Transforming Tertiary Education: The Role of Learning Analytics in Improving Students’ Success - A Practical Approach

Learning analytics is a rapidly growing field in higher education, comprising collecting and analysing data to improve teaching and learning practices. The potency of learning analytics rests on both understanding relational dynamics and demonstrating their generalisability and temporal stability—aspects often underexplored in the literature. Recognising the benefits of formative assessments with corresponding feedback in promoting short- and long-term learning outcomes, we implemented several course-specific online formative assessments in four different courses at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Through these assessments, we gathered data from various domains, including task-specific information, students’ learning behaviour, and their prior knowledge. Our analysis demonstrated substantial relationships between initial, formative, and summative assessments, alongside variables like attitude and effort, which were consistent across the different courses. Given the identified relationships and their consistency, learning analytics has the potential to significantly enhance the quality of tertiary education. Further, these findings emphasise the critical importance of leveraging learning analytics in educational institutions.