by Mary Beth Faller, The Republic
The same kind of number crunching that Netflix uses to recommend the perfect movie to each subscriber is being used by Rio Salado Community College to boost student success. When movie-rental customers vote often enough on which films they like, Netflix can take that data, apply a mathematical formula and predict other movies their customers will like. Rio Salado is now doing the same kind of “predictive analytics” by tracking student behaviors, such as how often they log in, to determine which students are most likely to succeed — meaning complete the course with a grade of C or better. Those at risk of failure are offered extra help right away. The online public community college has found that the level and pace of engagement — rather than good grades — early in the term is a good predictor of success.
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