Internet Learning Volume 6, Number 1, Spring 2017/Summer 2017 | Page 8

Internet Learning Volume 6 Number 1 - Spring 2017/Summer 2017
The Value of Common Definitions
in Student Success Research:
Setting the Stage for Adoption and Scale
Karen Vignare, KV Consulting
Ellen Wagner, Hobsons
Karen Swan, University of Illinois, Springfield
Abstract
As the fascination with innovation continues to catalyze change in
contemporary post-secondary education, the field of innovation science
is beginning to emerge, so that the relationships between and
among the endeavors of Invention, Innovation, and Implementation
are better understood. This article explores the use of data analytics
as an innovation trigger for supporting student success. Very few
organizations have approached improving student success using an
open strategy that involves data scientists and the many implementers
of student success working across America’s college campuses. In
an effort to expand student success research, the Predictive Analytics
Reporting (PAR) Framework created common data definitions and
organizing principles to support collaborative student success research
among like-minded universities. By starting with common data, the
members of the PAR collaborative have the ability to share, compare,
and disseminate results, insights, and strategies for student success.
The approach is yielding interesting research on success factors within
student segments and learning modalities. The ability to share the results
paves the road to adoption at other institutions or within systems.
Keywords: student success, Predictive Analytics Reporting (PAR)
Framework, data definitions, predictor categories, collaborative, success
factors, retention, progression, Student Success Matrix (SSMX)
Introduction
Innovation refers to a new way
of doing things: incremental,
radical, and revolutionary changes
in thinking, products, processes, or
organizations. A distinction is typically
made between invention, an idea made
real, and innovation, the real-world application
of an invention in practice.
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doi: 10.18278/il.6.1.2