187 Learning Analytics — 09.06.2019

Over 40 participants squeezed into the Active Teaching Lab to discuss Learning Analytics and their importance (and complications!) for evaluating both student learning in courses as well as the effectiveness of teaching methods themselves.

Takeaways

• What can you learn from Learning Analytics (LA)? Looking at the data provided from Canvas Analytics, instructors are able to visualize how much time students have spent on a given assignment (e.g., a Quiz), the number of times students have opened a Page, and the number and timestamps of interactions (discussion posts, assignment submissions, etc.)
• Learning Analytics can be a tool for assessing instruction. Are numerous students missing the same quiz question?  Are certain types of questions the hardest for students? LA offers a prism into how students are engaging with course materials from the perspective of your assessments.
• With these data points comes an important caveat: the number of page views does not accurately reflect interaction with course materials. LA is best used as one element of your bigger picture when making instructional decisions!
• If you are interested in receiving occasional updates, events and news about learning analytics, send an email to this listserve: join-uwmadisonlearninganalytics@lists.wisc.edu
  
• Mark your calendars for a presentation Sept 18, 12-1 at Union South: Game-based Learning and Data Analytics
  As game-based learning is becoming more prevalent in higher ed classrooms, what kinds of gameplay data are useful, and how should that data be used? Mike Beall and Greg Vaughan of Gear Learning will provide an interactive and in-depth look at the game “At Play in the Cosmos” which is designed to support learning in an Introductory Astronomy classroom. To register: https://go.wisc.edu/33eu5k

For more information visit the session’s activity sheet.

Video

The Active Teaching Lab is a Faculty Engagement program with sessions held on Wednesdays from 1:00-2:00pm and Fridays from 8:30-9:45am in the Middleton Building (1305 Linden Dr.), room 120. Check out upcoming Labs or read the recaps from past Labs. We build interdisciplinary conversations that are more emergent than a presenter and more dynamic than a panel — a conversation with colleagues sharing challenges, solutions, and experiments on topics selected by a variety of stakeholders.

Sign up for regular Lab announcements by sending an email to join-activeteaching@lists.wisc.edu.