Ben Hicks
Data Scientist, Division of Student Success
BSc (Hons, Mathematics, ANU); Grad Dip (Education – Mathematics Specialist, Melb Uni)
Profile
Ben likes patterns and understanding how we make sense of the world. He studied mathematics as an undergraduate (at ANU, with honours), worked as a teacher and e-Learning leader for over a decade across three continents, and has built probabilistic models of various flavours; water-catchments, financial, learning. Ben joined the Retention Team in 2019 and has been merrily developing, optimising and analysing the team’s interventions, data and systems since.
Publications
Hicks, B., Kitto, K., Payne, L., & Buckingham Shum, S. (2022, March). Thinking with causal models: A visual formalism for collaboratively crafting assumptions. In LAK22: 12th International Learning Analytics and Knowledge Conference (pp. 250-259). https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3506860.3506899?casa_token=XxuOEeK7HeoAAAAA:5KqxjghMuo4QfFfd2TQj8wNgH9hKzaaHuoYuqwjrXydviJ-Nnn3glDYuI2zfnRGrDwrlXm8dSloRBKE
Linden, K., Van Der Ploeg, N., Hicks, B., & Locke, K. (2021, December). Increasing student grades in large online subjects: Combining tutorial support with technology. In Back to the Future–ASCILITE ‘21. https://2021conference.ascilite.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ASCILITE-2021-Proceedings-Linden-Hicks-VanderPloeg.pdf
Hicks, B., Linden, K., & Van Der Ploeg, N. (2021, December). Opportunities to improve learning analytics for student support when using online assessment tools. In Back to the Future–ASCILITE ‘21. https://2021conference.ascilite.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ASCILITE-2021-Proceedings-Jocls-Linden-Ploeg.pdf
Linden, K., Van Der Ploeg, N., & Hicks, B. (2021, December). Ghostbusters: Using learning analytics and early assessment design to identify and support ghost students. In Back to the Future–ASCILITE ‘21. https://2021conference.ascilite.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ASCILITE-2021-Proceedings-Linden-Ploeg-Hicks.pdf
Sugden, N., Brunton, R., MacDonald, J., Yeo, M., & Hicks, B. (2021). Evaluating student engagement and deep learning in interactive online psychology learning activities. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 37(2), 45-65. https://ajet.org.au/index.php/AJET/article/view/6632
van der Ploeg, N., Linden, K., Hicks, B., & Gonzalez, P. Widening the net to reduce the debt: Reducing student debt by increasing identification of completely disengaged students. In 37th International Conference of Innovation, Practice and Research in the Use of Educational Technologies in Tertiary Education: ASCILITE 2020 https://2020conference.ascilite.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ASCILITE-2020-Proceedings-van-der-Ploeg-N.pdf
Linden, K., van der Ploeg, N., Hicks, B., & Gonzalez, P. (2020). Peering into the crystal ball of the disengaged: What happens to students that do not submit an early assessment item?. In 37th International Conference of Innovation, Practice and Research in the Use of Educational Technologies in Tertiary Education: ASCILITE 2020 (pp. 48-53). ASCILITE. https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/peering-into-the-crystal-ball-of-the-disengaged-what-happens-to-s