Analytics-Informed Design: Exploring Visualization of Learning Management Systems Recorded Data for Learning Design

Abstract

One apparent challenge associated with learning analytics (LA) has been to promote adoption by university educators. Researchers suggest that a visualization dashboard could serve to help educators use LA to improve learning design (LD) practice. We therefore used an educational design approach to develop a pedagogically useful and easy-to-use LA visualization solution to support data-informed LD. We interviewed four staff in a medical degree program at a New Zealand university, designed and piloted a dashboard, and evaluated it through interviews. As a proof-of-concept project, our study showed that educational design research could be meaningfully used to develop a visualization dashboard that is easy-to-use and useful. In particular, the preliminary design principles identified provide implications for practitioners who are seeking to use LA to inform LD. Finally, we reflect on the purpose of visualization dashboards in relation to the literature and identify areas for future developments.