This article presents a novel approach to introducing principal component analysis (PCA), using summary tables and descriptive statistics. Given its applicability across a variety of academic disciplines, this topic offers abundant opportunity for class discussion and activities. However, teaching PCA in an introductory class can be challenging…

The amount of information contained in any educational data set is fundamentally constrained by the instructional conditions under which the data are collected. In this study, we show that by redesigning the structure of traditional online courses, we can improve the ability of educational data mining to provide useful information for instructors.…

This Communication summarizes one of the invited papers to the Select 2016 BCCE Presentations ACS CHED Committee on Computers in Chemical Education online ConfChem held from October 30 to November 22, 2016. The ConfChem paper (included within Supporting Information) focuses on the results of one instructor's incorporation of social media into her…

In survey sampling the randomized response (RR) technique can be used to obtain truthful answers to sensitive questions. Although the individual answers are masked due to the RR technique, individual (sensitive) response rates can be estimated when observing multivariate response data. The beta-binomial model for binary RR data will be generalized…

The articles in this volume indicate that typological research on college students has been around for about half a century and has a strong presence in the literature on college students. The underlying assumption in typological research is that outcomes of interests (for example, student attitudes, experiences, and outcomes) and students…

Community college students typically have access to a large selection of courses and programs, and therefore the student transcripts at any one college or college system tend to be very diverse. As a result, it is difficult for faculty, administrators, and researchers to understand the course-taking patterns of students in order to determine what…

Data mining methods are successful in educational environments to discover new knowledge or learner skills or features. Unfortunately, they have not been used in depth with collaboration. We have developed a scalable data mining method, whose objective is to infer information on the collaboration during the collaboration process in a…

We use clustering, an analysis method not presently common to the physics education research community, to group and characterize student responses to written questions about two-dimensional kinematics. Previously, clustering has been used to analyze multiple-choice data; we analyze free-response data that includes both sketches of vectors and…

Institutions of higher education have a vested interest in the health of their student populations, even without the traditional strictures of "in loco parentis". Student health issues involve stress management, healthy diet and exercise, the building of healthy social lives, effective relationship management, and the development of life…

In this paper, the authors propose one model for an institution-specific analysis which they then apply to the study of their home institution, Mount Holyoke College. The paper advances their understanding of the determinants of study abroad in two important ways. First, it shows that going beyond descriptive statistics and simple correlations and…

Considerable attention has been given to the efficacy of team-learning pedagogy, yet the methodology remains underused among educators in institutions of higher education. We suggest that the perception of success is antecedent to greater acceptance and use of this teaching style. Educators and students alike must experience the value creation…

Examines the effectiveness of graphics as lecture comprehension supports for low-proficiency English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) listeners. The study compared the performance of Asian students in Canada listening to an audiotape while viewing an organizational graphic with that of a control group. Findings indicate that the graphics enhanced…

This report describes 12 studies dealing with the knowledge monitoring component of metacognition. It is assumed that knowledge monitoring is basic to other metacognitive activities, such as evaluating learning, selecting appropriate strategies, or planning, because distinguishing between what students know and do not know ought to be a…