Bow Valley College shares results of internal applied research studies using TOWES

BVC has conducted substantive research into the use of TOWES in our own career programs. A variety of different predictive studies were conducted and the results of the research are compelling. Although TOWES was originally developed for the needs of the workplace, the research presents ample evidence for its utility in college training programs.

Since the very beginnings of the development of TOWES, Bow Valley College students have participated in TOWES research. During the early development of the tool, the College’s students completed numerous field tests. Once the research was finalized, the College conducted several kinds of predictive studies to determine whether the test was useful in College training programs.

“Bow Valley College has adopted the principles associated with the Learning College Initiative,” says Anna Kae Todd, Vice President Learning, “and part of that initiative is focusing on student outcomes and using external assessment measures as part of our graduate credentials. Our current plan is to include an online portfolio and a TOWES score for all graduates of our career (post secondary) programs.” (See companion article in this newsletter.)

Bow Valley College has other reasons for using TOWES internally. The college is undergoing a massive renovation and expansion project that will see the College’s enrollment increase from 4,000 to 7,000 in the next few years. “This expansion is largely due to the buoyant economy and the need for a skilled workforce. We want to ensure that we provide “work ready graduates” to the local business community and we see using TOWES as one of the measures to achieve this goal.”

The results of the research are compelling. Data were collected from 11 different studies conducted between October 2004 and January 2006. The reports focused on the utility of TOWES in predicting student performance, the relationship of TOWES scores with other measures of cognitive skills, the scores of native born Canadians and immigrant students, the effects of a training intervention on TOWES scores and the relationship between TOWES scores and completion rates. Dr. Theresa JB Kline, a professor in the Department of Industrial Psychology at the University of Calgary examined the reports and prepared a summary report.

Dr. Kline states,” TOWES provides unique information about respondent skill levels above and beyond other types of tests. Given the diverse programs and conditions under which TOWES was used, these studies provide convincing evidence of the utility of TOWES in a college setting. The test can be used at program entrance to identify at risk students who might perform poorly in the program. It can be used to assess the effectiveness of interventions that claim to improve basic literacy skills. TOWES can also be used an “exit” criterion. That is, students are expected to increase their basic skills as well as work-specific skills during their tenure at Bow Valley College. A TOWES test at the end of their program would allow them to carry this for credentialing purposes as they move forward in their careers.”

The results of the report provide food for thought for College educators. “Bow Valley College will continue to use TOWES in all our career programs,” states Anna Kae Todd and adds, “we are already thinking about the logical next steps of this research. Gathering the data was a huge job, we know that there are other types of analyses that we could complete using the data, particularly in the area of a return on investment analysis.”

Visit the TOWES website to read a summary of Dr. Kline's report.