Using BlackBoard Learn Analytics to Understand Redesign and Student Success in a Non-MajorsOnline Biology Course
Biology 1310/1312 core life and physical science courses are chosen to complete core requirements. Over 14,400 undergraduates may select these science electives. Thus, these first year barrier courses offer fruitful learning and innovation possibilities for all non-science majors and thus can contribute to higher UHD retention and graduation rates. UHD Biology 1310/1312 courses impact success metrics. “Gateway” courses impact retention/graduation. BlackBoard Learn analytics offers ways to understand and measure group collaboration/engagement as well as student success levels in online courses. By using quantitative data analytics within BBL, instructors are better able to corroborate course redesign, student success, and where redesign might best be incorporating for greatest effectiveness. Utilizing BBL analytics supports stronger understanding of student learning.
Technologies
BlackBoard Learning Management System: This study aims to better understand the tools BBL LMS offers instructors’ which can inform questions of undergraduate activity within the course, frequency of the activity, areas of activity, and stimulate early reinforcing actions supporting student knowledge acquisition and course success.
An example of a tool every instructor should access is the Performance Dashboard. This user interface can be used to easily and quickly access issues, problem areas, highlights upward trending data, and updates date daily or as designated. Moreover, a dashboard offers a unified display allowing the instructor to integrate many levels of information about individual learners and/or aggregate information about an entire class (Mann, 2011). Additionally, the study will review and analyze Course Reports, Performance dashboard, and Retention Center offered by BlackBoard Learn.
Explain project results
Use of the learner analytics included in the BlackBoard LMS is critical when first generation learners begin taking online courses. Learner analytics informs the instructor where, when, and how learners are succeeding, failing, not showing up, and providing an alert system to truly understand learner behavior in the course as early as the first day. In particular Hispanics comprise a vast majority of first generation college goers, thus for online/distance learning programs and the instructors this built-in can work hand-in-glove with instructor efforts to increase retention, recognize persistence, and ultimately offer assistance at the individual level to each student.
Why it should be considered best practice?
While there are other LMS systems, BlackBoard continues to have a major market share in the higher education marketplace and in many high schools BB LMS has become a prominent feature supporting learning environments. Because of the preponderance of the BB LMS, this presentation supports further understanding and use of learner analytics for any instructor in the online environment. Lastly, biology 1310 is a core course at the year one level and this is critical to support of retention and student success. For these reasons this presentation represents a best practice within the online learning environment.
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