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Data-informed stories, Transformational journies: Indiana University's 3rd Annual Learning Analytics Summit

Michael Dennin Speaks at IU’s Learning Analytics Summit: Identifying Faculty Strengths and Addressing the Transfer Function at the Institutional Level

By: Annabella Melvin (July 26, 2021)

Indiana University’s Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success (CLASS) recently hosted “Data-Informed Stories, Transformational Journeys: Indiana University’s 3rd Annual Learning Analytics Summit” on May 12-14, via Whova.

According to George Rehrey, Director of CLASS, the purpose of the annual summit is to bring together faculty, staff, and administrators who share an interest in fostering student success through the use of big data and analytical tools.

Featured speaker Michael Dennin is the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning, Dean of Division of Undergraduate Education, and a Professor of Physics & Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine. Dennin’s research focuses on systems that exhibit emergent properties, like the behavior of complex fluids as well as the complex dynamics of biological systems.

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KU’s Greenhoot and Bennett Give Keynote Address at Annual Learning Analytics Summit

By: Annabella Melvin (June 21, 2021)

University of Kansa (KU) faculty members Dea Follmer Greenhoot and Caroline Bennett were keynote speakers at this year’s Annual Learning Analytics Summit, held each year at Indiana University Bloomington. Now going into its 4^th year, the purpose of the summit is to bring together faculty, staff, and administrators who share an interest in fostering student success through the use of big data and analytical tools at the course, program and institutional levels.

During their presentation, Follmer Greenhoot and Bennett discussed the evolution of faculty engagement with learning analytics at KU, including the initial and iterative development of a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) to leverage the strengths of departmental working groups and cross-departmental conversations. During their talk they also discussed the types of analytical data gathered, and how the data were used to determine action plans to improve student success and enact programmatic change.

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Indiana University Bloomington Hosts Third Annual Learning Analytics Summit

By: Anna Stratton (May 27, 2021)

Indiana University’s Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success (CLASS) recently hosted its 3rd annual summit. Data-Informed Stories, Transformational Journeys: Indiana University’s 3rd Annual Learning Analytics Summit took place on May 12-14 and was held on the Whova virtual conference platform.

According to George Rehrey, Director of CLASS, the purpose of the summit is to bring together faculty, staff, and administrators who share an interest in fostering student success through the use of big data and analytical tools.

To read the full story, click here.

Authors Gina Deom, Stefano Fiorini, Mark McConahay, Linda Shepard, and Julie Teague won Best Practitioner Paper Award at the 11th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (LAK21).

Bloomington Assessment and Research Wins Best Practitioner Paper Award

By: Anna Donatelle (May 13, 2021)

Researchers at IU Bloomington’s Bloomington Assessment and Research (BAR) and Office of the Registrar were awarded Best Practitioner Paper Award at the 11^th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (LAK21).

The paper, Learning Analytics in the Context of COVID-19: A case Study of Using Network Analysis to Guide Campus Course Offering Plans, was authored by BAR staff Gina Deom, Stefano Fiorini, Linda Shepard, Julie Teague and Office of the Registrar’s Mark McConahay.

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Dr. Sehoya Cotner, a biology professor in The College of Biological Sciences at The University of Minnesota.

SEISMIC Guest Speaker Sehoya Cotner Discusses How Instructors Can Envision More Equitable College Classrooms

By: Daniela Molina (November 18, 2019)

Bloomington Assessment and Research (BAR) and the Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success (CLASS) hosted a guest speaker as a part of the SEISMIC project which was funded to advance equity and inclusion in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) courses.

On Thursday, Oct. 31 Dr. Sehoya Cotner, a biology professor in The College of Biological Sciences at The University of Minnesota, addressed her findings for envisioning and creating more equitable college classrooms.

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Faculty’s Great Awakening

By: Brita Harrison (October 22, 2019)

CHICAGO – Call it “a great awakening” of faculty.

That’s how one Indiana University instructor described the use of learning analytics to George Rehrey, founding director of the university’s Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success.

Rehrey spoke last week at Educause 2019 about learning analytics, which includes such things as student demographics and data about courses, programs and grades, and were until recently the sole purview of program advisors and offices of institutional research. As universities have made that data available to faculty members, though, it has provided a new way for instructors to analyze the effectiveness of their courses and curricula.

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Cover of the *Journal of Learning Analytics, Volume 6 - Issue 7*, by SOLAR.

Learning Analytics Fellows Program featured in the Journal of Learning Analytics

By: Anna Donatelle (August 30, 2019)

Since 2015, Indiana University Bloomington faculty from more than 28 different programs have participated in the Learning Analytics Fellows Program. Facilitated by the Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success (CLASS), the program empowers faculty to use student-information-systems data to conduct scholarly research about student success at the course, program and institutional levels. According to an article recently published in a special issue of the Journal of Learning Analytics (Rehrey et al., 2019a), when faculty use learning analytics to inform their research about teaching and learning they come to a new awareness of who their students are and the choices that they make on their pathway toward graduation.

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Jennifer Meta Robinson explains her work in “grade surprise” to members of the steering committee of the Bay View Alliance.

Using data to better understand student ‘grade surprise’

By: Doug Ward (June 28, 2019)

A colleague’s daughter recently finished her first year of college. In high school, he said, she had never really had to study to get good grades. In college, though, she had to adjust her study habits and her thinking after her early grades dipped below the A’s and B’s she had routinely – and easily – received.

That sort of dip in grades is common among traditional freshmen as they learn to live away from home for the first time, deal with the liberation and temptations of personal independence, and try to make sense of the academic expectations of college. How they deal with that jolt can affect everything from their choice of majors to their ability to stay in college.

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Attendees at the June 2019 Bay View Alliance Meeting.

IU Bloomington hosts international committee on education to shape the future of undergraduate teaching and learning

By: Anna Donatelle (June 24, 2019)

The the Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success (CLASS), in conjunction with the Bay View Alliance (BVA), hosted more than 30 individuals from 12 institutions over three days to share research and discuss teaching and learning in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines in higher education.

The BVA steering committee met with the goal of improving ties among member institutions and to determine better strategies to help colleges and universities adopt evidence-based teaching practices. Research shows students who participate in active learning classrooms see greater success in their college courses. The broader goal of the BVA is to change the culture on college campuses to one that supports instructional practices that align best with how students learn.

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Students in a STEM classroom. SEISMIC project

IU Bloomington joins multiyear, multi-institutional effort to advance equity and inclusion in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)

By: Anna Donatelle (May 31, 2019)

Bloomington, Ind. – With the guidance and support of Provost Robel, Indiana University will create a team of faculty who will work with faculty from nine other large, public institutions to more fully understand student success in foundational STEM courses.

This project, led by the University of Michigan, has been made possible through a million-dollar grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The project, Sloan Equity and Inclusion in STEM Introductory Courses (SEISMIC), will take place over the next three years in a variety of different ways.

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From left: Dennis Groth, Linda Shepard, George Rehrey, Jennifer Meta Robinson, Logan Paul and Chung-chieh "Ken" Shan

IU receives AAU mini-grant for student success initiatives in STEM

Learning Analytics Fellows Jennifer Meta Robinson, Logan Paul, Jill Robinson, and Ken Shan have received a 2-year, $20,000 Mini-Grant from the Association of American Universities (AAU). Indiana University Bloomington is among a dozen universities to receive this "mini-grant" from the AAU which strives to improve undergraduate education outcomes in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. IU's project, "Advancing a Data-Informed STEM Culture: The Mitigating Grade Surprise Collaborative," expands upon existing campus efforts to transform teaching and learning cultures in STEM departments using learning analytics and big data.

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A man showing another man a location on a board of words

Learning Analytics Fellows featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education

By: Beth McMurtie (February 3, 2019)

In a feature entitled, “Can Data Make You a Better Teacher?” Learning Analytics Fellow Terri Renner discusses her involvement with the Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success (CLASS) and her LA projects. Her research has raised important questions about the value of prerequisites and also provided evidence of the multitudes of data available. The article continues by exploring the use of Learning Analytics across multiple campuses and programs.

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A woman showing another woman a location on a board of words

2019 Learning Analytics Fellows Program welcomes 20 fellows

January 7, 2019

The Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success (CLASS) at IU Bloomington is pleased to announce that twenty Learning Analytics Fellows are joining a 2019 cohort that will complete research projects aimed at using big data and student learning analytics to foster student engagement, retention and success.

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A photo of a discussion at the Learning Analytics Summit

Learning analytics summit aims to build network of communities focused on student success

By: Steve Hinnefeld (April 17, 2018)

Eighty faculty, staff and administrators from over 20 universities converged on Indiana University Bloomington las week to share ideas and discuss best practices for using data analytics to help students be more successful in college at the "Framing the Future of Learning Analytics and Student Success" summit hosted by IU Bloomington's Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success.

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Using data to illuminate teaching and learning

By: Doug Ward

The summit drew more than 60 people from universities around the country to talk about how to make more effective use of academic data. As I listened and spoke with colleagues, though, I was struck by how little we know about our courses, curricula and students, and how much we stand to gain as we learn more.

For the full blog post, click here.

IU Bloomington faculty internationally recognized for student success research

By: Bethany Nolan (April 6, 2018)

Over the past four years, more than 40 Indiana University Bloomington faculty have taken part in learning analytics research projects to foster student retention, engagement and success on campus. This work was featured in a paper titled, "Implementation of a Learning Analytics Fellows Program," which received the Best Practitioner Paper award from the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SOLAR) presented at the Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference.

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Indiana University Bloomington to host inaugural Learning Analytics Summit

January 28, 2018

Indiana University's Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success (CLASS) will host an inaugural learning analytics summit on April 11-13, 2018. The Framing the Future of Learning Analytics and Student Success Summit will bring together faculty, staff and administrators who are interested in using learning analytics in scholarly research about teaching, learning and student success.

For the full story, click here.

An iconic IU clock in the middle of campus

IU Bloomington's accreditation reaffirmed by the Higher Learning Commission

By: Kyla Cox Deckard (January 16, 2018)

The Higher Learning Commission has reaffirmed Indiana University Bloomington's accreditation following a review process that concluded in late 2017. The campus met or exceeded all criteria reviewed by the commission for accreditation.

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TRESTLE annual meeting: Keeping student learning on track

October 23, 2017

The participants of the TRESTLE (Transforming Education, Stimulating Teaching and Learning Excellence) initiative gathered on September 29 at IU Bloomington to exchange strategies, stories of successes and lessons learned, and foster a close community dedicated to improving student learning and engagement through course transformation projects.

For the full story, click here.