Onwards from Learning Analytics Erasmus Project

Project Title

Onwards from Learning Analytics

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Inclusion – equity; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Access for disadvantaged

Project Summary

Context/ background
The OfLA project was a three-institution collaborative piece of work to explore the use of learning analytics and early warning systems to support students in higher education. This is a project from within the fields of educational technology and big data. However, it was set up to specifically explore what happens once institutional systems have identified that students are in need of further support. The project is strongly tied to issues of social mobility and reducing barriers to participation in higher education. We have, as far as possible, sought to avoid discussions about technology, but have instead focussed on how early warnings are perceived and used by staff as they support students. We have tried to focus on the pedagogical and psychological aspects of support giving, but, of course, have developed recommendations about institutional systems and the use of learning analytics technology.

The project was oriented around a structured model devised by the team. We would argue that the main reason that learning analytics has, so far, failed to transform student outcomes is that too much is assumed just to happen once learning analytics have identified that students are at risk. The project set out to understand how and when institutions fail to engage students and explored three areas using the leaky pipeline metaphor.

– Trigger/ alert – how do we make the alert happen at the right time to initiate a useful intervention?
– Communications – how do we effectively communicate with the students so that they engage with the support available?
– Intervention – how do we develop an intervention that helps students to understand that they need to change their approach to study or use support available in the institution?

Objectives
The project had four sets of objectives:
• To build up a body of knowledge amongst practitioners about ways to use data to improve the quality of interventions
• To produce reports, briefings and staff development materials and disseminate them through internal and external events
• To have used staff development and guidance to increase staff capacity in data literacy and advising using learning analytics
• To have shared these resources through national and international conferences

Number and type/profile of participants
The project team comprised three higher education institutions with an interest in educational intervention and using technology to augment the support process: Nottingham Trent University (NTU), Artevelde University College/ Arteveldehogeschool (AHS) and The University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU). The project teams contained experts in learning analytics, educational management and supporting students. The team employed or seconded researchers from education and social science backgrounds.

Description of activities undertaken
The project worked in three one-year cycles.

– Year 1 – baseline research – understanding the issues involved using learning analytics and early warning systems to support students: surveys and interviews with students and relevant staff (tutors, advisers, managers, etc.)
– Year 2 – small scale experimentation – pilot studies exploring issues of supporting students using learning analytics: for example looking at the trigger, forms of communication and the nature of advising and tutoring
– Year 3 – continued experimentation, but also developing intellectual outputs with broader themes for staff: staff development, policy for interventions, using institutional data and an overview of the key project findings

Results and impact attained
Despite the challenges of Covid-19, the project team met its objectives of working with staff and students to understand the barriers associated with using learning analytics and early warning systems to support students. Our results (perhaps best summarised in Output 16) uncover many of the issues associated with supporting students using data. We have disseminated these findings internally with colleagues, at national events and international conferences. The project team has posted resources to the project website for colleagues to continue to use (www.oflaproject.eu). The team have written their findings in academic publications, have contributed to national reports on the use of learning analytics and written about aspects of the project more informally (www.LivingLearningAnalytics.blog). Following the end of the project, we have continued to share our findings and recommendations with the sector and engage interested colleagues.

We have developed findings and recommendations about the initial trigger/ prompt, ways to communicate to students, how to deliver an effective intervention and finally some guidance for institutions about ways to manage the process of using learning analytics and early warning systems to support students.

Project Website

https://oflaproject.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 341252 Eur

Project Coordinator

THE NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY & Country: UK

Project Partners

• UNIVERSITAIR MEDISCH CENTRUM UTRECHT
• ARTEVELDEHOGESCHOOL