Effective usage of learning analytics: what do practitioners want and where should distance learning institutions be going?

ABSTRACT

The implementation of learning analytics may empower distance learning institutions to provide real-time feedback to students and teachers. Given the leading role of the Open University UK (OU) in research and application of learning analytics, this study aims to share the lessons learned from the experiences of 42 participants from a range of faculty, academic and professional positions, and expertise with learning analytics. Furthermore, we explored where distance learning institutions should be going next in terms of learning analytics adoption. The findings from the Learning Analytics User Stories (LAUS) workshop indicated four key areas where more work is needed: communication, personalisation, integrated design, and development of an evidence-base. The workshop outputs signalled the aspiration for an integrated analytics system transcending the entire student experience, from initial student inquiry right through to qualification completion and into life-long learning. We hope that our study will spark discussion on whether (or not) distance learning institutions should pursue the dream of an integrated, personalised, and evidence-based learning analytics system that clearly communicates useful feedback to staff and students, or whether this will become an Orwellian nightmare.     

The Early Development of Children's Communication about Nested Spatial Relations

This investigation examined how the nature of the spatial relation influences young children's ability to remember and communicate about nested landmarks. Of particular interest was whether young children are more likely to use a supporting than a proximal landmark to disambiguate identical landmarks (e.g., "it's in the basket on the table" vs. "it's in the basket next to the table"). 3- and 4-year-olds hid objects in a dollhouse and described their locations. Children had to disambiguate the target primary landmark by relating it to a supporting or proximal secondary landmark. Both age groups almost always provided the primary landmark, but 4-year-olds were more likely to provide the secondary landmark than were 3-year-olds. Moreover, children were more successful at providing supporting than proximal secondary landmarks. These results suggest that both referential communication skills and biases in coding location influence children's communication about nested landmarks.     

Contents of Volume 31 2003

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 31 2003     

Mexican-Origin Adolescent Mothers’ Economic Contexts,Educational Re-Engagement,and Their Children’s School Readiness

Drawing on data from a longitudinal study of 204 Mexican-origin adolescent mothers, their mother figures, and their children, the current investigation examined (a) adolescent mothers’ educational re-engagement and attainment beginning during their pregnancy and ending when their child was 5 years old; and (b) the influence of the family economic context on adolescent mothers’ educational re-engagement and attainment and their children’s academic and social-emotional outcomes. Findings detailed adolescent mothers’ re-engagement in school after the birth of their child and revealed that family income during adolescents’ pregnancies was directly associated with re-engagement and attainment, and also initiated cascade effects that shaped adolescents’ economic contexts, their subsequent re-engagement and attainment, and ultimately their children’s academic and social-emotional outcomes at age 5.     

Implementing a national policy initiative to support education for sustainable development: lessons from Taiwan’s Environmental Education Act

Educational Research for Policy and Practice - This policy ethnography focuses on a nationwide environmental and sustainability education policy that was developed and enacted in response to United...     

Context matters: increasing understanding with interactive Clicker Case studies

Although interactive technology is presumed to increase student understanding in large classes, no previous research studies have empirically explored the effects of Clicker Cases on students?? performance. A Clicker Case is a story (e.g., a problem someone is facing) that uses clickers (student response systems) to engage students in understanding the meaning of the science contained within the story. Using an experimental randomized Solomon design across 11 institutions, we found that Clicker Cases increased student understanding more than PowerPoint lectures in large introductory biology classrooms, although there was variation across institutions and topics. By examining student performance in conjunction with faculty experience, we found that strong Clicker Cases created dissonance, captured attention and involved students in interpreting data or making decisions. This study provides a model for collaborative research across multiple institutions and demonstrates the need for using multiple institutions and topics in research on education.     

When Is Teleconsultation Acceptable to School Psychologists?

ABSTRACT

School psychologists report a desire to increase consultation with teachers but are limited by competing job demands. Consultation via videoconference (i.e., teleconsultation) offers one possible means of increasing consultant availability to teachers, but little is known about the acceptability of this technology in actual practice. In this exploratory study, we conducted an online survey to assess the conditions under which school consultants would use teleconsultation to assist teachers remotely. Sixty-two school psychology practitioners, trainers, and trainees completed a choice-based conjoint survey designed to assess teleconsultation acceptability in the context of varying commute times, consultee comfort levels, and student problem severities. Findings suggest important differences in teleconsultation acceptability in the context of real-world tradeoffs. Implications of these results are discussed, as well as the potential for using conjoint analysis to better understand technology decisions among school consultants.     

A constructivist approach to change in elementary science teaching and learning

Constructivism is a set of beliefs that can be used by teachers to think about learning and teaching and to plan and enact a science curriculum. This paper is a fictional account of an elementary science teacher and her use of constructivism as a referent for her various roles as a science teacher. The paper also describes how the teacher came to teach in this manner, describing her involvement in staff development activities and an evolution in her thinking from an ojectivist to a constructivist system of semantics. Implications are presented for the reform of science education.