Curricular Analytics Project

The Curricular Analytics Project (CAP)

In its feature on Curricular Analytics, The Chronicle of Higher Education asked, “Is Your Degree Program Too Complicated? (chronicle.com)?” Answers are facilitated by Curricular Analytics, which informs faculty oversight and supports essential apples-to-apples comparative analysis.

The Chronicle might have also asked: Is the structure of a degree program sufficiently scaffolded to support the integration of high-impact practices and robust learning outcomes? The Curricular Analytics Toolkit is a useful set of data visualization and analytics tools for all degree programs.

Supported by a grant from the Ascendium Education Group ($2M over four years), UERU has worked with 30 university members to further refine and validate evidence of the causal impact of curricular structure (e.g., pre- and co-requisites, blocking courses, chains of required courses, etc.).

CAP also entailed collection of 10 years of student progress and performance data to analyze the role that curricular structure plays in inequitable outcomes for racially minoritized students, Pell recipients, first-generation, and other student groups.

CAP universities interact via the MyUERU online community and have gathered at the University of Notre Dame (2022), Temple University (2023), the University of Arizona (2023), and at a hybrid meeting at Emory University (2024). Subgroups of CAP participants have also gathered at UERU's 2024 Lamborn-Hughes Institute (Colorado State University) and in other venues.

While many universities, including non-UERU members, use Curricular Analytics, CAP University Partners are committed to a rigorous approach to student success and count 30 percent or more of their undergraduates as Pell Grant recipients (an equity/excellence proxy measure). Current developments include work on a Transfer Student Portal via a pilot in Illinois led by the University of Illinois, Chicago, as well as in other states, and greater attention to the nuances of use of findings to facilitate campus- and unit-level change.

CAP Press Release

UERU receives $1.99M Grant for “Curricular Analytics”

Ascendium Educational Group Grant is Largest in UERU’s 20-year History

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*host university

Rutgers University-Newark
Temple University
University of Arizona
University of California, Davis
University of California, Irvine
University of California, Riverside
University of California, San Diego
University of Central Florida
University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Memphis

University of New Mexico
University of North Carolina, Charlotte
University of South Florida
University of Texas, Arlington
University of Texas, Dallas
University of Texas, El Paso
University of Texas, San Antonio
University of Texas, Tyler
University of Toledo
Utah State University
Washington State University

Leadership Team

Steven P. Dandaneau

UERU / Colorado State University

Steven P. Dandaneau is Executive Director of the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities and Associate Provost at Colorado State University. He written about Curricular Analytics in Change Magazine and University World News and is editor of the in-progress Johns Hopkins University Press volume, The Equity/Excellence Imperative in Action, which includes a chapter on Curricular Analytics, and the in-progress Routledge volume, Curricular Analytics & Student Success, the debut volume in a series on "Advancing Equity and Excellence in Undergraduate Education: A Focus on Research Universities."

Steven.Dandaneau@colostate.edu

Greg Heileman

University of Arizona

Gregory (Greg) L. Heileman currently serves as the Vice Provost, Undergraduate Education and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Arizona, where he is responsible for facilitating collaboration across campus to strategically enhance institutional capacity related to academic administration. He has served in various administrative capacities in higher education since 2004. His experience includes work in the areas of faculty development, institutional research, accreditation and academic program review, curriculum management, student success, academic advisement, tutoring, student health & wellbeing, student conduct, budget and finance, economic development, policy development, information technology and data governance, and strategic planning.

Michael Toland

University of Toledo

Michael Toland is the first full-time Executive Director of The Herb Innovation Center at the University of Toledo. He is trained in applied statistics and psychometrics, with several years of statistical and measurement consulting experience, especially with latent variable modeling, design of instruments, and analyzing nested data structures.

Prior to his current appointment at the University of Toledo, Toland spent 12 years at the University of Kentucky as a Professor in the Educational Psychology and Quantitative and Psychometric Methods programs. There, he taught numerous statistics, design, and measurement courses and provided pre and post design, statistical, and measurement services on projects funded by federal, state, and private agencies.

David Dueber

University of Toledo

David Dueber is a Postdoctoral Researcher in The Herb Innovation Center at the University of Toledo. He earned her Ph.D. in Quantitative and Psychometric Methods from the University of Kentucky in 2020. Prior to his current appointment as a Postdoctoral Researcher, Dueber worked as a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Kentucky and as an independent statistical consultant before that. He has experience with (quasi-)experimental design, large-scale data, multilevel modeling, latent variable modeling, and scale development.

Dueber's methodological research interests stem from issues encountered in his applied work. He is currently interested in developing and testing mechanisms for performing power analysis for multilevel structural equation models, assessing differential item functioning and measurement non-invariance, estimating the biasing influence of measurement error, and decision-making regarding the treatment of subscores.

Erin Helbig

Damour

Erin Helbig is the Curricular Analytics Project Coordinator. She has a BS degree in Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies from James Madison University. Prior to working for Damour Systems, she managed previous grants involving curricula and long before that taught kindergarten. She now resides near Pittsburgh, PA with her husband, two teens and the best dog named Bob.

Hayden Free

Damour

Hayden Free leads technical development of the Curricular Analytics framework and directs software engineering at DamourSystems. He earned his BS in Computer Science from the University of Kentucky, where he began working on Curricular Analytics as an undergraduate research assistant under Dr. Gregory Heileman. He is currently pursuing an MS in Computer Science with a specialization in Machine Learning at Georgia Tech.

Curricular Analytics

Curricular Analytics is an open-source tool for the study of curricular complexity pioneered by Greg Heileman (University of Arizona), Chaouki Abdallah (Georgia Institute of Technology), and other then-University of New Mexico researchers and academic leaders.

Access the Tool

To help spread the word about the value of using the tool as a means to promote student success, UERU sponsored the production of a 5-minute video introduction. Please feel free to share this video with colleagues.

Findings document that unnecessary curricular complexity extends time-to-degree, adversely affects graduation rates, and contributes to achievement gaps. Use of the tool has the manifest benefit of engaging faculty, advisors, and others in data-informed review of curricula, while latent benefits include encouraging broad-based unit-level student-centered discussion.

A screenshot of a Curricular Analytics degree map