The document discusses using Moodle logs as a formative assessment tool. It describes a case study where a Moodle was designed for a teacher education course with 109 students. Logs of student actions in Moodle were exported and analyzed to gain insights into student engagement and learning. Over 117,000 student actions were recorded. The analysis of Moodle logs provided evidence that could be used to improve the course design and provide early interventions for students struggling.

1. Swimming (not drowning) in the data stream:
Using Moodle Logs as a formative assessment tool
Dr Tony Loughland and Nigel Pearn
September 17 2010

2. Modular

3. Object-Oriented

4. Dynamic

5. Learning Environment

6. Moodle Design DNA
Underpinned by social constructionist
epistemologies (Dougiamas & Taylor,
2002, p.1)

7. What is Social
Constructionism?
• As a theory, it posits learning as the appropriation of
social practices, or after Wittgenstein, ‘forms of
life’ (Schwandt 2003). Like constructivism, social
constructionism is a theory of learning, or‘knowledge
production’, rather than teaching in the limited sense of
cultural transmission. However, it is also a theory of
subjectivity formation and inscription.When translated
into classroom practice, it emphasizes embodied activity
as both the process and purpose of learning. Thus, it is
predicated on a notion that the results of learning are
likely to be observable, without requiring tests of rarefied
knowledge (Loughland and Parkes, 2004).

8. The problematic
• Prominence of Formative Assessment in the
Educational Research Literature
• The Twin Imperatives of Accreditation and
Credibility
• The need to apply the principles of
formative assessment in a cost-effective
manner

9. Moodle Case-Study
• The action-research methodology
employed in this study was founded on a
practice-based evidence approach that
positioned theory as being “the plaything of
practice” (Carr, 2007).
• The theory that was the object of play in
this study was formative assessment and
the context (playground) was Moodle

10. Forensic Evidence
• ...the goal is to deal with the notion (evidence-
based practice) in a forensic way, seeking to
analyse and understand an educational practice
in order to improve it. When working on a site
of a crime, the forensic scientist does not seek
to prove who the culprits may be but to
understand what has taken place (Groundwater-
Smith, 2007, p.303).
• Collect evidence through Moodle Logs exported
as excel files and made into pivot charts

11. The Student Cohort
• The Moodle was designed for third year
B.Ed (primary) students enrolled in
EDUP3007 Professional Experiences 2
• The unit has 6 on-campus weeks (one
lecture and tutorial) before a 20-day
professional experience.

12. The Moodle Design
process
• Six modules were set up. Five of these were
associated with the on-campus meetings whilst the
sixth carried the assessment task. The assessment
task was a narrative maze created on a Wiki in
which the students critically reflected on their
professional learning on formative assessment
throughout the professional experience.
• The teacher (thanks to TIES grant) and teacher-
educator worked together on the design and
evaluation of the Moodle

13. (n=109)
(total number of actions= 117650)

14. (n=109)
(total number of actions= 117650)

16. The So-What Section
• Fireside Chats
• Data Driven Early Interventions in Moodle
• Co-Design and Evaluation of Initial Teacher
Education Units
• Social Constructionist, Learning by Design
or Backward Mapping
• Shared Territories, Simple Tools and
Common Languages