By participating in asynchronous course discussion forums, students can work together to refine their ideas and construct knowledge collaboratively. Typically, some messages simply repeat or paraphrase course content, while others bring in new material, demonstrate reasoning, integrate concepts, and develop solutions. Through the messages they…

The integration of computational modelling in science classrooms provides a unique opportunity to promote key 21st century skills including computational thinking (CT) and collaboration. The open-ended, problem-solving nature of the task requires groups to grapple with the combination of two domains (science and computing) as they collaboratively…

In adaptive learning systems, various models are employed to obtain the optimal learning schedule and review for a specific learner. Models of learning are used to estimate the learner's current recall probability by incorporating features or predictors proposed by psychological theory or empirically relevant to learners' performance. Logistic…

This paper reports the findings of a research using marks of students in learning activities of an online module to build a predictive model of performance for the final assessment of the module. The objectives were (1) to compare the performances of students of two cohorts in terms of continuous learning assessment marks and final learning…

Our modern era has brought about radical changes in the way courses are delivered and various teaching methods are being introduced to answer the purpose of meeting the modern learning challenges. On that account, the conventional way of teaching is giving place to a teaching method which combines conventional instructional strategies with…

The needs for precisely estimating a student's academic performance have been emphasized with an increasing amount of attention paid to Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). However, since labels for academic performance, such as test scores, are collected from outside of ITS, obtaining the labels is costly, leading to label-scarcity problem which…

Accurately modeling individual students' knowledge growth is important in many applications of learning analytics. A key step is to decompose the knowledge targeted in the instruction into detailed knowledge components (KCs). We search for an accurate KC model for basic equation solving skills, using data from an intelligent tutoring system (ITS),…

Since 2016, the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Initiative has been developing the Total Learning Architecture (TLA), a 4-pillar data strategy for managing lifelong learning. Each pillar describes a type of learning-related data that needs to be captured, managed, and shared across an organization. Each data pillar is built on a set of…

This dissertation presents various machine learning applications for predicting different cognitive states of students while they are using a vocabulary tutoring system, DSCoVAR. We conduct four studies, each of which includes a comprehensive analysis of behavioral and linguistic data and provides data-driven evidence for designing personalized…

The field of learning analytics (LA) has seen a gradual shift from purely data-driven approaches to more holistic views of improving student learning outcomes through data-informed learning design (LD). Despite the growing potential of LA in higher education (HE), the benefits are not yet convincing to the practitioner, in particular aspects of…

Dropout remains a persistent challenge within high school education. In this paper, we present a case study on automatically detecting whether a student is at-risk of dropout within a diverse school district in Texas. We predict whether a student will drop out in a future school year from data on students' discipline, attendance, course-taking,…

In this paper we show how we can utilize human-guided machine learning techniques coupled with a learning science practitioner interface (DataShop) to identify potential improvements to existing educational technology. Specifically, we provide an interface for the classification of underlying Knowledge Components (KCs) to better model student…

The Strategic Universal Design for Learning Course Development (S-UDLCD™) Faculty & Institutional Evaluation System (2023) is a research-based framework for assessing faculty performance, enhancing student retention, and improving institutional effectiveness. Unlike traditional models, this system integrates predictive analytics, student…

This paper presents the findings of a mixed-methods research that explored the potentials emerging from aligning learning design (LD) and learning analytics (LA) during the design of a predictive analytics solution and from involving the instructors in the design process. The context was a past massive open online course, where the learner data…

Purpose: Most educational assessments tend to be constructed in a close-ended format, which is easier to score consistently and more affordable. However, recent work has leveraged computation text methods from the information sciences to make open-ended measurement more effective and reliable for older students. This study asks whether such text…