfortable taking steps to connect the

insights I learned from the lesson beyond my first
quarter at DePaul.

11. I would recommend this session to a classmate or

friend.

12. What was the most valuable part of the lesson?

________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. What would you add to or change to make this lesson better?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you would like to participate in a focus group about the Education and Career Planning lesson, please write
your email below. We will contact you with more information.
__________________________________________

Thank you!

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Appendix E
Focus Group Protocol

Overarching Purpose of Education Career Planning Common Hour lesson Focus Group:
To gain further understanding of the effectiveness of the ECP lesson.
Main Questions: What were the participants major takeaways from the ECP lesson? What was
done well and would could have been better?
Focus Group Opening Script: Good evening everyone and thank you all very much for taking
the time out of your busy schedules to discuss your experiences in the Education Career Planning
common hour. Please grab some pizza and drinks before we get started. We will begin in
around five minutes. (Five minutes later).
Okay everyone, we will get started now! First, let me tell you who I am and a little about the
Education Career Planning lesson. My name is _________ and I am a ____________ at the
Career Center. The Education Career Planning lesson has been part of the Common Hour for the
past 10 years. Typically in a semester, we have over 100 of these lessons. Tonight, Im going to
ask you all some questions about your time in the Education Career Planning common hour that
you partook in this past semester. I want you all to remember that there are no right or wrong
answers. We are simply looking to hear your opinions so we would appreciate your
candor. Your answers will remain confidential and anonymous, as well. _______ will be taking
notes on our discussions and we will also be audio recorded using this tape recorder.
Before we continue, we will be passing around an Informed Consent Form for you all to read and
sign. (Pass out form) Please remember that your participation, under no circumstances, is
mandatory. If you do feel comfortable participating in this focus group, either before or after it
begins, please feel free to leave. You may also feel free to step out if you need to use the
restroom or get some fresh air. We ask that if you are not using your phone and if you are able to
please put it out of site with your belongings across the room to be fully present and aid in
confidentiality purposes. Are there any questions before we begin?
(collect consent form) Okay, lets start. First, lets go around the room and introduce ourselves.
Say your name, where youre from, and what school youre in.
THEME 1: Major and Career interests before the ECP Lesson
Main Question:
Why did you decided to pursue your undergraduate degree?
Additional Questions:
When you started at DePaul, did you know what you wanted to study? Has this changed,
if at all?
o How did you come to this decision?
Do you know what kind of work youd like to do after DePaul? If so, what?
THEME 2: Impact of ECP Lesson
Main Question:

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There are ten common hour lessons you could have chosen from. What made you choose
to participate in the Education Career Planning common hour? Was there a certain aspect
that interested you the most?
Additional Questions:
If you were unsure of your major before this lesson, did the lesson help you at all with
this indecision? How so?
If you were unsure of your future career path, did the lesson help you at all with this
decision? How so?
If you came into this lesson knowing what you wanted to major or study, did this lesson
provide any affirmations for you?
If you came into this lesson knowing your future career path, did the lesson provide any
affirmations for you?
What did you learn, if anything, from this lesson?
What did you hope to learn from the lesson, if anything? Was that addressed?
THEME 3: Future of ECP Lesson
Main Question:
What did you enjoy about the lesson, if anything at all?
Additional Questions:
We are trying to see what improvements could be made in this lesson for future students.
Would you change the lesson in anyway? If so, how?
Conclusion: Before we wrap up, is there anything else anyone would like to add? (waits) Okay,
great! I want to thank all of you again for taking time out of your busy school schedules again!
Your answers will be a great help in our evaluation. If you have any questions about the study or
with anything at all, please feel free to email me! (hands out business cards)

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Appendix F

E-mails to Student Focus Group Volunteers

Email sent to students who volunteered to participate in the focus group at end of survey:
Greetings from the Career Center!
I hope this email finds you well. I am contacting you today because you volunteered to
participate in our focus group about the recent Education and Career Planning Common Hour
lesson. In this focus group, we are interested in learning more about your experiences with the
ECP lesson and the impact it may or may not have had on your academic and career planning.
We hope that this is still of interest for you because we plan on conducting our focus group on
October 5th at 6pm in the conference room at the Career Center. The focus group should take
about 90 minutes total. Dinner will be provided. As a token of appreciation, you will also
receive $20 gift card to the DePaul bookstore.
If you are still interested in participating in our focus group, please respond to this email.
Thank you in advanced! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate reaching out to me!

Email response to students who replied a confirmation to first email:

Thank you for your response! You are currently confirmed to participate in our focus group. As a
reminder, we will meet on October 5th at 6pm in the conference room at the Career Center.
When you get to the reception, please tell them you are part of the focus group. If you can no
longer make this time, please let me know as soon as possible.
Thank you and if you have any questions please email me.
Email sent to students who participated in the ECP to recruit for focus group:
Greetings from the Career Center!
Thank you for participating in the Education and Career Planning (ECP) Common Hour lesson.
I would like to extend an invitation to you to participate in our upcoming focus group. We are
currently working on an evaluation of the ECP lesson and we would love to hear your voice! In
our focus group, we are interested in learning more about your experience in the ECP and what
kind of impact it might or might not have had on your views. We will be conducting this focus
group on October 5th at 6pm in the conference room of the Career Center (the Schmitt
Academic Center, suite 192). We will provide dinner and a gift card to the DePaul bookstore for
all of our participants. If you are interested, please reply to this email.
Thank you in advanced and please let me know if you have any questions.

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Emails sent to students confirming their participation in the focus group:

Thank you for volunteering for our focus group on the Education and Career Planning Common
Hour lesson. We look forward to hearing your opinions on the lesson. As a reminder, this focus
group will be conducted on October 5th at 6pm in the conference room of the Career Center (the
Schmitt Academic Center, suite 192). When you arrive, please tell the front desk that you are a
part of the focus group. Again, we will provide pizza and drinks, so bring your appetites!
If you can no longer attend our focus group, please respond to this email as soon as possible.
Thank you in advanced and please reach out to me if you have any questions/concerns.

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Appendix G

Consent Form
Education & Career Planning Lesson Focus Group
Purpose. The purpose of this focus group is to gain additional insight for the Education &
Career Planning lesson at DePaul University. The survey given provided the preliminary
information, and this focus group will give depth and clarification to student evaluation of the
ECP lesson. The information of this focus group will be used to improve the ECP lesson for
effectiveness with first-year and undergraduate transfer students.
Procedure. The focus group will take approximately 90 minutes. It will begin at 6:00 pm,
beginning with provided dinner and then a series of questions will be asked of students. The
questions will consist of general experiences with the ECP lesson, as well as what could be
improved for effectiveness. Students are not required to answer every question, but we
encourage participants to share their thoughts in a respectful and positive manner.
Confidentiality. Information gathered within the focus group will be shared with the Career
Center staff, Common Hour committee, and the Career Center staff to better understand the
topics and themes discussed by the students. We ask students to not speak about the discussion
outside of the group.
Benefits. The benefits consist of a deeper understanding of the needs of first-year and
undergraduate students at DePaul University. Additionally, this focus group will provide insight
to the meeting of the ECP learning objectives and continual improvement for future ECP student
participants.
Risks. There are no risks associated with participating in this discussion focus group perceived
by the evaluators.
Questions/Concerns. If there are any questions or concerns of this process, please e-mail the
graduate evaluators, Samantha Ng who may be reached at sng@luc.edu or Katerina Reilly at
kreilly5@luc.edu.
By Signing this Form. I agree to the above statements and am willing to participate in the
Educational & Career Planning lesson within the Common Hour at DePaul University, put on by
the Career Center.

Participant Name: ______________________________________________________

Date: _________________________
Evaluator 1 Name: ______________________________________________________
Date: _________________________
Evaluator 2 Name: ______________________________________________________
Date: _________________________

Thank you for your participation!

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Appendix H
Timeline of Evaluation

Month

August

Review Evaluation Plan

with Director of Career
Center

Survey Pilot with

Student Mentors

September

ECP Lessons (Start)

Administer Survey
(Start)

E-mail Student Focus

Group Volunteers

Random Selection of
Participants Through Email

October

Focus Group

Review Survey Results

Quantitative Data
Analysis

Qualitative Data
Analysis

November

December

Integrate Data

Aggregate Data

Presentation of Results
with Doctoral Students
to Career Center and
Common Hour Board &
Recommendations

January

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Appendix I
Budget

Item

Item Type

Quantity

Cost

Total

Tape Recorder (From

Digital Media Lab)

Technology

Laptop (From Digital

Media Lab)

Technology

Labor Costs (Graduate

Students)

Human
Resource

Transcription Costs

Human
Resource

Bookstore Gift Card

Incentive

15

$5

$75

University Gear
(Existing Give-a-Ways)

Incentive

15

Pizza

Incentive

$25

$125

Liters of Soda

Incentive

$2

$10

Conference Room

Space

Final Report (Printing

In-House)

Printing

Survey Instrument

Printing

200

SPSS (Exists on Campus

Computers)

Technology

Recruiting Materials (i.e.

E-mails)

Technology

Total Cost of
Evaluation

$210

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Appendix J

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