DAI, Inc., Student Development, Assessment Tools, College Affairs, Career Planning, Advising, Counseling

SPECIMEN SET
(Printed Material)

A brief description of the four main items in the Specimen Set are shown below: Inventory, Answer Sheet, Student Guide, and Advisor's Guide. The Online Option is Now Available!

INVENTORY

The Developmental Advising Inventory (DAI) is designed for use with traditional-age college students and nontraditional young adults between the ages of 18-35. It is a theory-to-practice instrument based largely on the developmental tasks outlined by Arthur Chickering, but expanded to include information focused on diversity--women, people of color, and students approaching middle adulthood. The DAI contains 135 items with nine dimensions each containing fifteen items presented via a wellness wheel model for learning and development. It can be self-scored for individual use, or scored by an op scan scoring service for institutions valuing student profile data on a larger scale. The format of the inventory is illustrated with nine sample items. The nine items represent the first item of fifteen, from each dimension. The response format of the DAI provides a unique set of three options as noted in the examples: Development, Satisfaction, and Discussion.

SD

D

A

SA

Yes

No

Intellectual

1. I use study time effectively.

Life Planning

16. I set goals and persist until I achieve them.

Social

31. I have close friends of the same and opposite sex who live nearby.

Physical

46. I maintain my weight at healthy levels.

Emotional

61. I express compassion easily.

Sexual

76. I express tenderness and sensitivity in my relationships.

Cultural

91. I promote sensitivity and equality among different religions.

Spiritual

106. I often take time for spiritual reflection.

Political

121. I vote in local, state, and national elections.

 DEVELOPMENT

The Development section shows the student's self-perceived level of development by responding to one of four options which most typically describes them:

SD (1) Strongly Disagree - the item is rarely true

D (2) Disagree - the item is sometimes true

A (3) Agree - the item is often true

SA (4) Strongly Agree - the item is usually true

SATISFACTION

The Satisfaction section gives the student an opportunity to express his or her values regarding the development scores. Checking "Yes" indicates they are satisfied with the self-rating whether the score is low or high. Checking "No" indicates they are not satisfied and probably would be interested in improving their development. The student development educator or adviser is then in a position to suggest intervention strategies such as educational programming, etc. Checking "Yes" (Satisfied) with a low score may be " OK" under the circumstances of higher personal priorities; or, it could suggest an impending problem.

DISCUSSION

The discussion section provides students with an opportunity to indicate whether they are willing to explore growth activities with someone (e.g., roommate, small peer group with similar issues, adviser).

ANSWER SHEET

The op scan answer sheet is a two-part form designed by National Computer Systems. It allows practitioners and researchers to easily collect data with a large number of respondents on a diversity of criteria (e.g., age, sex, minority status, class in school, type of institution, academic status, and living group) including a local option selected by administrators. The Scoring Service is operated by Dr. Jerry Thayer at Andrews University. The Specimen Set also includes a sample booklet illustrating various data profiles from fictitious ABC College.

Five different types of reports are available: (1) Overall Report; (2) Dimension Report (profile of the nine dimensions); (3) Development Item Report (individual 135 items); (4) Values Item Report (Satisfaction profile); and (5) Advising Item Report (Discussion profile).

STUDENT GUIDE

The Student Guide is a twenty-one page work booklet for students to explore the implications of their inventory scores. It includes a variety of scoring and goal planning wheels and charts which are easy to complete and focus on personal, academic, and occupational areas of development. They are also linked to the general education curriculum leading to a student development transcript.

The Student Guide is especially useful in structured group settings where peer group activities and expectations for completion are high. An example of such a group would be a program for special admits, resident assistants, University 100 orientation mini-course, reentry or other self-defined groups.

The Advisors Guide is a 116-page manual for administering, scoring, and applying the DAI. It also includes psychometric information. However, it's primary emphasis is on practical, how-to applications in student service areas. The manual has five major parts.

Part I (Introduction) introduces the purpose and theoretical basis for the DAI, wellness models, and a metaphor for translating the whole notion of development to students in a fun way. Part II (Administration and Use) deals with the details of administering and scoring the inventory with students which, if ignored, can abort the entire assessment project. Part II (Mission of Student Affairs) addresses the role of student affairs in the campus community and how it can deliver effect student development programs. The primary ways to deliver such programs is through staff development, organization development, curriculum development, and leadership development. Part IV (Student Service Applications) includes a unit on each of the following uses of the inventory: (1) Freshmen and New Students; (2) Living Groups; (3) Academic Advising; (4) Learning Centers; and (5) Curriculum and Career applications. And Part V (Development of the DAI) addresses the history, reliability, validity and other research methodologies used to create the inventory.

ONLINE OPTION

Now Available! -- a fully interactive version of the Developmental Advising Inventory (DAI).  Click here for a checklist to explore the website and how the DAI can work on your campus.

We're planning to have the Advisor's Guide (manual) and the Student Guide (workbook) online sometime in July or August. In the meantime, these materials are available in printed form either in the Specimen Set or individually. See Order Form.

Keep the following information in mind when thinking about the meaning of the terms Inventory and Unit. We sell inventories as Units in a 2-for-1 package. One unit provides two complete assessments for an individual student, normally an initial inventory taken early in the term (pre-test) plus a final inventory taken toward the end of the term (post-test). The initial inventory is suitable for needs assessment and the final inventory an outcome assessment. The scores from these two assessments are stored in a database and available for administrator reports. Between the two assessments, students will have unlimited access for retakes of the inventory. The scores from these retakes are only available to the student. -Click Here- To Fill Out Your Request Form For the Free Training Special!

Free units are available to professors for use with students in graduate classes. Click gdickson@sunset.net to inquire. Identify the following information: name, telephone, email address, institution, name of graduate program, name of class, and number of students.

Graduate Students
In Student Affairs Preparation Programs

DAI units are 1/2 price for students conducting research leading to a graduate degree. Click gdickson@sunset.net to inquire. Students need to provide the following information: name, telephone, email address, institution, graduate program, name and email address of major professor or research advisor, and name and email address of sponsoring student affairs administrator (e.g., Dean of Students or director of students services area where research is being conducted).

Data Research Option.

Data Research Option*. This is a valuable feature for data oriented administrators, professors, or graduate students. It allows you to export the DAI raw data behind the aggregate report and make it available for importing into statistical programs like SPSS. Doing so makes it easy to analyze DAI information with data collected from other sources for important decision-making. For example, DAI data can then be compared with assessments focusing on program effectiveness, learning and development patterns, and outcome measures related to institutional mission, retention, etc. In addition, the DAI raw data can also be exported for use in spreadsheet programs like MS Excel so that attractive presentations can be made using pie charts, bar graphs, etc.

* This feature is technically called the CSV option (Comma Separated Values); or, in Excel it is referred to as a Comma Delimited Text File).

The Benefits - Here's What You Get!!!

• 15 Free Inventories - Introductory Training Special
• Significantly reduced costs per student assessment
• Unlimited student self-assessments -- "anytime, anyplace"
• Basic scoring data and graphic for students immediately
• Valuable needs assessment profiles for administrators
• Anonymous data reports for all-campus or subgroups
• Huge reduction in faculty or staff administration time/costs
  

In summary, the pricing options for the on-line features are only part of the benefits compared to the traditional printing distribution method and administrative costs. Immediate student access to the DAI is a big step forward in learning the skill of accurate self-assessment for accomplishing important student development goals. In addition, the more efficient distribution system offers a significant advantage to student service administrators and faculty involved in delivering assessment programs. Simply stated, there is more for less . . . and much, much easier!

STUDENT USE SERVICE

The Student Use Service provides two types of plans (Project Plan and Campus Plan), based on volume of usage. with their respective licensing agreements. Both plans allow students unlimited access to the Developmental Advising Inventory during the contract period selected by the institution--July to December or January to June. Both licensing agreements include a one-time administrative fee of $50.00 for first-time purchases, and an administrative fee of $25.00 for all subsequent purchases.

Purchases of the DAI Online are made by the number of "units" needed--one unit per student. A unit includes two complete inventory "reference" assessments for each student during the contract period: an Initial Inventory (pre-test) and a Final Inventory (post-test). The Initial Inventory focuses on needs assessment. The Final Inventory, a bonus option, is made available for campuses with a special interest in outcomes assessment which help them to identify effective student development strategies and programming interventions. The project administrator (faculty or staff member) determines when these reference assessments will be taken and permanently stored in the database. They will normally occur near the beginning and end of the term. There are two contract periods: July - December and January - June. Units must be used during the contract period. They do not carry over to the subsequent contract period.

The data from these reference assessments produces a basic profile for the individual student when they complete the inventory. This profile includes the following: (1) mean scores for the nine dimensions in sequence and rank order; (2) high-to-low development scores for each item within the respective dimensions; (3) Indicators (Yes/No) of student "satisfaction" with their scores for each item; and (4) and indicators (Yes/No) of student interest in "discussion of their scores with an advisor for each item. Student privacy is important and these data must be treated as confidential by faculty and staff.

Another exciting feature of DAI Online is the student option for unlimited 'developmental' assessments--FREE partial or complete retakes-- which may occur between the two reference assessments. However, these retakes are not recorded in the database. Only the student has access to these developmental snap-shots. Further, each re-take automatically deletes the scores for the previous re-take. Therefore, students wishing to preserve the data must print it if they wish to keep a developmental history.

Project Plan - The Project Plan is geared for lower volume student assessments and is governed by a "Use License." It is designed primarily for use with smaller groups. Examples of such groups would include freshmen/new students, residence hall floors or wings, entire residence halls, student development classes (e.g., University 101, Career Exploration, Career Placement), high risk or probationary students, re-entry women, Greek houses, commuter student groups, student leadership groups (e.g., Panhellenic Council), etc. Other approaches to development could include use in student services such as the Counseling Center, Health Center, Judicial Affairs, Athletic Department, and Multi-Cultural Affairs. The Project Plan typically would be selected when the volume of units needed ranges from 50 -1,999.

PROJECT PLAN -- PRICING SCALE (Range 50 to 1,999)

Campus Plan - The Campus Plan is designed for large scale use of the DAI and is guided by a "Site License." The comparatively low cost per unit supports mission objectives where learning includes development of students from the freshmen through senior years. It values needs assessment emphases for freshmen as well as outcomes assessment for seniors in transition. It may also reflect an educational philosophy of total student development where general education coursework is integrated with co-curricular programming and activities. In some cases, these outcomes are identified via a student development transcript. The volume of units needed depends on campus efforts. The pricing structure for the Campus Plan provides a range from 2,000 - 6,000+.

CAMPUS PLAN -- PRICING SCALE (Range 2000 to 6,000+)

Multi-Year Contract Discounts

You can receive 25% discount for consecutive year purchases of the DAI. Contact us for details.

ADMINISTRATOR REPORT SERVICE

The Administrator Report Service provides additional data beyond the basic profile for students described under Student Use Service. For example, data are available which present the mean scores and percentages for all students (Institutional Reports) or subgroups (Group Reports) such as freshmen, women, residence hall groups, non-traditional students, academically at-risk students, ethnic groups, etc.

Institutional Report. This 3-in-1 "all-campus" report includes every student completing the DAI. This overall report contains three sub-reports: Development, Values, and Advising.

• Development Profile - Means, standard deviations, and response percents for the 135 Development scale items rank ordered within the nine dimensions plus a ranking of the nine dimensions of development.
• Values Profile - Means, standard deviations, and response percentages for135 Satisfaction items rank ordered within the nine dimensions plus a ranking of the nine dimensions.
• Advising Profile - Means, standard deviations, and response percentages for135 Discussion items rank ordered within the nine dimensions plus a ranking of the nine dimensions of development.

Institutional Reports may be requested at any time during the contract period. The fee for each report is based on the number of units purchased.

Also see our Data Reserch Option for the ability to download data from DAI for entry into SPSS or other statistical packages.

INSTITUTIONAL REPORTS & PRICING SCALE

Group Reports - Group reports are based on demographic data collected from the student when registering to take the inventory on-line (Campus Profile Data). Five basic demographic options are available (Gender, Class, Academic Status, Ethnicity, Special Category). So for example, the following reports could be requested: Male, Female, Freshmen, Male Freshmen, Female Freshmen on Probation, Male Hispanics in Smith Residence Hall, and Female Freshmen on Probation with Sally Johnson as advisor or instructor in University 101. The last two examples, listing residence halls or specific advisors and/or instructors, illustrate the Special Category (local option) which may be selected by campus administrators by special arrangement.

GROUP REPORTS & PRICING SCALE

Try the Free Online Inventory Demo here.