Action Research and Learning Analytics in Higher Education

Teaching is a dynamic activity. It can be very effective, if its impact is constantly monitored and adjusted to the demands of changing social contexts and needs of learners. This implies that teachers need to be aware about teaching and learning processes. Moreover, they should constantly question their didactical methods and the learning resources, which they provide to their students. They should reflect if their actions are suitable, and they should regulate their teaching, e.g., by updating learning materials based on new knowledge about learners, or by motivating learners to engage in further learning activities. In the last years, a rising interest in ‘learning analytics’ is observable. This interest is motivated by the availability of massive amounts of educational data. Also, the continuously increasing processing power, and a strong motivation for discovering new information from these pools of educational data, is pushing further developments within the learning analytics research field. Learning analytics could be a method for reflective teaching practice that enables and guides teachers to investigate and evaluate their work in future learning scenarios. However, this potentially positive impact has not yet been sufficiently verified by learning analytics research. Another method that pursues these goals is ‘action research’. Learning analytics promises to initiate action research processes because it facilitates awareness, reflection and regulation of teaching activities analogous to action research. Therefore, this thesis joins both concepts, in order to improve the design of learning analytics tools. Central research question of this thesis are: What are the dimensions of learning analytics in relation to action research, which need to be considered when designing a learning analytics tool? How does a learning analytics dashboard impact the teachers of technology-enhanced university lectures regarding ‘awareness’, ‘reflection’ and ‘action’? Does it initiate action research? Which are central requirements for a learning analytics tool, which pursues such effects? This project followed design-based research principles, in order to answer these research questions. The main contributions are: a theoretical reference model that connects action research and learning analytics, the conceptualization and implementation of a learning analytics tool, a requirements catalogue for useful and usable learning analytics design based on evaluations, a tested procedure for impact analysis, and guidelines for the introduction of learning analytics into higher education.

'Neurons in Action' in Action - Educational settings for simulations and tutorials using NEURON

Neurons in Action (NIA1, 2000; NIA1.5, 2004; NIA2, 2007), a set of tutorials and linked simulations, is designed to acquaint students with neuronal physiology through interactive, virtual laboratory experiments. Here we explore the uses of NIA in lecture, both interactive and didactic, as well as in the undergraduate laboratory, in the graduate seminar course, and as an examination tool through homework and problem set assignments. NIA, made with the simulator NEURON (http://www.neuron.yale.edu/neuron/), displays voltages, currents, and conductances in a membrane patch or signals moving within the dendrites, soma and/or axon of a neuron. Customized simulations start with the plain lipid bilayer and progress through equilibrium potentials; currents through single Na and K channels; Na and Ca action potentials; voltage clamp of a patch or a whole neuron; voltage spread and propagation in axons, motoneurons and nerve terminals; synaptic excitation and inhibition; and advanced topics such as channel kinetics and coincidence detection. The user asks and answers "what if" questions by specifying neuronal parameters, ion concentrations, and temperature, and the experimental results are then plotted as conductances, currents, and voltage changes. Such exercises provide immediate confirmation or refutation of the student's ideas to guide their learning. The tutorials are hyperlinked to explanatory information and to original research papers. Although the NIA tutorials were designed as a sequence to empower a student with a working knowledge of fundamental neuronal principles, we find that faculty are using the individual tutorials in a variety of educational situations, some of which are described here. Here we offer ideas to colleagues using interactive software, whether NIA or another tool, for educating students of differing backgrounds in the subject of neurophysiology.

Knowledge-Production Processes in Practice Research - Outcomes and Critical Elements

The welfare sector has seen considerable changes in its operational context. Welfare services respond to an increasing number of challenges as citizens are confronted with life’s uncertainties and a variety of complex situations. At the same time the service-delivery system is facing problems of co-operation and the development of staff competence, as well as demands to improve service effectiveness and outcomes. In order to ensure optimal user outcomes in this complex, evolving environment it is necessary to enhance professional knowledge and skills, and to increase efforts to develop the services. Changes are also evident in the new emergent knowledge-production models. There has been a shift from knowledge acquisition and transmission to its construction and production. New actors have stepped in and the roles of researchers are subject to critical discussion. Research outcomes, in other words the usefulness of research with respect to practice development, is a topical agenda item. Research is needed, but if it is to be useful it needs to be not only credible but also useful in action. What do we know about different research processes in practice? What conceptions, approaches, methods and actor roles are embedded? What is the effect on practice? How does ‘here and now’ practice challenge research methods? This article is based on the research processes conducted in the institutes of practice research in social work in Finland. It analyses the different approaches applied by elucidating the theoretical standpoints and the critical elements embedded in them, and reflects on the outcomes in and for practice. It highlights the level of change and progression in practice research, arguing for diverse practice research models with a solid theoretical grounding, rigorous research processes, and a supportive infrastructure.