Using students to help stop students dropping out
Who better to ask about why students drop out than students themselves? Jamie Rawsthorne was in his first year at the University of West of England when he met with vice chancellor Steve West to see how he could help prevent students leaving before the end of their courses. The result was the start of his company Unique Insights. Jamie explains why and how he took on the retention challenge.
We call it data – students call it life
Big data will back up the new breed of personal tutors in universities. But Brian Hipkin worries that relying on statistics without a meaningful human context will create a support system that will ultimately fail students.
Managing data management – can you help?
As part of Efficiency Exchange's mission to help institutions share expertise, Alison Wallis from Royal Holloway, University of London would like to hear your experiences of improving data management.
Sir Ian Diamond: ‘We can improve… by sharing best practice’.
In an interview with Efficiency Exchange, Professor Sir Ian Diamond reflects on how universities have adapted to become more efficient.
Moving forward with open data: HESA’s new strategy
HESA is pledging to publish as much of its data as possible as open data by 2021.
Show me the numbers – making data analytics work for you
Data analytics are becoming more accessible for higher education institutions. Giles Carden, an advisor and co-designer at HESPA, offers some tips about how to make the best use of them.
Giving students power over their learning data
Universities are investing time and money in creating learning analytics systems, but Ed Foster of Nottingham Trent Universities says these systems are only as good to the support given to staff and students who use them.
North’s first shared data centre for education and research secured by Jisc
A shared data centre for the north of England has been secured by Jisc to aid collaboration and the sharing of large data sets. Among the first tenants are Liverpool University, Sheffield Hallam University and the universities of Sheffield and Leeds.
Raising the bar through collaboration
The Jisc-HESA Heidi lab project has brought professionals from a range of universities together to create dashboards for the sector’s new Heidi Plus business intelligence service. Anne Buckle, who took a leading role in one project team, highlights some of the benefits of this model of collaboration.
What happens when the dial turns red?
When the data shows that a student is struggling, how should universities respond? Brian Hipkin issues a plea to academics and their professional services colleagues to work together more to understand the student lifestyle from the student's perspective.
