Research description:
Learning analytics involves the collection and analysis of student and course data, including interactions with educational technology such as a learning management system (LMS), for the purposes of better understanding and optimizing student learning and learning environments. This research project will involve identifying, visualizing and analyzing LMS data from the University of Toronto to investigate how the data might effectively be used to identify student patterns of activity and their association with student success and how it might inform practices in learning design that can benefit all students. The particular question to be considered in this project will be determined based on available data and the interests and background of the research student. Possible questions that could be considered include: How do students interact with their instructor and each other in online discussion forums? How does student engagement with digital resources differ for courses presented in online and in-person delivery modes? Are there patterns of student activity that appear to be productive and patterns that do not? How can student LMS activity data be used as a proxy for student engagement and how might course design decisions affect the suitability of the data to effectively capture meaningful measures of engagement?
Year: 2022
Researcher:
Alison Gibbs, Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto
Student:
Yupeng Zhang, University of Toronto