End-User Needs of Fragmented Databases in Higher Education Data Analysis and Decision Making

Abstract

In higher education, a wealth of data is available to advisors, recruiters, marketers, and program directors. These large datasets can be accessed using an array of data analysis tools that may lead users to assume that data sources conflict with one another. As users identify new ways of accessing and analyzing these data, they deviate from existing work practices and sometimes create their own databases. This study investigated the needs of end users who are accessing these seemingly fragmented databases. Analysis of a survey completed by eighteen users and ten semi-structured interviews from five colleges and universities highlighted three recurring themes that affect work practices (access, understandability, and use), as well as a series of challenges and opportunities for the design of data gateways for higher education. We discuss a set of broadly applicable design recommendations and five design functionalities that the data gateways should support: training, collaboration, tracking, definitions and roadblocks, and time.