This Innovative Practice Category Work In Progress paper presents an application of machine learning and data mining to student performance data in an undergraduate electrical engineering program. We are developing an analytical approach to enhance retention in the program especially among underrepresented groups. Our approach will provide…

This paper reports on a study conducted on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2005 database. The purpose of the study was to examine predictors of student achievement using middle school mathematics teacher professional development items as criterion variables, such as the number of mathematics courses taken, the number of…

Guidelines for articulation of a framework for practical application of proportional-hazards models (PHMs) to professional survival analysis are provided. Focus is on data analysis fitting the PHMs with the semi-parametric methods of partial likelihood; this strategy is available in the BMDP2L and SAS PROC PHGLM computer programs. Areas in which…

This paper presents the results of a study designed to determine the computer anxiety, attitudes, and confidence levels of students enrolling in preservice teacher education computing courses. Specific questions compared these students with national norms, and looked to see whether sex, age, or past computer experiences had any effect on measures…

A computerized information system was developed from specifications of 40 data elements to provide a database for decision making about problems relating to new admissions standards on a multi-campus, open admissions university. For over 400 entering freshman, multivariate analysis of the data elements and other standard predictors was used to…

A research project underway at the University of Arizona is described, and the usefulness of the national data system of the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) to institutional researchers, as well as some drawbacks of the system, are considered. The need for institutions to have data on enrollment, budgets, and faculty/students…

For individuals to use computer tools for learning effectively, they must feel self-efficacious in using them. For this reason, it is important to examine attitudes and perceptions of competence that are encouraged by undergraduate educational programs. The factor validation of two affective measures related to computer technologies is reported.…

Describes preliminary results of a study that examined the effect of individual differences on the use of CD-ROM databases by novice undergraduate users. Factors considered include age, sex, native language, major, computer literacy, computer affinity, personality traits, learning style, visual ability, and perceived usefulness of the system. A…