Zach Beaver • Diane Eshelman • Michael Matalski • Ashlie Prioleau • Allison Shumar

Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle

Assessment

SDTLA AGENDA History and Purpose - Ali

Content and Design - Zach

Methods of Administration - Michael

Statistical Measures - Michael

Pricing and Costs - Michael

Utilizing SDTLA for Research - Ashlie

Student Affairs Applications - Diane

HISTORY AND

PURPOSE

Background InformationA. Purpose• Assessment tool• Seeks to help develop life tasks• Based on human development and college student

development theory

B. Age focus• 17-24

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999; Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

SDTI 1974

• Student Developmental Task Inventory

SDTI-II 1977

• Student Developmental Task Inventory-II

SDTLI 1987

• Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle Inventory

SDTLA 1999

• Student Development Task and Lifestyle

Assessment

THE EVOLUTION OF SDTLA

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999; Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

• Majorly revised 1987 SDTLI

• Seeks changes in individuals

• Encourages students to be active participants in their own learning and development

HISTORY AND PURPOSE(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999; Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

• Centered on students’ behavior, feelings and attitudes

• Reports on achieved tasks

• Representative, not indicative

• Made up of developmental tasks, subtasks and scales

HISTORY AND PURPOSE(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999; Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

A. Developmental Tasks• Interrelated set of behaviors and attitudes• Hierarchical in nature• Failure of a task creates implications

B. Subtasks• More specific components of the larger tasks

HISTORY AND PURPOSE(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999; Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

Tasks and SubtasksA. Academic and co-curricular affects student development

differentlyB. Change is a results of three aspects

• Person-environment interaction, biological maturation and to some extent chance events

ScalesC. Measure degree to which student possess certain

behavioral characteristics, attitudes or feelingsD. Not directly affected by participation

HISTORY AND PURPOSE(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999; Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

CONTENTAND

DESIGN

A. Brief IntroductionB. DirectionsC. ExamplesD. 140 Questions• Section 1: Education, Career & Lifestyle• Section 2: Intimate Relationships• Section 3: Relationships and the Academic Environment

CONTENT AND DESIGN(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999; Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

Establishing and Clarifying Purpose Task (PUR)• Educational Involvement (EI)• Career Planning (CP)• Lifestyle Planning (LP)• Cultural Participation (CUP)

CONTENT AND DESIGN(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999; Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

Developing Autonomy Task (AUT)• Emotional Autonomy (EA)• Interdependence (IND)• Academic Autonomy (AA)• Instrumental Autonomy (IA)

CONTENT AND DESIGN(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999; Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

Mature Interpersonal Relationships (MIR)• Peer Relationships (PR)• Tolerance (TOL)

Salubrious Lifestyle Scale (SL)

Response Bias Scale (RB)

CONTENT AND DESIGN(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999; Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

INSTRUMENT ADMINISTRATION

ADMINISTERING THE INSTRUMENT

• Methods of administering survey

• Supervised versus unsupervised

• Trust and results

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999)

STATISTICAL MEASURES

STATISTICAL MEASURES

Interpretation process• Normative = research & program evaluation• Ideographic = individual students• Underlying concepts• Additional steps in the process• Goal of the phase & action plan

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 1999; Wachs & Cooper, 2002)

COSTS AND

PRICING

ONLINE VERSION

Online VersionA. Setup Fee (Online set-up, invitation email, 1 reminder) $150.00Email, Scoring, SPSS data fileA. Individual Completed Inventory $2.00B. [Optional]• Pre/post-test design fee $150.00• Custom Theme $300.00• Each Additional Question $10.00• Additional Reminder Email $50.00• Later user imports fee $50.00

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

PAPER VERSION

Paper Version• Setup Fee (Scoring and SPSS data file)

$150.00• Individual Completed Inventory $2.00• [Optional}• Scranton Answer Sheets $0.20

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

UTILIZING SDTLA FOR RESEARCH

RESEARCH AND EVALUATION

A. Earlier versions of SDTLA were designed to assess and facilitate development of individual college students

B. Because of its improved psychometric properties, the recent version can be used for research and evaluation

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

RESEARCH AND EVALUATION

Research UsesA. To gauge student involvementB. To incorporate students’ survey resultsC. To pre- and post-test for institutional assessment D. To measure interventional impactE. To connect goals with scale

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

RESEARCH AND EVALUATION

Using the Online Form for Research and Evaluation

A. Invitation via emailB. Username and Password

• Links SDTLA scales to personal student information• Does not have to complete in one sitting

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

LIMITATIONS AND PRECAUTIONS

A. Low α (alpha) coefficients for some subtasks• EA, CUP, TOL• Total task scores are more reliable

B. Will not find significant differences on tasks, subtasks, or scales using pretest/ posttest designs• Analyze each item separately for accurate picture• Time Series Design

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

LIMITATIONS AND PRECAUTIONS

A. Self-report instruments require trustB. Built-in Response Bias (RB) Scale

• Three or more RB scale items answered in the keyed direction not be used.

C. Assessing developmental needs• Use item analysis approach

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

STUDENT AFFAIRS

APPLICATIONS

SDTLA PurposeA. Help students become active participants in their

learning/development

B. Important to remember that institutions are unique• What works for one might not work for another

STUDENT AFFAIRS APPLICATIONS

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

BENEFITS FOR ORIENTATION PROGRAMS

A. Already assess proficiency in math and EnglishB. SDTLA helps:• “Facilitate students’ transitions to college”• “Help students assess their developmental needs”• “Aid students in assuming increased levels of self-direction

and responsibility for their education and lives”• Assesses personal development

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

A. Results can be used to develop University 101 course

B. Suggested administration date: • 2 to 3 weeks after classes begin• Students are not focused on personal development before

classes begin

BENEFITS FOR ORIENTATION PROGRAMS

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

• Great aid to counselors

• Serves as a catalyst for client-counselor dialogue

• Provides specific behaviors/developmental issues

BENEFITS FOR STUDENT COUNSELING

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

A. Aid academic advisors to provide more developmental experience

B. Incorporates development of:• Academic autonomy• Career planning• Lifestyle planning• Educational involvement

BENEFITS FOR ACADEMIC ADVISING

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

Identify personal development needs• Residence life programming• Mini-workshops• Small group discussions

Peer-helper training (RAs, peer counselors, etc.)• Educate students on human/student development• More personal leads to a more comprehensible understanding

BENEFITS FOR STUDENT LIFE

(Winston, Miller, & Cooper, 2002)

CONCLUSION

ReferencesWachs, P. M. & Cooper, D. L., (2002). Validating the student developmental task Lifestyle assessment: A

longitudinal study. Journal of College Student Development, 43 (1),

Winston, R. B., Miller, T. K., & Cooper, D. L. (2002). Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle Assessment.

Retrieved from http://sdtla.appstate.edu/index.php?&MMN_position=1:1.

Winston, R. B., Miller, T. K., & Cooper, D. L. (1999). Preliminary technical manual for the student

developmental task and lifestyle assessment. Unpublished technical manual, College Student

Affairs Administration, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.