Towards learning analytics adoption: A mixed methods study of data-related practices and policies in Latin American universities

In Latin American universities, Learning Analytics (LA) has been perceived as a promising opportunity to leverage data to meet the needs of a diverse student cohort. Although universities have been collecting educational data for years, the adoption of LA in this region is still limited due to the lack of expertise and policies for processing and using educational data. In order to get a better picture of how existing data-related practices and policies might affect the incorporation of LA in Latin American institutions, we conducted a mixed methods study in four Latin American universities (two Chilean and two Ecuadorian). In this paper, the qualitative data were based on 37 interviews with managers and 16 focus groups with 51 teaching staff and 45 students; the quantitative data were collected through two surveys answered by 1884 students and 368 teachers, respectively. The findings reveal opportunities to incorporate LA services into existing data practices in the four case studies. However, the lack of reliable information systems and policies to regulate the use of data imposes challenges that need to be overcome for future LA adoption.     

Learning design and learning analytics in mobile and ubiquitous learning: A systematic review

Mobile and Ubiquitous Learning (m/u-learning) are finding an increasing adoption in education. They are often distinguished by hybrid learning environments that encompass elements of formal and informal learning, in activities that happen in distributed settings (indoors and outdoors), across physical and virtual spaces. Despite their purported benefits, these environments imply additional complexity in the design, monitoring and evaluation of learning activities. The research literature on learning design (LD) and learning analytics (LA) has started to deal with these issues. This paper presents a systematic literature review of LD and LA, in m/u-learning. Apart from providing an overview of the current research in the field, this review elicits elements of common ground between both communities, as shown by the similar learning contexts and complementary research contributions, and based on the research gaps, proposes to: address m/u-learning beyond higher education settings, reinforce the connection between physical and virtual learning spaces, and more systematically align LD and LA processes.     

Using learning analytics in the Amazonas: understanding students’ behaviour in introductory programming

Tools for automatic grading programming assignments, also known as Online Judges, have been widely used to support computer science (CS) courses. Nevertheless, few studies have used these tools to acquire and analyse interaction data to better understand the students’ performance and behaviours, often due to data availability or inadequate granularity. To address this problem, we propose an Online Judge called CodeBench, which allows for fine-grained data collection of student interactions, at the level of, eg, keystrokes, number of submissions, and grades. We deployed CodeBench for 3 years (2016–18) and collected data from 2058 students from 16 introductory computer science (CS1) courses, on which we have carried out fine-grained learning analytics, towards early detection of effective/ineffective behaviours regarding learning CS concepts. Results extract clear behavioural classes of CS1 students, significantly differentiated both semantically and statistically, enabling us to better explain how student behaviours during programming have influenced learning outcomes. Finally, we also identify behaviours that can guide novice students to improve their learning performance, which can be used for interventions. We believe this work is a step forward towards enhancing Online Judges and helping teachers and students improve their CS1 teaching/learning practices.     

Adaptation and evaluation of a learning analytics dashboard to improve academic support at three Latin American universities

Despite the success of academic advising dashboards in several higher educational institutions (HEI), these dashboards are still under-explored in Latin American HEI's. To close this gap, three different Latin American universities adapted an existing advising dashboard, originally deployed at the KU Leuven to their own context. In all three cases, the context was the main ruling factor to these adaptations. In this paper, we describe these adaptions using a framework that focuses on four different elements of the context: Objectives, Stakeholders, Key moment and Interactions. Evaluation of the adapted dashboards in the three different Latin American universities is conducted through pilots. This evaluation shows the value of the dashboard approach in different contexts in terms of satisfaction, usefulness and impact in academic decision-making and advising tasks. The main contribution of this paper is the systematic reporting of the adaptations to an academic advising dashboard and showing the value of an academic advising dashboard on academic decision-making and advising tasks.     

Learning analytics initiatives in Latin America: Implications for educational researchers,practitioners and decision makers

This study presents several Latin American research initiatives in the field of learning analytics (LA). The study’s purpose is to enhance awareness and understanding of LA among researchers, practitioners and decision makers, and to highlight the importance of supporting research on LA. We analyzed case studies of LA research conducted at four levels of the educational system (the national, institutional, classroom and student levels), which were implemented in four countries (Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay). Diversified cases were selected to demonstrate the use of LA in primary, secondary and higher education, and to allow the inclusion of different types of datasets. These cases also showed the development of legal frameworks for handling ethical issues, and they met the requirements for data privacy protection in Latin America. The study concludes with a discussion of the findings and their implications for further research and practice in the field of LA for teaching and learning.     

Evaluation of a learning analytics tool for supporting teachers in the creation and evaluation of accessible and quality open educational resources

The learning analytics (LA) field seeks to analyze data about students’ interactions, and it has been applied in the development of tools for supporting both learning and teaching processes. Recent research has paid attention on how LA may benefit teachers in the creation of educational resources. However, most of the research on LA solutions is carried out to support teachers in analyzing students’ behavior data collected as they interact with virtual learning environments. While solutions to support teachers in different virtual learning and teaching contexts have become important, to date little research has been done on how LA solutions can help teachers to create and evaluate Open Educational Resources (OERs). This study aims at presenting the evaluation of a LA tool for supporting teachers in the creation and evaluation of accessible and quality OERs considering that both processes fall within the competences that teachers can acquire and strengthen by participating as authors (creation) and evaluators (evaluation) of OERs. The study was conducted with Colombian teachers and the results obtained highlight the positive effect the tool had on the teachers’ acquisition of the competences and the positive attitude they had toward using the tool.     

A systematic review of the role of learning analytics in enhancing feedback practices in higher education

Learning analytics (LA) offers new opportunities to enrich feedback practices in higher education, but little is understood about the ways different LA can enhance feedback practices for educators and students. This systematic literature review maps the current state of implementation of LA to improve feedback practices in technology-mediated learning environments in higher education. We used strict inclusion criteria to select relevant studies that have investigated the role of LA on feedback practices. To identify common features of LA for feedback studies, we coded relevant publications using an analytical framework that identifies four key dimensions of LA systems: what (types of data), how (analytic methods), why (objectives), and how educators and students are served by LA (stakeholders). Based on findings, we propose a conceptual framework that can guide the implementation of LA for feedback systems and also suggest future empirical research in this area.     

Quantitative and qualitative measures of student learning at university level

This paper reports the use of quantitative and qualitative measures of university student learning during teaching in psychiatry. Concept mapping, pre-and post test scores and performance in written assignments were used to measure the quality of change in personal understanding and to show the ways that the knowledge-targets of the course were achieved. The data show that: (1) Concept mapping can be used to explore personal understanding because it facilitates discrete statements of meaning. (2) These personal statements can be compared through time to assess change. (3) Specific criteria can be used to measure the quality of the change from one statement to another so that the different qualities of change that occur can be made-visible in the course of teaching. The approach is discussed in the broader context of learning theory and teaching practice. We show in particular, that prior-knowledge is an important determinant of learning because it affects the sense that can be made of taught material.     

Imagining a transformed UNESCO with learning at its core

This paper argues that key aspects of UNESCO's organizational culture are a major impediment to the realization of its important educational agenda. Drawing upon sustained observations over a four-year period, the paper describes the nature and consequences of UNESCO's highly ritualized and ‘inward-oriented’ work activities, especially the weak links between what happens at Headquarters and the realities on the ground in formal and non-formal educational frameworks worldwide. By establishing a more open, interactive and egalitarian organizational milieu, focused on collaborative learning and knowledge creation, accumulation and dissemination, this paper argues that these linkages can be tightened. A genuine learning-oriented culture at UNESCO would encourage professional empowerment, independent thinking, human resource development, greater dialogue and critical debate, and the creation and dissemination of quality publications. Thus, for UNESCO to regain its leadership role in the education world and effectively serve as a broker of innovative ideas and effective programs, it must overcome the stultifying tendencies of its current organizational culture and find ways to develop dynamic learning cultures both from without and from within.     

新时代国际竞争力与高等教育之挑战

现代教育的战略作用与企业龙头一样迫切需要多样化。强烈建议领导者使用创新商业模式来调整业务,从而获取全球竞争力。本模式由五个要素组成,分别是：创意、捕捉、现金、承诺和文化。其中,文化因素最为重要,它把其他四个要素整合在一起发挥作用,给客户提供不可替代的价值。     

基于多源学习活动流的分析规则设计及其应用

多源学习活动流的提出,可有效反映学习者穿梭于不同学习生态空间的数字活动轨迹,而将这些数据汇聚在一起加以追溯和分析,可全面理解学习者整个学习生态的需求和问题,从而有效支持智慧教育下的精准教与学。在借鉴ADL xAPI的活动描述模型、CAM的分层结构和Paradata的多用户视角的基础上,多源学习活动流的描述模型以及汇聚层次被加以讨论,补充了在以往学习分析研究中少有考虑到的数据记录的多源性以及汇聚分析的层次问题。首先,六类数据要素(Actor、Action、Object、Tool、Session和Source)逐渐递增组合、22条"情境-应用-数据"数据分析规则被提出,并按照个体性情境、任务性情境、社会性情境、时空性情境和环境性情境加以归类,以指导多源学习活动流数据分析的具体应用。然后,借助由Slack(一款App聚合协作学习平台)和Trello(一款学习项目管理平台)所搭建的多源学习环境,将提出的数据分析规则应用于实践:实验对象35名大二学生被分成10组,所收集的6179条学习活动行为数据使用Actor{1,n}-Action{1,n}/Tool{1,n}-Source等规则,从小组和个人的不同层次,解读学习者的行为模式偏好和学习状态变化,初步验证了所提分析规则的可用性。最终得到的研究成果指向解决今后必然越发复杂的数字学习生态中的学习分析问题,以期为其他研究者和教育一线工作者,提供一定的分析思路引导和框架指南。     

Soft skills at the Malaysian institutes of higher learning

This article discusses human capital development through the seven soft skills elements which comprise communication skills, critical thinking and problem solving skills, team work, lifelong learning and information management skills, entrepreneurship skills, ethics, and professional moral and leadership skills. The Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia recently announced that the said soft skills are to be introduced to undergraduates of Institutes of Higher Learning in Malaysia. Suggestions on how these elements are to be incorporated in the undergraduates program are also put forward.     

Empowering learners with personalised learning approaches? Agency,equity and transparency in the context of learning analytics

Abstract

The emergence of personalised data technologies such as learning analytics is framed as a solution to manage the needs of higher education student populations that are growing ever more diverse and larger in size. However, the current approach to learning analytics presents tensions between increasing student agency in making learning-related decisions and ‘datafying’ students in the process of collecting, analysing and interpreting data. This article presents a study that explores staff and student experience of agency, equity and transparency in existing data practices and expectations towards learning analytics in a UK university. The results show a number of intertwined factors that have contributed to the tensions between enhancing a learner’s control of their studies and, at the same time, diminishing their autonomy as an active agent in the process of learning analytics. This article argues that learner empowerment should not be automatically assumed to have taken place as part of the adoption of learning analytics. Instead, the interwoven power relationships in a complex educational system and the interactions between humans and machines need to be taken into consideration when presenting learning analytics as an equitable process to enhance student agency and educational equity.     

Supporting the less-adaptive student: the role of learning analytics,formative assessment and blended learning

Abstract

How can we best facilitate students most in need of learning support, entering a challenging quantitative methods module at the start of their bachelor programme? In this empirical study into blended learning and the role of assessment for and as learning, we investigate learning processes of students with different learning profiles. Specifically, we contrast learning episodes of two cluster analysis-based profiles, one profile more directed to deep learning and self-regulation, the other profile more directed toward stepwise learning and external regulation. In a programme based on problem-based learning, where students are supposedly being primarily self-directed, this first profile is regarded as being of an adaptive type, with the second profile less adaptive. Making use of a broad spectrum of learning and learner data, collected in the framework of a dispositional learning analytics application, we compare these profiles on learning dispositions, such as learning emotions, motivation and engagement, learning performance and trace variables collected from the digital learning environments. Outcomes suggest that the blended design of the module with the digital environments offering many opportunities for assessment of learning, for learning and as learning together with actionable learning feedback, is used more intensively by students of the less adaptive profile.     

南非高等教育发展与评估模式及对我国高等教育的启示

作为非洲经济最发达的国家,南非高等教育发展在发展中国家具有一定的典型性,其独特的社会和历史条件造成了南非在高等教育管理与评估方面的独特之处。南非高等教育及其评估有一个不断完善和提高的过程。本文简要叙述了南非高等教育及其评估的过程,并在分析南非高等教育管理和评估的基础上,分析了其高教管理和评估特点,探讨了建立在适合本国国情基础上的南非大学课程改革模式,并探讨了其对我国高等教育发展的启示与借鉴意义。     

高校践行生命教育的问题分析与策略探讨

高校开展生命教育具有重大理论意义与现实意义。而当前高校对于生命教育的理论研究不足,教学资源比较匮乏等问题突显。有针对性地加强生命教育理论学习,加快生命教育资源整合,强化生命教育活动导向,丰富大学生生活体验,建立健全保障机制等,是提高高校生命教育水平的有效策略。     

1978年以来我国民办高等教育政策建设的历史、成就与问题

1978年以来,我国民办高等教育政策建设大体经历了三个基本阶段,这三个基本阶段各有特点。在近三十年的民办高等教育政策建设历程中,既取得了成绩,也存在一些问题。以史为鉴,有利于我国民办高等教育政策体系的不断完善。     

可以把国学列为一级学科吗

当前中国发展"国学"牵涉的方面很广,有文化上的问题,有历史上的包袱,有时人的心态,甚而有关当下国内学术和文教的整体(不只是体系)问题。我近年在国内用中文发表的文字牵涉到的方面相当广,也和这问题有些关联。2009年岁末我回美国家中度假,收到学术界同仁电子邮附寄的南开大学刘泽华先生等具名的一篇"宣言"式的文字:《把国学列为一级学科不妥》。以我在英美学术界工作三十多年的背景,反思近百年来中国受西化影响下所建立的教育和学术体制,认为从(一)在邓小平先生领导下中国近三十年来改革开放的实际经验,(二)近十多年来中国高校的演变与现状,和(三)西方近数十年来"后现代主义"对"现代主义"的批判的视野来看,刘先生等的看法还有可商榷的地方。本文略为论列。