Foundations of dynamic learning analytics: Using university student data to increase retention

With digitisation and the rise of e‐learning have come a range of computational tools and approaches that have allowed educators to better support the learners' experience in schools, colleges and universities. The move away from traditional paper‐based course materials, registration, admissions and support services to the mobile, always‐on and always accessible data has driven demand for information and generated new forms of data observable through consumption behaviours. These changes have led to a plethora of data sets that store learning content and track user behaviours. Most recently, new data analytics approaches are creating new ways of understanding trends and behaviours in students that can be used to improve learning design, strengthen student retention, provide early warning signals concerning individual students and help to personalise the learner's experience. This paper proposes a foundational learning analytics model (LAM) for higher education that focuses on the dynamic interaction of stakeholders with their data supported by visual analytics, such as self‐organising maps, to generate conversations, shared inquiry and solution‐seeking. The model can be applied for other educational institutions interested in using learning analytics processes to support personalised learning and support services. Further work is testing its efficacy in increasing student retention rates.     

Literacy components model for at‐risk young adults enrolled in career and technical education

Little is known about literacy skills of an important adult population: educationally and economically disadvantaged young adults. This exploratory study used principal components analysis of 33 measures of reading subskills, spelling, maths, memory and other cognitive processes among 335 at‐risk 16‐ to 24‐year‐olds enrolled in a career and technical education programme. The analysis yielded a five‐component model explaining 69% of the variance in the data. Most of this variance was attributed to two components: element and word skills (including spelling) and language comprehension (including vocabulary). Using these components, models predicting two performance criterion measures yielded different results. A model using all five components predicted 51% of functional reading measured by the Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System. A three‐component model with element and word skills, language comprehension and processing speed predicted 55% of variance in reading comprehension measured by the Test of Adult Basic Education. Implications of these findings for further research are discussed.     

Bringing installation art to reconnaissance to share values and generate action

The English education system has recently seen something of a revival of enthusiasm for the use of research both to develop educational practices and to gather evidence about their effectiveness. These initiatives often present action research as a model of individual problem-solving, which, we argue, communicates a limited conception of action research. In this paper we propose an alternative to this ‘problem-solving’ conception of action research that acknowledges the complex, messy nature of action research through the use of arts installations. Specifically, we present the reconnaissance phase of a project which brought together a partnership comprising a water heritage museum, university staff, teachers and artists. A pedagogical adaptation of contemporary installation art theory and practice fostered the exploration of individual and collective understandings of water, and also established a shared approach to curriculum development and ownership of the project among all participants. We propose that this creative practice enhanced and changed the process of reconnaissance; it allowed the group to establish and share commitments to the value of water conservation and generated a wide range of options for our action research.     

Transactional distance and interactive television in the distance education of health professionals

Abstract

Distance education, in which learners are remote from the primary educational institution and the teacher, is increasingly delivered via interactive television technology. Moore (1980) described transactional distance between students and faculty in distance education as characterized by dialogue and structure. He hypothesized that high structure and low dialogue yield “remote” transactional distance and low structure and high dialogue yield “close” transactional distance. The variables in the current study were operationally defined following Moore (1973, 665): “A learner's ‘distance’ from his teacher [transactional distance] … is defined as a function of individualization [structure] and dialogue.” Student volunteers (n = 221) in thirteen public health and nursing graduate courses at the University of Hawaii at Manoa responded to an investigator‐developed questionnaire regarding elements of dialogue, structure, and transactional distance in their courses. Principal components and internal consistency reliability analyses verified the presence of three factors: structure, dialogue, and transactional distance. Dialogue was greater in the distance‐format courses than in the traditional‐format courses. Distance‐format courses did not differ from traditional courses on amount of structure or transactional distance.     

Collaborating in historical ethnography: researching critical events in education

From time to time, critical events in education bring radical change and development for pupils and teachers. In this paper, I discuss my research on such events. Basically, the exercise was one of “historical ethnography,” using a range of qualitative techniques on events in the recent past. The work was collaborative; teachers, pupils, and other critical agents worked with the researcher to reconstruct and analyse the event. Evaluation focused on expressive outcomes, using a large measure of teacher and pupil articulations. Respondent validation was important within the context of other tests of validity. One of these tests is the ability of the research to strengthen the participants in their work and to influence other practitioners — in other words, for the research to share in the criticality of the event.     

Towards a Revised Format and Mission for the Journal

This article asks whether a school improvement programme in three provinces in Canada could have any implications for schools in England. Based on experience in a failing school that ‘turned around’, a key feature of the programme was its emphasis on developing respectful social relationships at the same time as strengthening the teaching of curriculum subjects. We summarise the key features of the programme. Next, we discuss questions arising from projects in schools in very diverse provinces in Canada. Finally, we discuss the potential implications for the development of more positive relationships, and improvements in educational progress, in schools in England.