Marek Hatala

Learning has a temporal characteristic in nature, which means that it occurs over the passage of time. The research on the temporal aspects of learning faces several challenges, one of which is utilizing appropriate analytical techniques to exploit the temporal data. There is no coherent guide to selecting certain temporal techniques to lead to results that truthfully uncover underlying phenomena. To fill this gap, this systematic mapping study contributes to understanding the type of questions and approaches in works in the area of temporal educational research. This study aims to analyze different components of published research and explores the current trends in educational studies that explicitly consider the temporal aspect. Using the thematic coding method, we identified trends in three components, including asked research questions, utilized methodological techniques, and inferred insight about learning. The distribution of codes regarding asked research questions showed that the highest number of studies focused on method development or proposing a methodological framework. We discussed that methodological development, with the underlying theory, led to identifying learning indicators that can provide the ability to identify individual students with respect to the learning concepts of interest. In terms of utilized techniques, there was a strong trend in visualization analysis and process mining. This study found that to discover insight into learning, it is important to utilize techniques that are interpretable to characterize temporal patterns.

The need to personalize learning analytics dashboards (LADs) is getting more recognized in learning analytics research community. In order to study the impact of these dashboards on learners, various types of prototypes have been designed and deployed in different settings. Applying Weiner’s attribution theory, our goal in this study was to understand the effect of dashboard information content on learners. We wanted to understand how elements of assignment grade, time spent on an assignment, assignment view, and proficiency in the dashboard affect students’ attribution of achievement and motivation for future work. We designed a qualitative study in which we analyzed participants’ responses and indicated behavioural changes after viewing the dashboard. Through in-depth interviews, we aimed to understand students’ interpretations of the designed dashboard, and to what extent social comparison impacts their judgments of learning. Students used multiple dimensions to attribute their success or failure to their ability and effort. Our results indicate that to maximize the benefits of dashboards as a vehicle for motivating change in students learning, the dashboard should promote effort in both personal and social comparison capacities.