This document discusses using learning analytics (LA) to improve the student experience. It argues that students should be interested in LA because of potential benefits, but risks must be addressed. A good student-staff partnership requires clarity of purpose, advocacy, student representation, governance protecting student interests, transparency, and regular communication. Effectiveness of LA can be monitored through feedback loops, reviewed interventions, improved student outcomes, and greater understanding of teaching and learning. The document uses Greenwich University as a case study, highlighting the purpose of improved engagement and outcomes, advocacy, partnership between the university and student union, governance, ethical framework, transparency, and student engagement. What works includes staff finding value in the data, positive student feedback on attendance monitoring, the

1. Transforming the student
experience using Learning Analytics
• “Students as our Allies”

2. Contents
• Should students be interested in Learning Analytics (LA)?
• Ingredients of a good student-staff partnership
• How we can monitor if LA makes a difference
• Greenwich as a case study
• What works
• Encouraging more active engagement from students

3. Should students be interested in
Learning Analytics (LA)?
• Potential benefits?
• Risks
• Evidence that LA works?
• Is LA better than traditional
methods of monitoring
engagement?
• What is the role for the student?

4. Ingredients of a good student-staff partnership for LA
• Clarity of purpose with students at the heart
• Advocacy from senior sponsor
• Students and permanent staff from the SU embedded as partners with
academic and professional services staff in the development from the
outset
• Governance that protects students interests
• Ethical framework that ensures students and their data are protected
• Transparency that allows students to see their own data and to know
what is being done to it
• Students playing an active role in some aspects of LA
• REGULAR MEANINGFUL COMMUNCATIONS

5. How can we monitor if LA is making a difference?
• Clear links from well-understood student behaviours
to possible, available interventions
• Feedback loop(s) to determine “what works”
• Interventions process reviewed and refined to provide
maximum benefit
• Student feedback sought at regular intervals and
acted on
• Demonstrably improved outcomes achieved by
students
• Greater understanding of teaching and learning
behaviours driving improved curriculum design
• Students using data and widely understood insights
from LA to manage their own personal learning

6. Greenwich as a case study (1)
Purpose:
• improved student engagement which should improve outcomes
Advocacy:
• Keen interest from Vice-Chancellor Professor David Maguire
• DVC (Academic) as sponsor
Partnership:
• Readiness Assessment organised with Jisc
• Good working relationship between University and Students Union
• SU represented on roll-out development group
• SU already using data to develop policy
• Planning Team supporting the SU in data interpretation
Governance:
• Benefited from the work done by Jisc as part of co-design
• Good timing – GDPR, Strengthened role of Information Commissioner
• Attendance Monitoring Policy that sat independently from the LA Policy

7. Greenwich as a case study (2)
Ethical framework:
• EU-funded Sheila project
• Jisc as part of co-design
• Input from other HEIs
• Clear statement that LA would be used to benefit students
Transparency:
• Direct access to personal data - Jisc Study Goal App for students
• Access to the Jisc Data Explorer Dashboard via Personal Tutors
Student engagement:
• Conversations between students and tutors could be more focussed
• Tutors had clearer instructions on where to direct student for additional support
• Module leaders had more information about student engagement with teaching content

8. What works
• Staff perceive that the data has value – it provides insight into their students,
their tutees and the curriculum
• Students in a pilot reported broadly positive comments with regard to using
CheckIn+ for attendance monitoring
• The SU is actively promoting LA
• Evidence that attendance and VLE data can be related to student outcomes

9. Encourage more active engagement from students
• Student visualisations
• accessed easily,
• intuitive to interpret,
• use language that students understand
• Communication
• wide variety of methods
• For both the new entrant and those with
some experience
• Training
• face to face and embedded in the tool
• make no assumptions about digital literacy
• be clear about the purpose of LA
• Links to tutor or teacher interventions
• who and how to contact
• what to expect
• New developments
• Student led
• Other teaching & learning developments
• make links
• identify overlaps and draw parallels
• optimise
• Measuring impact
• a priority
• develop case studies and share widely
• Answer the “Why Bother” with evidence

10. Thank you for listening
Dr Christine Couper
Director, CouperJones Ltd
Email: chris@couperjones.co.uk