analytics driving student journey improvement - a guide in 10 points
TRANSCRIPT
A Guide in 10 Points toAnalytics Driving Student
Journey ImprovementBy Olivier Dupuis, Founder of StudentAnalytics.io
TheStudent Journey
TheStudentJourney
Point 1You create the conditions for a memorable post-secondary experience
Post-secondaryyearsaremorethanalearningexperience,theyarealifeexperience.
Studentsareinvolved inajourney thatisnotonlyacademic,butalsoajourneyofpersonalgrowth, socializing,gainingexperiencesforfutureemployability,etc.
Itistheinstitution's responsibility tocreateastimulatingenvironmentwherestudentslivethemostenrichingandfulfillingexperienceoftheirlives.
TheStudentJourney
Point 2Not all student journeys are the same
Asaccessibilityincreases,studentsattendingcollegeanduniversityhaveadiversityofbackgrounds, goals,challengesandneeds.Theygothrough theiruniquepathfrompre-enrollment toregistration, graduationandeventuallyemployment.
Youhavetheresponsibility tosupport themthroughout thatjourney,nomatterhowdifferent theirpathisfromotherstudents.Ifyourfocusisontheretentionofat-riskstudentsforexample,howyouintervene intheirjourney shouldbedifferentdepending onifastudentisstudying part-time,isanadult,aforeignstudent,orifhe/sheisworkingpart-time,aparentofyoungkids,livingoutside thecampus,etc.
Itcangetoverwhelming howveryrichyetmassivelycomplexallstudentjourneyscanbe.Analyticsprovidewindowsintothosemanyjourneys.
LeavingTraces
LeavingTraces
Point 3Students are expecting personalized experiences
”Usingactivitypatternstorecommendresourcesofparticularrelevanceintheindividual’s context(takingaccountofcourse,unitandevenphysicallocation) willaccordwithstudentexpectationsofaqualityexperience”- JISC
Studentsareconstantlyconnectedviatheirdevicesandareasinglemessageawayfromaninteractionthatmightenhancetheirexperience.It’samatterofunderstanding wheretheyareintheirjourneyandhowyoucanfurther supportandengagethem.
Forexample,ifaprospectivestudentvisitswebpagesthatrelatestotuition fees,theymaybeprompted tostartachatwithafinancialadvisor.Thatrecordedconversationcouldthenpromptfuture interventions,knowing thatthisstudentmayrequiremoresupport inregardstotheirfinancialneeds.
LeavingTraces
Point 4Being always connected creates a deluge of data you should harvest
Students leaveatrailofdigitalinteractionsontheireducationalpath.Hereareafewexamplesofdatasources:
Institutionaltrackingsystems• CRM(Constituent
Relationship Management)• Studentcardreaders• Ticketdistributors• Location sensors
Social Medias• Facebook• Twitter• Foursquare• Instagram
Direct communications• Email• Chat• SMS• Phone
Institutionalonlineservices• LMS(Learning
ManagementSystem)• Registrationsystem• Onlineportal• Librarydatabases
LeavingTraces
Point 5Analytics helps you map a student’s journey
Therearemanystrategiestocaptureandstructuretherelevantpiecesofdata.Throughdatacollectionandtransformation, wecanmergedatapoints toformapictureofastudent’sjourney.
Forexample,astudentmaybeinterestedinregistering toacourse.Hemightaskafewquestions toapeermentoronFacebook(socialmedias),visitanacademicadvisor (CRM),usetheregistrationsystem(online institutional system)andaskquestions toasupport agent(chat).
Allthosedatapointscanbejoined totraceastudentjourney thatprovidesyouwithdeep insightsintothatspecificregistrationprocessandhowtoimproveit.
ContinuousStudentJourneyImprovement
ContinuousStudentJourneyImprovement
Point 6Combining those student journeys gives you an overview of what a standard journey looks like
Youcangetacompletepictureoftheirjourney, fromrecruitmenttograduationbybuilding astudentjourneymapfromthegroundup.Studentjourneymapsgivesyouthebasicskeletonofthemanyacademic,social,personal, financial,professionalobjectivesandtasksastudentneedstocomplete.Aggregating thethousandsofstudent journeysgivesyouthatoverviewofwhatarealtypicaljourney is.
Butitalsoprovides insightsintothemanychallengesfacedbystudents.Forexample,asastudenttransitionstocollege,hewillneedtoregistertohisclasses,familiarizehimselfwithhisnewcampusanditsmanyservices,makefriends, findajob,buybooks,etc.Adata-drivenstudentjourneymaprevealsbottlenecksandwhereitcangetoverwhelming forstudents.
ContinuousStudentJourneyImprovement
Point 7You now have the data to understand student segments
Notallstudent journeysarethesame.Sohowdoesthejourneyofaninternational studentdiffersfromthatofeveryotherstudent, forexample?Bydividing thethousandsof studentjourneysyou’vecompiledbetweeninternationalanddomesticstudents,youcanstartansweringthosequestions.
Forexample,youmightnoticethatvisitstofinancialadvisorsaremorefrequent forinternational students,butmostimportantlythatthosevisitsarestillfrequentbythemid-pointoftheirfirstterm.Meaning thatthosestudentsarenotpayingtheirfullattentiontotheirupcoming exams.Thatmightputthematrisk.
Bysegmentingyour studentpopulation, youstartseeinghowaspecificgroupofstudentslivetheirexperiencedifferently fromtheothersandhowyoumightbettersupport them.
ContinuousStudentJourneyImprovement
Point 8Apply human intelligence to your data
Analyticsistheprocessofproviding theinsights tosparkconversationsbetweenstakeholdersandguideyoutowardsimprovedservicestosupportandfurtherengagetargetedstudents.
Itencouragescross-sectorialcommunication, sharingofideasandbetterunderstanding ofhoweachsectorplaysaroleintheoverallexperienceofastudent.
Thedatadoesnotprovidesilverbullet solutions, forexampleagainstinternationalstudent’s retentionchallenges.Butitcanpointyoutoproblemareaswhicharethenfurtherexploredbyyourteam.
Intheend,human interpretationwillmakesenseofthedataandwhatitmeanstoyou.
ContinuousStudentJourneyImprovement
Point 9Continuously enhance how they experience their journeys
Knowledgegivesyoupowertochangetheexperienceofyourstudents.
Whetheryouareservicing first-yearstudents,internationalstudents, socialsciencestudents,allstudents,etc.– refining yourunderstanding ofthemanyjourneys takenbyyourstudentsisthefirststeptowardsdeploying therightservicestofurther supportandengagethem.
Throughout theirjourney, studentswillfacedifferentchallengesandhavedifferentneeds.Howyourinstitutionprovides theservicesthatwillcontribute totheirprogression andhowastudentwillperseverethroughout thatjourney,allthoseinteractionsarewhatwillintheendcontribute toastudent’sexperience.
HowAreYouEnhancing TheirExperience?
HowAreYouEnhancingTheirExperience?
Point 10Analytics should drive your experience enhancement efforts
ThestudentexperiencechallengearetriggeredbytheattainmentofKPIgoalsandfewleadsastohowtoimprovethosemetrics.
Thereisamissing layerbetweenthosehighlevelperformanceindicatorsthatmightgiveyouanoverallratingofhowsatisfiedstudentsarewithyourservices,orageneralretentionrateforyourstudents.Butthere’susuallynotmuchunderlying datathatprovides insightstoexplainthose results.
Analyticsletsyoustartanswering thosequestions fromwhat’sreallyimportant:howmakeseachstudentjourney uniqueandhowyoucanbettersupport them.Onlywhenyoustartonthatdata-drivenquesttobetterunderstand thosejourneysandhowsomesharesimilarchallenges, canyoureallystartimproving yourKPIsbutbetteryet,enhancetheexperienceofallstudents.
HowAreYouEnhancingTheirExperience?
In ConclusionWork with your own team of data-driven student journey improvement experts
Astudentanalyticsinfrastructureisamust-havetoanystudentexperienceimprovementprogramthatwantstorelyonfactsinsteadofperceptions.
Wethinkofourselvesasyourmissing layerthatjoinsyourhigh-levelKPIsandtheeffortsyoumaketoimproveyourstudent’sjourney.
Howisyourteamfeeding theconversationastohowtofurtherimprovetheexperienceofyourstudents?
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