Learning Analytics Reflection
Learning analytics is described as ‘‘the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs‘‘ (Long & Siemens, 2011, p. 33). The process of measuring, collecting, analyzing, and reporting started way back in the 1900s. Shavelson (2007) illustrated that standardized testing started in 1916, when the University of Missouri decided to conduct tests that were designed to measure the students’ skills in arithmetic, spelling, penmanship, reading, and English composition. They then compared the results using scales and statistics. The purpose of these standardized testing was only to focus …show more content…
NILOA (2010) highlighted that faculty involvement is the key to assessments’ impact. Faculty spends most of their time with students in the teaching and learning process. NILOA (2011) proposed that assessment should be built on regular basis about the ongoing work or study. It would not be fair for students to be assessed on the materials, which they didn’t learn yet. However, it is also essential that assessments are built to identify common learning outcomes. Faculty are expected to develop methods of assessments that demonstrate institutional accountability, (Banta et al 2009). Assessments come in different forms. Besides formative and summative forms, there are also alternative learning credentials such as electronic portfolio, and cognitive level and quality writing assessment. These alternative credentials are evidence-based assessments that show authentic works of students learning. They also reflect the level of complexity and detail of real-life tasks, including locating information; evaluating the credibility of sources; understanding multiple viewpoints; synthesizing information from various sources; creating complex explanations, solutions, or theses that capture multifaceted realities; and integrating source material into an original work, (Banta et al, 2009). K-12 institutions also embrace alternative credentials, known as Competency-Based Education (CBE). In CBE, students progress not on the …show more content…
The learning analytics strategy that we have comes with the curriculum. The formative and summative assessments provided by the vendor, Pearson are very comprehensive. The formative assessment reports come with the breakdown of the material mastery. It is convenient for the teachers to come with intervention plans. The summative assessment reports come with scaled scores, national and local percentile ranks and stanines, grade equivalents, and normal curve equivalents (Pearson Assessments, n.d). This reports is critical to find out where our institution is at compared to other institutions using the same assessment nationwide. The online version of the assessments provides faster feedback. Besides standardized testing, we also do alternative assessments, such as oral tests, or hands on tests. The alternative assessments are practical to measure elements that can’t be measured by standardized testing. We have been successful in conducting assessments in the classroom levels. However, we face some challenges in conducting assessment in the institutional levels. We have not been accredited by the accreditation agency in the area. We are working towards accreditation by assessing the self-study standards, however we are short in human resources. This has slowed down the process. The low number of administrators also forces some staff members to be Jack or Jane of all trades. This condition also affects the level of
Learning analytics is described as ‘‘the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimising learning and the environments in which it occurs‘‘ (Long & Siemens, 2011, p. 33). The process of measuring, collecting, analyzing, and reporting started way back in the 1900s. Shavelson (2007) illustrated that standardized testing started in 1916, when the University of Missouri decided to conduct tests that were designed to measure the students’ skills in arithmetic, spelling, penmanship, reading, and English composition. They then compared the results using scales and statistics. The purpose of these standardized testing was only to focus …show more content…
NILOA (2010) highlighted that faculty involvement is the key to assessments’ impact. Faculty spends most of their time with students in the teaching and learning process. NILOA (2011) proposed that assessment should be built on regular basis about the ongoing work or study. It would not be fair for students to be assessed on the materials, which they didn’t learn yet. However, it is also essential that assessments are built to identify common learning outcomes. Faculty are expected to develop methods of assessments that demonstrate institutional accountability, (Banta et al 2009). Assessments come in different forms. Besides formative and summative forms, there are also alternative learning credentials such as electronic portfolio, and cognitive level and quality writing assessment. These alternative credentials are evidence-based assessments that show authentic works of students learning. They also reflect the level of complexity and detail of real-life tasks, including locating information; evaluating the credibility of sources; understanding multiple viewpoints; synthesizing information from various sources; creating complex explanations, solutions, or theses that capture multifaceted realities; and integrating source material into an original work, (Banta et al, 2009). K-12 institutions also embrace alternative credentials, known as Competency-Based Education (CBE). In CBE, students progress not on the …show more content…
The learning analytics strategy that we have comes with the curriculum. The formative and summative assessments provided by the vendor, Pearson are very comprehensive. The formative assessment reports come with the breakdown of the material mastery. It is convenient for the teachers to come with intervention plans. The summative assessment reports come with scaled scores, national and local percentile ranks and stanines, grade equivalents, and normal curve equivalents (Pearson Assessments, n.d). This reports is critical to find out where our institution is at compared to other institutions using the same assessment nationwide. The online version of the assessments provides faster feedback. Besides standardized testing, we also do alternative assessments, such as oral tests, or hands on tests. The alternative assessments are practical to measure elements that can’t be measured by standardized testing. We have been successful in conducting assessments in the classroom levels. However, we face some challenges in conducting assessment in the institutional levels. We have not been accredited by the accreditation agency in the area. We are working towards accreditation by assessing the self-study standards, however we are short in human resources. This has slowed down the process. The low number of administrators also forces some staff members to be Jack or Jane of all trades. This condition also affects the level of