Using Learning Analytics to improve teamwork assessment

Abstract

Acquiring the teamwork competency is fundamental nowadays, in order to guarantee a correct working performance for individuals. This means that a great deal of importance is being given to this activity in educational circles. Nevertheless, evaluating the development of teamwork individually is not simple, given that on many occasions there is no objective evidence to study. Information and Communication Technologies applied to educational contexts enable access to information that can help in this analysis. However, it is still complex due to the large amount of information that needs to be considered. This study proposes indicators based on the interaction between learning agents (student–student and active–passive). The exploration of these indicators contributes to the assessment of the individual development within the teamwork context. The analysis carried out in this study demonstrates that there is a direct relation between these interactions and final grading corresponding to individual assessment of teamwork activities by teachers. Additionally, a Learning Analytics system is introduced as support for the challenging task that teachers face in evaluating and monitoring individual progress within teamwork. The information provided by the Learning Analytics system and timely information extraction allow preventing problems, carrying out corrective measures and making decisions to improve the learning process of teamwork.