STELA project provided support based on learning analytics to more than 30.000 students

STELA project, which aimed at supporting the transition from secondary to higher education using learning analytics has ended at the end of October. Thanks to this Erasmus+ project actionable feedback was provided to more than 30.000 students using student-facing learning dashboards. These dashboards were designed as open-source and scalable learning analytics solutions that are applicable at any higher education institute. These solutions range from feedback on online learning activities in MOOCs and SPOCs to feedback dashboard on learning and studying skills. Furthermore, a modular open source software stack was assembled that supports future dashboard developments and their integration with universities existing, and possibly proprietary, systems.

The project’s website contains an overview of all puts but also demos of four dashboard deployed at large scale:

• LASSI: a learning dashboard providing students feedback on learning and studying skills,
• REX: a learning dashboard providing students feedback on their academic achievement,
• POS: a learning dashboard providing aspiring students feedback on their competences and prior academic achievement, and
• a staff-facing learning dashboard for monitoring SPOC activity.

Experiences and research regarding the learning dashboards was obtained in ten case studies that were all built on three common principles: actionable feedback, good return-on-investment, and social comparison. These case studies resulted in recommendations in four domains: data, ethics & privacy, scalability & transferability, and impact. Specific policy recommendations are formulated in these four domains as well:

The STELA project demonstrates how Erasmus+ projects can both strengthen research and impact actual higher education. Finally, the project also shows how different Erasmus+ project can build and strengthen each other. The STELA project built learning dashboards providing feedback on the key competences that aspiring engineering students need, as identified in the readySTEMgo project. Currently, the obtained dashboards, knowledge and experiences are shared with Latin American partners in the LALA project.

Tinne De Laet , Project Coordinator