Higher Education Archives - EduTec Science

Oct72026 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

Keynote: 5 years of Highly Informative Learning Analytics

Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Feedback, Higher Education, Keynote, Learning Analytics, Learning Design, Research Methods, School

Five years in forty minutes On 7 October 2026, Hendrik Drachsler gave a keynote at the CBIE 2026 conference in Goiana, Brazil, that tried something unusual: time travel. He compressed five years of field research, seven projects and roughly 5,750 students into one forty-minute talk. The question behind the keynote was simple: after five years of developing and testing Highly Informative Learning Analytics (HILA) in real lecture halls, what do we actually know? Not what we hoped HILA might achieve back in 2020, but what five years of our own research and data now tell us. What HILA set out to do HILA starts with a modest observation: most lecture rooms still offer very little personalisation. Learning analytics promised to change that, but its rollout in Europe stalled on four…

Oct72026 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

PhD defense: Congratulations, Dr. Manuel Valle Torre!

Artificial Intelligence, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, PhD defense, School

Today, 07.10.2026 at 15:00, Manuel Valle Torre successfully defended his PhD thesis "Sequences in Data to Represent Learning Processes: What have you tried until now?" at Delft University of Technology. Hendrik Drachsler was honoured to take part as an independent member of the doctoral committee. [pdf-embedder url="https://edutec.science/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Manuel-defense-slides.pdf"] Manuel's thesis starts with a question every programming tutor knows: "What have you tried until now?" Digital learning environments usually assess only the final product, so this question is hard for them to answer. In three phases, Manuel shows how sequences of learner actions can be used to understand learning processes and support them while they happen. He developed ELAT for analysing edX log data, reviewed the field of learning sequence analysis, and studied problem-solving in data science notebooks. He then built JELAI,…

Sep252026 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: Implementation of AI-based Feedback and Assessment – IMPACT Project Evaluation Report

Artificial Intelligence, Feedback, Higher Education, Learning Analytics, Publication, Report

How can universities provide individual feedback and useful support systems to every student when class sizes continue to grow and learner needs become increasingly diverse? Artificial intelligence offers promising opportunities to provide personalized learning and teaching support on a larger scale. Yet as regulations regarding data protection, transparency and the responsible use of AI continue to evolve, institutions face a difficult balancing act between innovation and regulatory compliance. These issues were addressed in the IMPACT project (Implementation of AI-based Feedback and Assessment with Trusted Learning Analytics in Higher Education Institutions), which explored how AI can support students and educators throughout the academic journey. Its goal was to develop AI-based methods for the semi-automated analysis of academic texts, to allow for more effective support in learning, teaching and assessment. A key…

Aug172026 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

Invited Talk at the NEES Center, Maceió, Brasil

Higher Education, Invited talk, Keynote, Keynote, Learning Analytics, Learning Design

In August, Hendrik Drachsler was invited to give a talk at the NEES research centre of the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL) in Maceió, hosted by Prof. Dr Diego Dermeval. The lecture, "Design, Development and Evaluation of Highly Informative Learning Analytics", was organised together with the PPGI graduate programme and drew a full house of 80 participants. Hendrik's argument was straightforward. Most learning analytics is not wrong; it is just not informative enough. Counting clicks and minutes tells a teacher that something happened, not what to do about it. Moving from descriptive to truly informative analytics takes three things: indicators grounded in learning theory, a design process that includes the educators who will use the results, and a governance framework that makes the whole thing defensible. He presented the tools…

Jul162026 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: Recommendations for Higher Education in the Age of Generative AI

Artificial Intelligence, Higher Education, Publication, Report

Generative AI cannot be treated as just another digital tool that has come along. As it becomes more and more embedded in higher education, universities face the challenge of responsibly navigating the many challenges and opportunities that generative AI brings with it. One central guiding principal for institutions and stakeholders engaged with generative AI is intellectual sovereignty, which the German Science and Humanities Council (Wissenschaftsrat, WR) highlights in its newly published position paper, which was presented in a digital press release on 06.07.2026. Intellectual sovereignty refers to the ability to think independently, exercise critical judgment and maintain autonomy in the creation and evaluation of knowledge. Rather than relying uncritically on AI-generated outputs, this concept encourages students, educators and institutions to actively question, assess and contextualize information. By placing intellectual sovereignty…

Jun252026 by Prof. Dr. Hendrik DrachslerNo Comments

Keynote: From Experiment to Infrastructure: Reflections on AI in Higher Education

Academy, Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Higher Education, Keynote, Keynote

Today, Hendrik Drachsler gave a keynote at the VHB annual Conference in Bamberg, speaking to an audience of over 33 AI project leaders from higher education institutions in Germany. The topic was "From Experiment to Infrastructure: Scaling, Evaluation, and Governance of AI Systems in Higher Education," reflecting his thinking on various grassroots projects and how to scale them across the whole university. The gap between performance and learning Hendrik opened with a provocation: Is AI the new calculator? Both technologies automate cognitive processes, both faced early scepticism, and both promised efficiency gains. But the analogy breaks down quickly. A calculator takes over arithmetic, not problem-solving. AI takes over the formulation, analysis, and argument. That is a qualitative difference, and it demands a different institutional / governance response. Mixed results on…

Nov282025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

Exploring the Future of Digital Teaching at #EduNext25

Artificial Intelligence, Conference, Event, Higher Education

On 26.11.2025 our team had the privilege of participating in #EduNext25, a full-day conference dedicated to the future of digitalization and AI in higher education. Hosted by studiumdigitale at Goethe University Frankfurt, the event brought together educators, researchers and innovators from across Hessen and beyond to discuss how technology can transform teaching and learning. The opening remarks by Prof. Dr. Viera Pirker, Minister TimonGremmels and Prof. Dr. Hendrik Drachsler set the tone: digitalization and AI are not just trends, they are essential tools for shaping the academic experience of tomorrow. One highlight was the EduConnect session, where universities from the HessenHub network and the QuiS program showcased their latest projects and approaches to digital learning. Another highlight was the panel discussion on strategic alliances for future teaching. Experts from various…

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…

Nov62025 by Nina MouhammadNo Comments

New Pub: From Nervous to Noteworthy: Evaluating SPEAKS

Competence development, Conference, Conference, Higher Education

Public speaking can be nerve-wracking, but it’s also a skill every professional needs. Many students leave higher education feeling unprepared to speak confidently in front of an audience. Traditional courses exist, but providing enough guidance to every student is time- and resource-intensive. This is where SPEAKS comes in. SPEAKS (Speech content Preparation for Effective and Authentic Knowledge Sharing) is an educational software designed to guide students through preparing the content of their speeches. The tool and its evaluation were presented at ECEL 2025 in a paper authored by Nina Mouhammad, Jan Schneider, Roland Klemke and Daniele Di Mitri as part of the HyTea-project, highlighting its potential to support students in developing better speech content and becoming more confident regarding public speaking. The tool uses a fully scripted, chat-based interface with…

Jul212025 by Heather WehnerNo Comments

New Pub: How Feedback Literacy Moderates Student Perceptions of Feedback

Feedback, Higher Education, Journal, New Pub

Whether or not students receive effective feedback can have a big impact on their overall learning process. The more qualitative and personalized the feedback is, the more effective it is in supporting the students with their individual learning goals. The latest developments in learning analytics and artificial intelligence have made it possible to provide a large number of students with personalized feedback automatically and simultaneously. Despite these technical advances, there is still much to be learned about the ability of students to use this feedback for their scholastic benefit. So far, only a limited number of studies have examined the impact of feedback literacy on students' perceptions of feedback, which is particularly true for technology-enhanced learning environments. A newly published paper addresses this issue and focuses on how students interpret…