smarthinking report 2016-2017 - learning commons...students used a total of 538 minutes, or 8.97...

FY 2016-2017

FY 2016-2017 Learning Commons Report SMARTHINKING MEYER, RHIANNON

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STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

LEARNING COMMONS – SMARTHINKING

SUMMER 2016 – SPRING 2017 REPORT

Date: June 8, 2017

To: Dr. Betty H. Stewart, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Excellence and Student

Success

Cc: Mr. Robert Mong, President of UNT Dallas, and Dr. Dan Edelman, Chief Financial Officer

From: Paulina Romero, Learning Commons Coordinator and Rhiannon (Dolly) Meyer, Administrative

Specialist to the Learning Commons and Testing

RE: End-of-Year Report for Smarthinking, Summer 2016 – Spring 2017

INTRODUCTION

Smarthinking is an online academic tutoring service, where students can access on-demand individualized

support and instruction from professional tutors in a wide range of subjects. When students are unable to

attend face to face tutoring, they are able to use Smarthinking. UNT Dallas subscribed to this service

because Smarthinking offers a variety of services for students, including live, online tutoring. Students

can utilize a virtual whiteboard, where they can create geometric figures, graphs, and free hand drawings

while chatting with a tutor in an instant messaging setting. Smarthinking also provides an online writing

center where students can submit assignments for tutors to comment on and offer feedback. Students can

also respond to prompts given by tutors in order to further their grammar, composition, and reading

comprehension skills. Additionally, there are video tutorials covering areas in math, science, ESL,

business, reading, writing, and more.

HOURS AGREEMENT AND PURCHASING INFORMATION

In September 2016, UNT Dallas entered a two-year agreement with Smarthinking. This two-year contract

spans from Sept. 24, 2016 through Sept. 30, 2018. The Learning Commons purchased 380 hours for the

two year period, designating 190 hours for each academic year based on student usage from previous

semesters. However, UNT Dallas students used these hours much faster than anticipated. In fact, UNT

Dallas students used the full 380 hours by March 2017. Between March and May 2017, the Learning

Commons purchased an additional 312.7 hours for students to keep online tutoring available for students.

As of May 22, UNT Dallas students have used 602.73 hours out of the 692.7 hours designated for 2016-

2018. We project that students will use the 89.97 remaining hours over Summer 2017, and the university

will be ready to pay the remaining balance, as well as purchase additional hours, for the Fall 2017

semester.

REPORT DETAILS

The information provided in this summary comes from the Smarthinking reports feature. The data was

gathered from May 22, 2016 to May 21, 2017. All of the information was gathered and tracked online

through Smarthinking’s Affiliate Usage System.

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A. 2016-2017 ACADEMIC YEAR OVERVIEW

During the 2016-2017 academic year (summer, fall, and spring), students utilized a total of 702.93 hours.

Two hundred one [unique] students used Smarthinking with 239 new registrations during the academic

year. The site experienced the highest volume of students on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and students

used Smarthinking most often at 11:00a, 8:00p, and 9:00p throughout the academic year. The session

details and unique student data for summer, fall, and spring is presented in full detail in sections B, C, and

D, but the graph below provides a visual comparision of the number of unique students and hours used by

semester (Summer 2016, Fall 2016, and Spring 2017).

Summer 2016 Fall 2016 Spring 2017

Unique Students 8 110 111

Hours Used 7.7 357.68 337.55

0

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Semester

2016-2017: Unique Students and Hours Used By

Semester

Unique Students Hours Used

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Comparing 2016-2017 data to 2015-2016 data, we saw a 399% increase in student usage of

Smarthinking; overall, students used 140.95 total hours in 2015-2016 versus 702.93 total hours in this

current academic year. Comparing 2016-2017 data to 2014-2015 data, we saw a 533% increase in

student usage of Smarthinking. Overall, students used 111.03 total hours in 2014-2015 versus 702.93 total

hours in 2016-2017.

The mean number of tutoring sessions students used this year was 3.7, indicating that the majority of

students utilized Smarthinking 1-4 times. The graph below shows how frequently each of the 201 students

used Smarthinking this semester.

41

32

27

37

21

10

57

1

7

4

1 1 11 11 1 1 1

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1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 81 86 91 96 101 106

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Number of Visits

Number of Visits per Student

2016-2017 2015-2016 2014-2015

Hours 702.93 140.95 111.03

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Academic Year Comparison Data: Student Usage in

Hours

Hours

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There were 361 live sessions, 624 sessions in the online writing lab, and 34 submitted questions.

Statistics was the most popular subject with 180 live sessions. Calculus was second with 151 sessions,

and basic math skills was third with 50 sessions. The chart below shows a more specific breakdown of the

subject areas for which students most often sought help in live sessions.

361

624

34

Number of Sessions per Area

Live Sessions

Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

18

50

151

718

1

11

1

12128

15

180

20

Subjects Covered in Live Sessions

Algebra

Basic Math Skills

Calculus

Cost Accounting

Geometry & Trigonometry

Govt/Nonprofit Accounting

Individual Income Tax

Intermediate Accounting

Intro A&P

Introductory Accounting

Introductory Finance

Organic Chemistry

Physics

Research & Documentation

Statistics

Writing (All Subjects)

Page | 5

Students used a total of 434.3 hours in the Online Writing Lab service. They spent 252.4 hours in live

chat sessions with tutors and 15.3 hours on submitted questions to the online tutors.

252.4

15.3

434.5

Total Hours per Area

Live Sessions

Submitted Questions

Online Writing Lab

Page | 6

The chart below gives a more specific breakdown of the subject matter and how much time was spent in

each area. The Essay Center was the most popular with 364.7 hours used. The second most popular was

Statistics with 113.25 hours spent with online tutors.

Subject Number of Sessions Total Time (hours)

Essay Center 521 364.7

Statistics 159 113.25

Calculus Single Variable 115 77.17

Grammar & Document Review 76 53.2

Basic Math Skills 37 23.55

Algebra 13 12.18

Geometry & Trigonometry 18 11.33

Writing (All Subjects) 16 10.35

Resume or Cover Letter 9 6.3

Career Writing 8 5.6

Introductory Finance 11 4.83

Paragraph Review 10 4.5

Govt/Nonprofit Accounting 8 4.08

Intro Accounting 8 4.08

Organic Chemistry 4 3.68

Cost Accounting 5 2.45

Researcg & Documentation 4 1.97

Physics 1 1.38

Individual Income Tax 1 0.45

Intro A&P 1 0.45

Intermediate Accounting 1 0.15

Total in Hours 1026 702.03

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Our data indicates that students from the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences and students taking

courses from this school utilized Smarthinking more than students from any other school at UNT Dallas.

The chart below shows the number of visits by school.

The chart below shows the number of students who utilized Smarthinking based on their classification. Of

the 201 students who utilized Smarthinking, 106 students (53%) were freshmen and 44 students (22%)

were seniors. This indicates that students completing their first-year coursework and their upper level

course work used Smarthinking more often than students in their second and third years.

106

22

24

44

1

4

2016-2017: Attendance By Classification

Freshman

Sophmore

Junior

Senior

Graduate

Not available

29

53

195

95

2016-2017: Attendance By School

Other

School of Business

School of Education

School of Human Services

School of LALS

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10

11 1

7

16

9

21

31

91

11

71

1

53

2

9

51

43

29

24

1 24

2016-2017: Attendance By Major

Accounting Applied Arts & Sciences

Applied Gerontology Biology

Business - General Business Undetermined

Child Development & Family Studies Communication & Technology

Criminal Justice Finance

Grad Prep Hospitality Management

Human Serv Mgmt & Leader Interdiciplinary Studies

Interdiciplinary Studies: Stand Lang Arts Read 4-8 Interdisciplinary Studies: EC-6 Gen - Spec Education

Interdisciplinary Studies: Standard EC-6 Biling Gen Interdisciplinary Studies: Standard EC-6 ESL Gen

Interdisciplinary Studies: Standard EC-6 Generalist IT

Logstcs Supply Chain Mgmt Mathematics

N/A Org Behav & Human Res Mgt

Psychology Public Health

Sociology Substance Abuse & Addiction

Undecided

The chart below shows the number of students who utilized Smarthinking based on their major. Of the

201 students who utilized Smarthinking, 31 students (15%) were Criminal Justice majors, 29 students

(14%) were Psychology majors, and 24 students (12%) were still undecided on which major to pursue.

Page | 9

B. SUMMER 2016 INFORMATION

Students used a total of 408 minutes, or 6.8 hours over summer 2016. Seven [unique] students utilized

the site 10 times during the summer semester. The most frequently tutored subject for summer 2016 was

Writing (all subjects) with 9 sessions. The second was Finance with 1 session. The site experienced the

highest volume of students on Tuesdays at 8:00p.

The graph below breaks down what type of session was utilized by the hour. Students used the Online

Writing Lab most often at 8pm. Students most commonly visited Smarthinking at 9 and 10 am, and 8, 9,

10, and 12 pm.

Sessions by Hour

Number of Sessions

The graph below shows how often the students visited the website. Of the two students who utilized

Smarthinking over Summer 2015, 3 students visited the site twice while the 4 students used the site once.

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Number of Students


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There were 2 live sessions and 8 sessions in the online writing lab.

Students used a total of 538 minutes, or 8.97 hours, in the Online Writing Lab service. They spent 427

minutes, or 7.12 hours, in live chat sessions with tutors, and just 27 minutes, or 0.45 hours, on submitted

questions to the online tutors.

2

8


Live Sessions Online Writing Lab

1.2

5.6



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The chart below gives a more specific breakdown of the subject matter and how much time was spent in

each area. The Essay Center was the most popular, with 252 minutes, or 4.2 hours, used. The second

most popular was Grammar & Documentation Review, with 84 minutes, or 1.4 hours spent with online

tutors.

Subject Number of Sessions Total Time (in minutes)

Essay Center 6 252

Grammar & Documentation Review 2 84

Finance 1 37

Writing (All Subjects) 1 35

Total in Minutes 10 408


Tutoring by Week

The two figures below breakdown the subjects frequented weekly in more detail. This graph illustrates

that Writing was consistently the most popular subject, especially on Tuesdays. Science was the second

most popular with the most traffic on Sundays.

0

0.5

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1.5

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2.5

3

3.5

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Num

ber

of

Ses

sions

Day of the Week

Subject by Day of the Week

Business Writing

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This chart shows specific subjects broken down by number of sessions per day of the week. The Essay

Center was the most popular, especially on Mondays and Wednesdays. Statistics came in second with

the most usage on Tuesdays. From there, Basic Math Skills was third with Monday the most frequented

day of the week.

Tutoring by Major

Of the 7 students who used Smarthinking, 2 were Accounting majors. The rest were Applied Arts and

Sceinces, Business, Criminal Justice, Educatio, and Undecided majors.

Demographic Information

Since there were only two students who utilized Smarthinking over Summer 2015, we chose to describe

their demographic information. Of the two students who used Smarthinking, one was a psychology major.

The second was unspecified. One student identified as Black/African American and female, and the

second student did not specify.

Classification

2

1

1

1

1

1

Tutoring by Major

Accounting

Applied Arts and Sciences

Business

Criminal Justice

Education

Undecided

Page | 13

1

24

Classification

Freshman

Junior

Senior

This chart shows the number of students who used Smarthinking based on their classification. Of the 7

students who used the site, 4 were seniors, 2 were juniors, and 1 was a freshman. This indicates that

seniors and juniors were more likely to use the site for their upper-level coursework.

Ethnicity

Of the 7 students who utilized Smarthinking, 5 students identified as Black or African American, 1

student identified as Hispanic or Latino/a, and 1 student identified as White. Our assumption is that our

Black or African American students are more likely to seek academic assistance from Smarthinking than

any other ethnic group

5

1

1

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Black/African American

Hispanic/Latino

White

Number of Students

Eth

nic

ity

Ethnicity

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Gender

Of the 7 students who utilized Smarthinking, 6 students were female and 1 student was male. Our

assumption is that females were more likely to use the site and seek academic assistance from

Smarthinking.

6

1

Gender

Female Male

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C. FALL 2016 INFORMATION

Students utilized a total of 21,461 minutes, or 357.68 hours over the Fall 2016 semester (August 22-

December 13, 2016). One hundred ten [unique] students utilized the site, with 128 new registrations

during the semester. The students used the site 522 times during the Fall 2016 semester. The site

experienced the highest volume of students on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8:00p and 9:00p. There

were 190 live sessions, 22 submitted questions, and 310 sessions in the online writing lab.

Comparing Fall 2015 to Fall 2016 usage data, we have seen a 861% increase in students’ usage of

Smarthinking (37.22 hours in FA2015 compared to 357.68 hours in FA2016). Similarly, we have seen a

267% increase in the number of [unique] students utilizing Smarthinking (30 students in FA2015

compared to 110 students in FA2016).

The most popular area in Smarthinking was the Essay Center, with 259 sessions. The most frequently

tutored subject for Fall 2016 was Calculus, with 109 sessions. The second was a tie between Grammar

& Documentation Review and Math Skills, with 29 sessions each. The Online Writing Center was again

more popular in Fall 2016, as it was in Fall 2015.

The most utilized services were for Writing and Business. The most popular time for students seeking

online tutoring were 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 7 p.m., and 10 a.m. The graph below represents what types of

sessions were utilized by the hour. Students used the Online Writing Lab and submitted questions most

frequently at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. The second most frequent time slot was 10 a.m., again with the Online

Writing Lab as the most popular option.

Sessions by Hour

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1 Session 2 Sessions 3 Sessions 4 Sessions 5 Sessions 6 Sessions 7 Sessions 8 or more

Sessions

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Number of Sessions

Student Attendance

Number of Sessions

The graph below shows how often the students visited the website. Of the 110 students who utilized

Smarthinking over Fall 2016, 22 (80%) visited the site only once. Additionally, 14 students visited 2

times, 17 visited 3 times, 23 visited 4 times, and 35 students used the site 5 or more times.

This graph shows how frequently students utilized the site. A majority of students used the site 1-4 times,

but a handful used the site repeatedly throughout the semester.

22

14

17

23

15

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3

111 1 1

0

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1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97 101 105

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Number of Visits


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The Online Writing Lab was the most popular service on Smarthinking. Students used 310 sessions in the

Online Writing Lab. Students engaged in 190 live chat sessions with a tutor in various areas, and

submitted 22 questions to the writing lab.

Students used a total of 12,885 minutes, or 214.8 hours in the Online Writing Lab service. They spent

7,982 minutes, or 133 hours, in live chat sessions with tutors, and just 9.9 hours on submitted questions to

the online tutors.

190

310

22


Live Sessions

Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

133

214.8

9.9


Live Sessions

Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

Page | 18

The graph below gives a more specific illustration of the subjects and how much time was spent in each

area. The Essay Center was the most popular with 10,878 minutes, or 181.3 hours, spent there. The

second most popular was Calculus Single Variable with 4,337 minutes, 72.3 hours spent with online

tutors.


Essay Center 259 10878

Calculus Single Variable 109 4337


Basic Math Skills 29 1179

Statistics 23 1116

Algebra 12 719


Resume or Cover Letter 9 378

Introductory Accounting 8 245

Paragraph Review 9 243

Introductory Finance 8 216

Career Writing 4 168

Cost Accounting 5 147

Physics 1 83

Geometry & Trigonometry 2 54

Research & Documentation 1 37

Govt/Nonprofit Accounting 1 27

Intermediate Accounting 1 9



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Tutoring by Week

The graph below shows the subjects frequented weekly in more detail. This graph illustrates that Writing

was consistently the most popular subject, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Math was the

second most popular with the most online traffic on Tuesdays.

27

40

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2421 20

30

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47

90

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42

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Day of the Week


Math Science Writing Business

Page | 20

This graph shows specific subjects broken down by number of sessions per day of the week. The Essay

Center was the most popular, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Calculus came in second,

with the most usage on Tuesdays. Basic Math Skills was third with Mondays and Fridays the most

frequented days of the week.

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58

13

12

25

2

Classification

Freshman

Sophmore

Junior

Senior

No selection

Tutoring by Major

This chart shows the number of students who used Smarthinking based on their major. Of the 110

students who used the site, 16 (15%) were Criminal Justice Majors and 15 (14%) were Psychology

majors. Undecided majors also made up a large portion of the student users.

Classification


students who used the site, 58 (53%) were freshman and 25 (23%) were seniors. This indicates that

freshman were more likely to use the site for their coursework.

69

7

6

16

12

6147

41

2

15

212

31

12 2

Tutoring by Major AccountingApplied Arts and SciencesBusiness UndeterminedBusinessCriminal JusticeCommunication & TechnologyChild Development & Family StudiesFinanceHospitality ManagementInterdisciplinary StudiesITLogistics Supply Chain MgmtMathematicsOrg Behavior & Human Res MgmtPsychologySociologySubstance Abuse & AddictionStndrd-EC-6 Bilingual GenStd EC-6 ESL GeneralistStandard Engl Lang Arts Read 4-8Undecided

Page | 22

70

38

2

Gender

Female

Male

Not Specified

Ethnicity

Of the 110 students who utilized Smarthinking, 59 students (54%) identified as Hispanic or Latino/a, and

35 students (32%) identified as Black or African American. This indicates that our Hispanic or Latino/a

and Black or African American students are more likely to seek academic assistance from Smarthinking

than any other ethnic group.

Gender

Of the 110 students who utilized Smarthinking, 70 students (64%) were female and 38 students (35%)

were male. This indicates that females were more likely to use the site and seek academic assistance from

Smarthinking.

4

35

59

9

3

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Asian


Hispanic/Latino

White

Not Specified

Number of Students

Eth

nic

ity

Ethnicity

Page | 23

D. Spring 2017 Information

The information provided in this summary comes from the Smarthinking reports feature. The data was

gathered from January 16 to May 21, 2017. All of the information was gathered and tracked online

through Smarthinking’s Affiliate Usage System.

Students utilized a total of 20,253 minutes, or 337.55 hours over the Spring 2017 semester (January 16 –

May 21, 2017). As of May 22, UNT Dallas has used 602.73 hours out of the 692.7 hours designated for

2016-2018. One hundred eleven [unique] students utilized the site, with the same number of new

registrations during the semester. The students used the site 489 times during the Spring 2017 semester.

The site experienced the highest volume of students on Wednesdays and Thursdays between 11:00a

and 6:00p. There were 848 live sessions, 101 submitted questions, and 1,044 sessions in the online

writing lab.

Comparing Spring 2016 to Spring 2017 usage data, we have seen a 224% increase in students’ usage

of Smarthinking (104.18 hours in SP2016 compared to 337.55 hours in SP2017). Similarly, we have seen

a 258% increase in the number of [unique] students utilizing Smarthinking (31 students in SP2016

compared to 111 students in SP2017). This dramatic increase in students’ usage of Smarthinking may be

due to a wider awareness of the service. Incoming students were informed of Smarthinking during the

spring orientations, and many students who took UGST courses in the fall continued to use the service in

the spring. Usage may have also increased due to the Writing Center’s limited online tutoring hours. The

Writing Center was able to pilot an online tutoring program over the spring semester, and it grew quickly.

However, we found that there was little overlap in the students using Smarthinking versus the students

utilizing the Writing Center’s online tutoring services.

Students visited the online Essay Center most often throughout the spring semester. Students visited a

total of 256 times, and worked on various subjects such as grammar, document review, and sentence

structure. Statistics came in second, and students used 136 sessions with online tutors. Students then used

16 sessions in geometry and trigonometry, and 6 sessions in calculus. The online writing lab was more

popular in Spring 2017, whereas live sessions were more popular among students in Spring 2016.

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29

18 17 17

11

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10

15

20

25

30

35

1 Session 2 Sessions 3 Sessions 4 Sessions 5 Sessions 6 Sessions 7 Sessions 8 or more

Sessions

Nu

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Number of Sessions

Student Attendance

The most popular time for students seeking online tutoring were 11 a.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m. The graph

below represents what types of sessions were utilized by the hour. Students used the online writing lab

and live sessions most frequently at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. The second most frequent time slot was 11 p.m.

with the online writing lab as the most popular option.

Sessions by Hour

NUMBER OF SESSIONS

The graph below shows how often the students visited the website. Of the 111 students who utilized

Smarthinking over Spring 2017, 29 students (26%) visited the site only once. Additionally, 18 students

(16%) visited 2 times, and 45 students (41%) visited 3-5 times. Fifteen students (14%) visited 6-14

times, and only 4 students (4%) used the site 15 or more times.

Page | 25

This graph shows how frequently students utilized the site. A majority of students used the site 3-5 times,

but a handful used the site repeatedly throughout the semester.

The online writing lab was the most popular service on Smarthinking. Students used 1,044 sessions in the

online writing lab. Students engaged in 848 live chat sessions with a tutor in various areas, and submitted

101 questions to the writing lab.

848

1044

101


Live Sessions

Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

29

181717

11

6

13 3

21 1 1 1

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Number of Visits


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Students used a total of 43,608 minutes, or 726.8 hours in the online writing lab service. They spent

33,078 minutes, or 551.3 hours, in live chat sessions with tutors, and 2,727 minutes or 45.45 hours on

submitted questions to the online tutors.

551.3

726.8

45.45


Live Sessions

Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

Page | 27

The chart below gives a more specific illustration of the subjects and how much time was spent in each

area. The Essay Center was the most popular, with 10,752 minutes or 179.2 hours spent there. The

second most popular was statistics, with 5,679 minutes or 94.65 hours spent with online tutors.



Statistics 136 5679

Grammar and Documentation Review 45 1890

Geometry and Trigonometry 16 626



Organic Chemistry 4 221

Writing (all subjects) 3 179


Research and Documentation 3 81


Individual Income Tax 1 27

Intro A&P 1 27


Algebra 1 12



Page | 28

TUTORING BY WEEK

The graph listed below shows the subjects frequented weekly in more detail. This graph illustrates that

writing was consistently the most popular subject, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Math

was the second most popular with the most online activity during Wednesdays.

36

26

39

2117

9

19

4 1

30

46

104

67

35

22

72 1

0

20

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60

80

100

120


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Day of the Week



Page | 29

This graph shows specific subjects broken down by number of sessions per day of the week. The Essay

Center was the most popular, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Statistics came in second,

with the most usage on Wednesdays. Grammar and documentation review was third with Thursdays as

the most frequented day of the week.

Page | 30

TUTORING BY MAJOR

Of the 111 students who used Smarthinking, 17 (15%) were Criminal Justice majors, and 17 (15%) were

Psychology majors. Additionally, 14 (13%) students were undecided on their majors, and 9 (8%)

students were General Business majors.

6 2 17

9

4

1

17

411341215

31

21

17

22

14

Tutoring by Major Accounting


Applied Gerontology

Biology

Business - General

Business - Undetermined

Child Development & Family Studies

Criminal Justice

Finance

Grad-Prep

Human Serv. Mgmt. $ Leader.

Inderdisciplinary Studies: Stndrd-EC-6 Bilingual

GenInterdisciplinary Studies

Interdisciplinary Studies: Standard Engl Lang Arts

Read 4-8Interdisciplinary Studies: Std EC-6 Generalist

Interdisciplinary Studies: EC-6 Gen and EC-12

Spec EducIT

Logistics Supply Chain Mgmt

Mathematics

No selection

Org Behavior & Human Res Mgmt

Psychology

Public Health

Sociology

Undecided

Page | 31

63

13

13

19

2

1

Classification

Freshman

Sophmore

Junior

Senior

No selection

Graduate

CLASSIFICATION


students who used the site, 63 (57%) were freshman and 19 (17%) were seniors. This indicates that

freshman were more likely to use the site for their coursework.

Page | 32

79

31

1

Gender

Female

Male

No selection

ETHNICITY

Of the 111 students who utilized Smarthinking, 60 students (54%) identified as Hispanic or Latino/a, and

37 students (33%) identified as Black or African American. Pending institutional demographic analysis,

our data show that our Hispanic or Latino/and Black or African American students were more likely to

use Smarthinking than any other ethnic group on campus.

GENDER

Of the 111 students who utilized Smarthinking, 79 students (71%) were female and 31 students (28%)

were male. This indicates that females were more likely to use the site and seek academic assistance from

Smarthinking.

8

1

60

37

4

1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

White

No selection

Hispanic/Latino


Asian

American Indian

Number of Students

Eth

nic

ity

Ethnicity

Page | 33

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

A. Summer 2016:

Students used Smarthinking more than they did during Summer 2015. This may be due to

Learning Commons staff and student tutors marketing the service more.

Students also used the Online Writing Lab after the Writing Center’s hours, especially at 8, 9,

10, and 12 pm. This shows that Smarthinking served as a convenient alternative to the

Writing Lab after normal business hours.

B. Fall 2016:

UNT Dallas has a contract with Smarthinking spanning from Sept. 24, 2016 through Sept. 30,

2018. UNT Dallas purchased 380 hours for that two year period. Smarthinking provided a

formula for calculating the university’s remaining hours (within the contract period); they

instructed us to calculate how many hours students have used from contract start date

(9/24/2016), and subtract that number from the total purchased hours (380). Using this

formula, students have used 265.88 hours between 9/24/2016 and 12/13/2016. Subtracted

from the total hours purchased (380 hours), there are 114.12 hours remaining. These hours

are supposed to last until Sept. 30, 2018. However, our students are likely to use these hours

before the Spring 2017 semester is over.

Smarthinking has seen a dramatic increase in student use since the Fall 2016 semester began.

The Math Lab and Writing Center staff have been instrumental in spreading the word about

the site’s services. Tutors in the Math Lab have even encouraged students to utilize

Smarthinking while in the Lab if it is a subject they are unfamiliar with.

However, one student utilized 67.3 hours during the first month of the semester. This student

had graduated and was no longer enrolled in UNT Dallas classes. Since the university only

has a limited number of hours available, the student has been cut off from using Smarthinking

moving forward. To help remedy this situation, we coordinated with David Kirkwood, and

have made the Smarthinking page login required. This way, only enrolled students can log in

to view the Smarthinking information. We also began monitoring Smarthinking usage on a

weekly basis rather than a monthly basis to prevent similar instances in the future.

Once we began monitoring Smarthinking on a weekly basis, we found two more students

using the service who were not enrolled in UNT Dallas courses for the Fall 2016 semester.

These students were cut off for the rest of the fall semester as well.

C. Spring 2017:

Students continued to use Smarthinking’s services at a steady rate. By February, students had

already used all of the hours purchased in September, 2016. In order to keep online services

available for students, the Learning Commons purchased an additional 312.7 hours, putting

the institution’s new balance at 692.7 hours. Students have already used most of these hours,

and have 89.97 hours for the summer semesters.

There are a variety of possibile reasons as to why students’ have continued to use

Smarthinking at a steady rate. A few professors recommended Smarthinking to their students,

Smarthinking was advertised in fall and spring new and transfer student orientations, and

Learning Commons tutors continued to encourage students to use the service.

Eight students were blocked from using Smarthinking becase they were not enrolled in UNT

Dallas classes for the spring semester. These students used a small number of hours.

Page | 34

Learning Commons staff sent an email blast to students using the online writing lab in

Smarthinking advertising the Writing Center’s online tutoring services. In the email, staff

highlighted the benefits of using the Writing Center’s online services, and included

instructions on how to make online appointments. Staff sent this email blast twice, in weeks

17 and 18 of the spring semester.

GOALS FOR THE 2016-2017 YEAR

Next year, we will aim to:

Continue monitoring Smarthinking on a weekly basis to ensure that only currently enrolled

students are utilizing the service.

Purchase additional hours in Fall 2017, since it is likely our students will use the remaining 89.97

hours before the contract’s end date.

Periodically reach out to students utilizing Smarthinking’s online writing lab service and inform

them of the Writing Center’s similar services.

Offer more online tutoring hours in the Fall 2017 semester. Our goal is to bring students using the

online writing lab with Smarthinking over to our in-house tutors. We hope this will reduce the

amount of hours students use, and save the instution some money.

Page | 1

A. Summer 2016 Information

Students used a total of 408 minutes, or 6.8 hours over summer 2016. Seven [unique] students utilized the site 10 times during the summer semester. The most frequently tutored subject for summer 2016 was Writing (all subjects), with 9 sessions. The second was Finance with 1 session. The site experienced the highest volume of students on Tuesdays at 8:00p.

The graph below breaks down what type of session was utilized by the hour. Students used the Online Writing Lab most often at 8pm. Students most commonly visited Smarthinking at 9 and 10 am, and 8, 9, 10, and 12 pm.

Sessions by Hour

Number of Sessions

The graph below shows how often the students visited the website. Of the two students who utilized Smarthinking over Summer 2015, 3 students visited the site twice, while the 4 students used the site once.

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There were 2 live sessions, and 8 sessions in the online writing lab.

Students used a total of 538 minutes, or 8.97 hours in the Online Writing Lab service. They spent 427 minutes, or 7.12 hours, in live chat sessions with tutors, and just 27 minutes, or 0.45 hours, on submitted questions to the online tutors.

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Page | 3

The graph below gives a more specific breakdown of the subject matter, and how much time was spent in each area. The Essay Center was the most popular, with 252 minutes, or 4.2 hours, used. The second most popular was Grammar & Documentation Review, with 84 minutes, or 1.4 hours spent with online tutors.


Finance 1 37

Essay Center 6 252





Tutoring by Week

The two graphs listed below breaks down the subjects frequented weekly in more detail. This graph illustrates that Writing was consistently the most popular subject, especially on Tuesdays. Science was the second most popular, with the most traffic on Sundays.

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This graph shows specific subjects broken down by number of sessions per day of the week. The Essay Center was the most popular, especially on Mondays and Wednesdays. Statistics came in second, with the most usage on Tuesdays. From there, Basic Math Skills was third, with Monday the most frequented day of the week.

Tutoring by Major

Of the 7 students who used Smarthinking, 2 were Accounting majors. The rest were Applied Arts and Sceinces, Business, Criminal Justice, Educatio, and Undecided majors. .

Demographic Information

Since there were only two students who utilized Smarthinking over Summer 2015, we chose to describe their demographic information. Of the two students who used Smarthinking, one was a psychology major. The second was unspecified. One student identified as Black/African American and female, and the second student did not specify.

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Tutoring by Major

Accounting


Business

Criminal Justice

Education

Undecided

Page | 5

1

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Classification

Freshman

Junior

Senior

Classification

This graph shows the number of students who used Smarthinking based on their classification. Of the 7 students who used the site, 4 were seniors, 2 were juniors, and 1 was a freshman. This indicates that seniors and juniors were more likely to use the site for their upper-level coursework.

Ethnicity

Of the 7 students who utilized Smarthinking, 5 students identified as Black or African American, 1 student identified as Hispanic or Latino/a, and 1 student identified as White. Our assumption is that our Black or African American students are more likely to seek academic assistance from Smarthinking than any other ethnic group

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White

Number of Students

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Page | 6

Gender

Of the 7 students who utilized Smarthinking, 6 students were female and 1 student was male. Our assumption is that females were more likely to use the site and seek academic assistance from Smarthinking.

FINAL SMARTHINKING COMMENTS

I. Summer 2016

Students used Smarthinking more than they did during Summer 2015. This may be due to Learning Commons staff and student tutors marketing the service more.

Students also used the Online Writing Lab after the Writing Center’s hours, especially at 8, 9, 10, and 12 pm. This shows that Smarthinking served as a convenient alternative to the Writing Lab after normal business hours.

6

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Gender

Female Male

Page | 7

A. Fall 2016 Information Students utilized a total of 21,461 minutes, or 357.68 hours over the Fall 2016 semester (August 22-December 13, 2016). 110 [unique] students utilized the site, with 128 new registrations during the semester. The students used the site 522 times during the Fall 2016 semester. The site experienced the highest volume of students on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8:00p and 9:00p. There were 190 live sessions, 22 submitted questions, and 310 sessions in the online writing lab. Comparing Fall 2015 to Fall 2016 usage data, we have seen a 90% increase in students’ usage of Smarthinking (37.22 hours in FA2015 compared to 357.68 hours in FA2016). Similarly, we have seen a 73% increase in the number of [unique] students utilizing Smarthinking (30 students in FA2015 compared to 110 students in FA2016).

The most popular area in Smarthinking was the Essay Center, with 259 sessions. The most frequently tutored subject for Fall 2016 was Calculus, with 109 sessions. The second was a tie between Grammar & Documentation Review and Math Skills, with 29 sessions each. The Online Writing Center was again more popular in Fall 2016, as it was in Fall 2015.

The most utilized services were for Writing and Business. The most popular time for students seeking online tutoring were 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 7 p.m., and 10 a.m. The graph below represents what types of sessions were utilized by the hour. Students used the Online Writing Lab and submitted questions most frequently at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. The second most frequent time slot was 10 a.m., again with the Online Writing Lab as the most popular option.

Sessions by Hour

Page | 8

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Student Attendance

Number of Sessions

The graph below shows how often the students visited the website. Of the 110 students who utilized Smarthinking over Fall 2016, 22 (80%) visited the site only once. Additionally, 14 students visited 2 times, 17 visited 3 times, 23 visited 4 times, and 35 students used the site 5 or more times.

Page | 9

This graph shows how frequently students utilized the site. A majority of students used the site 1-4 times, but a handful used the site repeatedly throughout the semester.

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Page | 10

The Online Writing Lab was the most popular service on Smarthinking. Students used 310 sessions in the Online Writing Lab. Students engaged in 190 live chat sessions with a tutor in various areas, and submitted 22 questions to the writing lab.

Students used a total of 12,885 minutes, or 214.8 hours in the Online Writing Lab service. They spent 7,982 minutes, or 133 hours, in live chat sessions with tutors, and just 9.9 hours on submitted questions to the online tutors.

190

310

22

Number of Sessions per AreaLive Sessions

Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

133

214.8

9.9

Total Hours per AreaLive Sessions

Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

Page | 11

The graph below gives a more specific illustration of the subjects and how much time was spent in each area. The Essay Center was the most popular, with 10,878 minutes, or 181.3 hours, spent there. The second most popular was Calculus Single Variable, with 4,337 minutes, 72.3 hours spent with online tutors.


Algebra 12 719










Introductory Accounting 8 245



Physics 1 83

Research & Documentation 1 37


Statistics 23 1116




Page | 12

Tutoring by Week

The graph listed below shows the subjects frequented weekly in more detail. This graph illustrates that Writing was consistently the most popular subject, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Math was the second most popular, with the most online traffic on Tuesdays.

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This graph shows specific subjects broken down by number of sessions per day of the week. The Essay Center was the most popular, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Calculus came in second, with the most usage on Tuesdays. Basic Math Skills was third, with Mondays and Fridays the most frequented days of the week.

Page | 14

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Classification

Freshman

Sophmore

Junior

Senior

No selection

Tutoring by Major

According to the data, Criminal Justice majors and Psychology majors were most likely to use Smarthinking’s services. Undecided majors also made up a large portion of the student users.

Classification

This graph shows the number of students who used Smarthinking based on their classification. Of the 110 students who used the site, 58 (53%) were freshman and 25 (23%) were seniors. This indicates that freshman were more likely to use the site for their coursework.

69

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Tutoring by Major AccountingApplied Arts and SciencesBusiness UndeterminedBusinessCriminal JusticeCommunication & TechnologyChild Development & Family StudiesFinanceHospitality ManagementInterdisciplinary StudiesITLogistics Supply Chain MgmtMathematicsOrg Behavior & Human Res MgmtPsychologySociologySubstance Abuse & AddictionStndrd-EC-6 Bilingual GenStd EC-6 ESL GeneralistStandard Engl Lang Arts Read 4-8Undecided

Page | 15

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38

2

Gender

Female

Male

Not Specified

Ethnicity

Of the 110 students who utilized Smarthinking, 59 students (54%) identified as Hispanic or Latino/a, and 35 students (32%) identified as Black or African American. This indicates that our Hispanic or Latino/a and Black or African American students are more likely to seek academic assistance from Smarthinking than any other ethnic group.

Gender

Of the 110 students who utilized Smarthinking, 70 students (64%) were female and 38 students (35%) were male. This indicates that females were more likely to use the site and seek academic assistance from Smarthinking.

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Page | 16


A. Additional Information about Fall 2016 UNT Dallas has a contract with Smarthinking spanning from Sept. 24, 2016 through Sept. 30, 2018.

UNT Dallas purchased 380 hours for that two year period. Smarthinking provided a formula for calculating the university’s remaining hours (within the contract period); they instructed us to calculate how many hours students have used from contract start date (9/24/2016), and subtract that number from the total purchased hours (380). Using this formula, students have used 265.88 hours between 9/24/2016 and 12/13/2016. Subtracted from the total hours purchased (380 hours), there are 114.12 hours remaining. These hours are supposed to last until Sept. 30, 2018. However, our students are likely to use these hours before the Spring 2017 semester is over.

Smarthinking has seen a dramatic increase in student use since the Fall 2016 semester began. The Math Lab and Writing Center staff have been instrumental in spreading the word about the site’s services. Tutors in the Math Lab have even encouraged students to utilize Smarthinking while in the Lab if it is a subject they are unfamiliar with.

However, one student utilized 67.3 hours during the first month of the semester. This student had graduated and was no longer enrolled in UNT Dallas classes. Since the university only has a limited number of hours available, the student has been cut off from using Smarthinking moving forward. To help remedy this situation, we coordinated with David Kirkwood, and have made the Smarthinking page login required. This way, only enrolled students can log in to view the Smarthinking information. We also began monitoring Smarthinking usage on a weekly basis rather than a monthly basis to prevent similar instances in the future.

Once we began monitoring Smarthinking on a weekly basis, we found two more students using the service who were not enrolled in UNT Dallas courses for the Fall 2016 semester. These students were cut off for the rest of the fall semester as well.

B. Considerations for Spring 2016

We will continue to monitor Smarthinking on a weekly basis to ensure that only currently enrolled students are utilizing the service.

We will purchase additional hours in Fall 2017, since it is likely our students will use the remaining 114.12 hours before the contract’s end date.

Page | 17

I. November 2016 Information Students utilized a total of 6,176 minutes or 102.93 hours from November 1 through November 30. To date, UNT Dallas has used 238.03 hours out of the allotted 190 hours for the rest of the academic year. Smarthinking had 72 [unique] students utilize the site with 11 new registrations during the time period. The students used the site 149 times during the time period. The site experienced the highest volume of students on Thursdays and Fridays at 1 p.m., 12 a.m., and 7 p.m.

The most frequently visited area for November 2016 was the online Essay Center with 101 sessions, and Grammar & Documentation Review with 16 sessions. Next was Introductory Finance, with 8 sessions. There were 16 live sessions, 10 submitted questions, and 123 sessions in the online writing lab.

The most utilized services were for the Essay Center and finance. The most popular time for students seeking online tutoring were 1 p.m., 12 a.m., 7 p.m., and 8 p.m. The graph below illustrates the type of session utilized by the hour. Students used a combination of live sessions, submitted questions, and the Online Writing Lab at 1 p.m. Additionally, students used the Online Writing Lab most frequently at 12 a.m. This indicates that students relied on Smarthinking for tutoring outside the Learning Commons hours, and most likely for online classes.

Sessions by Hour

Page | 18

13.33

85.1

4.5


Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

The Online Writing Lab was by far the most popular service on Smarthinking. Students used 123 sessions in the Online Writing Lab. Students also used live chat sessions 16 times, and submitted 10 questions to the writing lab.

Students used a total of 800 minutes or 13.33 hours in live chat sessions with tutors. They spent 5,106 minutes or 85.1 hours in the Online Writing Lab service and 270 minutes or 4.5 hours on submitted questions to the online tutors.

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Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

Page | 19

The graph below gives a more specific analysis of the subject matter, and how much time was spent in each area. The Essay Center was the most popular, with 4,272 minutes or 71.2 hours spent in the center. The second most popular was Grammar & Documentation Review with 672 minutes 11.2 hours spent with online tutors.


Algebra 4 356


Career Writing 1 42




Intro Accounting 5 195

Intro Finance 8 216



Statistics 1 11




Page | 20

Tutoring by Week

The graph listed below shows the subjects frequented weekly in more detail. This graph illustrates that Writing was consistently the most popular subject, especially Thursdays and Fridays. Math was the second most popular, with the most online traffic on Mondays and Wednesdays.

This graph shows specific subjects by number of sessions per day of the week. The Essay Center was the most popular, especially on Fridays. Grammar & Review came in second with the most usage on Tuesdays. From there, finance was third with Thursday the most frequented day of the week.

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II. October 2016 Information Students utilized a total of 4,878 minutes, or 81.3 hours from October 1 through October 31. To date, UNT Dallas has used 125.7 hours out of the allotted 190 hours for the rest of the academic year. Smarthinking had 59 [unique] students utilize the site with 25 new registrations during the time period. The students used the site 113 times during the time period. The site experienced the highest volume of students on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m., 8 p.m., and 9 p.m.

The most frequently tutored subject for October 2016 was Basic Math Skills with 12 sessions, and the Essay Center (all subjects) with 65 sessions. Next was Statistics with 9 sessions. There were 31 live sessions, 2 submitted questions, and 80 sessions in the online writing lab.

The most utilized services were for basic math skills, the Essay Center, and statistics. The most popular time for students seeking online tutoring were 10 a.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m., and 9 p.m. The graph below illustrates the type of session utilized by the hour. Students used the Online Writing Lab the most often at 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. Additionally, students used the live chat sessions most frequently at 8 p.m. This indicates that students relied on Smarthinking for tutoring outside the Learning Commons hours.

Sessions by Hour

Page | 22

1509

3315

54


Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

The Online Writing Lab was by far the most popular service on Smarthinking. Students used 80 sessions in the Online Writing Lab. Students also used live chat sessions 31 times and submitted 2 questions to the writing lab.

Students used a total of 1,509 minutes, or 25.15 hours in live chat sessions with tutors. They spent 3,315 minutes, or 55.25 hours, in the Online Writing Lab service, and 54 minutes, or 0.90 hours on submitted questions to the online tutors.

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Submitted Questions

Page | 23

The graph below gives a more specific illustration of the subject matter and how much time was spent in each area. The Essay Center was the most popular with 2,730 minutes or 45.5 hours spent in the center. The second most popular was Basic Math Skills with 491 minutes or 8.13 hours spent with online tutors.


Algebra 2 138


Calculus 5 339

Career Writing 1 42




Research and Documentation 1 37


Statistics 9 411




Page | 24

Tutoring by Week

The graph listed below shows the subjects frequented weekly in more detail. This graph illustrates that Writing was consistently the most popular subject, especially Mondays and Wednesdays. Math was the second most popular, with the most online traffic also on Mondays and Wednesdays.

This graph shows specific subjects by number of sessions per day of the week. The Essay Center was the most popular, especially on Wednesdays. Statistics came in second, with the most usage on Mondays. From there, basic math skills was third, with Wednesday the most frequented day of the week.

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III. September 2016 Information Students utilized a total of 8,736 minutes or 145.6 hours from August 22 through September 30. To date, UNT Dallas has 44.4 hours out of the allotted 190 hours for the rest of the academic year. Smarthinking had 67 [unique] students utilize the site with 88 new registrations during the time period. The students used the site 221 times during the time period. The site experienced the highest volume of students on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., and 7 p.m.

The most frequently tutored subject for September 2016 was Calculus with 104 sessions and the Essay Center (all subjects) with 61 sessions. Next was Statistics with 12 sessions. There were 138 live sessions, 9 submitted questions and 72 sessions in the online writing lab. Live chat sessions with online tutors were more popular in September 2016; however, they were in subjects that are available in the Learning Commons. For example, the online Writing Center was very popular, even though the Writing Center is open 6 days a week. We have also increased our number of tutors proficient in upper level Math courses, and they have assisted students greatly.

The most utilized services were for calculus, the Essay Center, and statistics. The most popular time for students seeking online tutoring were 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 7 p.m., and 10 p.m. The graph below shows the type of session utilized by the hour. Students used the live chat sessions the most often at 7pm. Additionally, students used the Online Writing Lab most frequently at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Sessions by Hour

Page | 26

Live chat sessions were by far the most popular service on Smarthinking. Students used 138 sessions in the live chat sessions with tutors in various areas. Students also used the Online Writing Lab 72 times, and submitted 9 questions to the writing lab.

Students used a total of 5,484 minutes, or 91.4 hours in live chat sessions with tutors. They spent 3,009 minutes or 50.15 hours in the Online Writing Lab service and 243 minutes or 4.05 hours on submitted questions to the online tutors.

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Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

4550

1593

108


Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

Page | 27

The graph below gives a more specific analysis of the subject matter, and how much time was spent in each area. Calculus was the most popular subject with 3,998 minutes or 66.63 hours spent in live sessions with online tutors. These hours, however, were utilized by one student. The second most popular was the Essay Center with 2,562 minutes, 42.7 hours spent with online tutors.


Algebra 6 225


Calculus 104 3998

Career Writing 2 84







Intro Accounting 3 50


Physics 1 83


Statistics 12 667




Page | 28

Tutoring by Week

The graph listed below breaks down the subjects frequented weekly in more detail. This graph illustrates that Math was consistently the most popular subject, especially Tuesdays and Sundays. Writing was the second most popular, with the most online traffic on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Tuesday was the most popular day for all tutoring subjects, especially Math.

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This graph shows specific subjects by number of sessions per day of the week. Calculus was the most popular, especially Saturday through Monday. The Essay Center came in second, with the most usage on Wednesdays. From there, Statistics was third, with Friday the most frequented day of the week.

Page | 30

IV. PROJECTS/TASKS INFORMATION: (Describe any on-going or completed projects that coordinators, tutors, and/or student workers worked on during this report period.)

Month Group Breakdown Projects

Nov. 2016: 11/1/2016- 11/30/2016

Major Events/Milestones:

Compared to FA2015, we have seen a 58% increase in the usage of Smarthinking in Nov. 2016. We had 30 students use Smarthinking during FA 2015 and 72 students in Nov. 2016.

We have had a total of 106 users since the beginning of the Fall 2016 semester. There were only 30 student users throughout the Fall 2015 semester. To date, there has been a 72% increase in the use of Smarthinking overall.

We have been monitoring Smarthinking weekly, and all of the student users were still enrolled in UNT Dallas classes.

We have coordinated with David Kirkwood, and have made the Smarthinking page login required. This way, only enrolled students can log in to view the Smarthinking information.

Oct. 2016: 10/1/2016- 10/31/2016


Compared to FA2015, we have seen a 49% increase in the usage of Smarthinking in Oct. 2016. We had 30 students use Smarthinking during FA 2015 and 59 students in Oct. 2016.

We have had a total of 84 users since the beginning of the Fall 2016 semester. There were only 30 student users throughout the Fall 2015 semester. To date, there has been a 64% increase in the use of Smarthinking overall.

We have been monitoring Smarthinking weekly, and all of the student users were still enrolled in UNT Dallas classes.

We have coordinated with IT, Website Administrators, and Pearson Education to ensure that only enrolled students can utilize Smarthinking. The current solution is to require students to login to the UNT Dallas website in order to utilize the service.

Sept. 2016: 8/22/2016 -9/30/2016


Compared to FA2015, we have seen a 55% increase in the usage of Smarthinking. We had 30 students use Smarthinking during FA 2015 and 67 students in Sept. 2016.

Smarthinking has seen a dramatic increase in student use since the Fall 2016 semester began. The Math Lab and Writing Center staff have been instrumental in spreading the word about the site’s services. Tutors in the Math Lab have even encouraged students to utilize Smarthinking while in the Lab if it is a subject they are unfamiliar with.

However, one student utilized 67.3 hours during the first month of the semester. Since the university only has a limited number of hours available, the student has been cut off from using Smarthinking moving forward.

Two additional students were not enrolled this semester, and they have been cut off as well.

In the coming months, Smarthinking will be monitored weekly. If any students are not enrolled in classes this semester, they will be cut off.

We are considering moving Smarthinking to Blackboard. The current access is open to students not enrolled in classes, and recent activity has revealed this is not beneficial.

Page | 31

C. Spring 2017 Information

The information provided in this summary comes from the Smarthinking reports feature. The data was gathered from January 16 to May 21, 2017. All of the information was gathered and tracked online through Smarthinking’s Affiliate Usage System.

Students utilized a total of 20,253 minutes, or 337.55 hours over the Spring 2017 semester (January 16 –May 21, 2017). As of May 22, UNT Dallas has used 602.73 hours out of the 692.7 hours designated for 2016-2018. One hundred eleven [unique] students utilized the site, with the same number of new registrations during the semester. The students used the site 489 times during the Spring 2017 semester. The site experienced the highest volume of students on Wednesdays and Thursdays between 11:00a and 6:00p. There were 848 live sessions, 101 submitted questions, and 1,044 sessions in the online writing lab. Comparing Spring 2016 to Spring 2017 usage data, we have seen a 224% increase in students’ usage of Smarthinking (104.18 hours in SP2016 compared to 337.55 hours in SP2017). Similarly, we have seen a 258% increase in the number of [unique] students utilizing Smarthinking (31 students in SP2016 compared to 111 students in SP2017). This dramatic increase in students’ usage of Smarthinking may be due to a wider awareness of the service. Incoming students were informed of Smarthinking during the spring orientations, and many students who took UGST courses in the fall continued to use the service in the spring. Usage may have also increased due to the Writing Center’s limited online tutoring hours. The Writing Center was able to pilot an online tutoring program over the spring semester, and it grew quickly. However, we found that there was little overlap in the students using Smarthinking versus the students utilizing the Writing Center’s online tutoring services.

Students visited the online Essay Center most often throughout the spring semester. Students visited a total of 256 times, and worked on various subjects such as grammar, document review, and sentence structure. Statistics came in second, and students used 136 sessions with online tutors. Students then used 16 sessions in geometry and trigonometry, and 6 sessions in calculus. The online writing lab was more popular in Spring 2017, whereas live sessions were more popular among students in Spring 2016.

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The most popular time for students seeking online tutoring were 11 a.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m. The graph below represents what types of sessions were utilized by the hour. Students used the online writing lab and live sessions most frequently at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. The second most frequent time slot was 11 p.m. with the online writing lab as the most popular option.

Sessions by Hour

NUMBER OF SESSIONS

The graph below shows how often the students visited the website. Of the 111 students who utilized Smarthinking over Spring 2017, 29 students (26%) visited the site only once. Additionally, 18 students (16%) visited 2 times, and 45 students (41%) visited 3-5 times. Fifteen students (14%) visited 6-14 times, and only 4 students (4%) used the site 15 or more times.

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This graph shows how frequently students utilized the site. A majority of students used the site 3-5 times, but a handful used the site repeatedly throughout the semester.

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0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54

Nu

mb

er o

f S

tud

ents

Number of Visits


Page | 34

The online writing lab was the most popular service on Smarthinking. Students used 1,044 sessions in the online writing lab. Students engaged in 848 live chat sessions with a tutor in various areas, and submitted 101 questions to the writing lab.

848

1044

101


Live Sessions

Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

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Students used a total of 43,608 minutes, or 726.8 hours in the online writing lab service. They spent 33,078 minutes, or 551.3 hours, in live chat sessions with tutors, and 2,727 minutes or 45.45 hours on submitted questions to the online tutors.

551.3

726.8

45.45


Online Writing Lab

Submitted Questions

Page | 36

The graph below gives a more specific illustration of the subjects and how much time was spent in each area. The Essay Center was the most popular, with 10,752 minutes or 179.2 hours spent there. The second most popular was statistics, with 5,679 minutes or 94.65 hours spent with online tutors.


Algebra 1 12

Basic math skills 8 234

Calculus single variable 6 293

Career writing 4 168

Essay center 256 10752

Geometry and trigonometry 16 626

Grammar and documentation review 45 1890

Individual income tax 1 27

Intro A&P 1 27

Introductory finance 2 37

Organic Chemistry 4 221

Paragraph review 1 27

Research and documentation 3 81

Statistics 136 5679

Writing (all subjects) 3 179



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TUTORING BY WEEK

The graph listed below shows the subjects frequented weekly in more detail. This graph illustrates that writing was consistently the most popular subject, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Math was the second most popular, with the most online activity during Wednesdays.

36

26

39

2117

9

19

4 1

30

46

104

67

35

22

72 1

0

20

40

60

80

100

120


Num

ber

of S

essi

ons

Day of the Week



Page | 38

This graph shows specific subjects broken down by number of sessions per day of the week. The Essay Center was the most popular, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Statistics came in second, with the most usage on Wednesdays. Grammar and documentation review was third, with Thursdays as the most frequented day of the week.

Page | 39

TUTORING BY MAJOR

Of the 111 students who used Smarthinking, 17 (15%) were Criminal Justice majors, and 17 (15%) were Psychology majors. Additionally, 14 (13%) students were undecided on their majors, and 9 (8%) students were General Business majors.

6 2 17

9

4

1

17

411341215

31

21

17

2 2

14

Tutoring by Major Accounting


Applied Gerontology

Biology

Business - General

Business - Undetermined

Child Development & Family Studies

Criminal Justice

Finance

Grad-Prep

Human Serv. Mgmt. $ Leader.

Inderdisciplinary Studies: Stndrd-EC-6 BilingualGenInterdisciplinary Studies

Interdisciplinary Studies: Standard Engl Lang ArtsRead 4-8Interdisciplinary Studies: Std EC-6 Generalist

Interdisciplinary Studies: EC-6 Gen and EC-12Spec EducIT

Logistics Supply Chain Mgmt

Mathematics

No selection

Org Behavior & Human Res Mgmt

Psychology

Public Health

Sociology

Undecided

Page | 40

63

13

13

19

2

1

Classification

Freshman

Sophmore

Junior

Senior

No selection

Graduate

CLASSIFICATION

This graph shows the number of students who used Smarthinking based on their classification. Of the 111 students who used the site, 63 (57%) were freshman and 19 (17%) were seniors. This indicates that freshman were more likely to use the site for their coursework.

Page | 41

79

31

1

Gender

Female

Male

No selection

ETHNICITY

Of the 111 students who utilized Smarthinking, 60 students (54%) identified as Hispanic or Latino/a, and 37 students (33%) identified as Black or African American. Pending institutional demographic analysis, our data show that our Hispanic or Latino/and Black or African American students were more likely to use Smarthinking than any other ethnic group on campus.

GENDER

Of the 111 students who utilized Smarthinking, 79 students (71%) were female and 31 students (28%) were male. This indicates that females were more likely to use the site and seek academic assistance from Smarthinking.

8

1

60

37

4

1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

White

No selection

Hispanic/Latino


Asian

American Indian

Number of Students

Eth

nic

ity

Ethnicity

Page | 42


D. Additional Information about Spring 2017

We will continue to monitor Smarthinking on a weekly basis to ensure that only currently enrolled students are utilizing the service.

We will purchase additional hours in Fall 2017, since it is likely our students will use the remaining 90 hours before the contract’s end date.

We will also continue to reach out to students utilizing Smarthinking’s online writing lab service, and inform them of the Writing Center’s similar services.

smarthinking report 2016-2017 - learning commons...students used a total of 538 minutes, or 8.97...

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