Learning Analytics & Research

As teaching, like most other activities, continues to become increasingly mediated by digital devices, we are presented with new possibilities for understanding student learning and improving instructional practice by leveraging digital learning data. Indeed, digital tools can provide valuable information about how students learn that was previously inaccessible to us as educators.

But these advantages are not naturally or automatically accrued through the use of computer software. Data are simply records of activity whose meaning must be constructed by a rich understanding of the context, history, and constraints of the educational and learning environments.

Our learning analytics specialists collaborate with instructors, academic units, and Notre Dame Learning colleagues to conduct and support applied learning research through the fields of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER), learning sciences, and learning analytics. We can work with you on survey design, administration, analysis, and visualization; focus group and interview support; and learning analytics with data access, analysis, and visualization. We can also help you navigate data steward requests and umbrella IRB if you plan to publish and share your findings.

By collaborating with the Office of Institutional Research, Innovation, & Strategy (IRIS) on any access to administrative or protected data, the learning analytics team ensures all activities follow University policy as affirmed by Notre Dame’s leadership as well as best practices in ethical data science.

Let’s Work Together