Although Heriot-Watt University does not have a specific strategy for learning analytics at the moment, it is anticipated that any future institutional objectives would be to increase student retention, analyse student engagement, enable students to monitor their own progress, create a way for students to get back on track when faced with difficulties, and highlight potential behaviours that would benefit from extra support (mental health, financial difficulties, etc.). There is an ongoing Learning Enhancement project on lecture capture and improving delivery content. The data currently being collected ranges from attendance to labs, VLE engagement, assignment submission to personal tutor engagement. All these forms of data could potentially be used for a learning analytics project.
Future goals:
Heriot-Watt University does have a potential interest in using learning analytics in the future. Indeed, their current Learning Enhancement project could be supplemented by learning analytics. Learning analytics could also improve gaps in the understanding of student behaviour and could support the University’s ability to engage with a wide range of student concerns. In the 2018/19 academic year, Heriot-Watt is in the consulting stages of a strategic plan, which would include a learning analytics roadmap.