MAXIMISING STUDENTS’ LEARNING THROUGH LEARNING ANALYTICS

This paper documents an innovation that is employing the Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) Engineering Education Framework, with a strong emphasis on utilizing the affordances of technological tools – especially the use of Learning Analytics (LA) to diagnose student learning gaps and enhance instructional interventions. The School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering (EEE) implemented an Assessing Learning in Real Time (ALERT) strategy for a first-year module (Digital Electronics) involving 19 lecturers and 1211 students, during a Covid 19 circuit-breaker, where students were primarily in a home-based learning mode. ALERT is a joint initiative by the 5 Polytechnics and Institute of Technical Education to create a technology driven framework that incorporate the application of educational technology (EdTech) tools and data visualization software to facilitate learning. The research explored how students experienced specific interventions in real time learning (e.g., the use of readiness tests and an exit poll) through the use of learning analytics (LA) which captures, analyses, and presents student’s performance data in a visual dashboard. The findings provided valuable insights into how students experience their online learning in real time, clearly highlighting specific areas of pedagogic focus for enhancing learning effectiveness and efficiency; most notably the importance of well-crafted examples, exercises, and quiz questions to provide opportunities for sufficient practice and feedback. In summary, LA can significantly contribute to the affordances that technology offers teaching professionals in meeting the challenges of today’s rapidly changing educational landscape.