Engagement Analytics Plugin

Introduction

The Engagement Analytics block provides information about student progress against a range of indicators. The block has been constructed to allow additional indicators to be developed to extend it's current functionality. It was developed as part of a NetSpot Innovation Fund project with Monash University (Project manager: Phillip Dawson), with code by NetSpot developers (Ashley Holman and Adam Olley).

From the project information: "We intend to implement a block that teachers can add to their Moodle course that will provide them with a quick graphical snapshot of which students are at risk."

Currently the plugin has three indicators: - Forum activity - Logins - Assessments

Each of these indicators measures different metrics which are combined using configurable thresholds and weightings to produce an overall risk for that indicator. The individual indicators are then combined together (with more configurable weightings) to produce an overall risk for the student on that course. The risk is reflected in the block as a percentage (100% being maximum risk of failure, 0% being minimum risk of failure). The colour codes change from green to red as the risk increases.

The Engagement Analytics block, includes the block and a report and is only visible to teachers.

This page describes the configuration and use of this plugin.

Plugin release date

TBC

Installation

Please see Installing Moodle Plugins for information about how to install plugins.

Terminology

• Indicator: An indicator is an element of LMS interaction which may determine the success of the student. This plugin has been developed so that additional indicators can be added. The indicators currently included are: Assessment Activity, Forum Activity and Login Activity.
• Weighting: The weighting of an indicator determines its importance and therefore how much it influences the measurement of a student's "risk". The higher the percent in the weighting, the more important the indicator. For example a course may be blended, where discussions are predominantly held face to face, the course might not require participation in Forums, therefore forum activity would have a low weighting.
• Algorithm: The formula used to calculate the risk, based on the settings for each indicator.

About Indicators

The indicators have been selected based on evidence provided by current research. Each indicator is calculated based on an algorithm, which has been developed by Dr Phillip Dawson in conjunction with the Project team and Project reference group. For more information about the development of the algorithm please contact Dr Phillip Dawson (email: [1]). The plugin has been built so that additional indicators can be developed and added.

Page status

This page is currently under construction and will be added to in the next few weeks, with a complete first draft by 15/08/12. If you have any questions please feel free to email me (kim.edgar@netspot.com.au).