M.S.

in Instructional Science and Technology

California State University
Monterey Bay

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY

MONTEREY BAY

CSUMNB Graduate Department Training

CAPSTONE Report

Submitted in partial satisfaction of requirements of the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE in

Instructional Science and Technology

Michael Vicent

November 26th, 2019

Capstone Approvals: (At least one advisor and capstone instructor should approve)

___________________________ _____________
Advisor Name Signature Date

___________________________ _____________
Capstone Instructor Name Signature Date
 M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology
California State University
Monterey Bay

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary 4
Background 5
Needs Analysis 5
Learner Analysis 6
Solution Description 8
Project Goals 8
Learning Objectives 9
Proposed Solution 10
Content Overview 10
Learning Theories 11
Instructional Principles 12
Media Components 14
Risks and Anticipated Challenges 14
Methods & Procedure 15
Deliverables 15
Resources 16
Timeline 17
Evaluation 18
Final Reflection 21
References 22
Appendix 23
 M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology
California State University
Monterey Bay

Executive Summary

California State University Monterey Bay is a four year public higher education
institution that is part of the broader California State University system. The mission of
California State University Monterey Bay is to serve the “diverse people of California, especially
the working class and historically undereducated and low-income populations.” * The university
is committed to multilingual, multicultural, and gender-equitable learning while utilizing both
public and private partnerships to further the innovation of instruction for its students. The
university serves the immediate Tri-County region of Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito
while also garnering students from around the world. CSU Monterey Bay’s goal for its graduates
is to understand the “interdependence and global competence, distinctive technical and
educational skills, the experience and abilities to contribute to California’s high quality work
force, the critical thinking abilities to be productive citizens, and the social responsibility and
skills to be community builders. *

CSU Monterey Bay, along with every other CSU in the system, is committed to the
Graduation Initiative 2025 set forth by CSU Chancellor Timothy White which seeks to “increase
graduation rates for all CSU students while eliminating opportunity and achievement gaps.” The
goals is to not only increase graduation rates, but also graduate students in a timely manner that
fits their personal goals. CSU Monterey Bay seeks increase both retention rates and graduation
rates for students who attend the university. Retention rate is defined as the percentage of a
school’s fire-time, first year students who continue at the school the next year, and the
graduation rate while Graduation Rate is defined as is "the percentage of a school’s first-time,
first-year undergraduate students who complete their program within 150% of the published time
for the program.” For a student entering a 4 year program, this would be a six year timeframe
while a two year graduate program would be three years.

The most current data provided by CSU Monterey Bay indicates that the two year
graduation rate for a first-time graduate student who was matriculated Fall 2016 was 44.2%. The
 M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology
California State University
Monterey Bay

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percentage increases with each subsequent year. The three year graduation rate for a student
matriculated Fall 2015 was 67.2% and the four year graduation rate for a student matriculated
Fall 2014 was 76.8%. When coupled with drastic drops in retention rates year over year and it is
apparent there is a gap in support that needs to be addressed.

One of the ways the Office of the Registrar is seeking to aid the graduation initiative is by
implementing a system in OASIS called the Academic Requirements Report for graduate
students at CSU Monterey Bay. While this system has been in place for the undergraduate
students for over half a decade, it was only recently implemented for graduate students and their
respective departments in Fall 2018. However, while the rollout of the new Academic
Requirement Reports was smooth in terms of its launch in OASIS, there was a lack of support or
training to accompany it for those who would actually utilize the report to advise students. The
graduate faculty, advisers, and coordinators were expected to learn to use the new system on
their own with only a short PowerPoint overview of the new system to support them. This has
led to an inconsistent adoption of the new Academic Requirements Report across Graduate
Programs and student’s underutilizing the online report.

The proposed solution to this gap will be to provide an asynchronous learning solution to
the graduate faculty and staff at CSU Monterey Bay. The learning solution will be hosted on a
website which will include different modules covering various process related to the Academic
 M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology
California State University
Monterey Bay

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Requirements Report and graduate student success from a student advisement standpoint.
The learning solution will be created so that it is easily accessible and easy to reference when
needed.

Background
Needs Analysis

Currently CSU Monterey Bay is in a transition period for many of its processes related to

its graduate programs which directly effective the students in those programs. Many of the

processes such as Reclassification, Individual Learning Plans (ILP) and advising, and Course

Substitutions were previously completed on paper forms and submitted to the Office of the

Registrar. As time has passed, all of these processes have gone online and the university has not

provided sufficient training or materials support learner development. This has resulted in

inconsistent messaging and advising to students across departments.

What is currently happening. Currently, graduate programs are hesitant to adopt the

new business processes laid out by the Office of the Registrar. Many advisers have expressed

confusion on when these new processes are supposed to start or what cohort they are applicable

to. This has led to inconsistency across departments in terms of their business processes and how

they advise students towards graduation. While some have attempted to adopt and utilize the

new online resources, others continue to default to older business practices that are being phased

out. This has led to student’s being advised through email or ILP’s instead of the Academic

Requirements Report which shows up to date information on a student’s progress towards

degree. Going
 M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology
California State University
Monterey Bay

forward, the lack of consistent business practices will continue to impede student success and

lead to increased confusion and frustration between departments.

What should be happening. The Graduate Advisers, Program Coordinators, and Faculty

Advisers should be to properly navigate and understand each section of the ARR as well as how

to create and submit course substitutions in OASIS. More importantly, they will be able to

demonstrate the ability to not only reading the ARR, but also able to advise students based on it.

They will have the ability to create and submit course substitutions properly for those students

who are bringing in department approved transfer courses from another institution, waiving

courses/requirements, or using CSUMB courses outside their approved catalog rights. In

addition, they will be able to complete the online reclassification form for students which will

allow student to Advance to Candidacy.

Learner Analysis

The target audience consists of two subgroups: graduate department staff which consists

of Advisors and Program Coordinators who are responsible for assisting in student support

services and advising and Graduate Faculty who teach courses in their respective programs. The

graduate departments at California State University Monterey Bay come from diverse

backgrounds in higher education each with their own education discipline. Many of the staff hold

at least a bachelor’s degree, as required upon hiring, and faculty hold advanced degrees.
 M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology
California State University
Monterey Bay

Prior Knowledge and Experience. All Advisers, Program, Coordinators, and Faculty

will be familiar with the Otter Academic Student Information System (OASIS), the university’s

student information system which houses and manages all student data and records. They work

with this system as part of their jobs, however access to certain areas of the program may differ

depending on the job title. The learners have no prior knowledge of the Academic Requirements

Report or its ancillary processes with regards to student advisement as this is a new system being

implemented for the Graduate Programs effective Fall 2018.

Technology Skills. Staff and faculty have varying degrees of comfort when it comes to

technology, but all are familiar with OASIS and many have some familiarity with OnBase. Over

the past couple of years, CSU Monterey Bay has moved many business processes online and

removed outdated paper forms including mandated online trainings. These online trainings are

mandated by the state of California and provide a baseline of success showing the target

audience is capable of completing an asynchronous online training.

Environmental Scan. As discussed previously, the Academic Requirements Report and

its related processes are entirely new to the graduate departments at CSU Monterey Bay. There

is no precedent for training on this topic since it is an entirely new process at the university.

During the rollout of the system in Fall 2018, a brief presentation was given by myself and other

staff of the Office of the Registrar to two groups: the Deans of the graduate departments and the

Graduate faculty and staff. The presentation was designed to familiarize the target audience with

the new system, but did not provide any support or training with it.
 M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology
California State University
Monterey Bay

Solution Description

Project Goals

The goal of this project will be to provide a training that will encompass three separate

business practices that have recently been updated that currently have no training or support in

place for their adoption. The first is understanding and utilizing the Academic Requirements

Report in OASIS for the purposes of accurately maintaining student records. Second, to

accurately submit course substitutions in OASIS in order to maintain permanent record of

department approved outside coursework that is being accepted in place of a student’s catalog

rights. Last, updating the student’s classification status to either “Classified Standing” or

“Advancement to Candidacy” utilizing the new OnBase forms process.

This will be accomplished by:

● Providing definitions for common terms to establish a baseline knowledge in these

business processes.

● Designing a training that is easily accessible as well as support documents and job aids

that assist in troubleshooting “common errors” that users may experience.

● Creating a realistic training environment consisting of pairing student-centered learning

and software simulation that provides feedback in a safe testing environment.

● Providing real-world scenarios for learners to work through that they may find while

working through these new business processes.

 M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology
California State University
Monterey Bay

Learning Objectives

Terminal Objective: Graduate faculty and staff will adopt and utilize the new online

business practices created by the Office of the Registrar to maintain accurate and up-to-date

student records.

Enabling Objectives:

● Given a list of common terms, learners will be able to identify correct definitions

of the key components of OASIS.

● Given a selection of student advisement scenarios, learners will be able to utilize

the Academic Requirements Report to track a student’s progress towards their

degree.

● Given a list of possible answers, learners will be able to identify the correct

definition as related to course substitutions.

● Given a software simulation, learners will be able to navigate OASIS and submit

a course substitution utilizing the Academic Requirements Report.

● Given a software simulation, learners will be able to process an “OnBase

Graduate Reclassification Form”.

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California State University
Monterey Bay

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Proposed Solution

The proposed solution is to provide a base level of training and support for these new

processes that have gone into place for the graduate faculty and staff. The goal is to make this

transition with as much support as possible and to have resources for new employees that will be

hired in the future. The training will be designed so that is easily accessible at all times in terms

of how it is hosted and the information found within the training itself.

Content Overview

1. Course Introduction

● Welcome and course objectives

● Goals of the CSU and overview of the Graduation Infinitive 2025

● Relevance to students and university staff

2. Academic Requirements Report Training

● Purpose and overview

● Key terms are defined.

● Basic navigation to proper pages is laid out.

● Learners are provided with a breakdown of each section of the

Academic.Requirements Report.
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California State University
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● Learners are provided several common advisement scenarios to respond to.

3. Course Substitution Training

● Purpose and overview

● Key terms are defined

● Software simulation of the entire course substitution process in OASIS

● Leaners are provided scenarios that will test their knowledge using scenario-based

learning.

4. OnBase Graduate Reclassification Form Training.

● Purpose and overview detailing university policy and mandates

● Key terms defined

● Software simulation of the reclassification form process

5. Course Summary and Knowledge Check

Learning Theories

Adult Learning Theory. This theory was developed by Malcom Knowles in 1968 and

sought to distinguish adult learning (andragogy) from child learning (pedagogy). Unlike

children, adults have a greater sense of “self” and a more established identity which leads to

learners desiring a greater sense of autonomy while learning. In addition, adults come into

training with a breadth of experiences already obtained throughout their lifetime. They better
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California State University
Monterey Bay

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understand new concepts if they build off the existing frameworks or schema that they already

have developed.

In order to better reach an adult audience, the training must be purpose driven and goal

oriented. This includes establishing clear learning objectives and creating feedback to gauge

one’s progress throughout a training. Typically this means trainings must be in the context of the

learner’s job and present real-world scenarios or problems that need to be solved in order to help

them develop relevant job related skills. This type of experiential learning encourages adult

learners to explore the subject matter first hand and learn from the makes they make along the

way.

The graduate department training acknowledges adult learning needs and how they are

separate from instruction that is designed in pedagogy. The training will be designed with these

principles in mind and provide relevant instruction that is problem-centered and scenario-based

in nature.

Instructional Principles

12 Principles of Multimedia Learning. In 2001, Richard Mayer developed the 12

Principles of Multimedia Learning which were developed to ensure that media content was

delivered to learners in a way that was easy to comprehend and cognitive development.

1. Coherence Principle: People learn better when extraneous words, pictures and sounds

are excluded rather than included.

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California State University
Monterey Bay

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2. Signaling Principle: People learn better from graphics and narration than from

graphic, narration and on-screen text.

3. Redundancy Principle: People learn better from graphics and narration than from

graphics, narration and on-screen text.

4. Spatial Contiguity Principle: People learn better when corresponding words and

pictures are presented near rather than far from each other on the page or screen.

5. Temporal Contiguity Principle: People learn better when corresponding words and

pictures are presented simultaneously rather than successively.

6. Segmenting Principle: People learn better from a multimedia lesson is presented in

user-paced segments rather than as a continuous unit.

7. Pre-training Principle: People learn better from a multimedia lesson when they know

the names and characteristics of the main concepts.

8. Modality Principle: People learn better from graphics and narrations than from

animation and on-screen text.

9. Multimedia Principle: People learn better from words and pictures than from words

alone.

10. Personalization Principle: People learn better from multimedia lessons when words

are in conversational style rather than formal style.

11. Voice Principle: People learn better when the narration in multimedia lessons is

spoken in a friendly human voice rather than a machine voice.

12. Image Principle: People do not necessarily learn better from a multimedia lesson

when the speaker’s image is added to the screen.

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California State University
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Media Components

The online course will be developed in Adobe Captivate and be housed on a website site

for easy access. The website will be designed for non-linear access so that learners can easily

select the training they wish to complete so they can a training that is relevant to what they need

to learn. This format accommodates both new learners and experienced ones as it allow every

learner to pick and choose the topic they desire and learn at their own pace. Experienced

learners can choose topics they may want to reinforce and new learners can experience a self-

paced environment. Each module that will be housed on the website will consist of a table of

contents, user navigation buttons, instructional content, narration, graphics and video as

applicable, and close with a check for understanding or opportunity to practice. Opportunities to

practice will predominately consist of software simulations as OASIS on OnBase are computer

based software programs.

Risks and Anticipated Challenges

The primary challenge to this training solution will be the adoption of the training due to

the breadth of the audience that is targeted. As someone who has worked to develop these new

processes, I will act as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) along with my supervisor who is the

Graduation Coordinator, and do not anticipate access or scheduling to be an issue. I anticipate

planning and developing in Adobe Captivate will be the most challenging aspect of this project.

I have found Adobe Captivate to be challenging to use at times in terms of learning to use its vast
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California State University
Monterey Bay

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amount of customizations and features. I plan to ensure that I leave plenty of time for planning

and testing in order to alleviate this so that I am able edit and make changes as necessary.

Methods & Procedure

For this learning solution, I plan to follow ADDIE( Analysis, Design, Development,

Implementation, and Evaluation).

Analysis: This phase seeks to determine the need for an instructional solution and examines the

learner as well as the context.

Design: This phase involves designing the content for the target audience and includes creating a

storyboard.

Development: This phase involves creating the designed content based off of one’s storyboard

and will include creation of a website that will house Adobe Captivate modules.

Implementation: This phase is where testing and review will occur prior to its rollout.

Evaluation: This phase is on-going throughout ADDIE to ensure that the goals of the client are

being met. This will include both formative and summative evaluations as well.

Deliverables

The training will consist of a one hour Adobe Captivate web based training that will be

housed on a website (WBT) as outline on pages 10 & 11. The topics have been determined by the

SME, both myself and the Graduation Coordinator. There are three main topics being covered by

the WBT: Graduate Reclassification, Academic Requirements Report, and Course Substitution.
 M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology
California State University
Monterey Bay

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Steps to Completion

1. Review course content with SME

2. Draft storyboard

3. Draft assessment questions for each module

4. SME review

5. Product Development

a. Adobe Captivate

b. Website Development

6. SME review

7. Usability testing

8. Final product review with SME

Resources

Required equipment or software:

● Adobe Captivate for online course development

● OASIS for software simulation

● OnBase forms for software simulation

● Microsoft Word for storyboard

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California State University
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● Weebly to house WBT

Timeline

Item Description Status Completion

Timeline

Content Outline Completed Competed 08/30/19

Storyboard Media placeholders and 09/15/19

navigation

Resource retrieval Images, videos, narrative, 09/20/19

Project Development Master slide development in Have built one module 9/21/19 – 10/5/19

Phase 1 Adobe Captivate in Adobe Captivate for

IST 526

Project Development Development of website 10/6/19 – 10/20/19

Phase 2

Usability Testing and Upload and conduct usability 10/21/19 – 10/28/19

Evaluation testing an surveys

Final Report Final product developed with 10/29/19 – 11/12/19

evaluation results
 M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology
California State University
Monterey Bay

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Evaluation

Formative Evaluation

Usability Testing. A usability survey was presented to five testers who were from

diverse backgrounds and had different levels of knowledge regarding these business processes.

While some had extensive knowledge of OASIS and OnBase, others had little to no knowledge

regarding the information contained in the training or the software used. I requested that each

user complete the survey immediately after completing the training. This survey consisted of a

mix of multiple choice questions and open-ended questions that allowed learners to identify

areas of strength, areas of improvement and any additional comments they may have regarding

the training.

Summative Evaluation

Check for understanding. At the end of each of the modules, learners were asked two

questions to ensure that learning occurred and the user did not simply skip through the module

without skipping through the information.

Pre- and post-testing. I created a pre- and post-test in Google forms and linked them to

the website that houses my Capstone project. Users were instructed to complete the pre-test

prior to starting any of the modules in order to obtain a baseline of that users knowledge

regarding the various topics covered throughout the three modules. After the end of the third and

final training, learners were instructed to complete the post-test survey. The pre and post-tests

were identical in order to determine if learning had occurred.

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One point was given for each correct answer in the pre/post-tests. There were a total of

eight questions asked in the each test covering all of the topics in each module. I used the data

analysis tools available in Google Forms to extract the results of the tests and I was able to

compare the pre-test scores and the post-test scores and compare the results.

Pre-Test vs Post-Test Scores

9

0
1 2 3 4 5

Pre-test Post-Test

The post-test mean was 7.8 which was significantly higher than the pre-test mean of 4.8.

To measure the results, a paired two sample for means t-test was run for dependent samples with

four degrees of freedom. The data from this test provides evidence that learning occurred after

the training was completed users. Every learner scored higher in the post-test assessment when

compared to the pre-test assessment with the exception of one user who had a
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California State University
Monterey Bay

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perfect score in both the pre and post-test. However, this user had more background knowledge

around the topic when compared to other testers and thus can be considered and outlier. Based

on the table below, it can be concluded that there is a statistically significant difference between

the pre and post-test results. The t-stat value of 3.354 is larger than the critical value of 2.131

and the p-value of .0142 is smaller than the .05 conventional alpha value.

t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

Post-
Pre-test Test
Mean 4.8 7.8
Variance 4.7 0.2
Observations 5 5
Pearson Correlation 0.464139561
Hypothesized Mean Difference 0
df 4
-
t Stat 3.354101966
P(T<=t) one-tail 0.014230102
t Critical one-tail 2.131846786
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.028460203
t Critical two-tail 2.776445105

Average Pre-test score: 24 out of 40 points or 60%

Average Post-test score: 39 out of 40 points or 97.50%

 M.S. in Instructional Science and Technology
California State University
Monterey Bay

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Final Reflections

The Graduate Department Training will play a key role in ensuring that student records

are kept up to date and accurate for reporting purposes as well as student success on the user end.

This training covers overhauls to business practices that are shared between all graduate

departments and the Office of the Registrar that were implemented Fall 2018. The first graduate

cohorts will be utilizing these business processes Fall 2019 as they get closer towards graduation.

It is important that there are tools in place that training users how to utilize these new processes

that have been put in place.

This project has been presented to the Office of the Registrar staff and my hope is for a

rollout to all departments starting next semester. The reception from our team lead and my

supervisor has been positive and encouraging. They have been open to utilizing what I have

created and are open to suggestions on how to expand upon what I have started building through

my Capstone. My goal is to make this transition as smooth as possible for the graduate

departments and the results from user testing are encouraging. In the future, my plan is to use

this training as a starting point for a central resources website for our office that will house this

training as well as any others for student and staff as we expand. I plan on continuing to make

additional changes as necessary in order to make this training easy update in the future and

accessible for any in the office to edit.

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Monterey Bay

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References

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://fafsa.ed.gov/help/fotw91n.htm

Founding Vision Statement. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://csumb.edu/about/founding-vision-

statement

Clark, Ruth Colvin, and Richard E. Mayer. E-learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven

Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning. Fourth ed. 2016. Web.

Kemple, T. "Adult Learning Theory." The British Journal of General Practice : The Journal of the

Royal College of General Practitioners 50.452 (2000): 238. Web.

Latest Tweets. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www2.calstate.edu/csu-system/why-the-csu-

matters/graduation-initiative-2025

Mayer's principles for multimedia learning. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://instructionaldesign.io/toolkit/mayer/

Pappas, C. (2018, August 27). 7 Top Facts About The Adult Learning Theory (2018 Update).

Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/6-top-facts-about-adult-learning-theory-every-

educator-should-know

Retention & Graduation Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://csumb.edu/iar/retention-

graduation-overview

The Principles of Adult Learning Theory. (2019, April 25). Retrieved from

https://online.rutgers.edu/blog/principles-of-adult-learning-theory/
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Appendix

Pre-test Post-Test

Mean 4.8 Mean 7.8

Standard Error 0.969535971 Standard Error 0.2
Median 4 Median 8
Mode 3 Mode 8
Standard Standard
Deviation 2.167948339 Deviation 0.447213595
Sample Variance 4.7 Sample Variance 0.2
- Kurtosis 5
Kurtosis 0.737890448 -
Skewness 0.912717046 Skewness 2.236067977
Range 5 Range 1
Minimum 3 Minimum 7
Maximum 8 Maximum 8
Sum 24 Sum 39
Count 5 Count 5
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Monterey Bay

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Usability Survey
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California State University
Monterey Bay

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Monterey Bay

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