Student Experience

Over the last few years, a satisfactory overall student experience has been considered essential by students and by higher education institutions. Five institutions surveyed (26%) mentioned student experience as a potential driver for the implementation of a learning analytics system.

Definition & background:

Student experience has been notoriously difficult to define precisely. It can include academic, intellectual and professional aspects, as well as social, cultural, political or sporting elements. It can also be seen as a subjective and emotional evaluation of general life in higher education. Higher education institutions have an important role to play in the shaping of student experience. It is an important driver for universities in Scotland, as the Scottish Funding Council puts an emphasis on student satisfaction with experience.

In the last few years, there has been an emphasis on what students’ subjectively experience at university, rather than simply assessing objective measures such as retention or achievement ratings. Notably, the National Student Survey (NSS), a national assessment and feedback opportunity for students in the final year of their degree, has eight specific questions about student experience. Additionally, improving student experience can lead to increased application and admission rates, improved learning outcomes, increased advocacy from students and increased alumni engagement. On an institutional level, student experience can be measured through feedback forms, focus groups and discussion with current students.

Learning analytics could benefit the measurement and the improvements of student experience. Indeed, as there are many various factors involved in the measure of overall student experience, the analysis of feedback and of the factors could shed some light on what institutions can do to improve student experience.

Institutions stating improvement of student experience as a key driver:

• Abertay University
• University of Dundee
• University of Edinburgh
• Glasgow School of Art
• University of Strathclyde

Learning analytics projects focused on student experience:

• Most of the institutions mentioned above (Abertay, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow School of Art) state student experience as a key driver for the implementation of learning analytics. However, these institutions have not yet implemented learning analytics tools or projects related to the improvement of student experience.
• Although the University of Strathclyde has not yet implemented a learning analytics tool that directly targets student experience, this institution does aim to provide a feedback portfolio, which can also feedforward to other assignments. This portfolio will also be used to monitor student workload to ensure students are not being overloaded. This can be considered a step towards improving student experience, by attempting to limit the stress on students.

Considerations:

There is ample reason to believe that learning analytics could improve overall student experience. However, there are some concerns that learning analytics may cause undue stress to students and would consequently hinder student experience. Indeed, some institutions have raised concerns that learning analytics tools could be stressful to use, or that learning analytics could increase feelings of being monitored (for instance Queen Margaret and Stirling have raised these concerns). Another concern is that students may be stressed when compared to their peers for attendance or attainment statistics (Robert Gordon and Scotland’s Rural College have raised these concerns). Furthermore, it is important to consider the interpretation of the data that learning analytics produces, and to remember that all students are different and learn differently. It is impossible to reduce broad concepts such as engagement, attainment and student experience to mere digits. Consequently, it is imperative to acknowledge these different considerations when engaging with learning analytics at an institutional level.

Conclusion:

Although there are some considerations to acknowledge when implementing learning analytics systems, the importance of student experience cannot be understated, from a subjective student perspective but also from an institutional and policy perspective. Student experience has a wider institutional impact, notably through increased admissions and improved learning outcomes. An evaluation of future projects concerned with improving student experience will be needed in the future.