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Our (Olle Bälter, Richard Glassey, Mattias Wiggberg) paper at SIGCSE 21 has been published:
Many online learning initiatives have failed to reach beyond the environments in which they were first developed. One exception is the Open Learning Initiative (OLI) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). In an attempt to validate the question-based learning methodology implemented in OLI, we developed online material for an introductory course in object-oriented programming, and tested it on two course offerings with a total of 70 students. As our course has been given in the same format for several years, we also had comparable assessment data for two classes prior to our intervention in order to determine that we did not introduce any obvious harm with this methodology. Findings show a reduced teaching and learning time by 25%. No statistically significant differences could be found in the results of the assessment quizzes nor confidence surveys completed by the students. The two teachers (the same who handled the classes before the intervention) took different paths to teaching preparations with this new methodology. One teacher increased preparations, whilst the other reduced them, but both teachers were convinced that using online question-based learning was superior to the previous lecture and textbook-based approach, both for the students and themselves in terms of overall satisfaction. We also gathered time logs from the development to estimate return on investment.
Full text open access: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3408877.3432382
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Trött på universitetsrankningar? Läs vårt debattinlägg i Universitetsläraren eller om det underlättar i engelsk översättning.
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Länk till artikel i Universitetsläraren
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Olga Viberg and Olle Bälter will, in cooperation with InnoEnergy, present a webinar on Learning analytics on November 21 at 10 am.
Are you already involved in Learning Analytics or want to find out how the new big data era can support your teaching or research activities? Maybe you are skeptical about the current state of Learning Analytics and whether it actually leads to improved learning outcomes? Is it already deployed widely, and used ethically?
Join our free webinar on 21/11 at 10 am to find out and to discover success stories as well as hands-on techniques for data-based improvements of learning material such as used at Stanford Graduate School of Education and Carnegie Mellon University.
https://ise.innoenergy.com/course/innoenergy-free-webinars-learning-analytics/info
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This study is a systematic literature review of learning analytics in higher education. It is published in the journal of Computers in Human Behavior and is freely available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563218303492
In this study, we found that:
1. Most learning analytics research undertake a descriptive approach.
2. Interpretative and experimental studies prevail.
3. Overall there is little evidence that shows improvements in learner practice.
4. The identified potential for improving learning support and teaching is high.
5. There is a shift towards a deeper understanding of students’ learning experiences.
Abstract
Learning analytics can improve learning practice by transforming the ways we support learning processes. This study is based on the analysis of 252 papers on learning analytics in higher education published between 2012 and 2018. The main research question is: What is the current scientific knowledge about the application of learning analytics in higher education? The focus is on research approaches, methods and the evidence for learning analytics. The evidence was examined in relation to four earlier validated propositions: whether learning analytics i) improve learning outcomes, ii) support learning and teaching, iii) are deployed widely, and iv) are used ethically. The results demonstrate that overall there is little evidence that shows improvements in students’ learning outcomes (9%) as well as learning support and teaching (35%). Similarly, little evidence was found for the third (6%) and the forth (18%) proposition. Despite the fact that the identified potential for improving learner practice is high, we cannot currently see much transfer of the suggested potential into higher educational practice over the years. However, the analysis of the existing evidence for learning analytics indicates that there is a shift towards a deeper understanding of students’ learning experiences for the last years.
