Title: Peeking into the black box: visualising learning activities

Authors: Raquel M. Crespo García; Abelardo Pardo; Carlos Delgado Kloos; Katja Niemann; Maren Scheffel; Martin Wolpers

Addresses: Department of Telematic Engineering, University Carlos III of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. ' Department of Telematic Engineering, University Carlos III of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. ' Department of Telematic Engineering, University Carlos III of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. ' Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, 53754 Sankt Augustin, Germany. ' Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, 53754 Sankt Augustin, Germany. ' Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT, Schloss Birlinghoven, 53754 Sankt Augustin, Germany

Abstract: Learning analytics has emerged as the discipline that fosters the learning process based on monitored data. As learning is a complex process that is not limited to a single environment, it benefits from a holistic approach where events in different contexts and settings are observed and combined. This work proposes an approach to increase this coverage. Detailed information is obtained by combining logs from a LMS and events recorded with a virtual machine given to the students. A set of visualisations is then derived from the collected events showing previously hidden aspects of an experience that can be shown to the teaching staff for their consideration. The visualisations presented focus on different learning outcomes, such as self learning, use of industrial tools, time management, information retrieval, collaboration, etc. Depending on the information to convey, different types of visualisations are considered, ranging from graphs to starbusts and from scatter plots to heatmaps.

Keywords: learning analytics; learning activities; activity visualisation; educational data sets; experimental data sets; data visualisation; student monitoring; attention metadata; observation; virtual machines; learning processes; monitored data; holistic approaches; learning management systems; LMS; system logs; visualisations; collected events; hidden aspects; teaching staff; learning outcomes; self learning; industrial tools; time management; information retrieval; collaboration; graphs; starbusts; scatter plots; heatmaps; University Carlos III; Madrid; Spain; undergraduate students; higher education; universities; technology enhanced learning; dataTEL; data-supported learning; R&D; research and development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTEL.2012.048313

International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2012 Vol.4 No.1/2, pp.99 - 120

Received: 06 Apr 2012
Accepted: 17 May 2012
Published online: 31 Dec 2014 *

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