Learning Analytics for Collaborative Writing: A Prototype and Case Study

Research shows that students who learn in a collaborative, project-based model can leverage learning analytics as formative assessment to foster metacognition and improve final written deliverables. After describing the technical details of our prototype system, findings from a 15-week qualitative case study of 8 computer science students who used the prototype in conjunction with Google Docs while collaborating on a variety of writing and programming tasks will be presented. These findings indicate both the challenges and promise of delivering useful metrics for collaborative writing scenarios in academe and industry. Participants will learn about (1) the use of public APIs to collect and coordinate data about collaborative writing practices in Google Docs, (2) how groups of STEM students collaborated in practice, and how this practice might inform the design of learning analytics for collaborative writing, and (3) the potential limits and promise for learning analytics in collaborative writing scenarios.