University of Glasgow

Learning analytics system:

No system in place

System in place:

Moodle

Journey so far:

The University of Glasgow’s aims for learning analytics are to explore factors relating to academic performance. They are interested in supporting at-risk students and improving learning design and teaching. Although they are still unsure of what exact needs learning analytics could fill, Glasgow are not investigating retention or attendance.

The University of Glasgow previously had a learning analytics system (that used data from performance, attendance, library usage and VLE engagement), that identified disengaged students. The University of Glasgow also has a data warehouse of historic (non-current) data on background, subject coverage on entry, tariff on entry and academic performance (notably exam performance).

Future goals:

One of the potential uses of the historic data stored within the data warehouse would be to identify the factors mediating student performance. The University of Glasgow also have a three-year plan to implement two projects; firstly, new active learning spaces are being created, and learning analytics could be used to evaluate these physical changes, and secondly, an assessment and feedback project is being implemented in order to harmonise the current assessment systems across the whole university. It is anticipated a learning analytics implementation strategy will be finalised by 2021.