Analysis of Factors Affecting Higher Education Learning Process using a Bussines Intelligence Model

Abstract

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) today face many challenges such as the local and international expansion and the widespread utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) that facilitate global competition. To deal with these and with the changes in labor market, HEIs administrators and planners need information to improve their services, satisfy customers (students) and gain competitive advantage. Learning is a process that includes interactions among students, educators and courses under the umbrella of HEIs. In fact, it is the core and most important service provided by them and it is surrounded by many factors. Improving the learning process is multifaceted as there are numerous factors and stakeholders involved. The aim of this study is to present a Business Intelligence (BI) solution and investigate its value in streamlining the learning process at HEIs. The proposed solution avails information and analytical capabilities to HEIs decision makers. A mix of research methods were used to validate the solution, including content analysis to identify and categorize the factors involved in the learning process, along with a case study implementation of the proposed BI solution. Data was collected from different departments at the Sudan University of Science and Technology (SUST). The proposed model consist of two environment: data warehouse environment and analytical environment. The findings obtained from the model have demonstrated the efficiency and benefit of using BI tools to analyze data and obtain valuable decision-making information. The implemented model is very robust, and additional data will lead to more information about factors, and the relationship between factors and learning process.