Blending Human Intelligence and Analytics for Student Success

Abstract

Undergraduate retention and completion rates are the subject of national interest, and questions of cost, value, and quality remain the focus of public debate. Colleges and universities have long relied on human-intelligence networks made up of faculty, professional advisors, other administrators, and students themselves to find the best balance of challenge and support for individualized learning and to monitor student progress. Meanwhile, analytics offers new opportunities to improve student retention and success. Liberal arts colleges are in a position to join with other institutions that are developing or enhancing early-alert systems and predictive models based on these techniques. Grinnell College is working to integrate learning analytics with existing human-intelligence networks so that alerts, predictive models, and outreach to students might be improved.