Is information power? Exploring the potential of analytics tools for student representatives

Authors

  • Diego Rates Centre for Research in Digital Education, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh
  • Dragan Gašević Centre for Learning Analytics at Monash and Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9265-1908

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v6i1.4668

Keywords:

student representatives, student as partners, data, analytics, higher education quality

Abstract

An industrial revolution based on digital technologies and data is rapidly transforming most human activities. In the case of higher education, research on learning analytics has experienced significant expansion and evolution in only a few years. However, there is still a dearth of literature on analytics tools designed to support student representatives, which could generate growing informational and technological asymmetries in higher education. To address this critical gap, this study explored the potential key data required by student representatives for their effective participation as partners in educational improvement and the main benefits that associated analytics tools could offer. To do this, this study used a micro design ethnography and a dialogic approach with participants from a Scottish university. Findings suggest that access to data and analytics could influence the participation of the student body as egalitarian partners. These results reinforce the need for further research.

 

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Author Biographies

Diego Rates, Centre for Research in Digital Education, Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh

Diego Rates is a doctoral student from the Centre for Research in Digital Education, based in the Moray House School of Education and Sport at the University of Edinburgh. He has taught in secondary and higher education and has worked as an e-learning designer and user-experience research consultant. 

Dragan Gašević, Centre for Learning Analytics at Monash and Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Australia

Dragan Gašević is Professor of Learning Analytics in the Faculty of Information Technology and Director of the Centre for Learning Analytics at Monash University. His research in learning analytics is focused on self-regulated and collaborative learning, institutional adoption, and human-centred design. 

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Published

2022-05-10

How to Cite

Rates, D., & Gašević, D. (2022). Is information power? Exploring the potential of analytics tools for student representatives. International Journal for Students as Partners, 6(1), 176–198. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v6i1.4668

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2022)

Section

Research Articles

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Copyright (c) 2022 Diego Rates, Dragan Gašević

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