SHEILA: Supporting Higher Education to Integrate Learning Analytics. Research Report Books uri icon

publication date

  • 2018

isbn

  • 978-1-912669-02-8

abstract

  • Learning analytics promises to enhance learning and teaching by providing insights into learning engagement and progression, thereby informing teaching and learning decisions.

    While interest in learning analytics (LA) has grown rapidly among higher education institutions (HEIs), the maturity levels
    of HEIs in terms of being ‘student data informed" are only at early stages. To assist European higher education institutions to become more mature users and custodians of digital data collected from students during their online learning activities, the SHEILA (Supporting Higher Education to Integrate Learning Analytics) project, co-co-funded by the European Commission via the Erasmus+ program, aimed to build a policy development framework that supports systematic, sustainable and responsible adoption of LA at an institutional level.
    To this end, a series of research activities have taken place since January 2016 until September 2018 to investigate the state of the art in terms of LA adoption in Europe, drivers for adoption, challenges, and successes to date.

    The study has engaged a wide range of stakeholders, including institutional leaders, teaching staff, students, and LA experts, using surveys, interviews, focus groups, and a group concept mapping activity. Based on the results of these research activities and the Rapid Outcome Mapping Approach (ROMA) [9, 21], we developed a policy framework, addressed as the SHEILA framework1 hereafter, to guide individual institutions to develop a comprehensive policy that speaks to the needs of their particular contexts and stakeholders therein. The framework has been tested and validated by 200 external stakeholders, primarily comprising institutional leaders, policy makers, LA researchers, teaching staff, support professionals, and students, between March and November 2018. The framework has also informed the policy and strategy processes in four European HEIs, including the University of Edinburgh, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, the Open University of the Netherlands, and Tallinn University. For example, the 'Policy and Procedures for Developing and Managing Learning Analytics Activities”2 developed at the University of Edinburgh is an exemplar followed by several HEIs now. A number of materials produced by the SHEILA project are now open resources for HEIs to start the process of engaging key stakeholders and formulating a policy for LA. These materials include the SHEILA framework, the manual and handout of the SHEILA framework, survey and focus group protocols3, and the SHEILA MOOC4.

    In addition to the SHEILA framework, as a primary intellectual output, the study highlights six key findings:
    1. The adoption of LA among European HEIs was in early phases with unclear strategies and lacking monitoring frameworks.
    2. Institutional leaders were particularly interested in adopting LA to improve institutional performance, whereas teachers were keen to use it to enhance curriculum design, and students were eager to receive personalised support.
    3. Ethics and privacy were considered the most important elements to include in a LA policy, and a key factor influencing student buy-in.
    4. Both teachers and students expressed an expectation of LA to enhance student agency and self-regulated learning skills rather than hampering them through a spoon-feeding or datafication approach.
    5. Analytics expertise, data culture, staff buy-in, and technological infrastructure are four key dimensions of institutional capacity to enable successful adoption of LA.
    6. To close the feedback loop effectively, it is crucial to involve pedagogical expertise and equip key users with reflective skills to interpret data and turn it into constructive actions.
    In light of these findings, we recommend a dialogical approach to dealing with the social and cultural challenges associated with LA, so as to move towards systematic adoption under a shared vision across the institution.
    Moreover, we believe that HEIs have the onus to ensure that LA is used effectively and ethically. To this end, a policy agenda ought to be in place to meet the needs of every stakeholder involved in the implementation of LA.

subjects

  • Education