Updated October 2023 | Published 29 August 2023
Overview
Data Insights for Student Learning and Support is a new UNSW strategic project being developed by the PVCESE Innovation Pillar. It aims to enhance the student experience by helping to reduce failure rates through early predictions of risk and monitoring student engagement in a course. It will also increase student and staff awareness of UNSW’s valuable support services, promoting effective and efficient uptake and impact. Students and staff will be alerted if a risk of academic failure is detected to enable prompt action to be taken to address the situation, and appropriate support will be suggested based upon individual student circumstances.
The project will be built in a modular approach. The first module is the Academic Success Monitor (ASM) which is being developed for course convenors, tutors, and students for early 2024. ASM uses a predictive machine learning model trained on historical data from learning and administration systems such as Moodle and SiMs. This can provide suggestions of potential academic risk based upon engagement in the digital learning environment that an academic or student can validate and act upon. Early testing of the model has revealed it can identify students at risk with a high level of confidence in the initial few weeks of a course, allowing enough time for a student to adjust their trajectory. Development and limited testing will continue during T3, 2023.
October update
Great progress has been made on the project since August. Small-scale testing of the lecturer view of the Academic Success Monitor during T3 2023 has involved 33 academics and 25 courses across all UNSW Sydney-based faculties. Given the successful progress, we are now calling for expression of interest in piloting the monitor in T1/S1 2024. If you convene a course(s) in this teaching period and would like to test assistive data insights for enhancing student success and contribute to shaping the user-centric evolution of this tool, please complete an Expression of Interest here.
Upcoming event: Monitor showcase
The monitor will be showcased at the Teaching Commons for anyone interested in taking a sneak peek at the current version of the monitor, meeting the Learning Analytics Intelligence (LAI) team, discussing any matters, and providing feedback. No appointments are required:
Date: Wednesday 8 November 2023
Time: 12.30 to 1.30pm
Venue: Teaching Commons Dalton Meeting Room, Kensington F12