Feature
Learning curves
As the pressure to understand student success rises, Rebecca Pool asks: are libraries coming around to learning analytics?
While learning analytics has swept through many sectors of education, only recently have libraries truly begun to show interest. From the UK to the US, the last few
years have seen more and more university libraries joining a growing number of societies, services and projects that aim to educate the library on how to use data to measure and promote student success. As early as 2011, the Canada-based
Society for Learning Analytics Research, Solar, had organised its first conference on learning analytics and knowledge, predominantly for researchers. More recently, and following several years of development, UK-based Jisc launched what it describes as the ‘world’s first national learning analytics service’ last year for institutions and academic libraries. Also in 2018, the US-based Library
Integration in Institutional Learning Analytics (LIILA) project issued a weighty report on how libraries can become more involved in learning analytics programs, while the Michigan University-led Library
4 Research Information December 2019/January 2020
Learning Analytics Project was formed to understand how libraries impact learning. ‘This is a really interesting time, as the
topic of student success and learning analytics is just starting to really gather speed,’ said Steve McCann, product manager at global library co-operative OCLC. ‘Recent studies in the US predict that in the next several years, universities could lose around 15 per cent of their student body, just because of demographics, so learning analytics use is important right now.’ But what exactly are learning analytics?
With roots in the deluge of educational data on students, these practices aim to gather this information with a view to improving learning experiences and outcomes. Typical data sources include virtual learning environment
activity, attendance data and information from student registry systems such as assessment submission and grades. Library visits, borrowing, use of e-resources and information skills sessions can also be used to shed light on how students interact with the learning environment. This data can then be neatly packaged
in the form of graphs or tables that provide a bird’s-eye view of, how, say, a student’s assignment is going or an entire class is progressing. Any patterns in student output can then be used to improve course design to bolster support. To this end, OCLC has collaborated with the UK-based University of Gloucestershire as part of the Jisc learning analytics project. To this end, the organisation shared datasets from its
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