Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Physics, Astronomy, and Education at the University of Michigan
About
Professor McKay is a data scientist, drawing inference from large data sets, and he has done research has been in two main areas: observational cosmology and higher education. He has also been an academic administrator, leading the 1800 student honors program in the University of Michigan (U-M) College of Literature Science and the Arts from 2008-2016. In astrophysics, McKay's main research tools have been the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Dark Energy Survey, and the simulations which support them both. His team used these tools to probe the growth and nature of cosmic structure as well as the expansion history of the Universe, especially through studies of galaxy clusters and gravitational lensing. He has also studied astrophysical transients, including gamma-ray bursts, as part of the Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment.
In higher education, McKay does learning analytics: using the rich, extensive, and complex data produced by digitally mediated education to better understand and improve student outcomes. In 2011, his team created the ECoach computer-tailored student support system. In 2014, he launched the REBUILD project, an effort to increase the use of evidence-based methods in large foundational courses. In 2015, McKay founded the Digital Innovation Greenhouse (DIG), an education technology accelerator within the U-M Office of Academic Innovation. As faculty director of DIG, he works with a team of software developers, user experience designers, and behavioral scientists to grow good ideas from innovation to infrastructure. DIG provides a home for a substantial expansion of ECoach, which now aims to support students throughout their undergraduate experience. All of this work is part of Michigan's Academic Innovation Initiative, which aims to rethink public higher education for the 21st century, making it more engaged, inclusive, and effective.
Current Work:
McKay's group works to assess and improve equity in higher education. They focus on the large foundational courses which make up one third of the student experience at Michigan, studying how student academic background and social identity impact performance. They use the ECoach computer tailored communication system to provide personalized feedback, encouragement, and advice to all students. These tools allow them to use large-scale randomized trials to test the causal impact of their interventions.
Research Area Keyword(s):
Higher education, learning analytics, equity in STEM
