Canvas Analytics - Getting Started
The Canvas Guides has a pretty limited introduction for What is New Analytics Links to an external site.. In research for this topic, I couldn't find a decent video that offered a tour of the new analytics or any teaching or course design insights from the tool. So, with the permission of SFCC instructor Ursula Heflick, I used her course to create a tour video. This video discusses using analytics to get insights about struggling students early in the quarter and also more long term course planning. How are the assignments sequenced? Do any of my assignments act as gatekeepers? Which quiz questions are outliers? Using the tools we have available should allow us to make data informed choices that can positively impact our course design and our retention efforts.
Long Term Planning and Short Term Actions
When thinking about how analytics can be helpful to instructors, I think it's important to consider about how analytics can inform both my decisions today, and also my future course design decisions.
Long Term Planning:
- Adjusting assignments. Adding elements of TILT, tweaking due dates, pacing, chunking out assignments
- Analyzing quizzes
- Creating orientation components for the course
- Assessment variety and timing throughout the course
Short Term Actions:
- Student performance and engagement
- Grade tweaks for quizzes
- Assignment due dates
- Interventions for struggling students
Key areas to focus on for student retention
- First week engagement
- Login and Viewing Patterns
- Assignment Submission Patterns
Limitations of Canvas Analytics
- Currently, March 2020, the data available in New Analytics is up to a week-old in the aggregated visuals and 24 hours old in the individual data points. When you are using the aggregated visuals as shown below, realize you don't have the most accurate data. Instead use that data to look at the course throughout the quarter. What activity or performance dips are you noticing?