Promoting and Assessing Collaborative Learning using Learning Analytics in Higher Education– Overview of Drivers and Wheels

Learning analytics leverages the use of technology to gather and analyse data about student performance, engagement, and learning behaviours, which can help educators make informed decisions about how to improve learning outcomes. In higher education, learning analytics can provide insights into student engagement, performance, and learning pathways. Collaborative learning in higher education involves a group of students working together towards a common goal or task. Collaborative learning encourages students to work together to solve problems, analyse information, and make decisions, especially in self-directed learning environment. Through discussion and debate, students develop critical thinking skills and learn to approach problems from different perspectives to enhance problem-solving skills. Collaborative learning provides opportunities for students to work with others from diverse backgrounds, helping them develop interpersonal skills such as communication, teamwork, and leadership. While collaborative learning helps students to foster critical thinking and develop interpersonal skills, students’ activities and engagement in collaborative learning are not properly assessed and measured. Student performance indicators are highly dependent on the learning activities and resources used in the learning management system based on individual basis. The ability and potential of learning analytics to track students’ behaviour and performance in team, and to monitor the effectiveness of their sharing and communication is not fully utilised in higher education. This paper addresses this issue and aims to provide an overview of collaborative learning analytics. The overview elaborates essential elements in collaborative learning and defines features in analytics to support collaborative learning. The overview is expected to guide to educators and developers in promoting and assessing students’ performance based on collaborative works.