Learning Analytics Workshop

COVID-19 is highlighting the urgent need for learning analytics in a time of increased digital pedagogy. Unizin is offering a workshop in learning analytics to help Universities become data-informed.

Overview

In response to the urgent need for data-informed teaching and learning, Unizin announces a Summer workshop series on practical learning analytics. Developed with leading experts, the virtual workshop enables Members to leverage data from the Unizin Data Platform (UDP) to build applied analytics capabilities. All code, lessons, and data (de-identified) will be open-sourced. Apply now.

Who should apply?

Data/analytics developers, business analysts, and academic technologies developers in their University’s Dean’s, Provost’s, IT, CTL, and student success offices should apply.

The workshop will provide practical, hands-on experience with actual data to build learning analytics in RStudio. Varying levels of experience with quantitative and statistical methods, and tools like RStudio and Jupyter, will benefit from the workshop.

 

Syllabus

The workshop will cover the following topics with corresponding hands-on labs:

  • Behavior modeling. Conceptually model and describe learner behaviors, such as “dwell time” and “time on task.”
  • Predictive modeling. Develop, train, and evaluate a model that predicts student course grades at various educational levels.
  • Natural language understanding & Quantitative linguistics. Use NLP and other techniques to provide a descriptive analysis of discussion group activity.
  • Social network analysis. Develop a statistical analysis of a social network in a course based on discussion group data.
  • Student notifications / interventions. Develop a heuristic- and prediction-based alert system. Determine potential “alert fatigue” and correct levels of notifications.
  • Student-facing education dashboards. Construct learning analytics dashboards for students and instructors for a course, including key metrics.

Apply to the Workshop series

Please fill out the form below to apply for the workshop.

FAQ

Who is developing the workshop?

The workshop was developed by John Whitmer and Sasha Dietrichson of Chi-squared Labs. John and Sasha are leading experts in the fields of learning analytics and educational data mining and are excited to bring their expertise to Unizin schools and the Unizin Data Platform.

Who should participate?

Although designed like a graduate seminar, participants with experience applying quantitative and statistical methods, as well as using tools like RStudio and Jupyter, will likely take the most from the workshop. However, extensive experience in learning analytics is not required.

Does my institution need to have implemented the UDP for me to participate?

No. Your Unizin institution need not have implemented the UDP to participate in the workshop. Participants will be provided all data, tools, code, and scholarly papers through Unizin’s data platform and UDP Tool workbench in the workshop.

Why is participation limited?

Due to its hands-on, seminar-style with guided instructors, the workshop will be limited to two participants from each institution. These participants will participate in discussions, have their labs reviewed, and access the workshop instructors. 

However, Unizin will make all lectures, readings, code, and tools available to its Members during the workshop, enabling individuals from member Universities to audit the workshop