2019 Workshop Descriptions
FULL DAY WORKSHOP |
Newcomers to Institutional ResearchLaura Ariovich, Prince George Community College; Daniel Sisco, Yale UniversityThe field of institutional research, assessment, and effectiveness is growing all the time. With this growth many come into the work needing some information, basic tools, and the knowledge and ability to navigate the field. This full-day workshop is intended to provide anyone new to IR or to a new role in IR/IE/Assessment with background information on the field, the skills, and the tools needed to perform the work. The workshop leaders have extensive IR experience in the public and private sector, and as IR staff and directors of IR/Assessment. The workshop is very user-friendly so bring any questions or concerns you may have. Participants will also build valuable relationships to increase their IR network. Laptops are not required for this session. |
MORNING WORKSHOP SESSIONS | AFTERNOON WORKSHOP SESSIONS |
An Introduction to Design Thinking for IR and Everyone Daniel Riehs, Boston College; Allison Reilly, Boston College Have you wondered what exactly design thinking is, and how it might be useful to you? Design thinking's focus on user needs had made it a popular technique for problem-solving outside of the realm of traditional design. Problems are tackled deliberately, in a step-by-step manner that reveals the creativity in everyone. Participants in this workshop will be presented with a realistic scenario involving the strategic use of data at a university. They will be led through the design thinking process, and emerge with actionable ideas that could be implemented by an IR or IE office. This highly-interactive half-day workshop will give participants a foundational understanding of design thinking techniques and introduce new methods for collaboratively solving institutional research and university problems. This workshop is intended for institutional researchers looking for an introduction to design thinking, as well as anyone interested in learning about new problem-solving and facilitation techniques. Prior experience is not necessary. Laptops are not required for this session. | Create Infographics to Communicate Your Data Laura Sturgill, Eastern University In a world that is increasingly media-saturated, campus stakeholders are seeking and expecting digestible chunks of data. Charts, infographics, maps and pop out quotes are what capture attention as everyone scans their phone or social media sites for information. Institutional Research offices need to create these data visualizations in order to communicate the vast amount of information and data they are collecting and analyzing on a daily, monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Principles explored in this session will also be helpful for those who present frequently to campus stakeholders. This half-day workshop will teach participants how to create infographics and other media visualizations using Microsoft Office products. Laptops are required for this session with PowerPoint and Excel, 2016 preferred. |
| Data Governance: What Does and Does Not Work Val Nestor, Northeastern University; Alex Wagner, Lesley University A recent EDUCAUSE review stated data management and governance issue among top issues. While many institutions have started exploring data governance initiatives most are not very far along in implementing data governance. Higher education analytics efforts in recent years have stalled and failed to move the needle compared to expected progress. This half-day workshop will provide insights into how data governance practices can be successfully implemented. Two examples, one from a large university further along and one from a small university relatively new to implementing data governance will be highlighted. Two case studies will depict successes and challenges to illustrate both best practices as well as lessons learned. Guidelines and templates will be provided to the participants. Laptops are not required for this session. | Developing Logistic Regression Models for Retention Kate McLaren, Rebecca Mushet, Morgan Hawes, Jana Clark, Bridgewater State University To inform student success efforts, institutions are seeking advanced data-informed strategies that can more accurately pinpoint characteristics or experiences that facilitate retention. Binary logistic regression is one method that can be used to determine whether to select socio-demographic, academic preparation, financial, and other variables serve as significant predictors of retention. Identifying significant predictors of retention can inform institutional priorities, programs, and policies and ultimately lead to increased student success rates. This hands-on half-day workshop will provide participants with a step-by-step process for creating a binary logistic regression analysis in SPSS to determine predictors of retention. This is an applied rather than deeply theoretical statistical workshop, therefore, participants with or without formal education or training in inferential statistics are invited to attend. Laptops with SPSS (any version that has logistic regression analysis) installed are required in order to participate in this very hands-on workshop. Freeware: https://www.ibm.com/analytics/spss-statistics-software |
| Getting Started with Tableau John Ingram, Ingram Market Analytics When analyzing data, half of the battle is explaining your amazing results to others. Tableau has become the go-to tool to visualize and share your results, quickly and easily, with clear, compelling graphs and charts. This workshop can help Tableau beginners get a firm foundation and greater understanding. It is also ideal for those who haven’t yet purchased Tableau, to help them understand all the benefits. This half-day workshop is for anyone who works with data, regardless of technical or analytical background. Laptops with Tableau installed are required to participate in this session. You can download the free Tableau version from https://www.tableau.com/products/desktop/download | *IPEDS Student Financial Aid Training John Ingram, Ingram Market Analytics; Jennifer Dunseath, Roger Williams University This free of charge half-day workshop co-hosted by AIR and NEAIR provides foundational training for completing the IPEDS Student Financial Aid Survey using an integrated approach to managing, storing, and extracting financial aid data required for survey completion. Topics include an overview of financial aid concepts and how they intersect IPEDS, how to effectively create frozen data files from enrollment and financial aid systems, how to use these files to answer the respective sections of the survey, and how the files can be leveraged to address additional internal reporting needs. The workshop concludes with exercises focused on how IPEDS financial aid data are used for external purposes as well as for internal benchmarking. Laptops are required for this session. *Click here to Register for this workshop through AIR. |
| Qualitative Data Collection Strategies for IR Felice Billups, Johnson & Wales University This half-day workshop will provide an overview of the most commonly employed qualitative data collection strategies for IR projects. This workshop is designed to help attendees understand qualitative research designs, data sources, and instrumentation so they might effectively collect qualitative data for IR projects, using the right designs and the right tools. Examples will be provided to show how qualitative research designs, data, and tools can be connected in IR projects, either as stand-alone qualitative studies or as part of mixed methods projects. Templates, worksheets, and sample instrumentation will be provided for participants; group work will assist participants in applying the concepts to their own work. This workshop does not require any special skills or knowledge of participants; materials will be provided and it will be conducted in an interactive, conversational format. Participants are welcome to bring their laptops for the session but they will not be used as an active part of the session. | SPSS Syntax To Improve Your Reporting Efficiency Alex Wagner, Lesley University This half-day workshop will develop participants' understanding of SPSS syntax for data management and reporting. It will introduce participants to using the SPSS syntax editors to create scripts that will substantially improve their reporting efficiencies and effectiveness. This workshop is neither an introduction to statistics nor an introduction to SPSS. Participants should have a basic familiarity with the SPSS GUI interface and have used its menus. Participants will learn the power of using syntax rather than having to create reports from scratch via the GUI interface. Syntax examples will focus on data management as well as data quality control. Laptops with SPSS (any version of 21.0 or higher) installed are required in order to participate in this very hands-on workshop. |