Abstracts Category : Other

The Nature and Extent of Instructors Use of Learning Analytics in Higher Education to Inform Teaching and Learning

by Janet L King

The utilization of learning analytics to support teaching and learning has emerged as a newer phenomenon combining instructor-oriented action research, the mining of educational data, and the analyses of statistics and patterns. Learning analytics have documented, quantified and graphically displayed students interactions, engagement, and performance to gain a more complex understanding of teaching and learning. Researchers and scholars have hailed learning analytics as one of the future game-changers in higher education. This study addressed important questions. How have instructors at institutions of higher learning explored learning analytics to reflect upon their teaching practicespecifically, curriculum, pedagogy, student learning and outcomes? What have been the perceived key challenges to the adoption and implementation of learning analytics by instructors at institutions of higher learning? A reflection on technology integration with an emphasis on the affordances and rhetoric of learning analytics to inform teaching and learning was presented. An exploratory study was undertaken consisting of a two-phased research approacha dominant-less dominant design, addressing the nature and extent of instructors use of learning analytics in higher education. The findings failed to substantiate extensive buy-in by instructors; challenges included a lack of time to learn and implement analytics, a culture of resistance, issues with change, and insufficient professional development, training and incentives. When learning analytics were used, it often involved supervisory and pro-active affordances for students. Advisors/Committee Members: Kendall Hartley, Linda Quinn, Chyllis Scott, Wolfgang Bein.