Related Research

Our related research

FoLA2 is one of the elements of de Learning Analytics (LA) supported Learning Design (LD) solutions Marcel and his team designed to bridge the worlds of LA and LD. Marcel started this research in 2016 by drawing an idea of how LA can be embedded during design and runtime. First step of his research was giving an overview of the research on LA, LD, Metacogntive Competences.

Schmitz, M., Van Limbeek, E., Greller, W., Sloep, P., & Drachsler, H. (2017, September). Opportunities and challenges in using learning analytics in learning design. In European conference on technology enhanced learning (pp. 209-223). Springer, Cham.

After getting insight in what is out there we studied what teachers and students want in a LA supported LD environment. From the perspective of the visualisation (dashboard) as from a perspective of the data this was investigated in focusgroups and by quesionnaires. Also we looked into metacognitive competences and how students cope with them in practice. This lead to:

Schmitz, M., Scheffel, M., van Limbeek, E., Bemelmans, R., & Drachsler, H. (2018, September). “Make It Personal!”-Gathering Input from Stakeholders for a Learning Analytics-Supported Learning Design Tool. In European Conference on Technology Enhanced Learning (pp. 297-310). Springer, Cham.

In the same period we studied the connection between metacognitive competences, online activity and grades. In the REFLECTOR project our mission was to see if a learning dashboard could give us insights into the learning behavior of students. And especially if the information combining the three datasources mentioned above would lead to interesting information.

Schmitz, M., Scheffel, M., van Limbeek, E., van Halem, N., Cornelisz, I., van Klaveren, C., … & Drachsler, H. (2018, September). Investigating the relationships between online activity, learning strategies and grades to create learning analytics-supported learning designs. In European conference on technology enhanced learning (pp. 311-325). Springer, Cham.

One of the lessons learned is that using a Learning Dashboard in a module that is already designed and published in a way is complicated. LA usage could benefit from a tool that already includes learning analytics into the equation at design time. Here the search started for a environment to design learning activities with attention for LA. Here the design science process of FoLA2 started.

Concept Design Science Research Article FoLA2 (Not finished yet, only available for teammembers, for questions mail: marcel.schmitz@zuyd.nl)