院校研究与学习分析

Institutional Research and Learning Analytics

院校研究与学习分析在学习研究方面同异并存,皆利用大数据探寻学生学习的优劣。院校研究主要依赖大学的管理和调查数据,学习分析主要使用学习管理系统收集的数据。院校研究聚焦于帮助大学"知己知彼",学习分析旨在助力"知学生""知学习""知教育"。院校研究为学校层面决策提供实证研究证据,学习分析识别学生个体学习行为从而支持个性化学习。二者有效融合可互助互利,更全面挖掘教育特征,提升学生学习成果。院校研究可利用决策支持服务经验,倡导和组建学习分析治理体系,为学习分析整合数据、从事学习分析的实践人员提供技术和方法支持,利用学习分析结果推动全校性教学改革。学习分析是耗资昂贵的项目,实施大学层面学习分析须考虑的问题:院校研究组织智能可否提供有效学习分析支持?是否做好了通过学习分析进行教学变革的准备?是否制定了学习分析目标?如是,各层面的目标认知程度如何?

Institutional Research(IR)and Learning Analytics(LA)have similarities and differences in research on student learning.Both use data to examine strengths and weaknesses of student learning,but IR mainly relies its analyses on administrative and survey data,while LA uses data collected from Learning Management System.The main focus of IR is to help a university better understand itself and its competitors,while LA aims to help a university better understand students,learning and education.Moreover,IR provides empirical evidence for institutional policy making,while LA identifies individual student learning behavior to support adaptive learning.An effective IR and LA integration can support and benefit each other to more thoroughly explore educational characteristics and help students improve learning outcomes.With a longer history,IR can advocate and establish a governance system for LA based on its service experience in supporting decision making,integrate data from multiple sources,provide technological and methodological support for LA practitioners,and use LA results to promote institutional teaching reform.However,LA requires a tremendous amount of resources,so it is suggested that the following questions must be considered before launching any institutional LA project:Are IR organizational intelligence good enough to support LA effectively?Have the University been prepared to make transformation changes in teaching by LA?Have the University established the goals of LA?If yes,is there a university-wide understanding of them?