The Use of Learning Analytics in STEM over five years (2018-2023)

In 2017/2018 an interdisciplinary OU research team completed an eSTEeM project that used a social informatics approach to explore the extent to which, and how, two learning analytics models (OUA and SPM) were being used in the Faculty of Science, Technology, Enigineering and Mathematics (STEM) by tutors and presentation module teams. The findings led to recommendations about the use of these tools in STEM¹.

Project team: Tom Olney, Carlton Wood, Steve Walker and Anactoria Clarke

Through a series of semi-structured interviews proposed for 2023, this research study aims to follow-up with original participating academics and curriculum managers, or new teams now associated with original participating modules, to see how their practice has evolved in the particular circumstances and contexts of their working situations.

The research team intends to employ the Theory of Practice Architectures² to investigate and evaluate the particular arrangements that constrain or enable learning analytics practice in STEM. With this information the research team hopes to develop effective support strategies for module teams as they engage, or not, with this growing field of teaching and learning.

This research project has been reviewed by, and received a favourable opinion, from The Open University Human Research Ethics Committee – HREC/4224/Olney.

References

¹Olney, T., Walker, S., Wood, C. and A. Clarke (2019). Piloting OUA and SPM on 12 STEM modules – eSTEeM executive summary. Milton Keynes, The Open University.

²Mahon, Kemmis, Francisco & Lloyd (2017) Introduction: Practice Theory and the Theory of Practice Architectures. In Exploring education and professional practice, pp 1-30. Springer, Singapore.