Colleges
and universities are using predictive analytics, such as grades, test scores,
and attendance, as a tool to help students succeed. Austin Peay State
University, Nashville, TN, was a pioneer in predictive analytics, developing a
system called Degree Compass to guide students to courses they should take to
satisfy degree requirements.
After
initial success, the university discovered limits to what the technology could provide.
“It
is simply a tool that’s available for anyone to use,” said Loretta Griffy, math
professor and associate provost for student success at Austin Peay, who
currently oversees the Degree Compass program. “We have a decentralized faculty
advising model, which means we have 385 academic advisors. They each have their
own individual styles and how they interact with students and we have a variety
of advising tools that they can use. This is just one of them.”
In
2013, Degree Compass was acquired by the software firm Desire2Learn, which stopped
allowing students to see grade projections to avoid discouragement. The firm also found
that institutions weren’t enamored with the student-directed degree-planning tool
and that it was a challenge to integrate Degree Compass with a school’s course catalog and the student information system.
“Sometimes
we really hit the mark and nail it early, and get it to the point where
something is cultured in our organization by the time the market is ready for
it,” said Kenneth Chapman, vice president of market research and strategy at
D2L. “I wouldn’t call Degree Compass one of the applications that we saw as
hitting the mark.”
Degree
Compass is something of a Catch-22, according to Griffy. The algorithms the
tool uses need a student’s prior grade history to accurately recommend courses
and majors, but students can’t gain much from the information until they have
attended classes for a semester or two. By that time, they may have already
decided their academic path. Besides, paper degree-planning charts can be just
as useful.
