This chapter addresses the imperative for effective monitoring and progress tracking within the realm of education by introducing three innovative components: a teacher app, a formative learning report (FLR), and a dashboard. These components capitalize on the potential of formative analytics, affording professors a dynamic platform to comprehensively monitor and evaluate student progress, while simultaneously furnishing students with weekly reports that encompass general statistics spanning diverse evaluation components of the course. A survey was administered to 81 first-year undergraduate students enrolled in a management course, all of whom utilized the FLR as part of the Information System Course. The findings of this study underscore the constructive impact of the FLR on students' motivation, self-esteem, and learning outcomes. Nonetheless, the study also revealed areas in need of improvement, with particular emphasis on the necessity for more comprehensive information about student performance. These insights might be valuable for improving the learning process.
TopIntroduction
Learning Management Systems (LMS) have assumed a central role in the field of education, serving as essential platforms that extend beyond content dissemination to encompass a range of pedagogical activities, notably assessment. By examining the data generated within these systems after a semester, educators gain insights into past events, while regular consultations facilitate a deeper understanding of ongoing developments. Nevertheless, to comprehensively comprehend the dynamics of educational processes and anticipate potential outcomes such as academic underperformance or student attrition, the establishment of an effective data integration procedure becomes imperative (Gašević et al., 2022). In response to these management imperatives, the emergence of Academic Analytics (AA), Learning Analytics (LA), and Formative Analytics (FA) concepts has presented potential solutions within the educational landscape. While AA, LA, and FA might share some similarities in terms of data collection and processing, they differ in their overarching objectives. AA can be elucidated as a strategic tool that diverges from LA in its primary focus. While LA predominantly revolves around gleaning insights to enhance the learning experience and boost student success, AA centers on institutional effectiveness and decision-making. AA draws from a wider array of data sources, including student data, to offer insights into institutional performance, resource allocation, and strategic planning. For instance, AA might help identify patterns in course enrollment, flagging underperforming programs or areas for potential growth. To differentiate, consider LA as a more learner-centric concept. LA delves into student interactions with learning materials, assessments, and peer engagement. It seeks to optimize individual learning paths, identify struggling students who may require additional support, and refine instructional strategies. For example, LA might detect that a significant number of students struggle with a particular concept, prompting educators to provide supplementary resources or adjust their teaching approach. On other hand, FA aligns with ongoing assessment and feedback processes. It focuses on real-time insights that enable instructors to make timely interventions. For instance, if FA detects that a cohort of students is consistently faltering in a specific type of assignment, instructors can promptly adapt the teaching approach or offer targeted guidance to rectify the issue.
Although certain LMS platforms have integrated these functionalities to a certain extent, the incorporation of innovative technological tools such as Power BI allows for comprehensive data analysis by connecting to multiple data sources, thus addressing the fragmented information technology architectures that support academic activities (Ferreira & Andrade, 2014).This chapter presents the design of three essential instruments aimed at monitoring and enhancing student progress and the educational experience. Firstly, an app is developed specifically for professors to monitor the progress of their students and classes. Secondly, a Formative Learning Report (FLR) is introduced as a weekly report providing students with general statistics on their progress across different evaluation components of the course. Lastly, an integrated dashboard, accessible through the app and report, offers additional statistics and broader insights into various topics.
The need for this research stems from the increasing recognition of the significance of monitoring student progress and providing effective feedback in education. To enhance the learning experience and promote academic growth, this research aims to design and develop the aforementioned app, report, and dashboard components. Collectively, these tools enable the monitoring of student progress and facilitate meaningful comparisons with peers. By leveraging technology, this research addresses the limitations of traditional assessment methods and manual tracking systems.