My day job involves using education data to improve the experience of students.  Specifically I am working on a predictive model that will serve as an early warning system when students begin to have problems in a course.  The idea is that there are a LOT of resources out there that students don’t use because either they are unaware of them or they are so tied up with their own issues that it never occurs to them.  I want to change that by spotting signs of trouble while the student is still taking the class and proactively offering them help.

This conference is an ideal tie-in to this work, and an area where I could easily see myself forming a research agenda as well as a satisfying work life.  We collect so much information; everything we do is tracked electronically and recorded somewhere.  There have to be ways to use this information for something other than selling us another book on Amazon.  I want to work on finding those other uses.  (Frankly this may be the perfect field for me; I have 20 years in IT prior to getting my PhD, almost all of it in databases and data management.  Now I can apply those skills to a real problem.  Very appropriate.)

The goal of the course itself is to provide context and background to the learning analytics field. In many ways it is a small, emerging field, and while there are some things we know there is a lot more we need to know.  The course helps develop people and bring awareness to the field.  Here is the course description:

Capturing and analyzing data has changed how decisions are made and resources are allocated in businesses, journalism, government, and military and intelligence fields. Through better use of data, leaders are able to plan and enact strategies with greater clarity and confidence. Data is a value point that drives increased organizational efficiency and a competitive advantage. Simply, analytics provide new insight and actionable intelligence. Companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Google, and Amazon are investing heavily in technologies and techniques in helping individuals and organizations makes sense of, and unlock the value within, big data.

In education, the use of data and analytics to improve learning is referred to as learning analytics. Analytics have not yet made the impact on education that they have made in other fields. That’s changing. Software companies, researchers, educators, and university leaders are starting to recognize the value of data in improving not only teaching and learning, but the entire education industry.

This course will provide an (generally non-technical) introduction to learning analytics and how they are being deployed in various contexts in the education field. Additionally, the tools and methods, ethics and privacy, and the systemic impact of analytics will be explored, presenting a broad overview of the current state and possible future directions of the field.

I invite any of you who are interested in how we can use data to inform and improve our teaching to join the class.

http://lak12.mooc.ca/cgi-bin/login.cgi?action=Register

I’ll be posting over the next few weeks my thoughts and observations from the class, so you can certainly follow that way as well.  You can also follow me on twitter (@protoscholar) or the conference as a whole by following #lak12

Teaching two sections is new; in early December I pointed out that all the stats sections were full for the upcoming semester and that, perhaps rather than wasting my skills teaching Psych 101 (which I am not that great at in the first place), we should open another stats section.  They were skeptical, but decided to give a late night (8:15-10:15) section a try to see if it “made”.  (Administrator talk for had enough enrollments to be worth the cost of offering.)

HAH.  Not only did it make, but it’s full.  FULL.  24 students willing to come to class until after 10pm 2 days a week.  Whodathunkit.  So now, for this semester, I get to do every lecture twice in a row.  I think I’m going to need a lot more water.

Of course since this worked out so well, I’ll probably be stuck teaching 2 back to back sections forever…

Seriously, can we add that last one to every election.  I would be SO MUCH HAPPIER if there were a “None of the above” choice…

When I was working on my degree most of the faculty would have been appalled to hear where I was working.  For-profit was synonymous with evil.  There was no grey zone to most of them.  But since that was the only place that was able to pay a reasonable salary, I stayed and just didn’t get into it with the faculty.

In my current role things are a little tenuous; due to some internal politics, it’s not clear who I will be reporting to or what I will be doing 3-6 months in the future, although it’s fairly certain to change.  That could be good (opportunity) or it could be bad (doing things I’m just not that interested in).  But I’ve been playing it cool because, frankly, I have been comfortable.

Now something interesting has come up.  A position at my alma mater doing analysis for the budget and planning office.  It would pay slightly less (within 5%) of what I make now, come with an office instead of a cube, have a director title instead of a manger title (although still no direct reports), and make me eligible for pretty cushy set of benefits by private industry standards.  (People who have it complain, but really until they’ve work outside of a state university they have NO idea how little some companies offer.)

All that having been said, in some ways the job itself is a step backwards.  (The step up in title is just to make sure they could afford someone like me.)  I would be doing less of the cutting edge stuff I’m doing now, be less involved in the industry groups and publishing my research, and doing more mundane query-jockey stuff.  Oh, and have to pay an insane amount per year for parking, which I know sounds petty, but is vaguely irritating.

Nonetheless, I’m still strongly considering it.  This week is 2nd round interviews.  I will take half a day off and go talk to them.

So I’ve been asking myself WHY I am willing to take the bad things about this in order to change jobs and have come up with a couple of things:  I like the idea of the stability and knowing what I’ll be doing a few months from now, I like the benefits even if the salary is a bit less, and I like the idea of working for a not-for-profit again.

That last one is irritating.  I thought I had gotten over my snobbishness about that kind of thing, but apparently it’s still there, just suppressed.  I still look down on the for-profits as a place to build a career.  I see them fill a role, just not one I want to be involved with.  I’m not sure I like that about myself right now…

The thing is that there is very little difference in terms of the two types of organizations.  Non-profit educational institutions are every bit as concerned about money as for-profit colleges and universities.  This particular school is one of a wave of research institutions who, in the past few years, have made it clear that if a department or scholar isn’t bringing in enough money to pay their salary and support staff, they aren’t going to be kept around.  The non-profit keeps changing entrance requirements in such a way as to preclude the poorest, worst prepared and most needy students from attending.  In contrast, the for-profit is focused on programs to HELP those students succeed.  You can argue (and I’m sure Harkin would) that the for-profit is doing it only to increase their bottom line, but the fact remains that they are graduating students who otherwise never would have made it.  Neither is as evil or as pure as comics like the one above would have you think.

So why do I still have that snobbish attitude?  My next week will be spent focusing on making this decision based on facts, not that attitude.  I need to look at what both jobs offer, where they could go, and which will provide a secure future for myself and my husband.

This attitude is why it takes so long to do even the most simple thing in a college or university.

(That high school C was a particularly traumatic experience that convinced me that I couldn’t do algebra.  I later made course choices based on that particular assumption that were less than optimal.)

I’m not going to be able to use that excuse much longer.  In preparation for Calculus this winter I’ve been reviewing algebra and trigonometry using a tool called ALEKS.  Aleks is an online tool for both K-12 and higher education.  It is a modestly adaptive tool that first gives you an assessment, then has you work through a series of exercises with explanations if you need them until you can do each problem type without help at least 3 times.

Realistically this is drill and practice work, but it doesn’t keep drilling you on concepts you’ve got.  That makes it useful for the time crunched (like me).

The tool has a monthly subscription option for people who want to learn on their own (19.99/month, which isn’t bad when you only need a month or so).  More important it has a course called “Prep for Calculus” that will allow a student to go through all of the standard prerequisites of calculus in an organized fashion.  It doesn’t require me to re-do the pieces I know and provides enough help on the ones I don’t to remind me about all the stuff I haven’t seen since 1983.

The best part for me is that my confidence is increasing as well.  As I work through the different sections I am remembering more and more.  I am getting back into the habit of doing math and working through a lot of example problems that I otherwise might not have spent the time on.  The tool breaks things down into small enough skills that I can master a few each day.  The next day it has you review them (ie do more problems and make sure you get them right) before letting you move on.  The result is that I remember more each day and am feeling better about what I do or don’t know.

If you are in the position of needing to refresh yourself on a topic or tutoring a struggling student who needs more help, take a look at ALEKS.  For the price I find it an excellent bargain and the right investment for me.

• Introducation to Statistics
• Regression
• ANOVA
• Multivariate
• Multilevel Modeling
• Qualitative

plus Tests and Measurements. By most criteria I should be a statistician.

Yet I am having a MASSIVE case of impostor syndrome on this very topic. Statistics are the one thing we learn in a PhD program that we can easily and rapidly market; there is a DRASTIC shortage of skilled statistical analysts out there and you quickly discover that even a little knowledge puts you head and shoulders above the crowd. Yet the statistics that are taught are very research oriented and not necessarily appropriate for applied settings.

The problem is that I am very aware of what I don’t know; of how I don’t completely understand what I was taught in those classes and how it is insufficient for what I am trying to do with the skills. I find myself reluctant to take on the title of “statistician” because I feel there are massive holes in my ability to apply the techniques I learned. As the title indicates, my skills look good on paper but feel lacking when I start trying to apply them.

Now, if a PhD teaches you anything it is how to go off and teach yourself something. And I could conceivably do just that; I have all my books (and many more) and could start reading until my ears bleed. But I admit that I learn better with structure.  (By all accounts I should be the PERFECT person for a DIYU type of approach, but it is far too easy for me to find other things to do with my time if I don’t have assignments with deadlines and other people telling me what I did or didn’t get wrong.)

Therefore I am considering getting another Master’s degree in Applied Statistics. A co-worker (who is finishing his law degree this semester after which he intends to take the bar but never practice) and I have been talking about doing it together, and I think that might be an interesting way to go. There are 3 excellent online programs (Penn State, Texas A&M, and Stanford), 2 of which are not obscenely priced*.

Regardless of which school is chosen or even whether I go with a structured program, to really understand statistics requires calculus (2-3 semesters), something I DON’T have. (I took 1 semester of business calc in my freshman year and just barely dragged my butt out with a C.) So this spring I am taking Calc 1 and 2 in 8 week sessions through the local community college (while teaching 2 sections of stats and working… I swear I am the only person I know who DOESN’T consider that a crushing load.) This christmas I am slamming my way through preparing for it and reawakening all the algebra I learned in High School. (More on that in another post.)

My goal is to do MORE than look good on paper, but to actually know it and have the benefit of other experts guidance in how to apply what I know.  I need to get there one way or another.

*Really Stanford?  $58,950 just for tuition for a 15 course program?  I realize you are the number one ranked stats programs, but TAMU is number 8 and Penn is number 14 and both cost less than HALF the price including fees.  Cut a girl a break here….

Last week they had a test. Before the semester started I put up the schedule and it hasn’t changed. They were required to read and acknowledge and take a short quiz on the syllabus, so they can’t say they haven’t seen it. And the syllabus also stated clearly that there were no make-up tests.

I sent out a reminder on thursday (I was at a conference and had forgotten earlier, but frankly it shouldn’t be necessary). Since then I have had half a dozen emails from students saying they forgot and weren’t able to get to campus to take the test on time. Now, I sympathize to some extent; department policy FORCES me to do on-campus proctored tests, which kind of defeats the point of an online class. Nonetheless this was told to them upfront and this was their THIRD TEST. They know the drill.

When I was an undergrad I would start the semester off by putting everything that was due onto one calendar for the semester. Apparently I was exceptionally organized, since it’s clear very few of my student did the same.

The peak was today, when one sent me an email asking if he could still take the test. He admitted that he forgot (which I appreciate) instead of making up a generic dead relative in Mexico (got that one as well, but no response when I asked who), and then whined for 3 back and forth email exchanges to try to get me to let him take the test. I told him that I couldn’t make exceptions. His response was to ask if there was extra credit. (Also mentioned in the syllabus, with the answer being “No”.)

Anyway, I am betting a LOT of them hate me right now. I don’t care. If they complain to my chair, I will tell her the truth; that I refuse to allow them to get away with this type of irresponsible behavior. Their bosses certainly won’t. If she thinks I should, well then that is all for me teaching psych 101. It’s hard enough to read their abysmal writing in the discussion board postings; I will not willingly coddle them to that extent.

1. They are male (in my class of 24 I have 3 men)
2. They are technologically incompetent, so I have to keep resetting things in blackboard for them
3. They are whiners who CONSTANTLY complain about every little thing, even the truly unimportant things

In the past when I was handing back homework each class I would get to know their names.  By this point in the semester I pretty much had it down.

Not this semester.  I not only don’t know them yet, I can’t imagine how I will learn them.  The repetition isn’t there.

Attendance, the iphone app, has a feature that allows you to take a picture and attach it to the name.  However 1st generation ipads don’t HAVE cameras and I don’t have an iphone.  I could take the pictures on my android phone, but then linking them up would be difficult.

I did find a few references to ways to learn names, some of which had a LOT of different ideas.  I’m going to put them here both for your reference and mine.  I need to come back to this before next semester.

• Learning Student Names (27 different suggestions)
• Successful Academic chimed in with 18, some repeats
• 14 more from the University of Virginia
• 15 more from the TEFL folks
• 23 more from University of Nebraska – Lincoln

I may eventually put this into a single doc and see which ones appear most often and which ones are unique, but that should be enough to get started.

I have 2 big issues with some of these ideas so far, however.  First, many are not paperless, thereby defeating the point.  Second, many are VERY time-consuming as far as class time.  For example, many of the UNL suggestions will teach the STUDENTS each others names as well as teaching them to you.  At the cost of probably an entire class period.  That would definitely require some pre-planning.