Improving Student Outcomes Through Data-Driven Identification of At-Risk Learners in Educational Environments
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53555/es.v12i1.2515Keywords:
Learning Analytics, Student Engagement, At-Risk Learners, Educational Data Mining, Student PerformanceAbstract
The growing use of online learning settings has produced a lot of educational data, which offers the prospect to enhance the performance of the students by using data-intensive strategies. The research aims to examine the issue of identifying at-risk learners by utilizing an extensive dataset comprising demographics, engagement, performance, and risk-related factors. The study employs various quantitative research design methods such as descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and predictive modeling to test the hypotheses of the relationships between student behavior and academic outcomes. The results indicate that student engagement is a pivotal measure of success and the more the interaction, the better the performance and the lower the dropout rate. Variables of risk classification also show a high correlation with the ultimate academic achievement and confirm their place in identifying at-risk learners early. Predictive models, especially ensemble models, were very accurate in separating the favorable and adverse outcomes, and this point indicates the usefulness of learning analytics in educational settings. The paper emphasizes the significance of incorporating data-driven insights into the educational practice in order to allow early intervention and targeted support. The study can be used practically by teachers and institutions to improve retention and performance through finding significant predictors of student success. On the whole, the outcomes of the research add to the future of learning analytics, as they prove that it can transform the aspect of educational decision-making and enhance learning results.
Downloads
References
Aguilar, S. J., Karabenick, S. A., Teasley, S. D., & Baek, C. (2021). Associations between learning analytics dashboard exposure and motivation and self-regulated learning. Computers & Education, 162, 104085.
Aldowah, H., Al-Samarraie, H., & Fauzy, W. M. (2019). Educational data mining and learning analytics for 21st century higher education: A review and synthesis. Telematics and Informatics, 37, 13-49.
Atif, A., Richards, D., Liu, D., & Bilgin, A. A. (2020). Perceived benefits and barriers of a prototype early alert system to detect engagement and support ‘at-risk’students: The teacher perspective. Computers & Education, 156, 103954.
Banihashem, S. K., Noroozi, O., Van Ginkel, S., Macfadyen, L. P., & Biemans, H. J. (2022). A systematic review of the role of learning analytics in enhancing feedback practices in higher education. Educational Research Review, 37, 100489.
Bodily, R., & Verbert, K. (2017). Review of research on student-facing learning analytics dashboards and educational recommender systems. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 10(4), 405-418.
Chandel, N. (2023). Online learning engagement and performance (OULAD dataset) [Data set]. Kaggle. https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/nitikachandel95/online-learning-engagement-and-performance-oulad
Gašević, D., Dawson, S., & Siemens, G. (2015). Let’s not forget: Learning analytics are about learning. TechTrends, 59(1), 64-71.
Guzmán-Valenzuela, C., Gómez-González, C., Rojas-Murphy Tagle, A., & Lorca-Vyhmeister, A. (2021). Learning analytics in higher education: a preponderance of analytics but very little learning?. International journal of educational technology in higher education, 18(1), 23.
Herodotou, C., Rienties, B., Hlosta, M., Boroowa, A., Mangafa, C., & Zdrahal, Z. (2020). The scalable implementation of predictive learning analytics at a distance learning university: Insights from a longitudinal case study. The Internet and Higher Education, 45, 100725.
Hilliger, I., Ortiz-Rojas, M., Pesántez-Cabrera, P., Scheihing, E., Tsai, Y. S., Muñoz-Merino, P. J., ... & Pérez-Sanagustín, M. (2020). Identifying needs for learning analytics adoption in Latin American universities: A mixed-methods approach. The Internet and Higher Education, 45, 100726.
Ifenthaler, D., & Yau, J. Y. K. (2020). Utilising learning analytics to support study success in higher education: a systematic review. Educational technology research and development, 68(4), 1961-1990.
Karaoglan Yilmaz, F. G., & Yilmaz, R. (2021). Learning analytics as a metacognitive tool to influence learner transactional distance and motivation in online learning environments. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 58(5), 575-585.
Knight, S., Gibson, A., & Shibani, A. (2020). Implementing learning analytics for learning impact: Taking tools to task. The Internet and Higher Education, 45, 100729.
Munguia, P., Brennan, A., Taylor, S., & Lee, D. (2020). A learning analytics journey: Bridging the gap between technology services and the academic need. The Internet and Higher Education, 46, 100744.
Pardo, A., Jovanovic, J., Dawson, S., Gašević, D., & Mirriahi, N. (2019). Using learning analytics to scale the provision of personalised feedback. British journal of educational technology, 50(1), 128-138.
Rotar, O. (2022). A missing theoretical element of online higher education student attrition, retention, and progress: A systematic literature review. SN Social Sciences, 2(12), 278.
Selwyn, N. (2020). Re-imagining ‘learning analytics’… a case for starting again?. The Internet and Higher Education, 46, 100745.
Shibani, A., Knight, S., & Shum, S. B. (2020). Educator perspectives on learning analytics in classroom practice. The Internet and Higher Education, 46, 100730.
Susnjak, T., Ramaswami, G. S., & Mathrani, A. (2022). Learning analytics dashboard: a tool for providing actionable insights to learners. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 19(1), 12.
Tsai, Y. S., Rates, D., Moreno-Marcos, P. M., Muñoz-Merino, P. J., Jivet, I., Scheffel, M., ... & Gašević, D. (2020). Learning analytics in European higher education—Trends and barriers. Computers & Education, 155, 103933.
Viberg, O., Hatakka, M., Bälter, O., & Mavroudi, A. (2018). The current landscape of learning analytics in higher education. Computers in human behavior, 89, 98-110.
Vigentini, L., Liu, D. Y., Arthars, N., & Dollinger, M. (2020). Evaluating the scaling of a LA tool through the lens of the SHEILA framework: A comparison of two cases from tinkerers to institutional adoption. The Internet and Higher Education, 45, 100728.
Waheed, H., Hassan, S. U., Aljohani, N. R., Hardman, J., Alelyani, S., & Nawaz, R. (2020). Predicting academic performance of students from VLE big data using deep learning models. Computers in Human behavior, 104, 106189.



