The data used by StREAM already exists within the university. It is data that reflects their active participation in their learning such as, student activity data from historical and current digital interactions from centralised data points such as campus swipes, tutorial attendance and e-learning portals. The purpose is to then use it to support staff and students in the student’s learning journey. A key part of the StREAM design is our ethical code of practice and the transparency of the data model (we only measure engagement – we don’t include more contentious areas such as demographics or socio-economic background). This allows us to share the data with both staff and students with no ‘black box’ approach to calculating the engagement scores.
Sharing the data with the student allows them to take control of their own learning journey. The likes of Nottingham Trent University have seen students adjust their behaviour as a result. In the 2017 Student Transition Survey, 74% of students who had logged on to the Dashboard reported having changed their behaviour to raise or maintain their engagement score.
Empowering students enables them to change their levels of engagement without having to rely on university resources to make an intervention. Other universities are using the dashboard and its alerts framework to identify those students that university support services aren’t aware of. It enables them to get upstream, offering support before they reach the crisis point. Some customers can even identify seasonal changes in resource requirements which helps with planning.
“Two thirds of students who take their own life are unknown to the university support services”
– James Murray
Hall, R. (2018) ‘Student suicides: the bereaved father who says data could save lives’, The Guardian, 8, October. Available at Student suicides: the bereaved father who says data could save lives | University leadership | The Guardian
Implementing Learning Analytics (LA) can appear a daunting task for some institutions. At Solutionpath, we have developed solutions with a wide range of pre-integrated, out of the box connectors, enabling us to easily digest data and transform it. This reduces the technical burden on IT departments and removes any requirement for internal development resource to be deployed to any LA project involving Solutionpath StREAM technology.
Take a look at our York St John University case study to see how easy implementation was for them.
The system doesn’t predict grades. It is designed to promote positive behaviours to help achieve positive outcomes. As the data is taken on a daily basis, a student can make adjustments to their daily engagement without the need to wait for the next assessment milestone. Nottingham Trent University research has shown that students wanted to be told that they were at risk of dropping out (94%) or know if the university could improve their chances of progression (97%). Students feedback that it helps them to stay on track and helps to inform what is expected of them.
Typically, academics have limited time to spend with students (3-5 times in the first year). The system helps to prioritise their time by identifying those students most at risk, whilst also enabling them to maximise the limited time they do have with students, as conversations are more focused around their engagement. In the Nottingham Trent University pilot survey, 80% of tutors felt that the data provided by the StREAM Dashboard changed how they worked with students.
We share 5 common fears and misconceptions about learning analytics and insight to help overcome them. 1. “Collecting data about our students feels a bit ‘Big Brother” The data used by StREAM already exists within the university. It is data that reflects their active participation in their learning such as, student activity data […]
Fill in your details in the form to the right to access the full article.
