
A US university is tracking students’ locations to predict future dropouts - kushti
https://qz.com/1226474/a-us-university-is-tracking-students-locations-to-predict-future-dropouts/
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lazyasciiart
This article, and most of the discussion here, appears to be conflating two
things. 1\. The University of Arizona tries to predict which students are at
risk of dropping out using a bunch of data about them, and then offers some
extra support to these students. They have been doing this for four years and
have improved their retention rate about 3% in the last year. 2\. A researcher
at the University of Arizona has been experimenting with using location
tracking to predict which students will drop out. She has found that using
this data allows her to make more accurate predictions than _the ones that the
university currently uses_. She hopes that they will one day start using her
data/methods.

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nickparker
This article is a little unclear, and the title arguably exaggerated. They're
actually tracking where students swipe their student ID cards. Which, yes, is
a form of location tracking. They don't have any idea where students are going
off campus.

~~~
gh02t
> They also have an embedded sensor that can be used to track geographic
> history whenever the card is swiped.

This almost makes it sound like the card keeps a log of where it is used
internally. If that is the case then it could be used to track off campus
activity, as a lot of colleges let you link your student ID so that it can be
used as a debit card (mine did). The article is kinda vague though, so who
knows.

If it is the case that it's tracking all purchases, I hope it's optional or at
least that students are properly informed because that's kinda creepy.

~~~
crowbahr
It's ID cards, so it's going to have a chip or sensor that isn't powered:
it'll simply grab current geolocation on swipe. It also wouldn't be usable off
campus for anything the school wasn't providing.

Also since it's ID cards: when swiped the machine would be communicating back
to a central server to get balance (and thus tracking) OR they're pulling it
off of the card's state at the machines directly, then writing to the card
where it was used and then pulling all that data when they recharge the cards.
3rd potential option being reading each machine that interacted with the cards
and collating but I see that as less likely, given the wording of the article.

Any way you look at it: it's something credit card companies already do.

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thesumofall
So, retention rates improved by not even 3pp and they take that as proof that
the program worked? Isn’t it much more likely that the increase is driven by
the bigger attention the retention topic got by the administration as well as
the increase in counseling, etc.? And how much damage is done by approaching
students and telling them that their recent behavior indicates they might drop
out soon?

~~~
JonDav
Hopefully they take a more positive approach. By identifying retention issues
advisors/educators can approach the students in trouble and offer support and
services. Once they leave it is much harder to get them to return and you can
sometimes run into FERPA issues trying to get them to return.

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lettergram
It's actually amazing how I can predict this exceedingly well just from
watching students grades compared to the average.

Did a test with it using my website: [https://easy-a.net](https://easy-a.net)

I basically can predict students future semester grades, hours spent and what
not.

~~~
JonDav
Same here, based on time on campus, time in labs/study areas I am able to
predict pretty accurately who will succeed. Of course there are always
outliers.

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gnarbarian
Pretty damn Orwellian, but it certainly shows how some aspects of university
education are broken for many people.

Socially integrating yourself with other successful people in your classes and
degree program will dramatically increase your chances of success. This does
not come naturally to many people. Ways to improve this include:

* requiring students to live in dorms with students taking the same classes.

* mandatory weekly study sessions for every class

* industry partnerships to get students internships with real world experience during the summer.

IMO these guys[0] are on the right track and I wish programs like that were
available to more people.

[0] [http://www.ansep.net/](http://www.ansep.net/)

~~~
leetcrew
> Socially integrating yourself with other successful people in your classes
> and degree program will dramatically increase your chances of success.

I strongly agree with this claim, but I think it's the kind of thing that only
works when it comes about naturally, or at least when the motivation to set up
this dynamic comes from within. I disagree with your suggestions to bring this
about.

> requiring students to live in dorms with students taking the same classes.

I think this could be nice for some people if it were opt-in (especially those
who struggle socially), but overall being exposed to people from other
disciplines is a feature of college, not a bug. Most of the people in your
classes will already be from the same discipline, so it is important to be
exposed to people who study other things in your social life, imo.

> mandatory weekly study sessions for every class

I really dislike this. People have wildly varying learning styles and you
should not impose a specific format on them. I have issues processing auditory
information, and I can learn 2-4x faster just reading the textbook than I can
from a verbal discussion or lecture. If you force me to attend these, you are
making me spend my time suboptimally. Also, while such a session can be highly
productive for a small group of bright, motivated students, the whole thing
slows to a crawl when it is inevitably forced to cater to the lowest common
denominator.

> industry partnerships to get students internships with real world experience
> during the summer.

I think this could be a good thing, as long as the company isn't obligated to
offer _every_ student an internship. In that case the lowest common
denominator issue applies.

~~~
stordoff
> but overall being exposed to people from other disciplines is a feature of
> college

Strongly agree. I studied at a collegiate university, and most of my enduring
friendships are people outside of my course. Further, it contributed to having
a broader understanding of the world, and being a CS student but having a
meaningful discussion about, say, calcium channels with the medical students
or microeconomics with the economists gives a valuable skill of being able to
quickly build a working model of something outside of your experience/field.

> People have wildly varying learning styles and you should not impose a
> specific format on them. I have issues processing auditory information, and
> I can learn 2-4x faster just reading the textbook than I can from a verbal
> discussion or lecture.

I think it depends a lot about their exact nature. Personally I found lectures
to be of limited value, and general discussions would be all but useless, but
focused supervisions with 1-3 students and an academic to be invaluable.
Preparing the work ahead of time allows you to learn how you like, but a
verbal interrogation regarding it means you must be confident and know it well
enough to think on your feet (it's also good viva voce practice). A good
supervisor will also dig deeper than any one text typically would (if
necessary), and give tailored explanations if something is tripping you up.
They'll also push you forward and not let you coast if you covered the minimum
mandatory material, and come up with new ways of applying the knowledge or
fuse it with material from other classes/years. I think it'd be difficult to
replicate that with any form of self-study.

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OrganicMSG
The takeaway is that if you give a load of academics a database, they are like
children left unattended with a running chocolate fountain and a sign saying
"no fingers".

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lvs
> At the end of the day, universities are businesses trying to retain
> customers.

This matter-of-fact claim -- and the mindset it engenders -- encapsulates
perhaps the vast majority of what's gone wrong in higher education in the past
two decades or so.

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rdiddly
And actually bragging about it. Surprised to read that this came from a
university _press release_ and not a whistleblower, in-depth undercover
investigation, embarrassing court case or the like. Apparently we've finally
reached the dystopia where surveillance is completely normalized.

