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> Evaluation #1 by ASU (1994-1995): Effects of Participation
A Profile of the Evaluation of Fifth Dimension/University-Community Links
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Program Description
| Overview | The Fifth Dimension/University-Community (UC) Links is an approach to after school programming used by Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs and YWCAs, recreation centers, and public schools across America, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and Russia. It provides a way to increase the educational programming of such institutions without substantially increasing the costs of operation. Beginning in 1986, the overarching goals of the Fifth Dimension approach were to: (1) create sustainable activity systems that increase understanding of the cultural mediation of mind and the processes of cognitive and social development, (2) provide contexts for children to master knowledge and skills mediating changes in their everyday practices, (3) deepen understanding of how the social and individual create each other, and to (4) provide a context in which undergraduates from disciplines such as teacher education, developmental psychology, and communications have opportunities to connect theory with practice and deliver services to children. In 1996 the University of California Office of the President provided seed funding to expand this model throughout California. The UC Links network was established to promote the university eligibility and academic preparedness of underserved youth throughout California using the practices developed by Fifth Dimension programs worldwide. The intent was to broaden the base of K–12 learning, by providing access to educational resources to those youth who are not yet on the path to higher education. The statewide program has three major objectives: (1) to improve the educational opportunities and aspirations for diverse California youth from low-income communities throughout the state, so that more of them will become eligible for the University of California in years to come, (2) to improve undergraduate education by providing living laboratories where students can integrate theory and practice, and (3) to pioneer new ways of collaborating that bring together institutions like universities, communities, and K–12 schools in long-term, sustainable programs for underserved K–12 youth. |
| Start Date | 1986 |
| Scope | international |
| Type | after school |
| Location | urban, suburban, rural |
| Setting | community-based organization, public school, recreation center |
| Participants | elementary, middle, and high school students (ages 5–18) |
| Number of Sites/Grantees | over 50 worldwide sites (2003) |
| Number Served | The number of children per site will vary according to setting. In a public school setting, as many as 80 children may be served in any week. |
| Components | Fifth Dimension programs take place in a computer club that may or may not be associated with the child's school and are located near university campuses since most are affiliated with colleges and universities. Participants are often from low-income homes and many attend on a regular basis through high school. At some sites, high schoolers who attended return and act as mentors for the younger children. Children typically visit a Fifth Dimension on a drop-in basis, although in most public school Fifth Dimensions children attend on a daily basis. Some children spend four to six hours per week of after school time participating in the Fifth Dimension, while others may come once a week for a few hours. Opportunities and constraints vary across locations, seasons, populations, and sites. Many children enter the Fifth Dimension directly after school or homework sessions. The main activities center around off-the-shelf educational programs selected for appropriateness, appeal, and educational value. In a prototype Fifth Dimension system (local names vary), a dozen or more children encounter a large variety of computer games, noncomputer games, and telecommunications activities on a regular basis over the course of a school year. As a rule, Fifth Dimensions contain a variety of kinds of computers at a ratio of one computer for every two to three children. Computer games, such as Carmen San Diego and the Secret Island of Dr. Brain, the Magic School Bus series, and noncomputer games, such as Origami, chess, and Boggle are a part of a make-believe activity system. Task cards that accompany each game or activity enable children and their mentors to negotiate goals for playing games and coordinate activities. Learning is collaborative with children often working together or with adult mentors called Wizard's Assistants. Students with extensive experience are given the opportunity to achieve the status of Young Assistant to the Wizard. The child's participation is voluntary and self-paced; there is no traditional teacher-student structure. Each Fifth Dimension has a site coordinator who is trained to recognize and support Fifth Dimension's pedagogical ideals and curricular materials. Undergraduate students are there to learn and play with the children. The site coordinator monitors the balance of education and play in interactions between children and undergraduates. |
| Funding Level | varies by local program |
| Funding Source | The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation provided funding for field-testing and evaluation of the original three programs begun in 1986. In 1996 the University of California Office of the President began funding the UC Links network of after school programs in California. Each local Fifth Dimension program negotiates operating resources from the university, community participants, and other outside funding agencies. |
Evaluation
| Overview | Evaluators developed collaborations for evaluation at three Fifth Dimension sites: Appalachian State University (ASU), California State University at San Marcos (CSUSM), and University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). The ASU team evaluated Fifth Dimension sites that were operated as part of an after school program at four elementary schools in Boone, North Carolina. The CSUSM team evaluated a Fifth Dimension site operating at the Boys and Girls Club in Escondido, California. The UCSB team evaluated a Fifth Dimension site operating at the Boys and Girls Club in Goleta, California. Evaluators wanted to assess changes in children's literacy that can be attributed to participation in the Fifth Dimension, specifically: (1) does learning to use educational software on computers improve a child's mind? and (2) what kinds of cognitive changes, if any, occur over the course of a year in which computer-naïve children learn to use a series of educational programs in an informal and nonthreatening environment? The outcome measures tapped changes in student literacy, broadly defined, including changes in computer literacy, language comprehension, problem-solving strategies, and academic achievement. The primary research method was to assess relevant cognitive skills of students before they began the Fifth Dimension program and after they had extensive experience in the program (e.g., more than 10 or 20 visits over the course of the academic year), and to compare their pretest to posttest changes with those of similar students who did not participate. Separate evaluations were also conducted of the Expedition after school program, a Fifth Dimension program with an archaeological learning framework in Oakland, California. Expedition involves University of California at Berkeley (UCB) faculty, staff, and students directly with sixth graders through a service learning course, Anthropology 128, Archaeological Practice in a Sixth Grade After-School Program. These evaluations sought to measure the program's success in achieving a number of youth outcomes, as well as UCB undergraduate students' goals. |
| Evaluators | William E. Blanton, Gary B. Moorman, Bobbie A. Hayes, and Mark L. Warner, Appalachian State University Miriam W. Schustack, Rachelle Strauss, and Patricia E. Worden, California State University at San Marcos Richard E. Mayer, Richard Durán, Amy Lavezzo, Roxana Moreno, Jill Quilici, David Sanchez, Rebecca Simon, and Scott Woodbridge, University of California at Santa Barbara Tamara Lynn Sturak, UC Links Program, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley |
| Evaluations Profiled | Effects of Participation in the Fifth Dimension on Far Transfer (ASU) Learning About Technology in a Non-Instructional Environment (CSUSM) Cognitive Consequences of Participation in a Fifth Dimension After-School Computer Club (UCSB) What is Learned in an After-School Computer Club? (UCSB) Evaluation of Expedition – Computers and Archaeology After School (UCB) Expedition – Computers and Archaeology After School: Year-End Report, 2000–2001 (UCB) |
| Evaluations Planned | Evaluations are ongoing. |
| Report Availability | Note: This is just a sampling of reports available. Many of these reports, as well as others, are available at: www.education.miami.edu/ blantonw/5dclhse/publications/pub1.html. Summary Reports Mayer, R. E., Blanton, W. E., Durán, R., & Schustack, M. W. (1999). Using new information technologies in the creation of sustainable afterschool literacy activities: Evaluation of cognitive outcomes. Available at www.psych.ucsb.edu/~mayer/fifth_dim_website/ HTML/res_reports/research_reports.html. Mayer, R. E., Schustack, M., & Blanton, W. (1999). What do children learn from using computers in an informal collaborative setting? Educational Technology, 39(2), 27–31. Mayer, R. E. (1997). Out-of-school learning: The case of an after-school computer club. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 16, 333–336. Underwood, C., Welsh, M., Emmons, C., Lerner, D., & Sturak, T. (2002). University-Community Links to higher learning: Program impact report. Berkeley: University of California at Berkeley, Office of the President, Educational Outreach Department. Available at: www.uclinks.org. ASU Blanton, W. E., Moorman, G. B., Hayes, B. A., & Warner, M. L. (1997). Effects of participation in the Fifth Dimension on far transfer. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 16, 371–396. CSUSM Schustack, M. W., Strauss, R. & Worden, P. E. (1997). Learning about technology in a non-instructional environment. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 16, 337–352. UCSB Mayer, R. E., Quilici, J., Moreno, R., Durán, R., Woodbridge, S., Simon, R., et al. (1997). Cognitive consequences of participation in a Fifth Dimension after-school computer club. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 16, 353–369. Mayer, R. E., Quilici, J. H., & Moreno, R. (1999). What is learned in an after-school computer club? Journal of Educational Computing Research, 20, 223–235. UCB Sturak, T. L. (2000). Evaluation of Expedition – computers and archaeology after school. Berkeley: Interactive University Project, University of California at Berkeley. Available at www.mactia.berkeley.edu/aop/activity/expedition.pdf (Acrobat file). Sturak, T. L. (2001). Expedition – computers and archaeology after school: Year-end report, 2000–2001. Berkeley: Interactive University Project, University of California at Berkeley. |
Contacts
| Evaluation | UC Links Mara Welsh Mahmood UC Links Statewide Office 615C University Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1040 Tel: 510-643-7349 Email: mwelsh@uclink4.berkeley.edu ASU William E. Blanton, Ph.D., Professor of Teaching and Learning University of Miami, School of Education Merrick 324-A 5202 University Drive Coral Gables, FL 33146 Tel: 305-284-5053 Email: blantonw@miami.edu CSUSM Miriam W. Schustack, Ph.D., Professor Department of Psychology California State University 320 University Hall San Marcos, CA 92096-0001 Tel: 760-750-4095 Email: mschusta@csusm.edu UCSB Richard E. Mayer, Ph.D., Professor Department of Psychology University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 93106 Tel: 805-893-2472 Email: mayer@psych.ucsb.edu UCB Tamara Lynn Sturak, After School and Community Coordinator UC Links Program School of Education University of California at Berkeley 615 C. University Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 Tel: 510-643-7349 Email: tamara@uclink.berkeley.edu |
| Program | UC Links UC Links Statewide Office 615C University Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1040 Tel: 510-643-7349 Email: uclinks@socrates.berkeley.edu ASU Walter P. Oldendorf, Ph.D., Coordinator Reich College of Education Appalachian State University Edwin Duncan Hall: EDH 04 730 Rivers Street Boone, NC 28608 Tel: 828-262-7279 Email: oldendrfwp@appstate.edu CSUSM Miriam W. Schustack, Ph.D., Professor Department of Psychology California State University 320 University Hall San Marcos, CA 92096-0001 Tel: 760-750-4095 Email: mschusta@csusm.edu UCSB Lupe Arteaga, Club Coordinator Club Proteo 5701 Hollister Avenue Goleta, CA 93117 Tel: 805-967-1612 Email: marteaga@education.ucsb.edu UCB Tamara Lynn Sturak, After School and Community Coordinator UC Links Program School of Education University of California at Berkeley 615 C. University Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-1670 Tel: 510-643-7349 Email: Tamara@uclink.berkeley.edu |
| Profile Updated | May 20, 2003 |
Evaluation 1 (ASU): Effects of Participation in the Fifth Dimension on Far Transfer
Evaluation Description
| Evaluation Purpose | To determine the effects of children's participation in the Fifth Dimension on measures of their ability to transfer the problem-solving skills learned in the program to what they learned in the subject matter areas of reading and math. |
| Evaluation Design | Quasi-Experimental and Non-Experimental: Participants were 52 children from grades three, four, five, and six from four elementary schools in Boone, North Carolina. The experimental group was made up of 26 children who volunteered to participate in the Fifth Dimension program at Appalachian State University. The control group consisted of 26 children from the same schools who did not attend the Fifth Dimension. The two groups were matched on gender and classroom. The control group did not participate in any organized computer activity after school, although many of the children were engaged in a wide range of socially organized activity, ranging from sports to school band. |
| Data Collection Methods | Observation: Observations were made during 30 to 35 one-hour visits to the Fifth Dimension. Preservice teacher interns who worked with the children wrote field notes after each session. Field notes included information on children's activities, use of strategies, interactions with other children, etc. Tests/Assessments: The North Carolina End-of-Grade Tests were administered to students as a pretest and posttest. These reading and mathematics achievement tests are statewide standardized tests of basic academic skills administered at the end of each academic year. These tests were developed for the Course of Study prescribed by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI), administered independently by the school system, scored by the DPI and reported as standard scores. |
| Data Collection Timeframe | Data were collected during the 1994 to 1995 school year. |
Findings:
Formative/Process Findings
| Activity Implementation | Descriptions in the field notes indicate the following elements of Fifth Dimension activity implementation, among others: the integration of basic skills; the rules and consequences involved; the embedding of tools appropriation; the freedom children have in making choices; the intensity of children's engagement in problem solving; the prevalence of playful experiences; the importance of the opportunity for children to earn the title of Young Golem Assistant; evidence of value and attitude acquisition by the children; children's contextualization of activities; strong relationships built between teacher interns and children through joint activity; successful accomplishment of tasks through joint activity with peers; the role of children in teaching one another and the interns; and the role of children in directing their own learning, both in terms of how and what they learn. |
| Staffing/Training | An intern's understanding of the teaching methodology behind Fifth Dimension is illustrated in one of the field notes. The intern comments on the pressure she felt to teach in the Fifth Dimension, although direct teaching is discouraged; instead staff are instructed to provide children with help when needed and only as much as is needed. She explains her realization that the children learn more by enjoying the activity than if they think they are doing the activity solely for the sake of learning. This idea is in line with the goals of the Fifth Dimension program. Interns use inferential questions during activities with participants. |
Summative/Outcome Findings
| Academic | Participants had significantly higher adjusted posttest reading and math achievement scores than the control group (p<.001 for both reading and math). The mean unadjusted posttest score for reading achievement on the North Carolina End-of-Grade Test for the treatment group was 156.9 for the experimental group and 148.7 for the control group. The mean unadjusted posttest score for math achievement for the treatment group was 164.1 for the treatment group and 155.6 for the control group. Differences in pretest scores accounted for 55% of the posttest variance on reading scores and 78% on math scores. Group membership as a dummy variable in the equation accounted for an additional 23% of the variance on the reading test and 9% on the math test. Adding gender to the equation did not account for a significant portion of the variance for either the reading or math test, indicating that gender did not interact significantly with group in predicting posttest scores. |