Abstract:

This paper will outline the approaches taken to explore student views relating to the use of learning analytics systems in a higher education context. City, University of London, is partway through an institution-wide Learning Analytics project, which aims to gather stakeholder perspectives and identify key opportunities and considerations for any service implementation. Ongoing consultation with students, as a key stakeholder group, is integrated into the project approach, with the aim of ensuring that any developments have a positive and supportive impact on their learning.

Learning Analytics has been defined as “the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their context, for the purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs.” (LAK11, 2011). There is increasing interest in the use of learning analytics in higher education, with many proponents suggesting that developments in this area could be beneficial in addressing a number of the challenges that the sector is currently facing. The potential use cases are wide and varied, including gaining greater insights into how learning takes place, identifying students at risk of withdrawing, improving pass rates and delivering more personalised learning (Sclater, 2017). However, there are also a large number of ethical issues to consider where data is being used to inform student support approaches and pedagogy, and therefore institutional practice should be informed by student feedback and approached with care.

At City, University of London, the Learning Analytics project has been taking a learner-centred approach to the development of policy and best practice around the use of analytics. Consultation activity has taken place with over 40 students from across all levels of University study and a range of disciplines. The consultation focused on delivering active learning workshops in which student participants first developed their knowledge of data and privacy, enabling them to provide informed viewpoints later on in the sessions. Scenarios and personas were used to underpin discussions around ethical issues, such as making judgments based solely on data, the importance of treating learners as individuals and whether student access to analytics could have a negative emotional impact. Paper prototyping activities were used to encourage participants to consider how a student-facing learning analytics system could most effectively support their learning, culminating in a group activity to design an ideal dashboard.

This consultation approach has resulted in valuable insights into students’ expectations of how the University should use their personal and learning data, and their main concerns for ethical use, for inclusion in an institutional policy and code of practice. It has also provided in-depth feedback about how to communicate effectively with students about learning analytics and provided future development priorities for a student-facing system.

References:
[1] LAK11: 1st International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge, https://tekri.athabascau.ca/analytics/ (accessed 30 June 2018).
[2] Sclater, N. (2017). Learning analytics explained. New York: Routledge

Keywords:

Learning analytics, Higher Education, Data, Ethics, Student feedback, Student consultation.