About INSIGHT

INSIGHT, the South Central Instrument Library and Data Repository, is an evaluation resource that serves a broad range of educational constituents. It consists of two distinct but interrelated components:

INSIGHT Instrument Library

The INSIGHT Instrument Library provides a centralized library of Web-enabled educational evaluation surveys and instruments, available for program/project evaluators in K-16 education.

INSIGHT Data Repository

The INSIGHT Data Repository is a research tool containing the accumulated historical record of administrations of evaluation instruments housed in the Instrument Library. It serves two purposes:

Support of post-secondary research in educational technology
Comparison data for instrument evaluation/administration

Key Features

Data security

Security features are an integral part of the INSIGHT Data Repository. Any/all identifying information is automatically removed before data can be included in the Repository, and the results of this automatic "sanitizing" are double-checked by an INSIGHT administrator.

Data aggregation

Every time an instrument is administered through the INSIGHT system, results are added to the INSIGHT Data Repository, for subsequent analysis by interested educational researchers.

Content Accessibility

The INSIGHT Instrument Library has been designed to be compatible with the widest possible variety of Web clients. With rare exceptions, all instruments are accessible for populations with special needs and assistive technologies.

High-capacity servers

The INSIGHT system is capable of supporting literally thousands of users, in hundreds of remote locations, simultaneously.

Low cost/no cost

Operation of the INSIGHT system was originally supported by a federally-funded Department of Education grant. Every effort will be made to accommodate users at little or no cost.

Features for Evaluators

"Hassle-free" administration

Any instrument within the library can be administered to any group, of any size, anywhere, at any time. The INSIGHT technical staff handles all mechanical details of the administration, freeing the evaluator to focus on the results of the evaluation process.

Summary Reports and Analyses

At the end of an administration, evaluators are provided with complete electronic copies of all data collected, as well as a variety of summary reports and simple statistical analyses on selected datasets.

Features for Instrument Creators

World-wide exposure/distribution/dissemination

Including an instrument in the INSIGHT Instrument Library provides an instrument with regional, sometimes even national exposure. This exposure supports the collection of large amounts of data from geographically and demographically diverse respondents.

Protection of intellectual property

Protection of intellectual property rights is a paramount concern of the INSIGHT Instrument Library. Inclusion of a survey instrument in the Library has no impact on existing intellectual property rights. Instrument creators simply grant a nonexclusive, unrestricted, but revocable, right to administer the instrument upon request. Any applicable copyright notices remain part of the instrument. (See the terms of use for details.)

Features for Researchers

Cross-platform compatibility

Data extracted from the INSIGHT Repository are made available as a comma-delimited file, compatible with the widest possible range of analytical and database software.

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