The DOI matches its Crossref record; 67 of the 67 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Learning analytics in higher education: a preponderance of analytics but very little learning?
Open accessAbstract
In a context where learning mediated by technology has gained prominence in higher education, learning analytics has become a powerful tool to collect and analyse data with the aim of improving students’ learning. However, learning analytics is part of a young community and its developments deserve further exploration. Some critical stances claim that learning analytics tends to underplay the complexity of teaching-learning processes. By means of both a bibliometric and a content analysis, this paper examines the publication patterns on learning analytics in higher education and their main challenges. 385 papers that were published in WoScc and SciELO indexes between 2013 and 2019 were identified and analysed. Learning analytics is a vibrant and fast-developing community. However, it continues to face multiple and complex challenges, especially regarding students’ learning and their implications. The paper concludes by distinguishing between a practice-based and management-oriented community of learning analytics and an academic-oriented community. Within both communities, though, it seems that the focus is more on analytics than on learning.
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“They critiqued the prevailing focus on analytics over substantive learning improvements, advocating for a balanced approach that equally values pedagogical effectiveness alongside technological advancements (Drugova et al., 2024).”
From Unpacking student engagement in higher education learning analytics: a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as Guzmán-Valenzuela et al. (2021)
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Cites
Zawacki-Richter, O., Marín, V. I., Bond, M., & Gouverneur, F. (2019) · International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education · doi:10.1186/s41239-019-0171-0 · Cited by 7,242
The SAGE encyclopedia of qualitative research methods
Brodsky, A. (2011) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.46-4214 · Cited by 3,347
Bornmann, L., & Mutz, R. (2015) · Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology · doi:10.1002/asi.23329 · Cited by 1,576
Learning analytics: drivers, developments and challenges
Ferguson, R. (2012) · International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning · doi:10.1504/ijtel.2012.051816 · Cited by 1,357 · cited 9×
“In tracing back the developments of LA, the literature shows that educational data mining (EDM) has had an important role especially in North America, Western Europe and Australia/New Zealand (Ferguson 2012).”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialLearning Analytics: Ethical Issues and Dilemmas
Slade, S., & Prinsloo, P. (2013) · American Behavioral Scientist · doi:10.1177/0002764213479366 · Cited by 1,078
Utilising learning analytics to support study success in higher education: a systematic review
Ifenthaler, D., & Yau, J. Y.-K. (2020) · Educational Technology Research and Development · doi:10.1007/s11423-020-09788-z · Cited by 1,063
Romero, C., & Ventura, S. (2013) · WIREs Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery · doi:10.1002/widm.1075 · Cited by 869
Gašević, D., Dawson, S., Rogers, T., & Gašević, D. (2015) · The Internet and Higher Education · doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2015.10.002 · Cited by 767
The current landscape of learning analytics in higher education
Viberg, O., Hatakka, M., Bälter, O., & Mavroudi, A. (2018) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2018.07.027 · Cited by 766
Big Data and analytics in higher education: Opportunities and challenges
Daniel, B. (2015) · British Journal of Educational Technology · doi:10.1111/bjet.12230 · Cited by 610 · cited 8×
“Significantly, the practical community of LA also includes intervention strategies for students identified as at risk (Daniel 2015; Fynn 2016; Wong 2019).”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
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Artificial Intelligence for Assessment and Feedback to Enhance Student Success in Higher Education
Hooda, M., Rana, C., Dahiya, O., Rizwan, A., & Hossain, M. S. (2022) · Mathematical Problems in Engineering · doi:10.1155/2022/5215722 · Cited by 444
“[102] )ematic-based analysis approach Inefficient volume of data — Eclectic methodology will be applied for learning enhancement”
MethodLearning analytics dashboard: a tool for providing actionable insights to learners
Sušnjak, T., Ramaswami, G. S., & Mathrani, A. (2022) · International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education · doi:10.1186/s41239-021-00313-7 · Cited by 356
“Overall, evidence about whether learning analytics and LADs improve learning in practice is scarce (Ferguson & Clow, 2017; Guzmán-Valenzuela et al., 2021; Knight et al., 2020; Rets et al., 2021; Wilson et al., 2017) and has room for further investigation.”
BackgroundUnpacking student engagement in higher education learning analytics: a systematic review
Bergdahl, N., Bond, M., Sjöberg, J., Dougherty, M., & Oxley, E. (2024) · International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education · doi:10.1186/s41239-024-00493-y · Cited by 138
Paulsen, L., & Lindsay, E. (2024) · Education and Information Technologies · doi:10.1007/s10639-023-12401-4 · Cited by 111
“Even recent reviews, however, keep concluding that learning is missing from LA (Guzmán-Valenzuela et al., 2021).”
InfluentialOuyang, F., & Zhang, L. (2024) · Educational Research Review · doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2024.100616 · Cited by 149
Metadata
- Authors
- Guzmán-Valenzuela, C., Gómez-González, C., Rojas-Murphy Tagle, A., & Lorca-Vyhmeister, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Tarapacá (CL)
- University of Valparaíso (CL)
- Corresponding author
- Guzmán-Valenzuela, Carolina
- Venue
- International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education
- Published
- 2021-05-04
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 23-23
- ISSN
- 2365-9440 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8092999
- OpenAlex
- W3163777542
- Cited by
- 131
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 5
- FWCI
- 2.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- FONDECYT (1200633, 1161413)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Online Learning and Analytics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Educational and Technological Research
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Technology in Learning
- Keywords
- learning analytics, higher education, publication trends, teaching-learning process, student learning, technology-mediated learning
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