Speaker: Laura Johnson (UCL)
Talk title: Making Sense of Clicks: Modelling Student Behaviour in VLE Data
Abstract: Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), such as Moodle and Blackboard, record digital traces of students’ interactions with online resources and activities within a module. These data provide new opportunities to analyse learning behaviours and outcomes. However, converting raw clickstreams into meaningful measures of engagement is far from simple: engagement is a complex, multidimensional concept, and VLE logs offer an incomplete and noisy behavioural proxy.
In this talk, I will present a framework for measuring engagement within modules using structured indicators derived from Moodle logs. By analysing the frequency, immediacy, and diversity of students’ interactions aligned with course structure, this method captures dynamic engagement patterns and explores how they relate to assessment outcomes. Throughout, I will highlight some of the practical challenges we have faced when processing and modelling VLE data.
Finally, I will discuss ongoing work on identifying behavioural profiles of students within and across modules. By grouping and characterising patterns of interaction over time, this work aims to reveal how behaviours evolve throughout modules and programmes, and how such insights can inform teaching design, assessment planning, and early intervention.
Based on joint work with Takoua Jendoubi (UCL), Jim Griffin (UCL) and Ioanna Manolopoulou (UCL).