Three Stories on Learning Analytics Show How Far Institutions Can Go With Data

The purpose of learning analytics is the strategic application of the data toward the goals education institutions have,” says Rachel Scherer, director of analytics at Blackboard. Explore three learning analytics stories from Australia, Canada and theNetherlands for a better understanding of how learning analytics can impact colleges and universities and help them achieve their strategic goals.<br/

Three Stories on Learning Analytics Show How Far Institutions Can Go With Data

The purpose of learning analytics is the strategic application of the data toward the goals education institutions have,” says Rachel Scherer, director of analytics at Blackboard. Explore three learning analytics stories from Australia, Canada and the Netherlands for a better understanding of how learning analytics can impact colleges and universities and help them achieve their strategic goals

A Comprehensive Guide to Working with Higher Education Curriculum Development, Review & Renewal Projects

“A Comprehensive Guide to Working with Higher Education Curriculum Development, Review & Renewal Projects” is a collaborative effort drawing on the collective experience of the authors, who have worked in different institutional contexts across Canada and beyond. Our goal is to provide practical guidance by describing curriculum development, review, and renewal practices in plain language, using a scholarly, evidence-informed, critical, and self-reflective approach. In writing this guide, we drew variously from theories of learning, well-established scholarship in education and curriculum studies, models of change management as applied to education, and the practice of educational development as informed by our own experiences and shared knowledges, to identify what in our view are best or promising practices for curriculum development

Foundation Skills for Scientists: An Evolving Program

We have undertaken an integrated and collaborative approach to developing foundational skills of students in a first year, Introductory Biology course. The course is a large lecture and laboratory course with enrollments ranging from 800-1000 per year. Teaching and Learning experts were brought into the course as weekly ‘Foundation Skills for Scientists’ sessions were created. The initial challenges were to have effective knowledge exchange between collaborators and create an integrated course syllabus. Once effective sessions were created, the next challenge was to improve student valuation of them. High value was only achieved when the skill sessions were tightly linked to course assignments and activities and was delivered ‘just in time’. Even then, the challenge has been to motivate students to realize that the sessions are directly relevant to them. Overall, student performance has improved since the program was initiated as measured by rate of retention in the course, overall course marks and quality of writing. Nous avons utilisé une approche intégrée et collaborative pour approfondir les compétences de base des étudiants de première année qui suivent un cours d’introduction à la biologie. Il s’agit d’un cours magistral et en laboratoire, auquel s’inscrivent entre 800 et 1000 étudiants par an. Ce cours a bénéficié de l’apport d’experts en enseignement et en apprentissage afin d’appuyer le développement de séances hebdomadaires portant sur les compétences de base en sciences. Les difficultés initiales étaient de susciter un échange de connaissances efficace entre les collaborateurs et de créer un plan de cours intégré. Une fois les séances organisées, la difficulté suivante a été de faire en sorte que les étudiants les apprécient davantage. Ces derniers les ont jugées très utiles uniquement lorsqu’elles étaient étroitement liées aux tâches et aux activités et lorsqu’elles étaient offertes au moment opportun. Même alors, le défi a consisté à motiver les étudiants afin qu’ils se rendent compte que les séances leur sont directement pertinentes. Dans l’ensemble, la performance des étudiants s’est améliorée depuis le début du programme comme l’indiquent les mesures du taux de persévérance dans le cours, les notes générales et la qualité de la rédaction