Trial Finds New Learner Analytics Software Helps 15 Percent More Students Achieve Top Class Degrees, and Improve Student Retention

BOSTON, Oct. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Solutionpath, a U.K. education technology business is set to revolutionize the way universities are able to harness their student data after a three-year trial of its pioneering analysis and monitoring software. The pilot project, at Nottingham Trent University in the U.K., has demonstrated marked improvements in students' academic performance, with over 15 percent more of their students now achieving top-class degrees.

Solutionpath, founded in 2012, has developed a software product called StREAM which measures and analyses student 'engagement', accurately identifying students who are at risk of early withdrawal from their course, or of under-achieving academically.

The software will be launched in the U.S. at the EDUCAUSE Annual conference at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Oct. 31.

The firm has already met with several U.S. colleges and has announced it will embark on initial data analysis and verification projects, and Beta testing of their enhanced U.S. software package early in 2018.

The company's sophisticated analytics software monitors and assesses digital interactions logged each time a student 'engages' with the university or college by carrying out day-to-day activities such as using the library or attending a lecture, alongside data on academic progress. The resulting analytics enable universities to identify students at academic risk at a much earlier stage so that staff can intervene and offer the help and support required.

Solutionpath has been working with Nottingham Trent University for the past three years, trialing and developing the system with undergraduates. The software is particularly valuable in the first year of students' degree courses, one of the most common times for problems to arise in the transition from high school to university.

David Woolley, head of schools, colleges and community outreach at Nottingham Trent University, said: "There's a very clear association between students using the StREAM software and their academic success, particularly when compared to their peers who were not using it.

"We saw some impressive results: in 2015-16 over 65 percent of students who used the Solutionpath software achieved a 2:1 or first class degree compared to just under 50 percent of students who did not use StREAM. Students who used it more often were even more successful, with 72 percent of those who logged in ten or more times scoring a 2:1 or first."

Howard Hall, CEO and co-founder of Solutionpath, said: "While the analytics that StREAM delivers are highly complex, as the trial with Nottingham Trent has shown, the benefits for both students and universities of using big data in this way are beautifully simple. Dropping out of university or under-achieving in their degree can be a personal disaster for a young person and extremely worrying for their family, and for the university, the loss of course fee revenues involved is significant too.

"Our analytics not only help prevent a student reaching these crisis points where they no longer feel they can continue with their studies but also help keep students engaged and motivated to achieve the best academic outcomes they can."

"We need to ensure we find the right collaboration partners as our first U.S. clients, as we are adding more features and aspects to the software specifically to meet the needs of the U.S. market, but already the feedback has been fantastic and we are excited about our 2018 launch here," concluded Mr. Hall.

Solutionpath is currently working with 11 universities in the U.K. and Australia. Further information can be found at http://www.solutionpath.co.uk.

ENDS

For further media information contact Sarah Hone at Great British Marketing on (+44) 1423 569999 email [email protected] or call Paul Snape on (+1) 617 275 2706 or email [email protected].

SOURCE Solutionpath

Related Links

http://www.solutionpath.co.uk