Usefulness of information visualizations based on educational data
Anne-Maritta Tervakari, Kirsi Silius, Juho Koro, Jukka Paukkeri, Olli Pirttilä · 2014
In this article, we introduce the results of a study concerning the usefulness of five educational data visualizations implemented in an online course. Information about the teachers' and students' opinions on the usefulness of the visualizations was collected by using a web survey and the focus group method. To ensure that the visualizations are in used correctly during the course, their use was also tracked by using a web analytics platform. Well-designed and usable visual analytic tools and visualizations can help teachers make decisions regarding potential pedagogical strategies, instructional guidance, actions, and interventions that may be used to promote and support students' participation and activity. According to the results of this research, most of the students seemed to prefer visualizations that offer concrete and practical support for their studies rather than visualizations that support them in monitoring and evaluating their own learning performance.