The potential and pitfalls of learning analytics as a tool for supporting student wellbeing

Samantha J Ahern

doi:10.29311/jlthe.v1i2.2812

Abstract

Learning Analytics is a growing field in UK Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) with many implementations focusing on Early Alert and Student Success, but is this putting the cart before the horse? In the 2017 #StepChange report Universities UK suggested that learning analytics should be aligned to student wellbeing. With reported increases in incidents of student mental ill-health and extra demands being placed on student support services as a consequence this seems an appropriate application of this technology. However, there are a number of concerns related to student privacy and the interpretation and presentation of the analytics. Also, who will be designing and performing interventions? At a time when there is growing concerns around the wellbeing of staff, should we be adding a further burden? Do we risk being eaten by the analytics crocodile? It is clear that to utilise learning analytics in this way poses a number of challenges, but in the information age, when this data is available to us is it moral or legal to remain the caterpillar, knowing nothing of who our students are? With Institute for Public Policy Research stating that “…a majority of HEIs should take measures to ensure that the nature of course content and delivery does not result in academic rigour being sought at the expense of students’ mental health and wellbeing.” we should be doing all we can to adequately and pro-actively support our students.

Highlights

Learning analytics are defined as “the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs.” (Siemens & Gasevic, 2012)
In response to a growth in the incidence of mental ill-health amongst students, in September 2017 Universities UK (UUK) published the #StepChange (Universities UK, n.d.), inclusive of a recommendation to align learning analytics to student wellbeing. This coincided with the publication of the Institute for Public Policy Research’s report Not By Degrees (IPPR, 2017), which stated that “...a majority of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) should take measures to ensure that the nature content and delivery does not result in academic rigour being sought at the expense of students’ mental health and wellbeing.”
There is indication that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have a role to play in student mental health, and could in part be responsible for student mental ill-health and poor wellbeing

Summary

Introduction

Learning analytics are defined as “the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs.” (Siemens & Gasevic, 2012). As most students have reached the age of majority upon enrolment in courses at HEIs, such a duty of care is perceived as inappropriate as it goes beyond the perceived levels of duty of care towards learners in an adult learning environment and may lead to an interventionalist approach towards students Concerns were voiced both on social media (Jamdar, 2018) and via sector commentary (WONKHE 2018). Research conducted by Student Minds found that academics are increasingly responding to student mental health issues (Hughes, Panjwani, Tulcidas, & Byrom, 2018), but the higher education sector does not have the appropriate structures or cultures to assist them It is these structures that are criticised by Sir Anthony Seldon, vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham: "We are obsessed by reactive policy once students hit the bottom of the waterfall; we need to be putting preventative policies in place to prevent them ever tipping over the edge"(Coughlan, 2018). It is a case of understanding that these techniques are being used but being able to interpret the outputs of these systems

Ethical Considerations

Findings

Conclusion