The authors reported on the results of their study about the problems and issues instructors faced when using learning analytics as well as what their needs are to resolve these issues. There were five themes that emerged from this study: 1) student performance; 2) student engagement; 3) learning experience; 4) quality of teaching and the curriculum; 5; administrative functions associated with teaching; and 6) disciplinary differences and contrasting views about usefulness. In terms of feedback, which was categorized as part of the learning experience, one of the concerns that instructors had was how to make use of the learning analytics to provide feedback to students and how students can utilize the platform to plan their next steps.
The authors explored the gap in understanding about the usefulness of learning analytics for delivering feedback to students. They focused on the dashboard, which provided students with information about their performance on and engagement with learning activities and assessments. How students used the dashboard to facilitate their learning and development continued to be questioned by the authors in this study. Survey and interview methods were used with three large undergraduate programs (Biology, Environments, and Japanese). Each of these courses used blended learning, combining online activities with face-to-face instruction and workshops. The authors found five themes from the interview data: 1) impact of dashboard on reflections of learning; 2) ability to plan or change study strategies (self-regulation); 3) motivation towards the subject area; 4) ability to see class averages on assessments; and 5) ability to see assessments and activities in a consolidated view.
The authors of this paper posit that learning analytics cannot be seen as simply digital tools. Instead, the use of learning analytics needs to be tied closely to the socioconstructivist theories that underpin most pedagogical practices. As such, the data collected through the use of learning analytics must be used to inform how to improve instruction and learning. Learning analytics must be tied to the instructors’ and the students’ goal setting in order to be effective as promising feedback delivery tools.
The authors of this paper point out that instructors recognize the importance of feedback in their practice but they often experience significant barriers in the delivery process. Much of which is related to the increased workload of instructors, which impact their capacity to deliver timely and meaningful feedback. They note that learning analytics can help instructors to provide personalized feedback and report that students view such use of learning analytics as a positive impact on their academic achievement. Through a set of personalized messages developed by the instructors to be delivered when students reach or do not reach certain benchmarks, students reported that the feedback from their assessments were useful to them. The authors also note increased student engagement with the course content through the personalized messages.