New Pub: Causal Inference and Bias in Learning Analytics

New Pub: Causal Inference and Bias in Learning Analytics

Journal, Learning Analytics, Literature review, Open access, Publication, Research Methods
Learning Analytics is an applied field of research with the goal of producing actionable knowledge to improve student learning. This requires knowledge about cause-and-effect. However, randomized experiments, the usual vehicle for causality, are not always feasible nor desirable. Researchers are then left with observational data, from which they are, understandably, hesitant to draw causal inferences. Fortunately, there has been a lot of progress on the topic of causality in the last two decades. One prominent framework uses Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) to graphically reason about cause-and-effect and/or bias. This primer, authored by Joshua Weidlich, Dragan Gasevic, and Hendrik Drachsler, published in the Journal of Learning Analytics, introduces DAGs to Learning Analytics.  Using fictitious and published examples, we show how DAGs are a principled approach to a) improve causal inferences for…
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Invited talks about providing feedback with learning analytics

Invited talks about providing feedback with learning analytics

Assessment, Feedback, General education, Invited talk, Learning Analytics, Self-Regulation
In the month of November, Ioana Jivet was invited to share her work on two occasions. The first was an invited lecture in the course FDH3006 Introduction to Learning Analytics part of a PhD Program at KTH Stockholm in collaboration with the University of Bergen, Norway and the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. The talk covered the topic of "Generating highly informative feedback with learning analytics" and addressed the question of how we can design effective feedback to students in online environments using learning analytics. The second talk was given as part of the event 100 DAYS OF... Data for Learning organised by the Centre for Education and Learning at TU Delft. The presentation covered the topic of student facing-learning analytics and goal setting. The talk was recorded and is available…
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BR Radio: Roboter statt Lehrerinnen und Lehrer? Wie sollte die Schule der Zukunft aussehen?

BR Radio: Roboter statt Lehrerinnen und Lehrer? Wie sollte die Schule der Zukunft aussehen?

Artificial Intelligence, Invited talk, Learning Analytics, Learning Design, Robots in Education, School
Ist es denkbar, dass wir irgendwann keine echten Lehrer*innen mehr haben? Stattdessen fahren Roboter durch das Klassenzimmer und erklären alles? Wäre das überhaupt gut – wenn ja wie? Lasst uns gemeinsam darüber reden. Diese Sendung funktioniert in zwei Richtungen – ihr könnt natürlich alle Fragen stellen über Roboter in der Schule. UND: Ihr könnt einem Forscher sagen, bei was ihr wirklich gerne einen Roboter hättet. Denn das ist der Beruf von unserem Gast Onur Karademir – er promoviert im Bereich der Educational Technologies und findet raus, wann Lerntechnologien helfen und wann nicht. Die Sendung "RadioMikro" hier anhören
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Presentation: Atezaz participated in the ICDLE conference and presented a new publication

Presentation: Atezaz participated in the ICDLE conference and presented a new publication

Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Conference, Feedback, Further Education, Learning Analytics, Lifelong Learning, Open access, Publication, Self-Regulation
Our paper titled "Caught in the Lifelong Learning Maze: Helping People with Learning Analytics and Chatbots to Find Personal Career Paths" was accepted at the 13th International Conference on Distance Learning and Education (ICDLE 2022) held at the University of Barcelona, Spain. Atezaz Ahmad participated in the conference and presented their publication. The article will be published (open access) in the International Journal of Information and Education Technology. Abstract: Current lifelong learning platforms offer users a query option to select a wide variety of courses. However, finding a suitable course among the seemingly endless catalogs of options presented by the platforms is not straightforward. We argue that digital counseling can enhance this process. In this paper, we present a set of three formative studies where we explored the main aspects…
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New Pub: Untangling connections between challenges in the adoption of learning analytics in higher education

New Pub: Untangling connections between challenges in the adoption of learning analytics in higher education

Empirical Study, Higher Education, Journal, Learning Analytics, Publication
[caption id="attachment_4599" align="alignnone" width="967"] Associations of challenges and ethics: (a) none, (b) prep-partial, and (c) full adoption institutions[/caption] Potential benefits of learning analytics (LA) for improving students' performance, predicting students' success, and enhancing teaching and learning practice have increasingly been recognized in higher education. However, the adoption of LA in higher education institutions (HEIs) to date remains sporadic and predominantly small in scale due to several socio-technical challenges. To better understand why HEIs struggle to scale LA adoption, it is needed to untangle adoption challenges and their related factors. This paper presents the findings of a study that sought to investigate the associations of adoption factors with challenges HEIs face in the adoption of LA and how these associations are compared among HEIs at different scopes of adoption. The study…
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Sebastian Gombert @ EC-TEL 2022 Doctoral Consortium

Sebastian Gombert @ EC-TEL 2022 Doctoral Consortium

Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Event, Learning Analytics, Research topic
At EC-TEL 2022, Sebastian Gombert presented his doctoral project "Methods and perspectives for the automated analytic assessment of free-text responses in formative scenarios". The goal behind this project is to build free-text assessment systems which can code constructed responses analytically. While much of the past work in response scoring focused on predicting holistic scores, analytic scoring allows to code free-text responses for multiple different aspects. The goal behind these efforts is to provide learners and teachers with useful feedback on each of them. A more detailed project overview will be released as part of the EC-TEL 2022 doctoral consortium proceedings soon.
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Third edition of the Culturally Aware Learning Analytics (CARLA) Workshop at ECTEL22

Third edition of the Culturally Aware Learning Analytics (CARLA) Workshop at ECTEL22

Conference, General education, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Workshop
On the 13th of September, as part of the EC-TEL22 conference, EduTec team member Ioana Jivet co-hosted the third edition of the Culturally Aware Learning Analytics (CARLA) Workshop together with Olga Viberg from KTH Stockholm and Maren Scheffel from Ruhr University Bochum. Learning analytics (LA) have been implemented in various countries, often at a limited scale. We have also seen that LA have been used in different ways in different countries. This makes the transfer of LA solutions from one country to another challenging, due to varying contextual, technical, and cultural factors. Also, the idea that a ‘one size fits all’ paradigm does not lead to effective LA tool designs and implementation has become accepted within both TEL and LA communities. Yet, there is still a big question about what…
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New Pub: Superpowers in the Classroom: Hyperchalk is an Online Whiteboard for Learning Analytics Data Collection

New Pub: Superpowers in the Classroom: Hyperchalk is an Online Whiteboard for Learning Analytics Data Collection

Computer-supported collaborative learning, Conference, Conference, Event, Further Education, General education, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Lifelong Learning, Publication, School, Technical paper
A new system demonstration paper authored by Lukas Menzel, Sebastian Gombert, Daniele Di Mitri and Henrik Drachsler has been released as part of the ECTEL 2022 proceedings. In this paper, we present Hyperchalk, a self-hosted collaborative online whiteboard software. Similar to commercial solutions like Miro or Flinga, this software provides users with collaborative boards which they can use to draw, write or sketch together. However, unlike commercial solutions, Hyperchalk allows for collecting rich log data, which can be used to study the behaviour of its users and to allow Learning Analytics and studies on computer-supported collaborative learning. Moreover, Hyperchalk comes with a built-in replay mode which allows watching how users behave in its spaces. It supports the LTI1.3 standard, which enables seamless integration with learning management systems such as Moodle,…
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New Pub: FoLA2 — A Method for Co-creating Learning Analytics–Supported Learning Design

New Pub: FoLA2 — A Method for Co-creating Learning Analytics–Supported Learning Design

Further Education, General education, Higher Education, Journal, Learning Analytics, Learning Design, Open access, Publication, School
Finally, we have published an article about the FOLA2 method that we have used for over two years frequently to design Learning Analytics supported Learning Designs with teachers of various backgrounds. Learning activities are at the core of every educational design effort. Designing learning activities is a process that benefits from reflecting on previous runs of those activities. One way to measure the behaviour and effects of design choices is to use learning analytics (LA). The challenge, however, lies in the unavailability of an easy-to-use, LA-supported learning design (LD) method. We established a method—the Fellowship of Learning Activities and Analytics (FoLA2)—reinforced by a gameboard and cards to provide structure and inspiration. The method enables several participants with different roles to interact with a set of card decks to create an…
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New Pub: Tools Designed to Support Self-Regulated Learning in Online Learning Environments: A Systematic Review

New Pub: Tools Designed to Support Self-Regulated Learning in Online Learning Environments: A Systematic Review

Higher Education, Journal, Learning Analytics, Self-Regulation
Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a crucial higher-order skill required by learners of the 21st century, who will need to become lifelong learners to adapt to the continually changing environments. Literature provides examples of tools for scaffolding SRL in online environments. In this study, we provide the state-of-the-art concerning tools that support SRL in terms of theoretical models underpinning development, supported SRL processes, tool functionalities, used data and visualizations. We reviewed 42 articles published between 2008 and 2020, including information from 25 tools designed to support SRL. Our findings indicate that (1) many of the studies do not explicitly specify the SRL theoretical model used to guide the design process of the tool; (2) goal setting, monitoring, and self-evaluation are the most prevalent SRL processes supported through functionalities such as content…
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