Investigating students' use of self‐assessments in higher education using learning analytics.

Background: Formative assessments are vital for supporting learning and performance but are also considered to increase the workload of teachers. As self‐assessments in higher education are increasingly facilitated via digital learning environments allowing to offer direct feedback and tracking stud...

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Publicado en:Journal of Computer Assisted Learning Vol. 39; no. 1; pp. 255 - 269
Autores principales: Ifenthaler, Dirk, Schumacher, Clara, Kuzilek, Jakub
Formato: case study pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Feb2023
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Feb2023
      vid: 39
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
      place: Malden, Massachusetts
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        10.1111/jcal.12744
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        atl: Investigating students' use of self‐assessments in higher education using learning analytics.
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          Ifenthaler, Dirk
          Schumacher, Clara
          Kuzilek, Jakub
        affil: University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
      sug:
        subj:
          Self Assessment Utilization
          Learning Methods
          Student Performance Appraisal
          Education, Baccalaureate
          Funding Source
          Human
          Exploratory Research
          Analytic Research
          Data Analytics
          Surveys
          Adult
          Descriptive Statistics
          Questionnaires
          T-Tests
          Learning Environment
          Europe
          Cluster Analysis
          Feedback
          Self Report
          Adult: 19-44 years
      ab: Background: Formative assessments are vital for supporting learning and performance but are also considered to increase the workload of teachers. As self‐assessments in higher education are increasingly facilitated via digital learning environments allowing to offer direct feedback and tracking students' digital learning behaviour these constraints might be reduced. Yet, learning analytics do not make sufficient use of data on assessments. Aims: This exploratory case study uses learning analytics methods for investigating students' engagement with self‐assessments and how this relates to performance in the final exam and self‐reported self‐testing strategies. Materials & Methods: The research study has been conducted at a European university in a twelve‐weeks course of a Bachelor's program in Economic and Business Education including nenroll = 159 participants. During the semester, students were offered nine self‐assessments each including three to eight tasks plus one mid‐term and one exam‐preparation self‐assessment including all prior self‐assessments tasks. The self‐assessment interaction data for each student included: the results of the last self‐assessment attempt, the number of processed self‐assessment tasks, and the time spent on the last self‐assessment attempt, the total self‐assessment attempts, and the first as well as last access of each self‐assessment. Data analytics included unsupervised machine learning and process mining approaches. Results: Findings indicate that students use the self‐assessments predominantly before summative assessments. Two distinct clusters based on engagement with self‐assessments could be identified and engagement was positively related to performance in the final exam. The findings from learning analytics data were also indicated by students' self‐reported use of self‐testing strategies. Discussion: With the help of multiple data from self‐reports, formal exams, and a learning analytics system, the findings provided multiple perspectives on the use of self‐assessments and their relationships with course performance. These findings call for applying assessment analytics and related frameworks in learning analytics as well as providing learners with related adaptive feedback. Conclusion: Future research might investigate different (self‐report) variables for clustering, other student cohorts or self‐assessment forms. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Formative assessments are vital for supporting learning and performance.Learning analytics do not make sufficient use of data on assessments. What this paper adds: Students use the self‐assessments predominantly prior to summative assessments.Engagement with self‐assessments was positively related to performance in the final exam. Implications for practice and/or policy: Findings call for applying assessment analytics and implementing related learning analytics frameworks for supporting learning processes and performance.Pedagogically oriented assessment analytics may provide multiple benefits for learners, teachers, schools, and other involved stakeholders.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        case study
        pictorial
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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