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Frontiers in Education 1999 Data Warehousing: A Tool for Facilitating Assessment Polytechnic University, New York Gateway Coalition. Dr. Joanne Ingham Director of Institutional Assessment & Retention Office of Academic Affairs jingham@poly.edu. Building A Data Warehouse. Legacy System
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Frontiers in Education 1999 Data Warehousing: A Tool for Facilitating Assessment Polytechnic University, New York Gateway Coalition Dr. Joanne InghamDirector of Institutional Assessment & Retention Office of Academic Affairs jingham@poly.edu
Building A Data Warehouse Legacy System (Mainframe or other types of edit oriented system) Relational Database Management Systems (departmental data) External Data statistics, state and federal reports Data Mining, Collection, Processing and Integration On-Line Processing Analyzed Data, Reports Requests Data Warehouse
Warehouse Flexibility and Responsiveness • Benefits: • Easy access to data & fast response rate • Manageable - work only with data you need • Processing does not disturb main system • OLAP - Online Analytical Processing • Drawbacks: • Constant electronic update • Must design and maintain new system
Step 1 Recognition and Support For Centralized Assessment Process and Longitudinal Tracking August 1997 • Hired personnel:Director and Project Leader • Purchased equipment and software:workstation, scanner, visual tools, NT, RDBMS, VB, C++ • Data collected:ten years of institutional data • Piloted new techniques:web, client/server, scanning September 1998 • Purchased:server and a workstation • Expanded assessment process: based on pilot results
Step 2 Data Collection - Identify Available Data • University Legacy System - Mainframe • Reports • State Reports (HEGIS), • Freshman Survey (CIRP) • Departmental Year-End Reports • Other Database Systems • Special Services Office - custom • HEOP - excel • Career Services - custom • Alumni Office - outside provider
Data Collection Issues: Need for a University Catalog Statement on Assessment
Data Collection Issues: • Departmental confidentiality concerns - release letter prepared by the Dean • Meet with Directors to determine: • which data exist • format of the data • relative purity of that data
Data Incorporated into Warehouse • Official census data files(for each academic session) • 21 day count • Registrar files • registration • end of semester grades • Freshman cohort files • Official graduation files • Alumni files
Step 3 • Data Integration - A Critical Step • Migrating data from existing Legacy System • Extracting and transferringdata from other systems - UNIX, Windows, DOS based databases and spreadsheets • Checkingfor data quality • Eliminatingduplicates and dead data • Checkingfor data consistency by cross referencing data from different sources
Aug97 || Nov97 || Feb98 || May98 || Aug98 • Office Established and Director and Project Leader Hired Equipment and the Software Purchased (NT Workstation, VB, Interdev, Access, SQL) Initial data Collection and Data Transfer (Data Warehouse is established) Data Collection and Maintenance (OngoingProcess) Data Integration Program Piloting and Testing
Step 4 • Development of a Web-Based Assessment Process • Benefits: • Easy to distribute - access 24 hours • Easy to analyze data • Saves time, human and office resources • Easier to work with electronic data - on a routine basis • Computer can check for integrity of data - validate • Drawbacks: • Response rate sometimes lower • Involves more preparation time upfront • Possible technical difficulties if system is down
Develop and Pilot Test Instruments and Methods • Faculty Survey- Paper based, overall 60% response rate, 85% rate from target faculty, data entered manually. • Freshman Design Course - Web-based survey, 60% response rate, data collected and analyzed automatically. • Alumni Survey - Web-based and paper (later to be scanned). Using both approaches for better response rate with alumni population. • Course-Level Assessment - Web-based pilot, spring 1999. Full implementation, fall 1999. • Ease of administration, data collection and analysis. • Ease of student access to evaluation forms.
Warehouse as a Faculty & Department Resource • Access to timely and thorough statistical data: graduation & persistence rates, grades, registration. • Support assessment activities for accreditation • Alumni Surveys • Course-Level Assessment • Assessment Activities for Grants • Longitudinal Tracking of Students • Performance Linked to ABET competencies • Retention and Persistence • Changing Majors within University • Transfers • Math Performance as a Retention Issue