Learning Analytics as an Educational Research Approach

Abstract

The motivation for this article derived from the fact that in-depth contemplation is required for methodological frameworks of Learning Analytics (LA) to gain acceptance in the academic community. A search of relevant literature did not reveal robust consideration of the added value of LA in the research approach domain, more specifically, in the educational research methods field. Consequently, there is a need to supply educational researchers with an accredited overview of LA. This article aims to fill that gap as well as to carry out a review of LA studies to contribute towards a documentation of the LA research approach so far. This review includes what brings LA to the educational research field, what research questions LA have answered, and how the approach is implemented. Along with the additional methodological issues, this review also includes an investigation of LA that captures the strengths and weaknesses in data analysis and the identification of purposes of these previous studies, and thus, hopefully, motivate the research community to reconceptualize LA as a research approach for further research.