Data Analytics in Higher Education: Key Concerns and Open Questions

“Big Data” and data analytics affect all of us. Data collection, analysis, and use on a large scale is an important and growing part of commerce, governance, communication, law enforcement, security, finance, medicine, and research. And the theme of this symposium, “Individual and Informational Privacy in the Age of Big Data,” is expansive; we could have long and fruitful discussions about practices, laws, and concerns in any of these domains. But a big part of the audience for this symposium is students and faculty in higher education institutions (HEIs), and the subject of this paper is data analytics in our own backyards. Higher education learning analytics (LA) is something that most of us involved in this symposium are familiar with. Students have encountered LA in their courses, in their interactions with their law school or with their undergraduate institutions, instructors use systems that collect information about their students, and administrators use information to help understand and steer their institutions. More importantly, though, data analytics in higher education is something that those of us participating in the symposium can actually control. Students can put pressure on administrators, and faculty often participate in university governance. Moreover, the systems in place in HEIs are more easily comprehensible to many of us because we work with them on a day-to-day basis. Students use systems as part of their course work, in their residences, in their libraries, and elsewhere. Faculty deploy course management systems (CMS) such as Desire2Learn, Moodle, Blackboard, and Canvas to structure their courses, and administrators use information gleaned from analytics systems to make operational decisions. If we (the participants in the symposium) indeed care about Individual and Informational Privacy in the Age of Big Data, the topic of this paper is a pretty good place to hone our thinking and put into practice our ideas

Using the Social Media to Reinforce Binge Drinking Normative Behaviors: A Comparison of American and Australian College Students

The central purpose of this study shows how the overestimation of the perceived normative behavior of binge drinking is the focused behavior reinforced by social networking sites (SNS), which the modern college students have incorporated into socialization. With a cross-cultural comparison, this study shows how this phenomenon of normative behavior of binge-drinking, social drinking, and non-drinking varies between undergraduates from America and Australia. The online surveying tool, Qualtrics, was used to gather information using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and questions from the Pew Research center focusing on the social media. There were 119 combined undergraduate participants surveyed, from which the resulting data were used to correlate responses with the AUDIT test as well as cross culturally compare results. The results were valid with each schools results coinciding with AUDIT binge drinking test. The normative behaviors were also analyzed showing that there are different social media behaviors being in the two countries

An inventory and mapping of cliffs within the South Cumberland Plateau region of Tennessee

The high concentration of cliffs that permeate Tennessee’s South Cumberland Plateau (SCP) significantly influence the development, economy, and ecology of the region, yet little effort has been made to quantify these geophysical features. This study examined the use of LiDAR-derived digital elevation models (DEMs) to (1) create an exhaustive dataset of cliffs throughout a two-county study area within the SCP region and (2) better understand the implications of this quantification on conservation and rock climbing within the region. An impressive 428 km of total cliff line was modeled. Cliffs were GPS verified to an average error of ±13.9 m and a length RMSE = 91 m. The study determined 36% of cliffs in the study area lie on public lands, and 7% of cliffs are currently accessible for rock climbing. Results from this study clarify and reinforce the ecological and recreational significance of cliffs within the SCP region

Investigation of the Noise Floor of the Standard PIV Cross-Correlation Algorithm

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is a powerful measurement technique used to acquire instantaneous measurements of entire flow fields at a given instant in time. Quantifying the uncertainty and error in PIV is a critical part of realizing the full potential of PIV as a flow measurement technique. The noise floor of PIV is the minimum amount of random error that can be achieved for a particular standard cross-correlation (SCC) algorithm. The noise floor of the SCC used by DaVis in correlating image pairs is explored. Two methods for creating image pairs for correlation are compared, namely pseudo image pairs and artificial image pairs. A common PIV experimental setup with seeded water in a glass tank was used to acquired images at dt approximately 0 seconds between images. The aperture or f# of the lens was varied in order to achieve a range of particle image diameters at two different magnifications. A Matlab code was written to upsample, shift and downsample the images by a prescribed, sub-pixel displacement. The shifted images were then imported into DaVis and correlated, resulting in displacement vector images. The random error of these images were calculated and each particle diameter is compared. The random and bias errors of the DaVis and PRANA SCC algorithms were also compared for a fixed, optimum particle image diameter and multiple sub-pixel displacements between 0 and 1 pixel

The Rhetorical Strategies of Pregnancy Support Centers Including the Visual Rhetoric of Fetal Ultrasound Technology

This study examined the rhetorical strategies, including verbal and visual rhetoric, of pregnancy support centers that provide clients with fetal ultrasounds to persuade those who may be considering abortion as a means of resolving their unplanned pregnancy to carry to term. Qualitative data were gathered from 12 interviews of directors and ultrasound personnel from 7 states as well as from television advertisements and printed material. Eighteen research questions investigating the rhetorical transactions between centers and clients were answered. Rhetorical analyses were performed on the verbal and visual messages used in client interactions. The grounded theory approach of inquiry resulted in the discovery of 10 major themes. First, centers offer holistic Christian ministry to clients. Second, centers provide professional health services. Third, a quest for uncertainty reduction and information brings clients to the centers. Fourth, centers maintain safe supportive environments. Fifth, personnel are trained to demonstrate sensitivity in sharing information. Sixth, staff exercise care in their deliberate choice of terms. Seventh, members recognize the importance of interpersonal communication in building relationships with and mentoring clients. Eighth, centers use persuasive arguments and artifacts. Ninth, ultrasound serves to reify the pregnancy for clients. Tenth, empowering clients to make their own decisions is a center goal. A rhetorical critique was performed using three approaches. First, the rhetorical functions communicated by the visual artifacts were explored. Second, the individual elements of the visuals were examined for persuasive potential. Third, the possibility that the visual of the ultrasound image fills the eye of the beholder with a single dominant meaning was considered. The conclusion is that the apparent persuasive success of the ultrasound can be partially explained by the client\u27s recognition of baby schema characteristics present in the fetus, recognition of the fetal heartbeat, and recognition of the beating heart as a symbol of life. The persuasive potential of the fetal position and fetal movement were also discussed. The role of storytelling was examined. The possibility of client self-persuasion was also evaluated

Flows and fates of nickel-cadmium batteries in the City of Cape Town

Includes bibliographical references .Current patterns of economic activity entail high rates of material extraction from the natural environment and the generation of large amounts of waste. Alternative strategies must be found if we are to avoid the exhaustion of resources and the environment's capacity to safely absorb our wastes. Examining current resource use is an important step towards achieving a more sustainable society, and the toxic substances widely applied in our technologies form a crucial part of this examination. The heavy metal cadmium is one such substance. The use and disposal of nickel-cadmium secondary cells (the basic components of NiCd batteries) in Cape Town, South Africa, has been investigated with the objective of quantifying the associated flows of cadmium. This was achieved by applying substance flow analysis methodology to the year 2005 with a steady-state approach to quantify the disposal commitment arising from inflows in that year. Uncertainty in the calculated results was quantified by means of Monte Carlo simulation. Small sealed cells were found to make the dominant contribution to overall cadmium flows, with cordless power tools and separately imported cells accounting for most of these. Essentially all of these cells either have or will enter the municipal solid waste streams of the city. Large industrial cells made a smaller but significant contribution to overall inflows (3.4-14%), but none were known to have entered municipal waste. These went primarily to hazardous waste disposal outside the city or recycling abroad, with some going into storage. In order to assess the environmental significance of the cadmium sent to landfill, hypothetical "best worst-case" scenarios were developed which involved the worst case of total cadmium release from landfill, and best-case calculations of the potential contamination of agricultural land that could result from such release. A total release to agriculture was found to contaminate the city's croplands in under twenty years. Although these scenarios considered contamination potential but not the likelihood of contamination, and hence were not predictive, it could nevertheless be concluded that the amounts of cadmium destined for landfill disposal justified concern and caution. The disposal of environmentally significant amounts of cadmium in Cape Town and the very limited understanding of landfill behaviour necessitate the elimination ofNiCd batteries from municipal solid waste streams. Some approaches are briefly discussed by which this might be achieved, with regard to both environmental protection and resource conservation in general and the changing landscape of waste management in South Africa. Significant challenges were encountered from limited data availability during the application of substance flow analysis within a developing-world urban setting. This necessitated primary data collection and adaptation of data from other geographical and temporal scales. Adjusting national data to the city scale required the development of scaling factors which were more plausible than the use of population share or regional GDP Some similarities were noted between the cadmium metabolism of Cape Town and that of previously studied regions in the developed world. This supported the suggestion that some insights from substance flow analysis studies can be transferred to other regions when resources are not available for thorough local study. Important differences were also present, however, and further research is required to develop this possibility

Learning analytics and higher education: a proposed model for establishing informed consent mechanisms to promote student privacy and autonomy

By tracking, aggregating, and analyzing student profiles along with students’ digital and analog behaviors captured in information systems, universities are beginning to open the black box of education using learning analytics technologies. However, the increase in and usage of sensitive and personal student data present unique privacy concerns. I argue that privacy-as-control of personal information is autonomy promoting, and that students should be informed about these information flows and to what ends their institution is using them. Informed consent is one mechanism by which to accomplish these goals, but Big Data practices challenge the efficacy of this strategy. To ensure the usefulness of informed consent, I argue for the development of Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) technology and assert that privacy dashboards will enable student control and consent mechanisms, while providing an opportunity for institutions to justify their practices according to existing norms and values