ABSTRACT
Learning analytics provides unprecedented opportunities to discover whether aspects of the curriculum are functioning as intended. Analytics based on learners' interactions with the course can then enable evidence-based changes to be made to resources, learning activities and other aspects of the curriculum. In 2009, Tim Hardy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) redesigned his course on the principles of accounting in an attempt to increase student participation. In one of the earliest attempts to analyse the effectiveness of a course using learning analytics, Morris examined historic learning management system (LMS) logs from three courses at the University System of Georgia. The importance of formulating hypotheses or questions when using learning analytics for curriculum enhancement is illustrated by Whitmer and his colleagues, who analysed data from a MOOC with an enrolment of 48,174 learners. Learning designs can be represented through graphical methods, textual descriptions or formalised languages.
