Students as partners for learning analytics

How students want their data to be used

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v10i1.6766

Keywords:

Student As Partners, Learning Analytics, Student Voices, Data Privacy, Student Data

Abstract

While learning analytics has shown promise to enhance student learning, culturally specific ethical considerations on how students would like their data to be used need to be investigated and included in institutional implementation. This joint study with student researchers from both a United Kingdom-based and an Asian university employed mixed approaches to understand how students 1) use data for learning, 2) view data privacy, and 3) perceive the usefulness of learning analytics for enhancing their student experience. We found that most students in both contexts are concerned about privacy and would like clarity and autonomy over what, how, and with whom their data are shared. In addition, the paper presents the reflections on working with students as partners, identifies this approach as an essential and effective way to enculturate students in data ethics and to gather authentic, context-specific student voices to shape policies around learning analytics.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Allin, L. (2014). Collaboration between staff and students in the scholarship of teaching and learning: The potential and the problems. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 2(1), 95–102. https://doi.org/10.2979/teachlearninqu.2.1.95

Alzahrani, A. S., Tsai, Y. S., Iqbal, S., Moreno-Marcos, P. M., Scheffel, M., Drachsler, H., Kloos, C. D., Aljohani, N., & Gašević, D. (2023). Untangling connections between challenges in the adoption of learning analytics in higher education. Education and Information Technologies, 28(4), 4563–4595. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11323-x

Bovill, C., Jarvis, J., & Mpamhanga, K. (2020). Co-creating learning and teaching: Towards relational pedagogy in higher education. Critical Publishing.

Bryant, C., Lee, L. E., & Levin, B. (1997, March). Developing student voice: A follow-up study with students as researchers. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

Cano, A., & Leonard, J. D. (2019). Interpretable multiview early warning system adapted to underrepresented student populations. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 12(2), 198–211. https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2019.2911079

Cerratto Pargman, T., & McGrath, C. (2021). Mapping the ethics of learning analytics in higher education: A systematic literature review of empirical research. Journal of Learning Analytics, 8(2), 123–139. https://doi.org/10.18608/jla.2021.1

Clark, J. A., Liu, Y., & Isaias, P. (2020). Critical success factors for implementing learning analytics in higher education: A mixed-method inquiry. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 36(6), 89–106. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.6164

Davis, C., & Sakr, M. (2021). Student researchers: Potentials and challenges. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, 3(2), 74–91. https://sehej.raise-network.com/raise/article/view/1007

Dollinger, M., & Lodge, J. (2019). What learning analytics can learn from students as partners. Educational Media International, 56(3), 218–232. https://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2019.1669883

Dollinger, M., Tai, J., Jorre St Jorre, T., Ajjawi, R., Krattli, S., Prezioso, D., & McCarthy, D. (2023). Student partners as co-contributors in research: A collective autoethnographic account. Higher Education Research & Development, 42(6), 1377–1390. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2022.2139359

Francis, M., Avoseh, M., Card, K., Newland, L., & Streff, K. (2023). Student privacy and learning analytics: Investigating the application of privacy within a student success information system in higher education. Journal of Learning Analytics, 10(3), 102–114. https://doi.org/10.18608/jla.2023.7975

Gibson, J. P., & Mourad, T. (2018). The growing importance of data literacy in life science education. American Journal of Botany, 105(12), 1953–1956. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26617166

Guzmán-Valenzuela, C., Gómez-González, C., Rojas-Murphy Tagle, A., & Lorca-Vyhmeister, A. (2021). Learning analytics in higher education: A preponderance of analytics but very little learning? International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 18(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-021-00258-x

Herodotou, C., Hlosta, M., Boroowa, A., Rienties, B., Zdrahal, Z., & Mangafa, C. (2019). Empowering online teachers through predictive learning analytics. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(6), 3064–3079. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09685-0

Hintz, A., Dencik, L., & Wahl-Jorgensen, K. (2018). Digital citizenship in a datafied society. Polity Press.

Ifenthaler, D., & Schumacher, C. (2016). Student perceptions of privacy principles for learning analytics. Educational Technology Research and Development, 64(5), 923–938. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-016-9477-y

Jones, K. M. L., Asher, A., Goben, A., Perry, M. R., Salo, D., Briney, K. A., & Robertshaw, M. B. (2020a). “We’re being tracked at all times”: Student perspectives of their privacy in relation to learning analytics in higher education. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 71(9), 1044–1059. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24358

Jones, K. M. L., Rubel, A., & LeClere, E. (2020b). A matter of trust: Higher education institutions as information fiduciaries in an age of educational data mining and learning analytics. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 71(10), 1227–1241. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24327

Kaur, A. (2020). Students as partners: Challenges and opportunities in the Asian context. International Journal for Students as Partners, 4(2), 145–149. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v4i2.4366

Knight, S., Gibson, A., & Shibani, A. (2020). Implementing learning analytics for learning impact: Taking tools to task. The Internet and Higher Education, 45, 100729. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2020.100729

Kollom, K., Tammets, K., Scheffel, M., Tsai, Y. S., Jivet, I., Muñoz-Merino, P. J., Moreno-Marcos, P. M., Whitelock-Wainwright, A., Ruiz Calleja, A., Gašević, D., Delgado Kloos, C., Drachsler, H., & Ley, T. (2021). A four-country cross-case analysis of academic staff expectations about learning analytics in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 49, 100788. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2020.100788

Lai, J. W., Qiu, W., Thway, M., Zhang, L., Jamil, N. B., Su, C. L., Ng, S. S. H., & Lim, F. S. (2025). Leveraging process-action epistemic network analysis to illuminate student self-regulated learning with a Socratic chatbot. Journal of Learning Analytics, 12(1), 32–49. https://doi.org/10.18608/jla.2025.8549

Li, W., Sun, K., Schaub, F., & Brooks, C. (2022). Disparities in students’ propensity to consent to learning analytics. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 32(3), 564–608. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-021-00254-2

Liu, Q., & Khalil, M. (2023). Understanding privacy and data protection issues in learning analytics using a systematic review. British Journal of Educational Technology, 54(6), 1715–1747. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13388

Mandinach, E. B., & Abrams, L. M. (2022). Data literacy and learning analytics. In C. Lang, A. F. Wise, A. Merceron, D. Gašević, & G. Siemens (Eds.), Handbook of learning analytics (pp. 196–204). Society for Learning Analytics Research. https://doi.org/10.18608/hla22.019

Mandinach, E. B., & Gummer, E. S. (2013). A systemic view of implementing data literacy in educator preparation. Educational Researcher, 42(1), 30–37. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X12459803

Márquez, L., Henríquez, V., Chevreux, H., Scheihing, E., & Guerra, J. (2024). Adoption of learning analytics in higher education institutions: A systematic literature review. British Journal of Educational Technology, 55(2), 439–459. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13385

Matthews, K. E. (2017). Five propositions for genuine students as partners practice. International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(2), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i2.3315

Mercer-Mapstone, L., Dvorakova, S. L., Matthews, K. E., Abbot, S., Cheng, B., Felten, P., Knorr, K., Marquis, E., Shammas, R., & Swaim, K. (2017). A systematic literature review of students as partners in higher education. International Journal for Students as Partners, 1(1), 15–37. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v1i1.3119

Michos, K., Schmitz, M. L., & Petko, D. (2023). Teachers’ data literacy for learning analytics: A central predictor for digital data use in upper secondary schools. Education and Information Technologies, 28(11), 14453–14471. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11772-y

Mihans, R., Long, D., & Felten, P. (2008). Power and expertise: Student-faculty collaboration in course design and the scholarship of teaching and learning. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 2(2), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2008.020216

Mutimukwe, C., Viberg, O., Oberg, L. M., & Cerratto-Pargman, T. (2022). Students’ privacy concerns in learning analytics: Model development. British Journal of Educational Technology, 53(4), 932–951. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13234

Ndukwe, I. G., & Daniel, B. K. (2020). Teaching analytics, value and tools for teacher data literacy: A systematic and tripartite approach. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-020-00201-6

Pangrazio, L., Auld, G., Lynch, J., Sawatzki, C., Duffy, G., Hannigan, S., & O’Mara, J. (2024). Data justice in education: Toward a research agenda. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2024.2320196

Prinsloo, P., Slade, S., & Khalil, M. (2022). The answer is (not only) technological: Considering student data privacy in learning analytics. British Journal of Educational Technology, 53(4), 876–893. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13216

Qiu, W., Su, C. L., Jamil, N. B., Thway, M., Ng, S. S. H., Zhang, L., Lim, F. S., & Lai, J. W. (2025). A systematic approach to evaluate the use of chatbots in educational contexts: Learning gains, engagements and perceptions. Computers, 14(7), 270. https://doi.org/10.3390/computers14070270

Raffaghelli, J. E. (2020). Is data literacy a catalyst of social justice? A response from nine data literacy initiatives in higher education. Education Sciences, 10(9), 233. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10090233

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data (General Data Protection Regulation). (2016). Official Journal of the European Union, L 119, 1–88. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj

Reitmaier Koehler, A., Reveling Smith, L., Davies, S., & Mangan-Danckwart, D. (2015). Partners in research: Developing a model for undergraduate faculty-student collaboration. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 12(1), 131–142. https://doi.org/10.1515/ijnes-2015-0029

Rets, I., Herodotou, C., Bayer, V., Hlosta, M., & Rienties, B. (2021). Exploring critical factors of the perceived usefulness of a learning analytics dashboard for distance university students. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 18(1), 46. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-021-00284-9

Sclater, N. (2016). Developing a code of practice for learning analytics. Journal of Learning Analytics, 3(1), 16–42. https://doi.org/10.18608/jla.2016.31.3

Torres Castro, U. E., & Pineda-Báez, C. (2023). How has the conceptualisation of student agency in higher education evolved? Mapping the literature from 2000–2022. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 47(9), 1182–1195. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2023.2231358

Tsai, Y. S., Moreno-Marcos, P. M., Tammets, K., Kollom, K., & Gašević, D. (2018). SHEILA policy framework: Informing institutional strategies and policy processes of learning analytics. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (pp. 320–329). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3170358.3170367

Tsai, Y. S., Perrotta, C., & Gašević, D. (2020a). Empowering learners with personalised learning approaches? Agency, equity and transparency in the context of learning analytics. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 45(4), 554–567. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2019.1676396

Tsai, Y. S., Rates, D., Moreno-Marcos, P. M., Muñoz-Merino, P. J., Jivet, I., Scheffel, M., Drachsler, H., Delgado Kloos, C., & Gašević, D. (2020b). Learning analytics in European higher education—Trends and barriers. Computers & Education, 155, 103933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103933

Tzimas, D., & Demetriadis, S. (2021). Ethical issues in learning analytics: A review of the field. Educational Technology Research and Development, 69, 1101–1133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-021-09977-4

Ungras, O., Brockett, G., Bamperineza, S., Belius, M., Bordbar, A., Brownstein, A., & Webster, B. (2024). Voices from the field: Equipping student leaders as partners for sustainable humanitarian action. International Journal for Students as Partners, 8(1), 78–88. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v8i1.5702

Viberg, O., Engström, L., Saqr, M., & Hrastinski, S. (2022). Exploring students’ expectations of learning analytics: A person-centered approach. Education and Information Technologies, 27(6), 8561–8581. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-10980-2

Viberg, O., Kizilcec, R. F., Jivet, I., Martínez Monés, A., Oh, A., Mutimukwe, C., Hrastinski, S., & Scheffel, M. (2024). Cultural differences in students’ privacy concerns in learning analytics across Germany, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 14, 100416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100416

Welikala, T., & Atkin, C. (2014). Student co-inquirers: The challenges and benefits of inclusive research. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 37(4), 390–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2014.909402

West, D., Luzeckyj, A., Toohey, D., Vanderlelie, J., & Searle, B. (2020). Do academics and university administrators really know better? The ethics of positioning student perspectives in learning analytics. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 36(2), 60–70. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.4653

Whitelock-Wainwright, A., Tsai, Y. S., Drachsler, H., Scheffel, M., & Gašević, D. (2021). An exploratory latent class analysis of student expectations towards learning analytics services. The Internet and Higher Education, 51, 100818. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2021.100818

Wollny, S., Di Mitri, D., Jivet, I., Muñoz-Merino, P., Scheffel, M., Schneider, J., Tsai, Y. S., Whitelock-Wainwright, A., Gašević, D., & Drachsler, H. (2023). Students’ expectations of learning analytics across Europe. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 39(4), 1325–1338. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12802

Xing, W., & Wang, X. H. (2022). Understanding students’ effective use of data in the age of big data in higher education. Behaviour & Information Technology, 41(12), 2560–2577. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2021.1936176

Zhan, C., Joksimović, S., Ladjal, D., Rakotoarivelo, T., Marshall, R., & Pardo, A. (2024). Preserving both privacy and utility in learning analytics. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 17, 1615–1627. https://doi.org/10.1109/TLT.2024.3393766

Downloads

Published

2026-05-21

How to Cite

Lim, F. S., Anil, A., Goel, M., Fetanat, M., Lai, M. X. D., Otta, V., … Kandiko Howson, C. (2026). Students as partners for learning analytics: How students want their data to be used. International Journal for Students as Partners, 10(1), 219–237. https://doi.org/10.15173/ijsap.v10i1.6766

Issue

Section

Research Articles