Key points in time for study metrics, by model (Source: Plaid Analytics, Figures 6 and 7 in the University of Lethbridge report report)

The Government of Alberta was looking to better understand and measure the success of transfer students. They needed researchers with deep background in student success, data specifications, and visualization.

• Performed a case study, including literature review, comparing transfer and direct entry students at 4 institutions: MacEwan University, Mount Royal University, the University of Alberta, and the University of Lethbridge.
• Improved sector and government knowledge of the success of transfer students.
• Helped the sector learn more about the kinds of data that can be used to measure the success of transfer students.
• Provided institutions, with ideas on how to implement measures of transfer student success.

Links

• Project site
• Download MacEwan University report
• Download Mount Royal University report
• Download University of Alberta report
• Download University of Lethbridge report

Number of students transferring to British Columbia research intensive universities by year, 2008/09 - 2017/18 (Source: Plaid Analytics, Figure 1 in the report)

Updating reports published periodically for nearly 30 years, this report examines transfer student pathways and performance from BC Transfer System institutions into BC’s public research-intensive universities: Royal Roads University, Simon Fraser University, Thompson Rivers University, University of British Columbia, University of Northern British Columbia, and University of Victoria. The analysis uses data from the 2013/14 academic year through to the 2017/18 academic year.

This report highlights both the continued overall success of transfer students following their transfer to research universities, and the ongoing change in how students transfer within BC’s post-secondary system, as institutions change and new pathway options become available. While the educational journeys of transfer students differ from those of direct entry students in a number of ways, most performance trends seen in data from direct entry students are echoed in data from the transfer student population.

Links

• Download the report

Courses from institutional course lists by year level and whether the course is articulated in the BC Transfer Guide (Source: Plaid Analytics, Figure 2 in the report)

Plaid conducted groundbreaking research for the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer into two aspects of the BC Transfer System that had not been previously reviewed: the volume of courses that have not been articulated, and the year level of those courses. This analysis included 36 of the 40 BCTS member institutions, but exclude block transfer and non-course-to-course transfers.

Key findings of this research include:

• The BC Transfer Guide contains approximately 300,000 course-to-course articulations for over 30,000 individual courses.
• 46% of courses in institutional course catalogues were not articulated in the BC Transfer Guide, with significant variance by year level: 68% of second-year courses were in the BC Transfer Guide, followed by 64% of first-year , 51% of third-year, and 32% of fourth-year.
• There was wide variability across institutions: some with as few as 20% of courses unarticulated, some with as high as 70%. Some subjects, such as Nursing and Engineering, have very high rates of courses unarticulated.
• 23% of articulations cross year levels (ie: second-year courses articulated as first-year courses, etc.)

Links

• Download the report

ADC Students Who Attended the Same Institution for PSE, By Institution (Source: Plaid Analytics, Figure 1 in the report)

Plaid conducted new research into the experiences and performance of academic dual credit (ADC) students in the BC Post-Secondary system on behalf of the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer (dual credit occurs when credit is granted at both a secondary school and post-secondary institution for completion of a course (FitzGibbon, 2015).

This research featured four case studies, at Camosun College, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, North Island College, and Thompson Rivers University and consisted of a performance analysis (as measured by grade point average) and a student experience survey. This was complemented by a provincial participation analysis, to get a sense of whether these four institutions were representative. Additionally, school district administrators were interviewed for their perceptions of academic dual credit opportunities.

Key findings of this research include:

• Teachers, counsellors, peers, and parents play an important role in helping secondary students discover academic dual credit.
• 54% of students returned to their ADC institution for further study.
• ADC participation on its own was not a significant predictor of future post-secondary success; rather, factors such as gender, national status, English 12 grades, and academic program were more signifiant predictors. This suggests ADC students were already top performers when they pursued ADC.
• ADC was extremely popular with students, averaging 8.7/10 scale of how likely they were to recommend it to others.

Links

• Download the report

Number of British Columbia schools offering Advanced Placement courses by school district (Source: Plaid Analytics, Figure 2 in the report)

The British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer needed to better understand the relationship between Advanced Placement course grades and BC provincial course grades.

• Conducted an environmental scan of secondary school AP grading practices and post-secondary admissions practices related to AP.
• Performed a case study comparing the performance of AP students versus non-AP students within Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Victoria.
• Highlighted the post-secondary performance differences of AP students versus non-AP students who appear otherwise similar based on high school (AP and BC) grades.
• Provided recommendations for further conversations between university admissions officers and high school counsellors/AP coordinators.

Links

• Download the report

Start month for courses taken at another institution by students who "step out" (Source: Plaid Analytics, Figure 16 in the report)

The British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer needed to better understand the patterns of students who take courses away from their home institution in the process of completing a credential. Using data from BC's Central Data Warehouse covering 21 of BC's public post-secondary institutions, we:

• Performed an analysis to look at which students were stepping out, from where, to where, and when.
• Looked at what disciplines saw the most stepping out in the cohort.
• Connected credits taken away from the home institution with transfer credits granted at the home institution to find out how much stepping out credit was being transferred.
• Suggested avenues for future research.

Links

• Download the report

Responses to the survey question "Has the use of predictive modelling at your institution lead to any major changes in the following areas?” (Source: Plaid Analytics, Figure 20 in the report)

The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario wanted to learn more about the prevalence of predictive modelling for student success in Canada, and whether predictive modelling was used for interventions.

• Conducted a Canada-wide institutional survey with in-depth follow ups for those who opted in. Our results demonstrate that predictive modelling is in its infancy in Canada, and there are a few institutions who are early adopters and leaders in the space. Many others are curious and plan to develop models in the coming years, but face barriers such as human and technology resource constraints.
• Produced a report, featuring a literature review and in-depth survey analysis.

Links

• Project news release in English
• Communiqué de presse du projet en français
• Download the English version: the full report, the appendices, or the summary
• Télécharger la version française: le rapport complet, ou le résumé

The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) contracted Plaid Analytics to administer a survey on the uses of predictive modelling across Canada and other comparable jurisdictions. Patrick and Andrew embraced HEQCO’s expectations and consistently incorporated feedback to structure a survey instrument that reflected HEQCO’s research goals and effectively reached the targeted sample. Throughout the design and implementation of the survey, Plaid efficiently adapted study materials as requested and dependably met stringent deadlines to ensure the smooth execution of the project. Patrick and Andrew’s detailed reports and approachability have been foundational in keeping HEQCO abreast of study findings and opportunities for future research endeavours.

Kaitlyn Blair

Researcher at the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario

Rendering of SFU's new Sustainable Energy Engineering building in downtown Surrey (Source: Simon Fraser University - University Communications, license CC-BY-2.0)

Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Applied Sciences was creating a new program in Sustainable Energy Engineering. Not only did the program need university and governmental approvals, it also needed to construct a building in Surrey City Centre on an aggressive two-year timeline, hire faculty, design curriculum, and create a holistic admissions process based on more than grades alone.

• Conducted a literature review and environmental scan focused on holistic admissions policies and practices, particularly those in engineering disciplines.
• Led independent focus groups to prioritize key program success characteristics from faculty, staff, and students.
• Produced a report that identified characteristics from the academic literature, online surveys, and focus groups that could be used as part of a holistic admissions process.

Tableau mapping worksheet example (Source: Plaid Analytics)

Queen's University's Office of Institutional Research and Planning was looking to advance their team's Tableau skills to support strategic planning and decision-making at the University.

• Delivered virtual, hands-on training sessions focused primarily on Tableau Desktop, with smaller modules on Tableau Prep and Tableau Server/Online for the team.
• Developed a mix of of training utilizing Queen's institutional data, and utilized Plaid's higher education data.
• Provided a conceptual and practical understanding of how to use Tableau successfully as an institutional analyst: from data sources, calculations and metadata, designing effective and interactive worksheets, stories, and dashboards, to securely sharing analytics, and best practices for governance and engagement in a higher education context.

In my experience, learning a new skill is easier when the topic and training is in context to our work. When the choice for Tableau training was to work with sales data or higher education data, the decision to work with Plaid was an obvious one. I could not have hoped for a better experience for my team.

Jodi Magee

Director, Institutional Research and Planning at Queen's University

Storytelling with data example (Source: Plaid Analytics)

The Association of Administrative and Professional Staff of the University of British Columbia regularly hosts professional development opportunities for their members, and wanted to provide an opportunity to help staff learn about and apply the principles of data visualization in their jobs.

• Delivered 5 interactive workshops to 300 participants across 2 UBC sites.
• Introduced topics including:
  • Why visualizing data is important
  • How the human brain processes information
  • Ethics of data visualization
  • Focusing the audience's attention
  • Telling data-informed stories

Both Pat and Andrew have demonstrated high level of expertise and knowledge around data visualization. The techniques learned from the workshop have allowed me in delivering effective presentations to audiences of all levels.

Jeff Hsiao

Associate Director, Student Financial Support at the University of British Columbia

This Intro to Data Visualization workshop provided me with both a 30,000 foot view of the world of data visualization and concrete examples and best practices that I could take back to my team. The opportunity for practical, hands-on activities complimented the concepts covered in the class.