MOE STAFF LEARN ABOUT DATA ANALYTICS TO IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

3 March 2020 – The School of Computing and Informatics (SCI) organised a customised short course entitled Data Analytics Fundamentals for Education at SCI Lecture theatre of the University for two days starting 2 March 2020. The course was designed for staff from the Ministry of Education (MoE).

About 20 participants from various departments/units attended the two-day course facilitated by Dr. Asem Kasem, Assistant Professor of SCI.

The course introduced the fundamental concepts of data analytics, and highlighted on the various applications of data analytics in education sector. The participants also learned how and when to use key methods for educational data mining, learning analytics and tools that are frequently used.

Dr. Asem also discussed about the real-world educational data mining and learning analytics through case-studies and applications with the participants. They also learned some of the common methods used in addressing them, and how to interpret results for further actions.

The past decade witnessed many successful attempts from research and practitioners communities in education sector using data analytics to improve educational effectiveness and support research on learning. This has been highly influenced by the ease of access to large amounts of data (structured and unstructured) about educational activities, operations, and processes. The increasing dependence on online and software-based learning tools, in addition to digitisation of many aspects of educational institutions, have resulted in an explosion of data which led to innovative usages and applications. Therefore by having this short course, it aimed to enhance the participants’ understanding of data analytics and its potential impact on education.