Dennis Day
Dennis is a Senior Consultant with Collegiate Project Services.
Latest posts by Dennis Day (see all)
- Student Success: It is personal! - June 21, 2016
- What Role does Predictive Learning Analytics play in Student Success? - April 26, 2016
- What does sport analytics have in common with student success? - February 23, 2016
This time of the year marks the end of the professional football season with the playing of the Super Bowl, the middle of the National Basketball Association season with the All – Star game and the beginning of the professional baseball season with Spring Training just around the corner. Each of these sports is followed by millions of fans around the world analyzing every component, every play, and all the players. They all have an idea of what success means to them and their teams. Each player has statistics describing their plays and each team has countless analytical numbers to predict the outcome of each game and the season.
How sports fans get it right
Most mega-sports fans use statistics as a basis to make predictions about their teams and players. But, they also use a more rounded approach to make judgements. While statistics are important, there are many factors that are not covered by statistics in sports. The “heart” and drive of the player are also very important; what drives their actions on the field or on the court. As fans we rarely get to see the depth or strength of the players’ support system that influences immediate and long term success in their particular sport and in their personal life.
In higher education, we could all learn from the sports world and their use of statistics and apply this to holistic student success: We need to get focused on statistics about students and their outcomes, but we also need to take a more rounded approach to student success outcomes.
What can higher education learn from sports fans?
Unfortunately, many times in higher education the statistics are used to make decisions. We can collect data about the students’ prior educational experience and their test results, we can feed them into a formula, and we develop a predictive percentage of success for each student. Many schools use this for recruitment and many use it for placement into classes, but it is only a part of the students’ story. Getting to know the student with their particular strengths and weaknesses does make a more robust method of assessing what the student will need to be successful. Understanding their motivation for attending the college or university fills in the outline of the student picture. For example if a student has no idea what they want to accomplish, it is a much different scenario than a student with a definite plan for a career and future.
How does this affect student success outcomes?
It is this holistic support system that many higher education professionals have struggled to weave into our campus culture, making it an expectation rather than a “one off” program. There are hundreds if not thousands of programs developed to “help” students. Schools that have woven these programs together using not just statistics and predictive analysis, but also faculty and counselor advising, total campus involvement, and great support from campus senior leadership have shown remarkable retention rates and improving graduation levels.
In higher education, we are not trying to win the Super Bowl, the NBA playoffs or the World Series. We are trying to make a “super” impact on individual students during their higher education journey. Utilizing a holistic approach to their journey should help them achieve their “super bowl” of achievement. Earning a degree that matters in a reasonable amount of time towards a career that sustains them would truly be a measure of success. We can set up systems that treat the individual individually and still maintain budgetary accountability. It takes time, a plan and involvement by the entire campus community. Creating a goal to make every student an “all-star” is lofty. It can only be attained through commitment and a desire to make it happen by our schools.
