The Design of Learning Analytics to Support a Knowledge Community and Inquiry Approach to Secondary Science

This paper describes a design-based research project that investigates how learning analytics tools and approaches, applied within the context of a technology-enhanced, blended learning environment, can support a Knowledge Community and Inquiry (KCI) approach to secondary science. Acknowledging that many learning analytic tools and designs emerged from online courseware environments, which maintain a focus on individual performance and accountability, this work seeks to contribute learning analytics designs that foster more collaborative learning approaches. The proposed designs are intended for use by students and teachers to inform their orchestrational moves within the classroom, necessitating real-time data capture, intuitive user interfaces, and visual representations that can be readily interpreted and acted upon. Following an overview of existing approaches within the field, I present the design of CKBiology; a platform and corresponding curriculum that have been specifically designed to support a KCI approach within two sections of a Grade 12 Biology course.