Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The case for a new data-driven approach to student support

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Just because it's 'data' doesn't mean you have good grounds for anything. "Higher education student support champion" Edward Peck argues that "there is a relatively small number of data points required to deliver insights into student engagement and wellbeing, and that these are likely being collected by HEPs already." I have my doubts that a "small number" is sufficient, and I guess it depends a lot on what is meant by "insights". I think that we've learned over the last few years is that you need massive data sets to draw meaningful conclusions, and even then, there's still a lot of bias and error built in. When dealing with complex systems like humans and education, a small number of data points will almost invariably leads to error and misrepresentation.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 22, 2024 06:50 a.m.

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