To encourage, identify, and exchange effective practice in the use of data to inform teaching and learning, the Provost’s Office has awarded UMBC’s first learning analytics mini grants to five faculty (their proposed topics are included below):
Raji Baradwaj and Brian Dean (MATH): “Analysis of Student Homework Performance and Final Exam Performance – What is the nature of any correlation?”
Tara Carpenter (CHEM): “Modeling Effective Learning Strategies in Introductory Chemistry”
Karen Chen (IS): “Bumpy Journey: Exploring Gateway Courses Failures and Major Switch - a Case Study with Information Systems Majors.”
Nandita Dasgupta (ECON/MATH): “Statistics as a Prerequisite for Introductory Econometrics: Options and Outcomes”
The one-year professional development awards are renewable annually, pending receipt of a final report, paper submitted for publication or conference presentation. In addition to use of UMBC’s Report Exchange (REX) data warehouse, and a Tableau “viewer” license, the faculty will be able to consult with staff from Analytics and Business Intelligence, Instructional Technology and Institutional Research and Decision support (IRADS).
Note: After Covid interrupted plans for 2019-20 academic year, the Learning Analytics Community of Practice was re-launched this past spring, including a talk about student grade surprise by Indiana University’s Jennifer Meta Robinson and the inaugural LA mini grants call for proposals. More information about this year’s workshops, speakers and another learning analytics mini-grant call for proposals will be announced shortly.