Pedagogically informed designs of learning are increasingly of interest to researchers in blended and online learning, as learning design is shown to have an impact on student behaviour and outcomes. ...Although learning design is widely studied, often these studies are individual courses or programmes and few empirical studies have connected learning designs of a substantial number of courses with learning behaviour. In this study we linked 151 modules and 111.256 students with students' behaviour (<400 million minutes of online behaviour), satisfaction and performance at the Open University UK using multiple regression models. Our findings strongly indicate the importance of learning design in predicting and understanding Virtual Learning Environment behaviour and performance of students in blended and online environments. In line with proponents of social learning theories, our primary predictor for academic retention was the time learners spent on communication activities, controlling for various institutional and disciplinary factors. Where possible, appropriate and well designed communication tasks that align with the learning objectives of the course may be a way forward to enhance academic retention.
•Pedagogically informed learning designs (LD) are increasingly of interest.•Few empirical studies have connected LD with behaviour, satisfaction and retention.•Using regression analyses we linked LDs of 151 modules and 111 K students.•LD has strong impact on behaviour, satisfaction, and performance.•Primary predictor for academic retention was communication activities.
Educators need to change their practice to adapt to a shifting educational context. By visualising learning design decisions, this article highlights the need to capture educators' “tacit” knowledge ...relating to course material, activity types and workload, through employing learning analytics methods in order to analyse the learning designs of courses taken by 60,000+ students, common pedagogical patterns are identified. When analysing 157 learning designs using a taxonomy of seven different learning activities, we found that the majority of educators used two types of learning activities most widely, namely assimilative activities (reading, watching videos and listening to audio) and assessment activities. Surprisingly, educators do not choose different activity types based upon function (eg, replace one type of student‐activating activity by another), but patterns can be seen where educators combine assimilative, productive and assessment activities or assimilative, finding and handling information and communication tasks. While educators rely heavily on assimilative and assessment activities, no positive correlation was found between any of the seven learning design activity types and student outcomes. Our initial findings suggest that student outcomes are negatively correlated with a high proportion of assimilative activities. Further studies are needed to establish whether particular learning design decisions are related to student outcomes and whether these findings can be replicated in different research settings.
Studies undertaken since the introduction of Web 2.0 have focussed mainly on open educational resources (OERs) such as email, blogging and virtual learning environments. No consistent efforts have ...been undertaken to study the use of social networking sites as a tool for learning in the second language classroom. This study examined the use of social networking sites as a means of establishing an asynchronous online environment for use in language learning in a classroom setting. The findings described are based on the use of a social networking site called Ning in a classroom during a summer school project, which was conducted at a further education college in the UK. The project focussed in particular on informal language practice when using social networking sites. The paper then examines the effect the use of the social networking tool had on group cohesion and learner-to-learner interaction, and how these, in turn, enhanced informal language learning due to an increase in learner collaboration. The study found that the use of Ning enhanced group cohesion and that learners started working in different groups once Ning was introduced. Finally, it highlights the potential technical and administrative barriers that can impede an institution in implementing its educational strategy in regards to OERs - in this case, social networking sites in the classroom. The further education college in which this study took place had no policies in place in regards to the use of OERs in the classroom, thus the paper concludes with recommendations in regards to training and policies so that researchers and practitioners can learn from the project.
Many researchers who study the impact of computer-based assessment (CBA) focus on the affordances or complexities of CBA approaches in comparison to traditional assessment methods. This study ...examines how CBA approaches were configured within and between modules, and the impact of assessment design on students' engagement, satisfaction, and pass rates. The analysis was conducted using a combination of longitudinal visualisations, correlational analysis, and fixed-effect models on 74 undergraduate modules and their 72,377 students. Our findings indicate that educators designed very different assessment strategies, which significantly influenced student engagement as measured by time spent in the virtual learning environment (VLE). Weekly analyses indicated that assessment activities were balanced with other learning activities, which suggests that educators tended to aim for a consistent workload when designing assessment strategies. Since most of the assessments were computer-based, students spent more time on the VLE during assessment weeks. By controlling for heterogeneity within and between modules, learning design could explain up to 69% of the variability in students' time spent on the VLE. Furthermore, assessment activities were significantly related to pass rates, but no clear relation with satisfaction was found. Our findings highlight the importance of CBA and learning design to how students learn online.
•Computer Based Assessment (CBA) is increasingly used in higher education.•The study unpacks how educators on 74 undergraduate modules designed CBA.•The analysis using fixed effect models suggests that educators implement vastly different learning designs (LD).•Assessment activities strongly influence students' time spent on the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).•LD explains 69% of variability in students' time spent on the VLE.
The focus on quality improvements by institutions for better online and blended teaching can be delivered in different ways. This article reports on the implementation of this process and the ...approaches taken first, in terms of the design of new learning materials, and second, when reviewing the existing curriculum. The study aims to ascertain whether the combination of a collaborative, networked approach at the initial design stage, augmented with visualisations, has changed the way educators design their courses at The Open University, UK. Analysis of 148 learning designs shows both before and after the introduction of Learning Design, which of the pedagogic decisions that educators made substantially changed. Courses that were designed after the introduction of Learning Design were more focused on the development of a range of skills and included fewer assimilative activities (reading, watching videos and listening to audio). Our findings suggest that by visualising the design upfront, educators focused less on traditional teaching patterns, such as the 'teach, practice, apply' model. Remarkably, just by visualising initial decisions and working in collaborative workshops, educators created more student-centred and creative designs aimed to develop a range of skills which support students in both their studies and the workplace. Further studies are needed to establish whether these pedagogic decisions have an impact on student outcomes and whether these findings can be replicated in different institutions.
Language education has a rich history of research and scholarship focusing on the effectiveness of learning activities and the impact these have on student behaviour and outcomes. One of the basic ...assumptions in foreign language pedagogy and CALL in particular is that learners want to be able to communicate effectively with native speakers of their chosen language. Combining principles of learning analytics and Big Data with learning design, this study used a student activity based taxonomy adopted by the Open University UK to inform module design. The learning designs of four introductory and intermediary language education modules and online engagement of 2111 learners were contrasted using weekly learning design data. In this study, we aimed to explore how learning design decisions made by language teachers influenced students' engagement in the VLE. Using fixed effect models, our findings indicated that 55% of variance of weekly online engagement in these four modules was explained by the way language teachers designed weekly learning design activities. Our learning analytics study highlights the potential affordances for CALL researchers to use the power of learning design and big data to explore and understand the complexities and dynamics of language learning for students and teachers.
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