The effects of a learning analytics dashboard on teachers’ diagnosis and intervention in computer-supported collaborative learning

ABSTRACT

The learning analytics dashboard (LAD) has been recognised as a useful tool to facilitate teachers’ diagnosis and intervention in collaborative learning. However, little empirical evidence has been reported concerning the effects of LAD on teachers in computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a LAD system called the Knowledge-Behavior-Social Dashboard (KBSD) for supporting teachers’ diagnosis and intervention of CSCL activities. Thirty-five pre-service teachers participated in the experiment. The results indicated that teachers using KBSD used more ‘cross-group’ strategies to diagnose students’ learning problems. Teachers in the experimental group also performed more interventions involving ‘cognitive guidance’, ‘scaffold instructing’, ‘positive evaluation’ and ‘individual facilitating’. Moreover, the analysis of the interview revealed that the KBSD tool has the potential to assist teachers in detecting learning problems in a group in an easy and convenient manner. Pedagogical implications and future research are also addressed.

KEYWORDS:

• CSCL
• learning analytics
• dashboard
• teachers’ diagnosis
• teachers’ intervention

Acknowledgments

Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This article was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 61877003] and the International Joint Research Project of Faculty of Education of Beijing Normal University.

Notes on contributors

Haogang Bao

Haogang Bao is a PhD student in the School of Educational Technology at Beijing Normal University. His research interests include computer-supported collaborative learning, self-regulated learning and learning analytics.

Yanyan Li

Dr. Yanyan Li is a Professor of the School of Educational Technology at Beijing Normal University. She serves as the executive editor of the Journal of Computers in Education. Her research focuses on computer-supported collaborative learning, self-regulated learning and learning analytics.

You Su

You Su is an Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. His research interests include computer-supported collaborative language learning, self-regulated learning, co-regulation and language testing.

Shuang Xing

Shuang Xing is an information teacher in Shenzhen Longhua Experimental School. Her research interests include computer-supported collaborative learning and teacher supporting.

Nian-Shing Chen

Dr. Nian-Shing Chen is Chair Professor in the Department of Applied Foreign Languages at the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Taiwan. His current research interests include assessing e-learning course performance; online synchronous teaching & learning; mobile & ubiquitous learning; gesture-based learning and educational robotics. He is Editor-in-Chief of the SSCI-indexed Journal of Educational Technology & Society.

Carolyn Penstein Rosé

Dr. Carolyn Penstein Rosé is a Professor of Language Technologies and Human-Computer Interaction in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. She serves as Past President and Inaugural Fellow of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, Senior Member of IEEE, Founding Chair of the International Alliance to Advance Learning in the Digital Era, Executive Editor of the International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning and Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies.