SOLAR 2012 - SoLAR Flare Practitioner’s Conference: Using Analytics to Create Real Solutions for Real Problems

SoLAR Flare Practitioner’s Conference:

Using Analytics to Create Real Solutions for Real Problems

Purdue University

October 1-3, 2012



The challenges facing higher education in the United States and abroad
are wide ranging with varying degrees of urgency. In many cases, the
use of academic analytics to address some of these challenges is being
considered ? but generally on a small, highly-localized scale that
makes them difficult to justify and continue long-term.



The use of “big data” to address challenges in higher education
requires ideas for collaboration, development, implementation,
scaling, and promulgation. At the Society of Learning Analytics
Research (SoLAR) Flare Practitioner’s Conference, you’ll have an
opportunity to work with a team of faculty, staff, and administrators
from various institutions on challenges to develop big ideas to be put
into practice. You won’t be working with real data?instead groups will
work under the assumption that access to all data is already secured.
Working groups will have access to unlimited resources; however,
groups may encounter restrictions during the process. The working
groups will produce real solutions to real problems.



This won’t be like any other conference that you have attended lately
? there will be very little talking “at” you. Concurrent sessions with
presenters will not be happening. Instead, you will have the
opportunity to connect with colleagues and do practical work ? to
collaborate with faculty and staff from around the country to tackle
some of higher education’s biggest challenges through the application
of learning analytics. Through the working group collaborations, you
will learn more about the issues and how others are looking to
analytics as part of the solution.



Topics for discussion may include:

? Increasing success among women and minorities in STEM fields

? Enhancing community college success and completion rates

? Improving access and success rates for first-generation
and/or low-income students

? Addressing higher education pipeline issues

? Developing a means for more students to graduate with a college degree

? Altering the design and delivery of gateway courses

? Examining the relationship between student engagement,
learning outcomes, and performance

? Evaluating theory-based programs designed to increase student success

? Gathering appropriate data for predicting student success,
retention and graduation ? and developing interventions based on
student success systems



Each topic will be facilitated by a thought leader in higher
education. Thought leaders will provide a clearly-defined challenge to
be addressed by each group prior to the event. Each team will work on
developing a practical solution, considering both technical and
non-technical attributes, that focuses on sustainability and
scalability. Further, solutions should present information to
students, faculty, and administrators alike ? such that each person at
the institution can become instrumental and responsible for student
success.



The solutions will be presented in two ways: First, at the conclusion
of the conference, each working group will present its solution to the
larger group. Second, each group will develop a brief write-up of
their solution while at the conference. These write-ups will be
synthesized into a broader white paper addressing analytic solutions
to challenges found in higher education, to be published by EDUCAUSE
Learning Initiatives.



We believe that collaboration across institutional and commercial
boundaries is the only way to fully address the challenges facing
higher education today. We look forward to working with people with
different roles and perspectives of the education sector to develop
solutions for these challenges ? and potentially bringing them to
fruition. We hope to have you join us as well.



For more information, visit http://www.solaresearch.org/flare/purdue2012