UPA has embarked on a Student Retention and Success initiative, which is a data-driven, evidence-based approach to improving retention across the student lifecycle.
A key initative deliverable will be a student retention and at-risk dashboard for each UPA college, for monitoring student progression, identifying at-risk students and evaluating the impact of current retention strategies. The use of learner analytics will be applied to identify and predict students at risk of withdrawal and provide interventions early in the student journey.
As highlighted by CEO Scott Jones, students are at the front and centre of all our initiatives, and it is exciting “to see innovation in the area of student retention, particularly in identifying and supporting at-risk students”.
Learning Analytics
Learning analytics is defined as “the practice of developing actionable insights through the collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs” (Siemens & Long, 2011).
The first phase commenced in August 2021, with 17 Griffith College staff members undertaking learning analytics professional development provided by Learning & Teaching Services (UPA). Moodle learning analytics were used to identify actionable data for student retention purposes. Tailored reports enabled monitoring of the progress of large student cohorts during the pilot period, tracking the trends of student preferences for optional activities and resources.
Teachers tracked student interaction, engagement, behaviour, and outcomes as students progressed through their courses each week. Griffith College staff members Inez Chai (Management, Marketing, and Intercultural Studies - above, left) and Melinda Villamizar (Program Advisor for Foundation; Lecturer in Computer Skills and Academic Communication Skills - right) share insights on their learning analytics journey so far.
Inez: Before the pandemic I was not familiar with learning analytics, and I hadn’t used any learning analytics tools. While teaching online, I attended a webinar organised by Learning and Teaching Services (UPA) that presented an overview of learning analytics. I found it fascinating, and it ignited my curiosity to learn more. I was excited to get learning analytics professional development, as such tools can help us create more active learning activities/assessment and ensure that students are on track.
Melinda: I was new to learning analytics and I was pleased to find out that you do not need to be a maths or Excel expert to use certain tools.
After participating in the pilot study, what
Melinda: While I haven’t had a chance to apply some of the things covered in the professional development sessions, it was interesting to hear about how teachers are able to track points of interaction, even before the trimester starts. It’s great to be able to track engagement with content and completion of activities, formative tasks and assessments.
Inez: I generally focus on live session engagement to see who is really listening and engaging with my online sessions in real time. I have found activity reports very useful. I go to “participants” on Moodle and check the live/daily logs to see which students are engaging with content and activities I am running. I generally first teach a concept and then, to promote active learning, I often use Padlet and H5P activities. With Padlet you can clearly see who is engaging with it, and through learning analytic tools I can now also see who completed H5P tasks and who did not.
Melinda: I wanted to be able to run information on specific cohorts of students as I needed those details for after-class engagement reports to share with managers. One downloadable report gave me an overview of engagement while another report provided specific participant and assessment information.
Inez: I found there were students sitting in front of their computer but not doing a task assigned. I take immediate action and contact students via the chat feature before the end of the session or through emails. I would tell them what I was looking at, that I could see they were not engaged during a live session and that I can also see who had been doing their tasks. This approach worked well this trimester and I was able to bring distracted students back to the class and they continued joining every week. Therefore, I’ve been using the data to fill in learning gaps and to see what support students need. It has also helped me build rapport with students through quick and specific communication.
Melinda: I am still to apply some of the tools but following reports I downloaded, I sent follow-up emails. Generally, students respond to that contact as they see a level of concern and interest in them, and they seem to expect being monitored in a way. I’m keen to learn more about strategies to continue to support students, based on the data at hand.
Melinda: Don’t be scared! Learning analytic tools can be very easy to use – they are simple, straightforward, and extremely useful as they can be applied to both on campus and online cohorts. Just have a go!
Inez: I was going to say the same thing! Even when teaching on campus, students have tasks to complete online anyway, so learning analytics is always going to be important. I am not a maths person; I just look at the information and boxes ticked, and it is all very easy to follow. Particularly since the pandemic, we’ve had to try different things and change our teaching methods. It’s about evolving, having flexibility and adjusting to students’ needs and behaviour as well.