Data analytics are changing the world as we know it, from influencing what we see on social media to improving public health.
Similarly, analytics have the power to highlight issues and prompt change in higher education and contribute towards reducing equality gaps between student groups.
In particular, learning analytics systems which use student-generated data – for example, data about attending lectures or checking out library books – can help to understand student engagement and learning.
When this data is combined with demographic data, analytics can help providers identify equality gaps; monitor the success of interventions designed to reduce equality gaps; or, for example, to understand the effects on engagement and attainment of sub-groups of students when pandemic-related lockdowns force face-to-face teaching and assessment to suddenly pivot online.
