Learning Analytics Archives

Dec22025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

Moving Education Towards Didactical Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence, Event, Invited talk, Learning Analytics

ChatGPT and other GenAI tools are said to be good for learning. But does their usage really empower learners, or does it overwhelm them instead? Studies from Highly- Informative Learning Analytics (HILA) programs show how complex the effects of such AI-tools can be. While dashboards can potentially improve students’ learning outcomes, AI feedback can sometimes be helpful and sometimes be demotivating for students, depending on their feedback literacy. In a recent presentation at IWM Lectures Hendrik Drachsler argues that we need more research into Didactical Intelligence – a framework for understanding when, how and for whom AI and Learning Analytics truly improves learning and when not. Technology alone doesn’t guarantee better outcomes; its success depends on thoughtful integration into pedagogy. He therefore presented the Highly-Informative Learning Analytics research platform. This…

Nov142025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

LAMASS@DiLea Study Report and Data Set Now Published

Empirical Study, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Project, Publication, Report

What factors influence academic success and dropout rates in digital study formats at universities? What factors and effects at the subjective, curricular and institutional levels can be empirically measured and how do they interact in digital study formats? Can a factor analysis be used to compare digital and face-to-face study formats? The LAMASS@DiLea project team now present the answers to these questions in the newly published project report “LAMASS-Studie: Studienerfolg und Studienabbruch in digitalen Studienformaten”. It is a comprehensive analysis of academic success and dropout rates in digital study formats. The results of the study are valuable for existing digital study formats and for degree programs that wish to boost their use of digital technology. The dataset has also been published and is available to download. Modell des Studienabbruchs in…

Oct312025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: Optimizing Formative Assessment with Learning Analytics

Assessment, Learning Analytics, Literature review, New Pub

The teaching and learning processes in education need to be effective. This is something that all parents, teachers and educational scientists can agree on. To help us track the learners’ achievements and educational progress and ultimately show whether the teaching and learning processes are effective, we rely on formative assessment. Learning analytics has the potential to assist in formative assessment. So far there has not been enough evidence collected to prove this potential support. Thus, many have reservations about the connection between the results of learning analytics and formative assessment models. If the results from learning analytics don’t match well with formative assessment approaches, teachers may be reluctant to trust, understand or use those insights to guide their teaching. This issue is addressed in a recently published study which introduces…

Sep172025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: Design, Development and Evaluation of HILA

Artificial Intelligence, Keynote, Learning Analytics, Publication

How can AI-supported learning analytics be integrated into educational processes in a significant way? How can they be designed, tested and further developed to effectively improve teaching and learning practices? These questions were addressed by Hendrik Drachsler in his keynote at the Learning AID 2024 in Bochum, which has recently been published in the conference proceeding “Learning Analytics, Artificial Intelligence und Data Mining in der Hochschulbildung”. In his keynote, Hendrik stresses the importance of content-specific applications that address genuine educational needs and are supported by empirical evidence demonstrating their effectiveness. The key to fostering adaptive and sustainable learning experiences is to understand and accommodate learners’ individual needs. Hendrik argues that technological progress alone is not sufficient to improve education. His ongoing research shows that AI-supported learning analytics can only bring…

Feb52025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: Memorizing Plans With an App

Journal, Learning Analytics, Publication, School, Self-Regulation

Mobile phones and devices are an integral part of the daily lives of students, and educators are increasingly trying to take advantage of this day-to-day usage for educational purposes. But how can mobile technologies, like app-based learning activities, be designed to effectively help students in the learning process? [caption id="attachment_7331" align="alignright" width="500"] Screenshots of the reading (A), puzzle (B), and emoji (C) activity[/caption] A newly published study from Daniel Biedermann, Jasmin Breitwieser, Lea Nobbe, Hendrik Drachsler and Garvin Brod tries to answer this question. Using the PROMT app, the team compared three types of learning activities used by children aged 9 to 14 years to memorize one learning plan per day over the course of 27 days. The activities varied in their planned level of cognitive engagement based on the…

Jan152025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

Legal Assessment of AI and Learning Analytics in Teaching and Learning

Artificial Intelligence, Learning Analytics, Press, Report

As with any new technology, the laws and regulations relating to them seem to always be one step behind and one can feel somewhat lost in a foggy, legal grey zone. The same is true for the use of AI. Using AI in a legally compliant way depends on its specific application, its range and the technical details. This has to be checked and regulated in accordance with the law in order to be able to use each AI technology safely, for the intended purpose and in compliance with data protection regulations. But how can universities know if they are using Learning Analytics and AI technologies in a legally compliant manner? In a first step in answering this question, the Goethe University has recently published an extensive legal assessment about…

Dec22024 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

PhD Defense: A Bridge between Learning Analytics and Learning Design

Book, Event, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Learning Design, Multimodal Learning Analytics, PhD defense, Publication, School

We warmly congratulate our esteemed associate partner, DR. Marcel Schmitz, on successfully defending his PhD thesis on November 29, 2024. Marcel is a senior lecturer and researcher in Data Intelligence and the Applied Data Science & Artificial Intelligence program at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. In his dissertation, titled “Towards Learning Analytics-Supported Learning Design”, he focused on how education can be better personalized by incorporating learning analytics already in the design and course planning. His dissertation was supervised by Prof. Dr. Hendrik Drachsler (DIPF | Leibniz Institute & Goethe University Frankfurt), with co-supervisors Prof. Dr. Maren Scheffel (Ruhr University Bochum) and Dr. Roger Bemelmans (Zuyd University of Applied Sciences). Marcel's dissertation provides actionable strategies not only for higher education but also for other educational sectors. His work envisions a future…

Nov182024 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: Understanding Learning Engagement in Asynchronous Online Settings

Higher Education, Journal, Learning Analytics, Publication

A newly published study illustrates the complexities of learning engagement (LE) in asynchronous online settings (AOSs) for university students. For university students it can be difficult to learn in such environments since these lack real-time interactions. This also makes it difficult for teachers to measure how engaged students actually are with their study materials. Through trace data, learning analytics can be used as a foundation to analyze students’ learning methods and LE. The study investigates whether LE can be characterized by the sub-dimensions: effort, attention and content interest. The study also explores the question of which trace data from student behavior within AOSs can best represent these factors of LE in self-reports. The research involved 764 university students and utilized best-subset regression analysis to determine which indicators most reliably represent…

Nov82024 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

PhD Defense on Software Infrastructure for Contextualized Learning Analytics in Online Education

Learning Analytics, PhD defense

We warmly congratulate our esteemed alumni George-Petru Ciordas-Hertel on the successful defense of his PhD thesis this past Tuesday, 05.11.2024! Way to go, Dr. George! We are proud of you for achieving this milestone! At universities we have seen a big shift to online education in the past ten years, as universities have continuously integrated technology into educational environments. This development has brought students and educators new possibilities, but also challenges. A promising method is Learning Analytics (LA), which uses data to gain insights into learning behaviors and enhance educational outcomes. In his dissertation, George highlights a critical limitation in traditional learning analytics: they often overlook significant aspects of learners’ digital and physical environments. His research proposes that integrating contextual information from these environments could make LA even more effective.…

Oct232024 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: How Can Learning Analytics Dashboards Help Improve Students’ Self-Regulated Learning?

Conference, Empirical Study, Learning Analytics, Publication, School, Self-Regulation

Learning Analytics Dashboards (LADs) are important and widely-used tools used to give feedback to students and to aid them in their self-regulating learning process. Much has been done to investigate the design of LADs, but there is still a lack of knowledge regarding how students interpret the information shown on LADs and how they actually use these tools while learning. In a newly published study, we try to fill this gap. In an experimental study, we compared two groups of students. One group was given personalized self-regulared learning (SRL) feedback on their interactions and learning advances. The control group was only given minimal feedback calculated from the average class scores. After reviewing their feedback, students submitted written reflections on how they would adjust their study behavior. The researchers then analyzed…