In the Wild

We are excited about spreading the RforIR word as widely as possible. We thought we’d keep a record here of where we are going and where we’ve been.

1 Upcoming workshops

None scheduled at this time.

2 Classes

2.1 Class: Data Analysis for IR 101: R Scripting

Dates
  • Beginning 03-Feb-2025 thru 17-Mar-2025
  • Beginning 02-Jun-2025 thru 3-Jul-2025
Course Information and Registration page
Description
Students, who are assumed to have experience manipulating spreadsheet data but no experience working with R (or databases in general), are introduced to the skills needed both to manipulate large sets of data and to extract information from them. They will be introduced to the software programs that we use in the class: R (the statistics program) and R Studio (the development environment).

Each week students will be introduced to a topic, work through group exercises during class, have work through more advanced exercises during a live problem session, and will work on a course-long project. All of this will be in preparation for defining and completing a personal project with the student’s own data.

2.2 Class: Data Analysis for IR 102: Data Visualization

Dates
  • Beginning 03-Jun-2025 thru 3-Jul-2025
Description
Students, who are assumed to have experience manipulating data in R (as covered in the 101 course), are introduced to the skills needed to create both simple graphs for data exploration, more complicated graphs for presentations, and sets of graphs for multiple audiences.

Each week, students will be introduced to a topic, work through group exercises during class, work through more advanced exercises during a live problem session, and work on a course-long project. All of this will be in preparation for defining and completing a personal project with the student’s data.

2.3 Class: Data Analysis for IR 103: Reporting

Dates
  • Beginning in Fall 2025
Description
Students, who are assumed to have experience manipulating data in R (as covered in the 101 course) and creating graphs using the tidyverse in R (as covered in the 102 course), are introduced to the skills needed to create attractive, well-formatted technical reports that easily incorporate tabular reports and graphs. The beauty of this approach to organizing your work will become evident when the student is able to define a monthly report once and then use it over-and-over again with little effort.

Each week students will be introduced to a topic, work through group exercises during class, have work through more advanced exercises during a live problem session, and will work on a course-long project. All of this will be in preparation for defining and completing a personal project with the student’s own data.

2.4 Class: Tableau for Greenville Non-profits (Oct-2024)

In this four-week class, Scott introduced a group of data professionals from Greenville-based educational non-profits to Tableau. They learned how to use this software to build dashboards that support decisions that drive business value. See the class Web site.

3 Papers

3.1 “Data Science for Assessment”, by David Eubanks & Scott Moore, October 2024.

Introduction: Assessment and institutional research offices have too much data and too little time. Standard reporting often crowds out opportunities for innovative research. It’s like being stuck in a leaking rowboat—bailing water just to stay afloat. Fortunately, advancements in data science now offer a clear solution. It is equal parts technique and philosophy. The first and easiest step is to modernize our data work.

For the rest of the article, please go here.

4 Consulting engagements

David & Scott are always available to IR teams to consult on your specific needs. This might mean working with your IR teams in problem solving, strategic data management, or running specific workshops for your team in order to get them up-to-speed.

5 Completed

5.1 Synchronous Class: Data Analytics for the IR Professional

This course, taught by David Eubanks and Scott Moore and offered through Furman University’s Center for Innovative Leadership in May 2024, was designed to help IR professionals automate their work using R scripts instead of spreadsheets. We covered topics such as admissions, retention, and learning effectiveness, making your work more efficient and impactful. No prior programming experience was required, and the course included one synchronous meeting per week.

5.2 Online Bonus Preview Session: Data Science for Assessment

Location
2024 Assessment Institute, Zoom session, Tues 22-Oct-2024, 2:30-3:30pmET
Description
Assessment offices have too much to do and not enough time, which can leave interesting questions unanswered. In this session we describe how to save time and increase output using free data science tools, enabling much more efficient curation of data and analysis. This benefits students, is great professional development for staff, and is essential for leaders to understand possibilities for the future. No prerequisites required. You can read more about these ideas in this article. (This session was run by both David & Scott.)
Files

5.3 Conference Session: Understanding Rater Agreement

Location
2024 Assessment Institute, Lincoln, Mon 28-Oct-2024, 12:30-1:30pm
Description
The meaningfulness of learning measures depends on how well we can differentiate between cases, which is measured by reliability statistics. This session, conducted by David Eubanks, shows how to assess the quality of data using two kinds of reliability statistics, with a focus on rater agreement statistics. Original research links traditional approaches like Cohen’s kappa and shows how methods borrowed from machine learning can explicate how the kappas work and how to improve them. Applications to rubric ratings, survey data, and grades illustrate use in practice. No prior knowledge of the material is assumed.
Files
  • KappaZoo: Dave’s site that explains rater agreement and associated reliability statistics.

5.4 Conference Session: The Grammar of Graphics

Location
2024 Assessment Institute, Lincoln, Mon 28-Oct-2024, 1:45–2:45pm
Description
In this session, run by Scott Moore, you will learn how the powerful graphics features of R’s ggplot package can make reporting easier, clearer, and more efficient with simple, reusable scripts. Part of the magic is a novel philosophy of constructing graphical displays, with the architecture being independent of the presentation. This design facilitates quickly iterating types of plots with varying elements to create just the right presentation. Experience with R is helpful but not necessary. This session will focus on questions related to the whys of using this technological approach rather than the hows.
Files

5.5 Keynote Session: Assessment and Accreditation: Tugging at the Constraints and Imagining a New Reality

Location
2024 Assessment Institute, Marriott 6, Tues 29-Oct-2024, 8:15–9:15am
Participants
  • Autumn Wild (Moderator), James Madison University
  • David Eubanks, Furman University
  • Laura M. Gambino, New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)
  • Megan R. Good, James Madison University
  • Josephine Welsh, LeTourneau University
Description
In December 2023, a special issue of Assessment Update was published featuring a conversation about assessment and accreditation. In the first piece, Eubanks articulates the challenges with the traditional assessment cycle (i.e., define, measure, improve). In the second, Good imagines how assessment professionals could spend their time if significant energy was not expended on reporting to meet the accreditation standard. Third, Welsh and her colleague Roscoe explore the accreditation standards in depth – what’s really required? In early 2024, Gambino wrote a response piece from an accreditation perspective offering a path forward for a continued, collaborative conversation. This panel will continue the initial conversation and invite the audience to consider professional existential questions along with the panelists.