Learning analytics experience among academics in Australia and Malaysia: A comparison

Abstract

Several studies have been conducted to evaluate the experience and involvement of academics in learning analytics (LA) due to its potential for improving teaching and learning. However, findings often reflect an educational culture which is indicative of the institutional or national context where the study has occurred, resulting in bias regarding LA perspectives. Therefore, this study seeks to compare and contrast the experiences of LA among academics in Australia and Malaysia, with intentions to learn from each other’s experience. Areas of comparison were: (1) academics’ involvement in LA activities; (2) academics’ responses to the institutional capacity in supporting LA; and 3) academics’ concerns about the ethical issues surrounding LA. A survey of 353 Australian and 224 Malaysian academics revealed similarities and differences. It is evident from these results that the context and infrastructure for LA are at different stages of development in both countries. Nevertheless, the results provide an interesting reflection on academics’ needs, institutional understanding, policies, and educational cultural biases in applying LA in teaching and learning in higher education institutions.

Mapping the Ethics of Learning Analytics in Higher Education: A Systematic Literature Review of Empirical Research

“…The studies presenting mixed locations conducted comparative studies. One study addressed universities in the UK, South Africa, and the United States (Willis, Slade, & Prinsloo, 2016), one collected and analyzed data from both the UK and the United States (Arnold & Sclater, 2017), and another compared responses from Australian and Malaysian universities (West et al, 2018).…”

“…Two studies do not explicitly report on the data analysis methods applied, although they clearly state the methodological approaches underpinning their studies (Lawson et al, 2016;Scott & Nichols, 2017). Among the works applying statistical methods, we observe the use of the statistical package for social analysis (e.g., Ifenthaler & Schumacher, 2016;West et al, 2016;Adejo & Connolly, 2017;Mahroeian et al, 2017), including descriptive (e.g., Arnold & Sclater, 2017), inferential statistics (e.g., Slade et al, 2019), exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (e.g., Whitelock-Wainwright et al, 2019), as well as Rasch analysis (e.g., West et al, 2018). In the works using open coding, we distinguish open and axial descriptive coding (West et al, 2016(West et al, , 2018Brooker et al, 2017;Klein et al, 2019;Jones, 2019aJones, , 2019bTsai et al, 2019).…”

“…The questionnaires were electronic, typically included more than 40 items (e.g., Slade et al, 2019), consisted of openended and closed-ended questions, Likert scales, and single and multiple responses instances (e.g., West et al, 2018). Regarding the response rate, West et al (2016) reported on an institutional survey with a 55% response rate; Arnold and Sclater (2017) reported on a survey of university students, administered twice, with response rates of 64% and 34%, respectively; Slade et al (2019) The focus groups were structured by questions, audio recorded, and transcribed verbatim (e.g., Roberts et al, 2016;Howell et al, 2018;Brooker et al, 2017).…”

“…Most of the surveys aimed to measure respondents' perceptions, attitudes, and expectations linked to LA. In particular, West et al (2018) compared Australian and Malaysian universities regarding academics' experiences and perceptions. Arnold and Sclater (2017) compared the responses of students enrolled at the United Kingdom (JISC) and American institutions (University of Wisconsin) and founded differences attributed to the cultural context and the institutional policies.…”

The evolving field of learning analytics research in higher education

“…Problems with teacher participation in LA was identified in a study by West et al (2016), who found that while teaching staff generally expressed a high level of interest in LA, their participation in LA activities and training was limited. A more recent study by West et al (2018) also found that using LA is not yet widespread and, as such, it is mostly done in isolation. The authors suggest that while such introspection may be influenced by a lack of LA adoption or the early stage of maturity of LA applications, it means that academics who are interested in LA often pursue their research in isolation and with no clear scope of how LA may be used to drive change.…”