From the course: Ethics and Law in Data Analytics

Education and policy

From the course: Ethics and Law in Data Analytics

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Education and policy

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- This is one of my favorite policy areas to explore because of my role as an academic. Universities hold an enormous amount of data about applicants and admitted students from financial aid, recruitment, admissions, class performance, extracurricular engagement, et cetera. Students leave digital tracks all over the place. In many cases universities are not doing nearly enough to share that information across divisions and to use it in ways to improve the quality of education, but that's for another day. The opportunities to use big data in higher-ed can either produce or prevent discrimination. The same technology that can help identify and serve students who need assistance can also be used to deny them admission or if already admitted, to discourage them from selecting a course of study that they are passionate about. For example, some universities are already using data points to map pathways to student success. In some cases this has improved retention and graduation rates, universities can use analytics to try to predict a student's success in a particular major and course of study. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act FERPA applies to protect student information but it has not been a road block to the use of analytics for universities wanting to apply analytics projects. The 2016 White House Big Data Report does recommend that universities obtain Institutional Review Board or IRB approval as these projects do involve human subjects, the students themselves. Even if universities can ensure compliance with federal law for their projects, there is another important concern here and that is student autonomy and the right to self determine a path of study that is consistent with the student's passions regardless of any algorithmic, diagnostic, or prediction. We might call this the right to autonomy privacy or the right to identity privacy. I'm just scratching at the surface of this here, but the concern is very real and ultimately involves the individual's right to self-determination and self-creation. We each have a right to create our identity. When institutions or organizations start messing with that right by relying solely on data analytics to direct student growth, regardless of any altruistic intention, they may be committing an act of disrespect. What more important foundational right is there than the right to create your very own definition of self.

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