ABSTRACT
This chapter describes multiple efforts to use data-intensive research methods to improve teaching and learning. It highlights the important role that partnerships between researchers and practitioners can play in activating educational big data as a resource for improvement. The chapter presents some fundamental research and leadership concepts as it relates to each other and to the goal of using data-intensive research to improve education outcomes. It focuses on data and complex data analyses to improve learning experiences and educational outcomes. Data-intensive research involves data resources that are beyond the storage requirements, computational intensiveness, or complexity that is currently typical of the research an educational data scientist is someone who practices data-intensive research in education. Colleges and universities have turned to data-intensive research techniques to help them identify students who are at risk of failing to complete a course or program of study.
