13May 2013 by Mike Sharkey No Comments

Three Dimensions of Student Success

Analytics, Engagement, Learning, Progression
I like frameworks.  I like them because they help align conversations.  When folks talk about a topic as amorphous as analytics, a framework helps to get everyone on the same page and have them using the same language. When we talk about analytics in Higher Education, the conversation usually goes something like this: "So, you want to use analytics at your institution.  What do you hope to achieve?" "Well, I want to use data and analytics to help my students succeed." "Got it. What do you mean by 'student success'?" "Well...ummm...I mean that they should...ummm.  I'm not sure." So, here's the framework I use to address this conversation.  It breaks student success down into three orthogonal dimensions: Progression: This is milestone-based success.  Will the student pass this class?  Will the…
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04May 2013 by Mike Sharkey No Comments

Welcome to the Blue Canary blog

Blue Canary
Blue Canary was founded with the goal of helping institutions and businesses unlock the value that is trapped inside of their data.  The goal of this blog is to share thoughts, insights, and techniques that we come across as we work with clients and refine our expertise.  Some of the content might come from work we've done in the past and some might come from current work in the field.  Other times, our blog posts will reflect on the state of the data & analytics space and how it relates to our values as a business.  Our hope is that readers come across our postings and they find that it helps to get them closer to their goals.
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