Student profiling in a dispositional learning analytics application using formative assessment

How learning disposition data can help us translating learning feedback from a learning analytics application into actionable learning interventions, is the main focus of this empirical study. It extends previous work where the focus was on deriving timely prediction models in a data rich context, encompassing trace data from learning management systems, formative assessment data, e-tutorial trace data as well as learning dispositions. In this same educational context, the current study investigates how the application of cluster analysis based on e-tutorial trace data allows student profiling into different at-risk groups, and how these at-risk groups can be characterized with the help of learning disposition data. It is our conjecture that establishing a chain of antecedent-consequence relationships starting from learning disposition, through student activity in e-tutorials and formative assessment performance, to course performance, adds a crucial dimension to current learning analytics studies: that of profiling students with descriptors that easily lend themselves to the design of educational interventions

A Conceptual Model Of Foreign Student Profiling

The proliferation of the foreign student’s enrolment is projected at 7.2 million in the year 2025 from 1.8 million in 2000. Malaysian institutions are driven by foreign student’s recruitment in line with Ministry of Higher Education vision of recruiting 200,000 foreign students by the year 2020. Although Malaysia emerging as one of top ten foreign students’ recruiter, the knowledge of the extent of foreign students’ intention to study in Malaysia is still modest. Yet, there is no precise profiling system that could infer whether these foreign students are genuinely coming into Malaysia for education purpose. To fill this study gap, we utilize the immense of information which available through the various types of social media, we adopt the user profiling method using social network analysis for the detection purpose of foreign students in Malaysian public universities

Squaring the circle: a new alternative to alternative-assessment

Many quality assurance systems rely on high-stakes assessment for course certification. Such methods are not as objective as they might appear; they can have detrimental effects on student motivation and may lack relevance to the needs of degree courses increasingly oriented to vocational utility. Alternative assessment methods can show greater formative and motivational value for students but are not well suited to the demands of course certification. The widespread use of virtual learning environments and electronic portfolios generates substantial learner activity data to enable new ways of monitoring and assessing students through Learning Analytics. These emerging practices have the potential to square the circle by generating objective, summative reports for course certification while at the same time providing formative assessment to personalise the student experience. This paper introduces conceptual models of assessment to explore how traditional reliance on numbers and grades might be displaced by new forms of evidence-intensive student profiling and engagement

Home from school early: why are school suspensions on the rise?

Yvonne Harman investigated rising Queensland primary school suspensions. Evidence of associations between ADHD and problematic interactive media use, alongside her finding that the suspended children in her study scored 3 times higher for hyperactivity and peer problem traits than non-suspended children, guided policy recommendations on school-site screen time and student profiling on enrolment

Issues of partial credit in mathematical assessment by computer

The CALM Project for Computer Aided Learning in Mathematics has operated at Heriot‐Watt University since 1985. From the beginning CALM has featured assessment in its programs (Beevers, Cherry, Foster and McGuire, 1991), and enabled both students and teachers to view progress in formative assessment The computer can play a role in at least four types of assessment: diagnostic, self‐test, continuous and grading assessment. The TLTP project Mathwise employs the computer in three of these roles. In 1994 CALM reported on an educational experiment in which the computer was used for the first time to grade, in part, the learning of a large class of service mathematics students (Beevers, McGuire, Stirling and Wild ,1995), using the Mathwise assessment template. At that time the main issues identified were those of ‘partial credit’ and communication between the student and the computer. These educational points were addressed in the next phase of the CALM Project in which the commercial testing program Interactive PastPapers was developed. The main aim of this paper is to describe how Interactive Past Papers has been able to incorporate some approaches to partial credit which has helped to alleviate student worries on these issues. Background information on other features in Interactive Past Papers is also included to provide context for the discussion

Ludlow College: report from the Inspectorate (FEFC inspection report; 103/95 and 78/98)

The Further Education Funding Council has a legal duty to make sure further education in England is properly assessed. The FEFC’s inspectorate inspects and reports on each college of further education according to a four-year cycle. This record comprises the reports for periods 1994-95 and 1997-98

Minimizing the Cultural Influences on Learning Outcomes in Higher Education Through Interventional Tools of Student Profiling and Gamification

Globalization and resultant international mobility, especially in higher education sector, have created a situation where interaction between teachers and students from diverse cultural backgrounds might adversely, albeit unintentionally, impact the effective learning outcomes, In its simplest form, culture can be defined as the product of nature and nurture. Thus, the challenge is how to minimize the negative influence of inter-cultural differences. The situation is even more pronounced in the wake of ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s publication titled “New Schools of Thought: Innovative models in Delivering Higher Education”, the ripple effects of the pandemic are likely to compel the educators to future-proof higher education by largely resorting to online education with the help of technology. The research proposes to use two tools, namely, student profiling and technology-centric gamification to ensure that the learning outcome is optimal. Students are classified based on their individual cultural backgrounds, needs, interests, preferences and experiences through personal interviews and questionnaires. Gamification is the technology of recent coinage in education that employs game-like elements in non-game contexts. While games are primarily meant for fun and entertainment, gamification in education is meant to increase and sustain student motivation. An exploratory qualitative case study design is proposed for the research. A representative sample of higher education students at a university will be selected with at least one third of them diverse international backgrounds. Direct interviews and questionnaires with 7-point Likert scale are the research instruments. The expected outcome of the research results will show the extent to which the cultural influences are filtered via student profiling and how gamification contributes to learning outcomes of students in person-centered environment

Key skills by design: Adapting a central Web resource to departmental contexts

Web‐based delivery of support materials for students has proved to be a popular way of helping small teams to implement key skills policies within universities. The development of ‘key’ or ‘transferable’ skills is now encouraged throughout education, but resources (both in terms of staffing and budget) tend to be limited. It is difficult for key skills teams to see learners face to face, and not feasible to print or distribute large amounts of paper‐based material. Web‐based delivery presents a means of overcoming these problems but it can result in generic study skills material simply being published online without due consideration of the needs of different groups of learners within different subject disciplines. Therefore, although a centralized Website for skills provision can overcome logistical problems, it may be perceived as irrelevant or unusable by the student population. This paper presents a model for Web‐based delivery of support for key skills which incorporates two separate approaches to the design of these resources. The model was implemented as part of a wider key skills pilot project at University College London, over a period of one year. It includes a ‘core’ Website, containing information and resources for staff and students. These can also be accessed via customized, departmental key skills homepages. This paper presents the basis for the design choices made in preparing these materials, and the evaluation of some of the pilot departments using them. It then draws some wider conclusions about the effectiveness of this design for supporting skills development