Syllabus for EPE 798-01 Seminar on Institutional Research and Effectiveness
Thursday, 4:00 – 6:30 Fall 2004
131 Dickey Hall and 246 Taylor Education Building
Dr. Karen Carey
121 Taylor Education Bldg.
office: 257-2628 or home: 269-9473
The development of higher education as a field of study parallels the development of institutional research as a function within institutions of higher education. During that time, both have changed considerably as higher education has become increasingly complex. Although they are frequently described as two different groups, “researchers” and “practitioners,” both have contributed to the literature and to our understanding of higher education. Indeed, IR has been described by Wilensky, Terenzini and others as a form of “organizational intelligence.” This course is designed to give graduate students an understanding of the relationships of issues in higher education, broadly stated, to the functions of institutional research. Students will understand the relationship of institutional research to various internal and external organizational functions, to other aspects of the study of higher education, and to the emerging field of knowledge management. In addition, students will acquire the fundamental knowledge and and some of the skills needed to succeed in this role and to help institutions address issues related to accountability and accreditation.
Course outline and readings
During the semester, other readings will be introduced.
August 26 Introductions; Student learning goals; Review syllabus
How do current important issues in Higher Education play out at the institutional level?
Who does research on issues higher education? How are they trained?
How is IR the same as and different from others?
What is IR? What kinds of studies are conducted? How? Why?
How IR functions within an organization; within different types of institutions; History and evolution of IR functions
September 2 Major IR responsibilities: data collection and reporting
1. Information collection
2. Reporting standard production reports
3. Fact Books -- online examples
4. Data Warehousing
Resources available: check the web
Readings: Chapters 1 and 2 from Chaos Theory and Higher Education, Marc Cutright, editor, 2001.
Chapters 1, 2 and 8 in New Directions for Institutional Research, Number 104, Winter, 1999. What is Institutional Research All About? A Critical and Comprehensive Assessment of the Profession. J Fredericks Volkwein, Ed. (full text on-line)
September 9 Major responsibilities: Enrollment Management
Garvel Kindrick, VP for Institutional Research and Enrollment Management, Georgetown College, visitor “Studying student flow and the enrollment pipeline.”
Read: Kroc and Hansen, “Enrollment Mangement,” Ch.. 5 in The Primer for Institutional Research, Wm. E. Knight, ed. AIR, Tallahassee, FL. 2003. (electronic reserve)
“The Presidency and Institutional Research at Liberal Arts Colleges,” Pagano and Peacock, 2001. (Handout)
AIR Code of Ethics
September 16 Major Responsibilities: Peer group comparisons and benchmarking
What is a peer? Types of peers? Benchmarking: Why? How? NCES and IPEDS
IPEDS peer analysis system exercises on line
Read:
1. Chapter 6 in Knight, Teeter and Brinkman, Peer Institutions” (handout)
2. Benchmarking in Higher Education, Alstete, Jeffrey, ERIC online
September 23 Major Responsibilities: Faculty Productivity
Visiting faculty: Bethany Miller, Assistant Director of IR for effectiveness at EKU
Issues in faculty data; comparing faculty within and across institutions
Reading:
1. Michael F. Middaugh, “Academic Program and Faculty Issues,” Chapter 3 in Institutional Research: Decision Support in Higher Education, Rich Howard, ed., AIR, 2001.
2. Middaugh and Isaacs, “Chapter 3. Describing Faculty Activity and Productivity for Multiple Audiences,” and
3. “McLaughlin and Howard, “Chapter 4. Faculty Salary Analyses,” both in The Primer for Institutional Research, Wm. E. Knight, ed., 2003 (electronic reserve)
September 30
Visiting faculty: Karman Wheeler, Director of Institutional Effectiveness
What is “effectiveness” from perspective of various stakeholders. Institutional Research issues within a system, and in relation to the state.
Read: “Institutional Research: Knowledge, Skills, and Perceptions of Effectiveness” by William E. Knight, Michael E. moore, and Corby A. Coperthwaite, in Research in Higher Education,Vol. 38, No. 4, 1997. (full text accessible on line)
Chapter 4, “A Chaos Theory Metaphor for Strategic Planning” and Chapter 5 “Chaos Theory Applied to College Planning: A Case Study in Defense of Ten Propositions” in Chaos Theory and higher Education: Leadership, Planning and Policy, Marc Cutright, ed. Peter Lang, 2001.
October 7 Epistemology of institutional research; What we learn from using different methods; Studying students and programs at the institutional level and evaluating locally developed and other resources.
Read: New Directions for Institutional Research #112, Winter 2001, Chapters 2, 3 and 4
Ch. 2. “Qualitative and Quantitative Research; A Complementary Balance, Kenneth W. Borland, Jr., p. 5.
Ch. 3. “Using Qualitative and Quantitative Methods for Complementary Purposes: A Case Study” by McLaughlin, Josetta S.; McLaughlin, Gerald W.; Muffo, John A. p. 15.
Ch. 4. “Conceptual Models for Creating Useful Decision Support,” Howard, Richard D. p 45.
Identify instruments for critique.
October 14 IR Skills
Survey research; Using on-line survey software
Using the web for IR; national data sets
“Using National Data Sets for Postsecondary Education Research” John H. Milam, Jr.
October 21 Quality, accreditation and Effectiveness: IR issues and relationships with external world. The Q and A words. What are they? IR’s role? What is a ‘quality” department?
Instrument critique due.
Berdahl and McConnell, “Autonomy and Accountability” Ch. 3 in American Higher Education in the Twenty-first Century, Altbach, Berdahl and Gumport, eds., Johns Hopkins, 2001.
Accreditation
October 28 Deb Moore, Director of Assessment, University of Kentucky
“On being an assessment professional”
Assessment and Effectiveness, approaches to quality improvement
What is it? Who wants to know what, why, how and when?
How is assessment related to accountability, institutional effectiveness, accreditation, institutional research, and evaluation?
November 4 Assessment to support learning.
The case of Alverno College
Chapters 1 and 2 from Learning that Lasts: Integrating Learning, Development and Performance in College and Beyond, Marcia Mentkowski and Associates, Jossey-Bass, 2000.
November 11 Knowledge management
Visitor: E. J. Keeley, Director, Institutional Research, Eastern Kentucky University
Kidwell, J. J., Vander Linde, K., and Johnson, S. L. (2001) “Applying corporate knowledge management practices in higher education.” In G. Bernbom (ed.) Information alchemy: the Art and science of knowledge management.
Rowley, J (1998) Creating a learning organisationin higher education. Industrial and Commercial Training, 30 (1), 16 – 19.
Serban, A. M., & Luan, J. (2002) “Overview of knowledge management,” in New Directions in Institutional Research, Vol 113. Knowledge management: Bulding a competitive advantage in higher education. p. 5 – 16.
Stevenson, J. M. (2001) Modern practice, pragmatism, philosophy in higher education administration: Knowledge leadership of the chief academic officer. College Student Journal, 35 (2), 162 – 168.
November 18 Ch. 7 in Chaos Theory, Cohen and March, and Institutional Research
Read Borden speech
December 2 Effective Reporting and Presentation of Data
Effective Reporting. Bers and Seybert, Association for Institutional Research, Tallahassee, FL, 1999.
Tufte, Edward R. Visual Explanations, Cheshire, CT, Graphics Press, 1997.
December 11 Case Study due
Grades: Class participation and preparation 25%
IR report 15%
Instrument critique 15%
Revisit IR report 10%
Case study analysis 40%