[on behalf of Dragan Gasevic]
Call for Papers: Learning Analytics in Higher Education - Stakeholders,
Strategies, and Scale
Special issue in The Internet and Higher Education
The availability of digital technologies affords unprecedented
possibilities for data collection and analysis of different aspects of
learning and education. Higher education institutions are increasingly
developing strategies for digital learning which rely on the extensive use
of digital technology to transform or “flip” pedagogical practices towards
more active learning at scale. Digital technologies in education receive
much attention on different policy levels, change experience for learners,
and present a rapidly growing market segment. This intensive interest has
given rise to the formation of the new field of learning analytics.
According to the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR:
http://solaresearch.org/), learning analytics is defined as “the
measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and
their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimising learning and
the environments in which it occurs.” The field of learning analytics
offers many promising results of high interest for higher education
institutions. Examples include identification of students at risk,
personalised feedback at scale, enhancement of student success, and
improvement of learning design.
Many higher education institutions have made much early investment in
learning analytics. Still, there are remaining challenges that need to be
resolved to demonstrate the impact of learning analytics in higher
education. This special issue focuses on the three main challenges commonly
reported in the literature – *stakeholder perspectives and
involvement*, *strategy
development* *and enactment*, and *scalable implementations*. There has
been particularly limited research on perspectives and involvement of all
stakeholder groups in institutional planning and implementation of learning
analytics. Although some pioneering work has been done on the development
of learning analytics policy, there have been insufficient reports on the
ways institutions develop and enact strategies for adoption of learning
analytics. Finally, while there have been many studies showing some
significant results in higher education, there has been insufficient
research on the ways to scale such approaches to unveil a
wide-institutional adoption and impact.
This special issue aims to publish a collection of papers dedicated to
learning analytics in higher education with the particular focus on
stakeholders, strategies, and scalability. Specifically, the topics of the
special issue include but are not limited to:
- Stakeholder attitudes towards and experience with learning analytics
in higher education
- Participatory design and co-creation of learning analytics in higher
education
- Approaches to the involvement of stakeholders in planning and
implementation of learning analytics in higher education
- Frameworks for development of learning analytics strategy and
strategic implementation in higher education
- Leadership models for planning and implementation of learning
analytics in higher education
- Quality, institutional monitoring and organisational learning in
strategic implementation of learning analytics
- Approaches to scaling adoption and impact of learning analytics in
higher education
- Models of innovation diffusion for learning analytics in higher
education
- Case studies about the stakeholder involvement, strategic
implementation, and scalable projects in learning analytics on
institutional and national levels.
This special issue of the Internet and Higher Education calls for papers
that address the above gaps by reporting on a combination of
theoretical/conceptual and empirically validated findings. The accepted
papers will contribute to the existing body of knowledge in the field of
learning analytics and offer a sound empirical base that can motivate and
inform practice. Submissions that build bridges between learning analytics
and other related disciplines to enhance impact are especially welcome.
Timeline
- Full manuscript submission: 31 March 2019
- Reviews: 15 July 2019
- Revisions: 15 September 2019
- Acceptance: 30 November 2019
Submission
Full manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the Internet and
Higher Education guidelines (
https://www.elsevier.com/journals/the-internet-and-higher-education/1096-7516/guide-for-authors)
and submitted via the journal's portal (
https://www.evise.com/profile/api/navigate/INTHIG), making sure to select
the relevant special issue name. Manuscripts must not be published or
currently submitted for publication elsewhere. Only full papers intended
for review, not abstracts, should be submitted via the journal portal. Each
full manuscript will be subjected to peer review and will be assessed both
on the research quality and relevance to the special issue.
Special Issue Editors
- Dragan Gašević, Monash University
- Yi-Shan Tsai, The University of Edinburgh
- Hendrik Drachsler, Goethe University of Frankfurt and the Open
University of the Netherlands
