PracticalLearningAnalyticsSyllabus

TimMcKay:UniversityofMichigan
Coursestructureandduration:Thiscourseisdesignedtoservemanypurposes,providingsomethingfor
themerelycurious,thoseeagertosampleseveralofferings,andthosehungryforeverythingwevegot.
Whilethecourseisavailableondemand,itwilltypicallyplayoutoverfourweeks:aoneweek
introduction,atwoweekperiodofparallelworkonmanytopics,thenaoneweekconclusion.During
thecentralworkperiod,wewillprovideextensivedataandcodeforyoutoworkwith.

Targetaudience:Thiscourseisdirectedfirstatpeopleinandaroundhighereducation.Itsprimary
purposeistodemonstraterelativelysimplewaysinwhichstudentrecorddatacanbeusedtoanswer
relevantquestionsposedbyfaculty,administrators,staff,andstudents.Becauseofthis,Iexpectthe
mainaudiencetobepostsecondarystudents,faculty,andstaff,alongwiththoseoutsidetheacademy
whoareinterestedinunderstandingitpeopleinfoundations,theeducationaltechnologyindustry,or
thegovernment.
Prerequisites:Nospecificpreparationorskillwillberequiredforparticipationinthiscourse.Becauseit
isdesignedwithquitedifferentpathwaysofparticipationinmind,therewillbewelldefinedwaystouse
theclassavailabletoanyonewhoisinterested.Theidealparticipantwillcometotheclasswith
questionsaboutteachingandlearninginhighereducationwhichmightbeaddressedusingstudent
recorddata.
SomefamiliaritywiththestructureofhighereducationinAmericawillbeexpected.Anyonewhohas
attendedcollegeintheUSwillhavethis.Aninterestinandabasicunderstandingofstatisticswould
help.Anyonewhoevertookastatisticscourseorwhohasmanipulateddataintheirworkislikelytobe
fineexploringthebasics.Thosewithdeeperambitionswouldbenefitfrommoderateexperiencewith
dataanalysis,ideallywithintheRprogramminglanguage.AnyonewhohasusedRbeforeorwhois
willingtospendafewhoursonsomesimpleonlinetrainingshouldbefine.

Learningoutcomes:Allparticipantswhocompletethiscourseshouldemergewithadeeperappreciation
forwhattheymightlearnfromdatatheyalreadyhave.Thosewhoreallycommitwillgainknowledgeof
somespecificapplications,andwithexcitementaboutthepossibilitiesaffordedbythericherdatawhich
iscomingsoon.Somespecificoutcomesinclude:

Theabilitytoassesshowwellaquestionraisedabouthighereducationcanbeusefully
addressedwithstudentrecorddataavailableontheirowncampus.
Anappreciationforhowlearninganalyticscanhelpustounderstandthefullrichnessofthe
studentexperience,ratherthanfocusingonlyonthetypicalstudent
Theabilitytopropose,implement,andtestvariousquasiexperimentalmethodsofaccounting
forstudentpreparationinassessingoutcomes
Animprovedabilitytovisualizebothsynchronouscomparisonsandtimeseriestransformations
ofgroupsofstudents
Anincreasedunderstandingofdatasciencemethodsforrobustestimationofstatistical
significance,beyondttestsandtheirpeers
Aconnectiontoalargercommunityofpractitionersacrosshighereducation,allworkingto
extractactionableinformationfromtypicalstudentrecorddata
Anabilitytocalculateasetofquantifiedstudentoutcomesalternativetothoseinusetoday
Apersonalassessmentofwhatlearninganalyticsinformationismostimportanttoshareand
withwhom

Topicscovered:
Thestructureofthisclassismodeledonasmorgasbord.Afterwesetthetable,eachguestwandersthe
room,takingeitherasmallplateorafullentrefromaseriesofcoursesweofferup.Wheneveryoneis
full,wegatheragainovercoffeetohearwhatpeoplethought.

Settingthetable
o Whylearninganalytics?Whynow?
o Learninganalyticsinthelargerworldofdatascienceethicalconsiderations
o Transformingstudentrecordsintodataforopenacademicreportingincludinghowto
createlocaldatasetsadequateforusehere
o Theimportanceofaudience:answeringquestionsfortheconcerned
o Anoverviewofopenacademicreportingtostudents,faculty,andadministrators
Fivecourseseachwithanoverview,data,tools,andpossibilitiesforcreativeextension
o LAforStudentsaskingandansweringquestionsstudentsmightraiseaboutclassesor
theirownperformance
o LAforindividualFacultymembersaskingandansweringquestionsaboutstudentswho
taketheircoursesandhowtheirteachingmethodswork
o LAforDepartmentLeadersaskingandansweringquestionsabouthowstudentsenter,
progressthrough,andleavetheirmajors
o LAforCampusLeadersaskingandansweringquestionsaboutgradingpatternsand
theirimpactonstudents,aswellasevaluatingprograms
o LAforCourseDesignersaskingandansweringquestionsabouthowelementsof
coursesimpactstudentoutcomes
Clearingup
o Summaryofallthecourses

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Wheretheapplicationoflearninganalyticsisheaded
Whattolookforwardtoatthenextlevel
Howtogetthisgoingonyourcampus
Requestforfeedback

Plannedassessments:Thiscourseisintendedforuseonatleastthreedifferentlevels.Sincethecourse
isdesignedtoallowmaximumflexibility,officialgradedassessmentrequiredforearningacertificatewill
beincludedonlyonthefirst.Promptsfordiscussionintheforums,availabletoall(butrequiredofnone)
willbeinterspersedthroughoutthecourse.
1. Themerelycurious:Onegroupofuserswillbeexpectedtoparticipateonlyinthecorematerial
ofeachweek,perhaps48hourstotalofwatching,reading,andresponding.Eachweekscore
materialwillincludeshortquizzesoncorecontent,alongwithdiscussionpromptsforuseinthe
forums.
2. Thesamplers:Asecondgroupwillgoslightlydeeper,visitingsomeofthefivecourses,selecting
thesmallplates.Thisgroupmightspend816hourstotal.Discussionpromptswillhelptodirect
activitiesatthislevel,givingstudentstheoptiontodiscusswhattheyrefindingwithone
another.
3. Thehungrydiners:Thethirdgroupwillcompleteatleastsomeofthefullcourses,adaptingthe
Rcodeweprovideordevelopingtheirowncodetodeterminethingsaboutthedatawhichour
examplesdontsupport.Discussionsatthislevelwillenableuserstosharewhattheyvelearned
withfellowstudentsandtheinstructionalteamatMichigan.
Certificates:Ourmostimportantgoalinthedesignofthiscourseisforyoutodojustexactlywhatyou
wanttodo.Butweunderstandthatsomeofyoumightliketoalsoobtainacertificateofcompletion
forthiscourse.Todoso,youneedtocompletethemerelycurioustrack.Thisrequiresreviewingthe
corematerialineachofthefourweeksandsuccessfullycompletingthequizzesassociatedwitheach.