Learning Analytics as a Tool for Formative Evaluation in Secondary Schools

This thesis explores the possibility of using learning analytics as a supporting tool for formative assessments in upper secondary schools. The project is based on the 2016 upper secondary school reform (red.gymnasiereformen), in which section 23 suggests the systematic collection of goals and the use of feedback. Students should be more involved in their own development by setting learning goals for themselves, which in turn gives students more responsibility. According to participating teachers, students are honest in their self- assessment and the proposed tool, gives teachers more transparency with regard to students’ work in terms of assignments. Furthermore, teachers find it easier to guide students.

The study shows that by providing teachers with support in the form of a web application, it is possible to aid students in their progression and competence development. Simultaneously, such a tool allows students to continuously set their personal learning goals. It also finds evidence that an IT system based on student data can assist the teacher's choice in learning. This requires formative evaluations, without having anything to do with grades.

The IT system is built on the model of Learning Analytics and the teacher’s dashboard is developed from the process of Learning Analytics. With this dashboard, teachers can gain an overview of students’ submissions and their progress. For this view, a number of modules are developed to visualize student data.

Lauridsen, P. S. (2017) Learning analytics som værktøj
til formativ evaluering i gymnasieskolen, Syddansk Universitet