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3 references
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- Vol 7 RE: Chapter 7, App B, App D
learning analytics dashboardsself-regulated learninglearning activity tracesactionable feedbackdashboard designlearner monitoringlearning outcome evaluationlearning theory alignmentJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
This systematic review examines empirical studies of learning analytics dashboards through Winne and Hadwin's model of self-regulated learning. Dashboards make traces of learning activity visible through indicators, comparisons, visualizations, alerts, or recommendations, but the authors ask whether these features actually support learners' planning, monitoring, strategy use, and reflection.
Key ideas
They find that many dashboards are only weakly grounded in learning theory and frequently emphasize awareness of activity or performance rather than helping students translate information into effective action. Evaluations often measure usability, perceptions, or short-term behavior, while rigorous evidence for learning outcomes and durable self-regulatory change remains limited. The review maps dashboard features to phases of self-regulation and shows that feedback design, framing, learner characteristics, and educational context affect interpretation. It advises designers not to assume that a particular visualization is inherently useful.
Why it matters
Instead, dashboard decisions should follow explicit pedagogical aims, involve learners and teachers, provide actionable guidance, and be evaluated against theoretically meaningful processes and outcomes rather than data exposure alone.
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- Vol 2 RE: App D
- Vol 5 RE: Chapters 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 13, 15, App A
prior knowledgecultural responsivenesslearner motivationself-regulated learningknowledge transferlearning environmentslearner identityReport Evidence summaryAt a glance
How People Learn II updates the learning-science synthesis for a world in which people learn across formal education, work, families, communities, and digital environments. The report explains that learning is shaped by prior knowledge, culture, motivation, emotion, identity, social interaction, and the physical and institutional context.
Key ideas
Memory is constructive, expertise organises knowledge for flexible use, and transfer depends on recognising relevant structure rather than merely possessing information. Learners regulate attention, strategy, effort, and understanding, but these capacities develop through support and opportunity. The report also examines developmental change, informal learning, technology, and the effects of adversity and stereotype. It rejects a single universal teaching recipe: productive environments build on what learners bring, provide appropriately challenging practice and feedback, foster belonging and agency, and connect knowledge across settings.
Why it matters
For educators, assessment should reveal learners’ thinking and guide adaptation while avoiding deficit interpretations of cultural or linguistic difference.
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- Vol 5 RE: Chapters 6, 14, App A
- Vol 5 TE: App C
formative assessmentself-regulated learningself-assessmentinternal feedbackfeedback dialogueassessment criteriafeedback literacyresubmissionJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick reinterpret formative assessment through a model of self-regulated learning. Students compare current performance with goals and generate internal feedback, even when teachers provide no comments.
Key ideas
Good external feedback should therefore strengthen learners’ capacity to judge and regulate their own work. The authors derive seven principles: clarify good performance; support self-assessment and reflection; provide high-quality information about learning; encourage dialogue; promote motivation and self-esteem; create opportunities to close the gap; and supply teachers with information for shaping instruction. Practical examples include exemplars, peer discussion, staged assignments, feedback requests, and resubmission. The model shifts feedback from one-way transmission after a task toward an interactive process embedded in learning.
Why it matters
It also warns that marks, praise, or extensive comments may not improve performance if learners cannot interpret or act on them. For educators, feedback design must connect criteria, learner judgement, dialogue, action, and subsequent opportunities to demonstrate improvement.
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Edition abbreviations
- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
Citation checks
References are checked against publisher records, scholarly indexes, DOI or ISBN metadata, repositories and author records where available. An entry marked [Citation not verified] preserves the wording found in the relevant volume without attributing findings to an unconfirmed work.
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