Customized Rule-Based Model to Identify At-Risk Students and Propose Rational Remedial Actions

Detecting at-risk students provides advanced benefits for reducing student retention rates, effective enrollment management, alumni engagement, targeted marketing improvement, and institutional effectiveness advancement. One of the success factors of educational institutes is based on accurate and timely identification and prioritization of the students requiring assistance. The main objective of this paper is to detect at-risk students as early as possible in order to take appropriate correction measures taking into consideration the most important and influential attributes in students’ data. This paper emphasizes the use of a customized rule-based system (RBS) to identify and visualize at-risk students in early stages throughout the course delivery using the Risk Flag (RF). Moreover, it can serve as a warning tool for instructors to identify those students that may struggle to grasp learning outcomes. The module allows the instructor to have a dashboard that graphically depicts the students’ performance in different coursework components. The at-risk student will be distinguished (flagged), and remedial actions will be communicated to the student, instructor, and stakeholders. The system suggests remedial actions based on the severity of the case and the time the student is flagged. It is expected to improve students’ achievement and success, and it could also have positive impacts on under-performing students, educators, and academic institutions in general.

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Style Over Substance Reconsidered: Intrusive Intervention and At-Risk Students with Learning Disabilities

NACADA Journal ◽

10.12930/0271-9517-22.2.66 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 66-77 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Robert Abelman ◽

Anthony Molina

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Learning Disabilities ◽

Student Performance ◽

At Risk Students ◽

Retention Rates ◽

Students With Learning Disabilities ◽

Grade Point ◽

Probationary Students ◽

The Individual ◽

The Impact

In two recent publications, we reported that the academic intervention process, not the specific intervention content, was responsible for a short-and long-term influx in at-risk student performance (grade-point average) and persistence (retention). All at-risk students who participated in the most intrusive of three interventions had higher cumulative grade-point averages and retention rates than those who received less intrusive interventions. In this post hoc analysis, we looked at probationary students with learning disabilities and found that they are only responsive to the individual attention and personalized accommodation provided under a highly intrusive model, and the impact is temporary.

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A controlled intervention to improve freshman retention in a STEM-based physiology major

AJP Advances in Physiology Education ◽

10.1152/advan.00038.2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 44 (3) ◽

pp. 334-343

Author(s):

Miriam Leary ◽

Aimee Morewood ◽

Randy Bryner

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Student Perceptions ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

At Risk Students ◽

Retention Rates ◽

Control Group ◽

First Year ◽

Freshman Retention ◽

Retention Group ◽

And Mathematics

Using a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning lens, this study systematically examined if a targeted intervention in at-risk students within a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-based physiology program would elicit positive student perceptions and higher retention rates into the second year. Those students who were considered at risk for attrition (retention; n = 82) were compared against a control group (non-retention; n = 165), and outcomes were evaluated with an End-of-Semester Survey and university enrollment data. Students in the retention group reported more favorable responses to questions pertaining to a first-year seminar course and academic advising. By the start of the following (spring 2019) semester, 48 students transferred out of the program (20%) with little difference between groups (non-retention 19%; retention 22%). At the start of fall 2019 term, 55% of the 2018 freshman class were retained within the program (non-retention 66%; retention 39%), and 85% were retained within the university (non-retention 91%, retention 74%). The intervention was successful in eliciting positive student perceptions of the major, but did not improve retention of at-risk students within the physiology major.

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Style Over Substance Revisited: A Longitudinal Analysis of Intrusive Intervention

NACADA Journal ◽

10.12930/0271-9517-21.1-2.32 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 21 (1-2) ◽

pp. 32-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Robert Abelman ◽

Anthony Molina

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Student Performance ◽

Academic Advising ◽

At Risk Students ◽

Grade Point Averages ◽

Retention Rates ◽

Grade Point ◽

Intervention Process ◽

Intervention Content ◽

Long Term Impact

In a recent report, the authors showed that the academic intervention process, rather than the specific intervention content, was responsible for a short-term influx in at-risk student performance and persistence. Students in varying degrees of academic probation were randomly assigned to one of three intervention strategies that incorporated controlled content but divergent levels of intrusiveness. Results showed that the most intrusive intervention produced higher cumulative grade-point averages and retention rates for all at-risk students. This follow-up study on the long-term impact of these one-time interventions confirms results regarding performance and persistence: Some intrusion is better than none in academic advising.

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The Transition to STEM Higher Education: Policy Recommendation – Conclusions of the readySTEMgo-Project

International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP) ◽

10.3991/ijep.v8i2.8286 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 10

Author(s):

Greet Langie ◽

Maarten Pinxten

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

At Risk ◽

Higher Education Policy ◽

Early Stage ◽

At Risk Students ◽

Retention Rates ◽

First Year ◽

Policy Recommendations ◽

Policy Recommendation ◽

Key Skills

For Europe to remain at the forefront of scientific and technological devel-opment, the current shortage of persons trained in these fields at secondary and higher education has to be overcome. The readySTEMgo project aims to improve the retention rates of higher education STEM programmes by the identification of at-risk students in an early stage. We successfully identified a number of key skills that are essential for first-year achievement in a STEM programme. Additionally, we investigated which intervention tools can support at-risk students and evaluated their effectiveness. Based on the output of this research project four policy recommendations are formulated.

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Style Over Substance in Interventions for At-Risk Students: The Impact of Intrusiveness

NACADA Journal ◽

10.12930/0271-9517-20.2.5 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 5-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Anthony Molina ◽

Robert Abelman

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Student Performance ◽

At Risk Students ◽

Grade Point Averages ◽

Academic Probation ◽

Retention Rates ◽

Success Strategies ◽

Grade Point ◽

Academic Dismissal ◽

The Impact

Academic advisors charged with developing and implementing student success strategies should ask: To what extent is the process of intervention, rather than the nature of any specific intervention, responsible for an influx in at-risk student performance and persistence? Students in varying degrees of academic probation were randomly assigned to one of three intervention strategies that incorporated controlled content but divergent levels of intrusiveness. The most intrusive intervention resulted in higher cumulative grade-point averages and higher retention rates for all students. Students with the highest risk of academic dismissal were the most responsive to the most intrusive intervention.

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Phonological Awareness Screening to Identify At-Risk Readers

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.2902.109 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 109-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Margie Gilbertson ◽

Ronald K. Bramlett

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Phonological Awareness ◽

Reading Ability ◽

At Risk Students ◽

First Grade ◽

Receptive Vocabulary ◽

Standardized Assessments ◽

Cutoff Score ◽

Invented Spelling ◽

Reading Measures

The purpose of this study was to investigate informal phonological awareness measures as predictors of first-grade broad reading ability. Subjects were 91 former Head Start students who were administered standardized assessments of cognitive ability and receptive vocabulary, and informal phonological awareness measures during kindergarten and early first grade. Regression analyses indicated that three phonological awareness tasks, Invented Spelling, Categorization, and Blending, were the most predictive of standardized reading measures obtained at the end of first grade. Discriminant analyses indicated that these three phonological awareness tasks correctly identified at-risk students with 92% accuracy. Clinical use of a cutoff score for these measures is suggested, along with general intervention guidelines for practicing clinicians.

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