Dropout Detective - DL/HY Faculty Only

Introduction to Dropout Detective

Dropout Detective is a program from AspirEDU that integrates directly with Canvas to provide a “risk index” of how likely it is that each student in online and hybrid courses will drop out or fail their DL and HY course(s). The program analyzes past and current engagement in Canvas to predict future performance. Additionally, this program compiles the different reasons the student is at risk and makes it easy to quickly review what might be happening with the student and determine an intervention strategy. 

Note: Dropout Detective is only available in online and hybrid courses (DL and HY) 

How to Access Dropout Detective

To access Dropout Detective – 

  1. Log into Canvas 

  1. Access one of your online or hybrid courses 

  1. Click on the “Dropout Detective” link on your Course Navigation Menu 

This shows how to access dropout detective off the navigation menu by scrolling down and choosing the icon.

Understanding the “Risk Index” Page

When you click on the Dropout Detective link, you will see a list of all the students in your course ranked from those most at risk of dropping out and failing to least at risk. This includes:  

  • Risk Index Color – Red is most at risk, yellow is medium risk, and green is low risk 
  • Risk Index – This number is out of 100, with 100 being the highest risk, and indicates how at risk the student is of failing or withdrawing 
  • Trend – How the student’s Risk Index compares to one week ago, with the up arrow indicating a positive trend and a down arrow indicating a negative trend 
  • Last Contact – Ignore this column as this indicates the last time a Note was entered about that student; it is our understanding that student notes should be entered in Navigate 

This shows a picture of the dropout detective student risk graph.

Student Specific Information

For more information on why a student is at risk, click on their name from the Risk Index page. This information will include: 

  • Last Login – The day/time the student last logged into Canvas (not the course) 
  • Send Message – Use this to email the student directly through the Canvas Inbox 
  • Email – The student’s PGCC email address and personal email if the student has added it to Canvas 
  • Course – The course ID and title 
  • Grade – The student’s current grade in the course, which does not count missing assignments if the instructor has not put a zero in the gradebook for the missing assignments. Because the grade does not take into account missing assignments, the student’s grade may look higher than it is. To fix this, go to the Canvas gradebook and enter in zeros for all missing assignments. You can always go back in and change the grade if the student submits the assignment, but the zero in the gradebook (and much lower course grade) may be the motivation the student needs to submit their work. 
  • Zeros – The number of assignments the student has earned a zero for  
  • Missing Assignments – The number of assignments the student is missing based on the assignment due dates for the course. If the instructor has entered in zeros for assignments the student has not submitted, they will no longer show up as “Missing Assignments.” Because of this, a student may show few or no missing assignments when they have many missing assignments. This is normally reflected in a very low course grade. 
  • Last Access – The last day/time the student accessed the course (not necessarily Canvas). If this is blank, then the student has never accessed the course. 
  • Latest Submission – The last time the student submitted an assignment in the course 
  • Notes – Ignore this tab as it is our understanding that student notes should be entered in Navigate 
  • History – This table shows a history of the student’s Risk Index over the last month and is useful to see if the student is going up in risk or down 
  • Contacts – If available, shows the instructor contact information of the student’s other courses 

This shows the student specific information graph.

Using Dropout Detective

Using Dropout Detective

Use Dropout Detective as part of your normal Canvas routine, like checking and responding to email. The more frequently you check Dropout Detective, the quicker you’ll be able to spot students who might be at risk and intervene before they are too far gone.

Here are some suggestions on how instructors can best use the information gained from Dropout Detective to help at risk students and increase retention rates in their online and hybrid courses.

  • Start with the students in Red (and then Yellow). These are the students who are most at risk. Click on their name to see why that student is at risk (normally low course grade, missing assignments, hasn’t logged in recently, and/or hasn’t submitted an assignment recently).
  • If you feel the student is at risk based on this information, the first step should be to email the student to see what’s going on and if they need some type of assistance (academic, personal, technical).
  • Depending on the response you get (or don’t get) from the student, you can refer the student to more assistance via PGCC’s Student Support Resources.

Have questions or need assistance with Dropout Detective? Please contact eLearning@pgcc.edu.

 

Details

Article ID: 148428
Created
Mon 12/11/23 10:12 AM
Modified
Mon 12/11/23 12:43 PM