Do academics and university administrators really know better? The ethics of positioning student perspectives in learning analytics

Abstract

Increasingly learning analytics (LA) has begun utilising staff- and student-facing dashboards capturing visualisations to present data to support student success and improve learning and teaching. The use of LA is complex, multifaceted and raises many issues for consideration, including ethical and legal challenges, competing stakeholder views and implementation decisions. It is widely acknowledged that LA development requires input from various stakeholders. This conceptual article explores the LA literature to determine how student perspectives are positioned as dashboards and visualisations are developed. While the sector acknowledges the central role of students, as demonstrated here, much of the literature reflects an academic, teacher-centric or institutional view. This view reflects some of the key ethical concerns related to informed consent and the role of power translating to a somewhat paternalistic approach to students. We suggest that as students are the primary stakeholders – they should be consulted in the development and application of LA. An ethical approach to LA requires that we engage with our students in their learning and the systems and information that support that process rather than assuming we know we know what students want, what their concerns are or how they would like data presented.

What Do You Mean by Collaboration Analytics? A Conceptual Model

“…This is not a new challenge but instead a continuous issue experienced in design practice in general (Sanders & Stappers, 2008). In academia, both the CSCL and the learning analytics communities are calling for greater learner/educator agency (Prinsloo & Slade, 2016;Tchounikine, 2019), and the lack of students' voice in the development of learning analytics is being questioned (West, Luzeckyj, Toohey, Vanderlelie, & Searle, 2020). Yet, even if teachers and students are invited to be part of a learning analytics project as partners, further challenges can emerge in integrating potentially divergent stakeholder views or conflicts between theory and teachers' pedagogical beliefs.…”

The evolving field of learning analytics research in higher education

“…Kitto, Lupton, Davis, and Waters (2017) suggested that despite a narrative that positions LA as a field aiming to enhance student learning, few student-facing solutions have emerged beyond the often-dominant narratives of 'at risk' and 'retention'. West et al (2020) concurred that much of the literature reflects an academic, teacher-centric or institutional view. In their exploration of the LA literature related to student perceptions on the development and use of LA, the authors found that student perspectives were largely absent from LA development and application.…”

“…They also found that student-facing dashboards (displays that visualise or present information in a way that allows the end user to quickly make sense of data at a glance) were largely developed from the view of the academic or institution and based on what those academics or institutions thought would be useful for students rather than from a student perspective. While research in the area of student perspectives in LA is growing, West et al (2020) argue that a lack of input from students raises serious ethical concerns and suggests a need for several actions, including, most prominently, engaging students.…”

“…Ethical considerations in the use of LA are of growing concern as the field develops. Commentators have raised concerns about the potential problems associated with the deployment and use of LA (such as privacy, ethics and consent) and the use of big data to "widen the net and thin the mesh to bring greater student regulation and control" (Francis et al, 2019;West et al, 2020). As the ethical considerations behind both the use of student data and the design of analytics systems that use this data are complex, few institutional approaches have, to date, addressed ethical issues in all their complexity (Corrin et al, 2019).…”

Ten caveats of learning analytics in health professions education: A consumer’s perspective

“…Without clarification of these questions, a fear of data misuse and the development of new but possibly unwanted power relationships remains. It seems pertinent that students have a say in these regulations (West et al 2020).…”