Using Canvas to identify high-risk students

[rmuthiah1]

I've been considering the possibility of using Canvas data to identify students who are underperforming in one or more courses. With New Analytics, professors can identify students in a course who aren't opening pages or completing assignments; my thought is to access these same (or additional) analytics for ALL students, then identify those who meet one or more of the following in multiple courses:

1. Grades below a designated threshold
2. Outliers for number of page views compared to others in their course
3. Haven't engaged with course content for more than a week (or whatever length makes sense)

In my mind, we would download data for all students, then analyze for the criteria above. Once students are identified, we could provide targeted interventions to support the students.

Have others done anything similar? If so, how would one go about getting the data? I'm not on the IT side and don't know what is possible; I'm a student success practitioner looking for ways to identify high-risk students so we can intervene in time to make a difference. Have others used an approach similar to this?

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

@rmuthiah1 ...

I know there is a product called Dropout Detective that might have some useful data for you.  This is a paid product, and I'm sure that @Chris_Munzo would be able to fill you in on the details...so I've tagged him in my response.  Hopefully the two of you can connect.  I'd also recommend that you get your school's Canvas administrator(s) involved in this conversation...because (correct me if I'm wrong, Chris) this integration is typically installed at the Canvas account level rather than the Canvas course level.

Good luck!

[Chris_Munzo]

Hi, @rmuthiah1 -- Thank you @Chris_Hofer ... Rick and I have connected via email.  I look forward to seeing you both in Denver later this month!