Learning analytics offers promising solutions for personalising student learning and support, yet adoption remains limited due to implementation challenges and unclear impact. The missing piece? Learning design, which provides the context needed to transform data into meaningful insights into students’ learning.
CIC’s Lecturer Dr Lisa-Angelique Lim addresses this gap in teaching her subject Crunch: Learning Analytics for Performance and Improvement, part of the Graduate Certificate of Learning Design and also available as a micro-credential. The subject’s final Expression session invites external experts to share their work at the intersection of learning analytics and design.
In June 2025, Lisa hosted Dr Gloria Milena Fernandez Nieto (Monash University) and Dr Antonette Shibani (UTS), two internationally renowned researchers in the field, who are also CIC PhD alumni! Watch their talks below, where they present on how they intentionally embedding learning analytics within learning design.
Human-centred design research in Multimodal Learning Analytics (MMLA) – Dr. Gloria Milena Fernández-Nieto
Abstract: This talk provides an overview of human-centred design research in Multimodal Learning Analytics (MMLA) and the lessons learned through a seven-year collaboration involving researchers, designers, educators, and students from Monash University and the University of Technology Sydney, focusing on Nursing Simulations. In this context, MMLA offers the potential to capture multimodal data (e.g., physiological data, trace data) that are critical for assessing constructs such as teamwork, identified in the learning sciences as essential for learning, which cannot be effectively measured using traditional log data alone (e.g., from Learning Management Systems).
Drawing on this research, the talk will highlight key insights from a human-centred design perspective, gained over multiple iterative cycles with educational stakeholders. It will focus on two main areas: (i) learning design considerations for developing MMLA tools, and (ii) the ethical implications of designing and implementing these tools in real-world educational settings. The aim of this talk is to foster critical discussion around the adoption of human-centred methods that integrate the values, needs, and pedagogical intentions of educational stakeholders into the design and implementation of Learning Analytics tools.
Aligning Emerging Technologies with Educational Practice: The Role of Learning Design – Dr Antonette Shibani
Abstract: As emerging learning technologies like Learning Analytics (LA) and Generative AI (GenAI) become more prevalent, ensuring their meaningful integration into classrooms is increasingly critical. In this talk, I will explore the key role of Learning Design (LD) in contextualising these technologies to align with specific pedagogical goals and classroom realities. Drawing on the Contextualizable Learning Analytics Design framework (2019), I will demonstrate how LD can guide the development and use of LA, ensuring that tools and feedback are relevant and tied to teaching and learning contexts, using a writing analytics example. I will also discuss how learning analytics, in turn, can inform and refine learning design.
Fast-forward to the age of generative AI, where powerful tools are readily accessible, the role of Learning Design becomes even more crucial. It ensures that learners can benefit from AI-enhanced learning while critically engaging with technology in ethical ways. Through examples and practical considerations, I will discuss how Learning Design can help educators contextualise AI tools to meet specific pedagogical goals, support learner agency, and uphold the integrity of the learning experience in AI-enhanced environments.