Institutional Members
SoLAR currently has 18 institutional members from all over the world: Australia, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands. You can read about some of our long-standing and brand new institutional members below.
If you are interested in becoming a 2021 Institutional member, please review our institutional member benefits and contact membership@solaresearch.org.
2021 Institutional Members:
- University of South Australia
- University of British Columbia
- University of Michigan
- University of Texas - Arlington
- Kyoto University
- University of Maryland Global Campus
- University of Technology Sydney
- New York University
- Open University UK
- DIPF | Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education
- Indiana University
- Delft University of Technology (TU DELFT)
- Victoria University of Wellington
- Monash University
- Technischen Universität Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt)
- University of Sydney
- Ruhr-University Bochum
- RMIT University
University of South Australia, UniSA/ Teaching Innovation Unit and Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L)
SoLAR member from 2013
Strengths
UniSA has attracted many of the worlds’ leading researchers in learning analytics. The strength of our research lies in the breadth of research that is achievable through access to large scale organizational data sets. In particular we have strengths in models of organizational adoption, networked learning, social network analysis, machine learning, data mining, assessment and feedback, cognitive science, computational linguistics, and education. As such, our work is wide ranging and applied covering development of predictive models, optimizing feedback, student and teacher sensemaking, analytic dashboards, video analytics and networked models of learning, to name a few. Our approach to learning analytics revolves around the need to address challenges experienced by learners and teachers. Hence, our work first seeks to develop and test learning analytics innovations. The outcomes of this work are then piloted in practice for further evaluation and assessment of the factors that may impede adoption. The outcomes are then translated at scale for organizational adoption.
Initiatives that UniSA is proud of...
UniSA has led the field of learning analytics in a number of key areas. Key initiatives have been a review of the state of learning analytics in Australian higher education. The developed methodology and outcomes was adopted by the SHEILA project for the European context. UniSA also developed the OnTask software to provide personalized feedback at scale. A number of foundational LA research has been informed through the use of OnTask and how such feedback impacts student learning. UniSA also developed the open source video annotation tool OVAL. This work has demonstrated the value of socially shared annotations and reflective practice in developing self-regulated learning proficiency. More recently, our focus has shifted to the use of learning analytics to address the challenges associated with re-training and re-skilling displaced workforces. Our work to develop machine learning models for aligning industry based employability skills with program outcomes will have substantial impact on how UniSA provides more personalized education for an increasingly diverse cohort.
Victoria University of Wellington, Office of the Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Digital Futures)
SoLAR member from 2019
Strengths
We are at an early stage in our engagement with learning analytics but we have generated a strong analytics community that meets regularly through our ‘Learning Analytics Roundtable’. From developing a shared understanding of analytics and an identification of current institutional expertise and related projects we are now moving towards developing a number of pilots and workstreams targeting student success. One of our strengths has been open knowledge sharing and a willingness for multidisciplinary teams to take part in joint action, for example in the development of our Learning Analytics principles and associated analytics framework.
Initiatives the Victoria University of Wellington is proud of...
- A large scale ‘Data Analytics’ initiative as part of our institutional Digital Roadmap project;
- A ‘Data Ethics Policy’ is being developed under a Tertiary Education Commission funded project;
- A ‘student retention and success’ stream of work running under student services transformation that is deploying analytics to enhance student advising;
- Several research clusters around Learning Analytics e.g. in the visualisation of data from our MOOCs to highlight participant flows through the courses and help improve learning design;
- A learning analytics principles and framework developed using the ROMA methodology and are approaching maturity;
- The ‘Digital Learning and Teaching at Victoria 2018-2021’ highlights ‘Digital Insights – Whai mātauranga’ as a critical pillar whereby learning and academic/institutional analytics are key tools for evidence informed improvement;
- Small-scale pilots using a variety of analytics tools such as ‘Quantext’ and ‘AcaWriter’ are underway and helping the institution understand how it can develop its’ operating model.
Indiana University, University Information Technology Services
SoLAR member from 2019
Strengths
Indiana University is comprised of 9 campuses, as well as IU Online. This diversity of learning environments, including over 90,000 students, is supported by a shared data architecture and information technology division, enabling quantitative analyses of teaching and learning at uniquely broad scales. IU is also a charter member of the Unizin consortium, and is committed to rigorous and responsible research that advances the Unizin data platform's promise of becoming the world's largest learning laboratory. At IU's flagship campus in Bloomington, the Center for Learning Analytics and Student Success (CLASS) actively supports faculty engagement with these data resources, helping to foster a culture of data-driven, evidence-based curricular decisions and instructional innovations. Across all these efforts, the learning analytics community at IU shares a common commitment to the university's educational mission of helping students of all kinds reach their potential and prepare for a lifetime of success.
Initiatives Indiana University is proud of...
- BOOST is a mobile app for Android and iOS that aggregates information about student schoolwork and uses it to deliver timely, personalized, automated notifications; including sending push notification reminders about upcoming assignment due dates, personalized encouragement after submitting an assignment, and recently posted course announcements in Canvas.
- Many Classes is a collaborative research project investigating the generalizability of educational interventions in real classrooms; its core feature is that researchers measure an experimental effect across many independent samples – in this case, across many classes.
- Learning Analytics Fellows Program. Each year, a new cohort of Learning Analytics Fellows works with CLASS and Bloomington Assessment and Research (BAR) to tackle a new set of challenges.
University of Technology Sydney, Connected Intelligence Centre
SoLAR member from 2020
Strengths
- Working with educators to integrate Learning Design and Learning Analytics
- Writing Analytics
- Multimodal Teamwork Analytics
- Dispositional Learning Analytics
- Skills Analytics for curriculum pathway and career support
- Data interoperability standards for Learning Analytics
Initiatives UTS is proud of...
- Launching the Connected Intelligence Centre in 2014
- Providing automated feedback on academic writing to all students
- Piloting, evaluating and launching a platform for tracking learning dispositions
- Launching one of the first PhD programs dedicated to Learning Analytics
