Dashboards for Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

In the field of learning analytics, dashboards are visual displays that help instructors and students monitor performance, track goals and modify learning-related activities and plans. Student-facing dashboards provide visualizations of the data students need to take responsibility for their own learning, while instructor-facing dashboards help instructors guide and orchestrate student learning. After summarizing the spectrum of learning analytics research on dashboards, we critically review dashboards designed to support collaborative learning and examine research on student-facing and instructor-facing dashboards for problem-based learning, project-based learning, collaborative argumentation, and various team-based learning activities. We explain key concepts such as group awareness, shared mental models, and group cognition, and review tools including shared mirroring systems, ambient displays, and learning dashboards. We then identify opportunities and challenges in the burgeoning field of learning analytics dashboards for computer-supported collaborative learning and argue that learning dashboards can be a useful aid in facilitating collaborative learning but only when designed with a clear pedagogical purpose informed by research and theory will learning dashboards be able to foster effective teaching and learning strategies.

[1]  Judy Kay,et al.  An Interactive Teacher's Dashboard for Monitoring Groups in a Multi-tabletop Learning Environment , 2012, ITS.

[2]  Paul A. Kirschner,et al.  Can we support CSCL? Educational, social and technological affordances for learning , 2002 .

[3]  Gerry Stahl,et al.  Group Cognition: Computer Support for Building Collaborative Knowledge (Acting with Technology) , 2006 .

[4]  Sébastien George,et al.  TrAVis to Enhance Students’ Self-Monitoring in Online Learning Supported by Computer-Mediated Communication Tools , 2011, CISIM 2011.

[5]  Alyssa Friend Wise,et al.  Developing Learning Analytics Design Knowledge in the "Middle Space": The Student Tuning Model and Align Design Framework for Learning Analytics Use , 2016 .

[6]  John Barr,et al.  Classroom salon: a tool for social collaboration , 2012, SIGCSE '12.

[7]  Erik Duval,et al.  Dataset-driven research for improving recommender systems for learning , 2011, LAK.

[8]  Stephanie Boehm,et al.  Information Dashboard Design The Effective Visual Communication Of Data , 2016 .

[9]  Jeroen Janssen,et al.  Visualization of participation: Does it contribute to successful computer-supported collaborative learning? , 2007, Comput. Educ..

[10]  J. Greeno.  THE SITUATIVITY OF KNOWING, LEARNING, AND RESEARCH , 1998 .

[11]  J. Mathieu,et al.  The influence of shared mental models on team process and performance. , 2000, The Journal of applied psychology.

[12]  Erik Duval,et al.  Goal-oriented visualizations of activity tracking: a case study with engineering students , 2012, LAK.

[13]  Marco Kalz,et al.  Beyond the channel: A literature review on ambient displays for learning , 2013, Comput. Educ..

[14]  Erik Duval,et al.  The student activity meter for awareness and self-reflection , 2012, CHI Extended Abstracts.

[15]  Wendy A. Kellogg,et al.  Social translucence: an approach to designing systems that support social processes , 2000, TCHI.

[16]  Nickolas J. G. Falkner,et al.  Using Learning Analytics to Visualise Computer Science Teamwork , 2015, ITiCSE.

[17]  David Woods,et al.  Situation Awareness: A Critical But Ill-Defined Phenomenon , 1991 .

[18]  Carolyn Penstein Rosé,et al.  CSCL and Learning Analytics: Opportunities to Support Social Interaction, Self-Regulation and Socially Shared Regulation , 2015, CSCL.

[19]  Paul A. Kirschner,et al.  Designing Sociable CSCL Environments , 2004 .

[20]  M. Miller,et al.  Leveraging CSCL technology to support and research shared task perceptions in socially shared regulation of learning , 2015 .

[21]  Susan Bull,et al.  Introduction of learning visualisations and metacognitive support in a persuadable open learner model , 2016, LAK.

[22]  John T. Stasko,et al.  A taxonomy of ambient information systems: four patterns of design , 2006, AVI '06.

[23]  Katrien Verbert,et al.  Trends and issues in student-facing learning analytics reporting systems research , 2017, LAK.

[24]  Paul A. Kirschner,et al.  Identifying the pitfalls for social interaction in computer-supported collaborative learning environments: a review of the research , 2003, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[25]  T. V. Geetha,et al.  Dynamic learner profiling and automatic learner classification for adaptive e-learning environment , 2016, Interact. Learn. Environ..

[26]  Siti Salwah Salim,et al.  A systematic review of shared visualisation to achieve common ground , 2015, J. Vis. Lang. Comput..

[27]  Dana E. Sims,et al.  Is there a “Big Five” in Teamwork? , 2005 .

[28]  Chun-Houh Chen,et al.  Handbook of Data Visualization (Springer Handbooks of Computational Statistics) , 2008 .

[29]  Dragan Gasevic,et al.  Using learning analytics to scale the provision of personalised feedback , 2019, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[30]  Shuchi Grover,et al.  An instructor dashboard for real-time analytics in interactive programming assignments , 2017, LAK.

[31]  Bart Rienties,et al.  The impact of 151 learning designs on student satisfaction and performance: social learning (analytics) matters , 2016, LAK.

[32]  Patrick Jermann,et al.  Classroom orchestration: The third circle of usability , 2011, CSCL.

[33]  Jovita M. Vytasek,et al.  What if Learning Analytics Were Based on Learning Science , 2016 .

[34]  R. Mcintyre,et al.  A Conceptual Framework for Teamwork Measurement , 1997 .

[35]  Heinrich Hußmann,et al.  Metaphor or diagram?: comparing different representations for group mirrors , 2009, OZCHI '09.

[36]  Alejandra Martínez-Monés,et al.  From Mirroring to Guiding: A Review of State of the Art Technology for Supporting Collaborative Learning , 2005, Int. J. Artif. Intell. Educ..

[37]  Judy Kay,et al.  Narcissus: Group and Individual Models to Support Small Group Work , 2009, UMAP.

[38]  Alyssa Friend Wise,et al.  Designing pedagogical interventions to support student use of learning analytics , 2014, LAK.

[39]  Paulo Blikstein,et al.  Using learning analytics to assess students' behavior in open-ended programming tasks , 2011, LAK.

[40]  Marek Hatala,et al.  A qualitative evaluation of evolution of a learning analytics tool , 2012, Comput. Educ..

[41]  Maren Scheffel,et al.  Awareness Is Not Enough: Pitfalls of Learning Analytics Dashboards in the Educational Practice , 2017, EC-TEL.

[42]  Peter Eades,et al.  The long-term evaluation of Fisherman in a partial-attention environment , 2008, BELIV '08.

[43]  Christoph Lattemann,et al.  Shared Mental Models in Creative Virtual Teamwork , 2017, HICSS.

[44]  Antonija Mitrovic,et al.  Evaluating and improving adaptive educational systems with learning curves , 2011, User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction.

[45]  J. Janssen,et al.  Coordinated Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning: Awareness and Awareness Tools , 2013 .

[46]  Dirk Ifenthaler,et al.  Development and Validation of a Learning Analytics Framework: Two Case Studies Using Support Vector Machines , 2014, Technology, Knowledge and Learning.

[47]  C. Gunawardena.  Social Presence Theory and Implications for Interaction and Collaborative Learning in Computer Conferences , 1995 .

[48]  Vincent Aleven,et al.  More Accurate Student Modeling through Contextual Estimation of Slip and Guess Probabilities in Bayesian Knowledge Tracing , 2008, Intelligent Tutoring Systems.

[49]  Jeroen Janssen,et al.  Group awareness tools: It's what you do with it that matters , 2011, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[50]  Hendrik Drachsler,et al.  Opportunities and Challenges in Using Learning Analytics in Learning Design , 2017, EC-TEL.

[51]  Gijsbert Erkens,et al.  Group awareness of social and cognitive performance in a CSCL environment: Effects of a peer feedback and reflection tool , 2011, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[52]  Alyssa Friend Wise,et al.  Learning analytics for online discussions: a pedagogical model for intervention with embedded and extracted analytics , 2013, LAK '13.

[53]  N. Kerr,et al.  Dispensability of member effort and group motivation losses: Free-rider effects , 1983 .

[54]  S. Järvelä,et al.  Socially Shared Regulation of Learning: A Review , 2015 .

[55]  S. Järvelä,et al.  New Frontiers: Regulating Learning in CSCL , 2013 .

[56]  Daniel Bodemer,et al.  Supporting controversial CSCL discussions with augmented group awareness tools , 2007, Int. J. Comput. Support. Collab. Learn..

[57]  Maren Scheffel,et al.  Widget, Widget on the Wall, Am I Performing Well at All? , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies.

[58]  Mariel Miller,et al.  Scripting and awareness tools for regulating collaborative learning: Changing the landscape of support in CSCL , 2015, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[59]  Anind K. Dey,et al.  Heuristic evaluation of ambient displays , 2003, CHI '03.

[60]  A. Hadwin,et al.  Self-Regulation, Coregulation, and Socially Shared Regulation: Exploring Perspectives of Social in Self-Regulated Learning Theory , 2011 .

[61]  Walter Bender,et al.  The Impact of Increased Awareness While Face-to-Face , 2007, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[62]  Erik Duval,et al.  Towards balanced discussions in the classroom using ambient information visualisations , 2017 .

[63]  K. Williams,et al.  Many Hands Make Light the Work: The Causes and Consequences of Social Loafing , 1979 .

[64]  Shane Dawson,et al.  Mining LMS data to develop an "early warning system" for educators: A proof of concept , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[65]  Tom Gross,et al.  User-Centered Awareness in Computer-Supported Cooperative Work-Systems: Structured Embedding of Findings from Social Sciences , 2005, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Interact..

[66]  Stephanie D. Teasley.  Student Facing Dashboards: One Size Fits All? , 2017, Technol. Knowl. Learn..

[67]  Paul A. Kirschner,et al.  Design and effects of representational scripting on group performance , 2010 .

[68]  Shane Dawson,et al.  Informing Pedagogical Action , 2013 .

[69]  George Siemens,et al.  Let’s not forget: Learning analytics are about learning , 2015 .

[70]  Eric Anthony Day,et al.  Relationships among team ability composition, team mental models, and team performance. , 2006, The Journal of applied psychology.

[71]  Feng Wang,et al.  Design-based research and technology-enhanced learning environments , 2005 .

[72]  Patrick Jermann,et al.  Group mirrors to support interaction regulation in collaborative problem solving , 2008, Comput. Educ..

[73]  Daniel D. Suthers,et al.  Comparing the roles of representations in face-to-face and online computer supported collaborative learning , 2003, Comput. Educ..

[74]  Riccardo Mazza,et al.  GISMO: a Graphical Interactive Student Monitoring Tool for Course Management Systems , 2004 .

[75]  Cristina Conati,et al.  A Framework for Capturing Distinguishing User Interaction Behaviors in Novel Interfaces , 2011, EDM.

[76]  Simon Buckingham Shum,et al.  Learning dispositions and transferable competencies: pedagogy, modelling and learning analytics , 2012, International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge.

[77]  Pierre Dillenbourg,et al.  Designing Biases That Augment Socio-Cognitive Interactions , 2005 .

[78]  Sanna Järvelä,et al.  Enhancing socially shared regulation in collaborative learning groups: designing for CSCL regulation tools , 2014, Educational Technology Research and Development.

[79]  G. Stahl.  Theories of Cognition in Collaborative Learning , 2013 .

[80]  E. Salas,et al.  Shared mental models in expert team decision making. , 1993 .

[81]  Elizabeth Koh,et al.  Learner Dashboards a Double-Edged Sword? Students' Sense-Making of a Collaborative Critical Reading and Learning Analytics Environment for Fostering 21st Century Literacies , 2017, J. Learn. Anal..

[82]  Sanna Järvelä,et al.  Socially shared regulation of learning in CSCL: understanding and prompting individual- and group-level shared regulatory activities , 2016, Int. J. Comput. Support. Collab. Learn..

[83]  Judy Kay,et al.  TSCL: A conceptual model to inform understanding of collaborative learning processes at interactive tabletops , 2015, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[84]  Matthew D. Pistilli,et al.  Course signals at Purdue: using learning analytics to increase student success , 2012, LAK.

[85]  N. Kerr.  Motivation losses in small groups: a social dilemma analysis , 1983 .

[86]  Susan Bull,et al.  CALMsystem: A Conversational Agent for Learner Modelling , 2007, SGAI Conf..

[87]  George Siemens,et al.  Learning Analytics , 2013 .

[88]  Mica R. Endsley,et al.  Toward a Theory of Situation Awareness in Dynamic Systems , 1995, Hum. Factors.

[89]  Mien Segers,et al.  Reconsidering group cognition: From conceptual confusion to a boundary area between cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives? , 2007 .

[90]  Shane Dawson,et al.  'Seeing' the learning community: An exploration of the development of a resource for monitoring online student networking , 2010, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[91]  María Jesús Rodríguez-Triana,et al.  Perceiving Learning at a Glance: A Systematic Literature Review of Learning Dashboard Research , 2017, IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies.

[92]  Carl Gutwin,et al.  Support for workspace awareness in educational groupware , 1995, CSCL.

[93]  Alex Paramythis,et al.  Activity sequence modelling and dynamic clustering for personalized e-learning , 2011, User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction.