Contextualising Learner Experience Better: Using Learning Analytics and Other Methods

Abstract

In this workshop/discussion we will demonstrate how we have used a range of tools to measure the student experience on a second level 60 point undergraduate interdisciplinary module that is taught remotely. This module currently has 350 students who are located all over the UK, with a minority based in Europe and the rest of the world. As with other modules offered by the Open University (OU) in the UK, our students come from a diverse background and learn from printed and VLE materials with help from their tutors, who deliver correspondence tuition and tutorials (a mixture of face to face and online tutorials). The module chair, responsible for the quality of teaching materials, does not have direct contact with the students. In our session, we will outline how, in our capacities as the module chair and TEL designer, we have compiled a comprehensive picture of our student experience, gathered from different stakeholder perspectives and using qualitative and quantitative methods to inform the changes to the module. This workshop will demonstrate learning analytics alone is not sufficient in understanding learner experience. Different methods (including learning analytics) can help to contextualise learner experience better and hence contribute to student success more effectively.