Let’s not forget: Learning analytics are about learning

The analysis of data collected from the interaction of users with educational and information technology has attracted much attention as a promising approach for advancing our understanding of the learning process. This promise motivated the emergence of the new research field, learning analytics, and its closely related discipline, educational data mining. This paper first introduces the field of learning analytics and outlines the lessons learned from well-known case studies in the research literature. The paper then identifies the critical topics that require immediate research attention for learning analytics to make a sustainable impact on the research and practice of learning and teaching. The paper concludes by discussing a growing set of issues that if unaddressed, could impede the future maturation of the field. The paper stresses that learning analytics are about learning. As such, the computational aspects of learning analytics must be well integrated within the existing educational research.

[1]  George Siemens,et al.  Guest Editorial - Learning and Knowledge Analytics , 2012, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

[2]  Shane Dawson,et al.  Numbers Are Not Enough. Why e-Learning Analytics Failed to Inform an Institutional Strategic Plan , 2012, J. Educ. Technol. Soc..

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

[4]  Roger Azevedo,et al.  A macro-level analysis of SRL processes and their relations to the acquisition of a sophisticated mental model of a complex system☆☆☆ , 2009 .

[5]  T. D. Wilson,et al.  Models in information behaviour research , 1999, J. Documentation.

[6]  Mingming Zhou,et al.  Modeling Academic Achievement by Self-Reported versus Traced Goal Orientation. , 2012 .

[7]  Jane E. Klobas,et al.  A task-technology fit view of learning management system impact , 2009, Comput. Educ..

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

[9]  K. Trigwell,et al.  Relations between teachers' approaches to teaching and students' approaches to learning , 1999 .

[10]  Philip H. Winne,et al.  Examining trace data to explore self-regulated learning , 2007 .

[11]  Dragan Gasevic,et al.  Analytics of the effects of video use and instruction to support reflective learning , 2014, LAK.

[12]  Philip H. Winne,et al.  How Software Technologies Can Improve Research on Learning and Bolster School Reform , 2006 .

[13]  Eitel J. M. Lauría,et al.  Early Alert of Academically At-Risk Students: An Open Source Analytics Initiative , 2014, J. Learn. Anal..

[14]  Dragan Gasevic,et al.  Learning analytics should not promote one size fits all: The effects of instructional conditions in predicting academic success , 2016, Internet High. Educ..

[15]  Erik Duval,et al.  Learning Analytics Dashboard Applications , 2013 .

[16]  George Siemens,et al.  Current state and future trends: a citation network analysis of the learning analytics field , 2014, LAK.

[17]  John T. Stasko,et al.  Distributed Cognition as a Theoretical Framework for Information Visualization , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.

[18]  J. Hattie,et al.  The Power of Feedback , 2007 .

[19]  Geraldine Clarebout,et al.  Students' tool-use within a web enhanced course: Explanatory mechanisms of students' tool-use pattern , 2013, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[20]  George Siemens,et al.  What public media reveals about MOOCs: A systematic analysis of news reports , 2015, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[21]  Abigail Selzer King,et al.  Using Signals for appropriate feedback: Perceptions and practices , 2011, Comput. Educ..

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

[23]  Philip H. Winne,et al.  Studying as self-regulated learning. , 1998 .

[24]  Lewis Elton,et al.  Goodhart's Law and Performance Indicators in Higher Education , 2004 .

[25]  Douglas J. Hacker,et al.  Metacognition in educational theory and practice. , 1998 .

[26]  Maria Bannert,et al.  e-Research and learning theory: What do sequence and process mining methods contribute? , 2014, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[27]  Arthur C. Graesser,et al.  Automated Evaluation of Text and Discourse with Coh-Metrix: List of Tables , 2014 .