ERIC Number: EJ1359365
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Aug
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-1531-7714
Building Intrapersonal Competencies in the First-Year Experience: Utilizing Random Forest, Cluster Analysis, and Linear Regression to Identify Students' Strengths and Opportunities for Institutional Improvement
Bresciani Ludvik, Marilee; Zhang, Shiming; Kahn, Sandra; Potter, Nina; Richardson-Gates, Lisa; Schellenberg, Stephen; Saiki, Robyn; Subedi, Nasima; Harmata, Rebecca; Monzon, Rey; Timm, Randy; Stronach, Jeanne; Jost, Anna
Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, v27 Article 21 Aug 2022
In seeking to close equity gaps within a first-year student seminar course, course designers leveraged emerging research on intrapersonal competency cultivation, known to significantly predict student success across diverse students (NAS, 2018). After re-designing the course to intentionally cultivate specific intrapersonal competencies, researchers set out to explore how well the course closed historical institutional equity gaps as measured by end-of-term GPA. Over four years of data collection and course refinement, traditional regression analysis were useful for informing course improvements that resulted in the closing of some equity gaps. However, students were still being placed on academic probation and certain identities of students were over-represented in academic probation numbers. As such, the team utilized random forest, cluster analysis, and then regression analysis that allowed them to focus improvement efforts on a cluster of students that would have otherwise remained unidentified through traditional analysis measures.
Descriptors: Interpersonal Competence, First Year Seminars, College Freshmen, Academic Achievement, Achievement Gap, Instructional Design, Grade Point Average, Regression (Statistics), Student Placement, Academic Probation, Multivariate Analysis, Identification
Center for Educational Assessment. 813 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002. e-mail: pare@umass.edu; Tel: 413-577-2180; Web site: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/pare
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A