Learning Analytics Dashboards to Support Adviser-Student Dialogue

This paper presents LISSA (“Learning dashboard for Insights and Support during Study Advice”), a learning analytics dashboard designed, developed, and evaluated in collaboration with study advisers. The overall objective is to facilitate communication between study advisers and students by visualizing grade data that is commonly available in any institution. More specifically, the dashboard attempts to support the dialogue between adviser and student through an overview of study progress, peer comparison, and by triggering insights based on facts as a starting point for discussion and argumentation. We report on the iterative design process and evaluation results of a deployment in 97 advising sessions. We have found that the dashboard supports the current adviser-student dialogue, helps them motivate students, triggers conversation, and provides tools to add personalization, depth, and nuance to the advising session. It provides insights at a factual, interpretative, and reflective level and allows both adviser and student to take an active role during the session.