To speak to diverse audiences about how people learn to write and how writing works inside and outside the academy, we must conduct research across geographical, institutional, and cultural contexts as well as research that enables comparison when appropriate. Large-scale empirical research is useful for both of these moves; however, we must…

Companies are collecting data at a greater pace and volume than ever before. However, they are struggling to develop expertise and the know-how to aggregate, analyze and more importantly provide executives and managers with the insights needed for informed decision making. As a result, the need for data analysts has never been higher. In fact, the…

The need to elicit public opinion about predefined topics is widespread in the social sciences, government and business. Traditional survey-based methods are being partly replaced by social media data mining but their potential and limitations are poorly understood. This article investigates this issue by introducing and critically evaluating a…

In this article we report on the findings of a project funded by the Australian Office for Learning and Teaching and entitled "Learning Analytics: Assisting Universities with Student Retention." While this project was primarily focused on retention as a potential outcome of learning analytics, its application could be related to the…

Dashboards allow managers to interact with data, asking "what if" questions and looking for patterns. This topic is typically mentioned in information systems courses; however, many students will not have experience with developing dashboards or using them to answer business questions. The purpose of this assignment is to provide…

Attention to mixed methods studies research has increased in recent years, particularly among funding agencies that increasingly require a mixed methods approach for program evaluation. At the same time, researchers operating within large-scale, rapid-turnaround research projects are faced with the reality that collection and analysis of large…

This qualitative case study explored how undergraduate students from rural areas experience higher education environments and develop a sense of belonging at a large Midwestern public university. This study defined rural considering students' hometown population size and density as well as each individual participant's constructed reality of a…

Analyses of student data in post-secondary education should be sensitive to the fact that there are many different topics of study. These different areas will interest different kinds of students, and entail different experiences and learning activities. However, it can be challenging to identify the distinct academic themes that students might…

This paper describes a multiple criteria approach based on a hybrid method of Collaborative Filtering (CF) and ContentBased Filtering (CBF) for discovering the most relevant criteria which could affect the elective course recommendation for university students. In order to determine which factors are the most important, it is proposed a genetic…

Public interest in social-emotional learning is growing -- and the opportunities under the Every Student Succeeds Act have led many states and districts to consider the role of these skills in schools. As state and local leaders consider and commit to social-emotional learning programming in schools, they also have a responsibility to be…

This technical appendix provides additional information about the sample, data, and estimation strategy that were used for a series of AEP Data Notes published by the RAND Corporation in 2018 and 2019. The Data Note series is intended to provide brief, incisive analyses of teacher and school leader survey results which may be of immediate interest…

Monitoring, evaluation, and research activities generate important data, but they often fail to change policies or programs. In addition, local program staff and partners often feel disconnected from these activities, which undermines their ownership of data and results. To bridge the gaps between monitoring, evaluation, and research and to give…

An advantage of well-designed survey research is that, typically, it yields large volumes of quantitative and qualitative data. A key challenge researchers face is mining and reporting these data appropriately and promptly to inform research publications and presentations. When mixed methods are employed, and researchers attempt to master computer…

New York City's "Pre-K for All" (PKA) is the Nation's largest universal early childhood initiative, currently serving some 70,000 four-year-olds. Stemming from the program's choice architecture as well as the City's stark residential segregation, PKA programs are extremely segregated by child race/ethnicity. Our current study explores…

As the body of scientific evidence about effective policies and practices grows, so does the need to effectively communicate that evidence to policy-makers and practitioners. Clearinghouses have emerged to facilitate the evidence-based decision-making process for education practitioners. While the results and methods for developing and analyzing…