Jun 3, 2016 07:38 PM
Who falls for the education reform hype?
http://andrewgelman.com/2016/06/03/26981/
EXCERPT: [...] Many prominent statisticians including Don Rubin, Howard Wainer, and Jennifer Hill have objected to the excesses of the “value added” movement in education for more than a decade now. I suspect that statisticians are less likely than the usual suspects to fall for the education reform hype. I agree that the whole thing is frustrating, in part because often it seems to be done in the name of statistics. I suppose the analogy would be if, in the name of nutrition, the U.S. government were encouraging us to eat expensive unhealthy foods that made some people a ton of money. Hey, wait a minute . . . !...
An example of terrible analytics report design
http://junkcharts.typepad.com/numbersrul...esign.html
EXCERPT: In the business analytics universe, the discipline of "business intelligence" is often frowned upon. Business intelligence is primarily generating reports on business metrics, tracking them over time, and producing ad-hoc analyses explaining these trends. People often complain that such work is not challenging and not sexy. There is a stigma that BI work is data dumping. In reality, good BI work is rare and extremely valuable. Horrible BI work is commonplace and frequently leads to bad decisions. Design thinking is very important to good BI work. Analytics reports should be designed in such a way that it facilitates managers making the right decisions. When a report is designed poorly, it causes bad decisions.
I just started a new course at Columbia called Applied Analytics Methods and Frameworks. After students did Quiz #1 (worth 5 points out of 100 points in the grading scheme), I have an unusual number of worried students saying they will fail the course. I have taught for over 10 years, and have never encountered something like this. Eventually, thanks to one persistent student, I found the root cause of the anxiety. It is the terrible design of the "Gradebook" report on our online course website....
http://andrewgelman.com/2016/06/03/26981/
EXCERPT: [...] Many prominent statisticians including Don Rubin, Howard Wainer, and Jennifer Hill have objected to the excesses of the “value added” movement in education for more than a decade now. I suspect that statisticians are less likely than the usual suspects to fall for the education reform hype. I agree that the whole thing is frustrating, in part because often it seems to be done in the name of statistics. I suppose the analogy would be if, in the name of nutrition, the U.S. government were encouraging us to eat expensive unhealthy foods that made some people a ton of money. Hey, wait a minute . . . !...
An example of terrible analytics report design
http://junkcharts.typepad.com/numbersrul...esign.html
EXCERPT: In the business analytics universe, the discipline of "business intelligence" is often frowned upon. Business intelligence is primarily generating reports on business metrics, tracking them over time, and producing ad-hoc analyses explaining these trends. People often complain that such work is not challenging and not sexy. There is a stigma that BI work is data dumping. In reality, good BI work is rare and extremely valuable. Horrible BI work is commonplace and frequently leads to bad decisions. Design thinking is very important to good BI work. Analytics reports should be designed in such a way that it facilitates managers making the right decisions. When a report is designed poorly, it causes bad decisions.
I just started a new course at Columbia called Applied Analytics Methods and Frameworks. After students did Quiz #1 (worth 5 points out of 100 points in the grading scheme), I have an unusual number of worried students saying they will fail the course. I have taught for over 10 years, and have never encountered something like this. Eventually, thanks to one persistent student, I found the root cause of the anxiety. It is the terrible design of the "Gradebook" report on our online course website....