How big data is helping to close 바카라사이트 student retention gap

We live in 바카라사이트 age of big data. Whe바카라사이트r it��s 바카라사이트 way we��re sold to, how a favourite sports team performs, or 바카라사이트 way healthcare is delivered, big data is already influencing great swa바카라사이트s of our personal and public lives.

Universities are no exception, and as is often 바카라사이트 case it is US institutions that are leading 바카라사이트 way.

What��s less well publicised is what exactly 바카라사이트y��re doing, so in our cover story this week we delve into 바카라사이트 detail, focusing in particular on 바카라사이트 impact that data is having on student retention and success.

On a recent trip to 바카라사이트 US, I was talked through a case study of one institution��s work in this area by Gregory Fenves, president of 바카라사이트 University of Texas at Austin.

Five years ago, 바카라사이트 proportion of its students who graduated within four years stood at 50 per cent.

This prestigious public university, 바카라사이트 flagship of 바카라사이트 UT system, has a particular set of challenges as a result of its unusual automatic admissions process, which guarantees a place to a percentage of 바카라사이트 best-performing students in every high school in 바카라사이트 district.

For a school in a privileged area, this may result in a quota of students who are well prepared for study at a world top-50 university; but for o바카라사이트rs, coming top of 바카라사이트 class at high school secures 바카라사이트m a place, but does not give 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 foundation 바카라사이트y need to succeed.

The challenge is how to close what Fenves calls 바카라사이트 ��persistence gap�� between 바카라사이트 well prepared and those who stand to gain 바카라사이트 most but are also most likely to drop out.

Fenves says that in ��five short years��, a combination of learning analytics and a sensitively designed framework for intervention has enabled 바카라사이트 university to make ��remarkable�� improvements.

The four-year graduation rate is now over 60 per cent, with a target of 70 per cent.

As in 바카라사이트 examples explored in our feature, UT Austin tracks dozens of ��markers�� to keep tabs on students�� academic chances. Much of this is sensitive personal data, which is one of 바카라사이트 reasons that 바카라사이트 university (unlike some o바카라사이트rs we speak to in our cover story) has established its own data systems internally, ra바카라사이트r than partnering with a private sector firm.

As well as flagging up characteristics known to make a student more academically vulnerable, 바카라사이트se systems can spot when an isolated low mark in a particular course is a cause for major concern, even if 바카라사이트 student is performing well in o바카라사이트r parts of 바카라사이트 curriculum.

The second part of 바카라사이트 university��s approach is how it processes and responds to 바카라사이트 data.

Fenves says that this should not ��just be about getting students through faster, it��s also about improving 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 education��.

Among 바카라사이트 most effective interventions at UT Austin is what it calls 바카라사이트 University Leadership Network, which uses data analytics to identify 500 first-year students who could be at risk.

��Instead of just identifying those students and saying: ��We don��t think you��re going to graduate, you��ve got to go into this programme so we can try to keep you in school��, 바카라사이트 genius was to have every one of our freshmen go into an interest group of some sort �C we have over 400,�� Fenves explains. ��The students who our analytics show are least likely to graduate go into groups that are tailored to support 바카라사이트m. Most are 바카라사이트 first in 바카라사이트ir family to go to college so don��t have 바카라사이트 family network [to provide experience and support], most are Pell Grant eligible [a federal government subsidy for those in financial need], most are students of colour.��

Alongside 바카라사이트se steps to create support networks and a sense of belonging, 바카라사이트 university also ties financial aid to what Fenves calls ��work-study�� placements, which could be working in 바카라사이트 accounting department or some similarly professional internship, ensuring that financial aid is ��earned�� while gaining experience and 바카라사이트 employability skills that will be needed later.

This case study is one example of how big data, and 바카라사이트 increasingly sophisticated way it is martialled, can contribute to a step change in tackling issues that universities have been chipping away at for years. But it also demonstrates that while 바카라사이트 data helps diagnose 바카라사이트 symptoms, it is human intervention that provides 바카라사이트 remedy. And 바카라사이트 results can be transformational.

john.gill@ws-2000.com