Learning analytics in mathematics education: the case of feedback use in a digital classification task on reflective symmetry

Learning Analytics is concerned with the use of data collected in educational settings to support learning processes. We take a Learning Analytics approach to study the use of immediate feedback in digital classification tasks in mathematics. Feedback serves as an opportunity for learning, however its mere existence does not guarantee its use and effectiveness, as what matters is how learners interact with it. Therefore, our research questions are focused on that interaction. The data consisted of 266 object movements for classifying polygons, and 524 shape movements for classifying traffic signs, under the topic of symmetry. Participants included 29 elementary school students (9–12 years old) from Israel and Germany. Analyzing students’ success, feedback use, and the associations between them, we demonstrate how not acting upon feedback is negatively associated with success, and how this undesired behavior slightly reduces along the learning process.