Michele Hansen, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Institutional Research and Decision Support

The Power of Data Decision Making and the Appropriate Use of Analytics in Higher Education Settings

Data are everywhere across institutions of higher education, and access to analytical and technology tools means that faculty can actively use and translate data into decision-support information. Ideally, we are able to successfully leverage the wealth of data available and use it to improve student learning and success. This presentation will focus on the role of data in higher education today in helping institutions enhance student achievement, plan courses, recruit and retain students, optimize the scheduling of classrooms, and even understand levels of student engagement. This presentation will also highlight definitions (e.g., learning analytics vs. predictive analytics vs. statistical analysis), sources of data, and ethical, social justice, privacy, and data integrity concerns in the era of big data and emerging technologies. 

Biography: Michele J. Hansen, Ph.D. serves as the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Institutional Research and Decision Support (IRDS) at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Dr. Hansen’s primary research interests are in the areas of learning outcomes assessment and program evaluation methods, understanding the effectiveness of interventions to enhance retention and academic success of undergraduate and graduate students (applying social psychology theories to higher education), survey research methods, and incremental and fundamental change implementation. She has specific training and over 20 years of experience in mixed-methods designs, survey research, and data analysis on the effectiveness of educational interventions. She also holds appointed faculty positions with University College and is an Adjunct Associate Professor with the Department of Psychology at IUPUI. Dr. Hansen received her baccalaureate degree in psychology from Michigan State University and master’s and doctoral degrees in social psychology from Loyola University Chicago.