The shift toward digitally-based education has emphasised the need for learners to have strong skills for self-regulated learning (SRL). The use of scaffolding prompts is seen as an effective way to stimulate SRL and enhance academic outcomes. A key aspect of SRL scaffolding prompts is the degree to which they are complied to by students. Compliance is a complex concept, one that is further complicated by the nature of scaffold design in the context of adaptability. These nuances notwithstanding, scaffold compliance demands specific exploration. To that end, we conducted a study in which we: 1) focused specifically on scaffolding interaction behaviour in a timed online assessment task, as opposed to the broader interaction with non-scaffolding artefacts; 2) identified distinct scaffold interaction patterns in the context of compliance and non-compliance to scaffold design; 3) analysed how groups of learners traverse compliant and non-compliant interaction behaviours and engage in SRL processes in response to a sequence of timed and personalised SRL-informed scaffold prompts. We found that scaffold interactions fell into two categories of compliance and non-compliance, and whilst there was a healthy engagement with compliance, it does ebb and flow during an online timed assessment.

Investigation of learning tactics and strategies has received increasing attention by the Learning Analytics (LA) community. While previous research efforts have made notable contributions towards identifying and understanding learning tactics from trace data in various blended and online learning settings, there is still a need to deepen our understanding about learning processes that are activated during the enactment of distinct learning tactics. In order to fill this gap, we propose a learning analytic approach to unveiling and comparing self-regulatory processes in learning tactics detected from trace data. Following this approach, we detected four learning tactics (Reading with Quiz Tactic, Assessment and Interaction Tactic, Short Login and Interact Tactic and Focus on Quiz Tactic) as used by 728 learners in an undergrad course. We then theorised and detected five micro-level processes of self-regulated learning (SRL) through an analysis of trace data. We analysed how these micro-level SRL processes were activated during enactment of the four learning tactics in terms of their frequency of occurrence and temporal sequencing. We found significant differences across the four tactics regarding the five micro-level SRL processes based on multivariate analysis of variance and comparison of process models. In summary, the proposed LA approach allows for meaningful interpretation and distinction of learning tactics in terms of the underlying SRL processes. More importantly, this approach shows the potential to overcome the limitations in the interpretation of LA results which stem from the context-specific nature of learning. Specifically, the study has demonstrated how the interpretation of LA results and recommendation of pedagogical interventions can also be provided at the level of learning processes rather than only in terms of a specific course design.

The conceptualisation of self-regulated learning (SRL) as a process that unfolds over time has influenced the way in which researchers approach analysis. This gave rise to the use of process mining in contemporary SRL research to analyse data about temporal and sequential relations of processes that occur in SRL. However, little attention has been paid to the choice and combinations of process mining algorithms to achieve the nuanced needs of SRL research. We present a study that 1) analysed four process mining algorithms that are most commonly used in the SRL literature – Inductive Miner, Heuristics Miner, Fuzzy Miner, and pMineR; and 2) examined how the metrics produced by the four algorithms complement each. The study looked at micro-level processes that were extracted from trace data collected in an undergraduate course (N=726). The study found that Fuzzy Miner and pMineR offered better insights into SRL than the other two algorithms. The study also found that a combination of metrics produced by several algorithms improved interpretation of temporal and sequential relations between SRL processes. Thus, it is recommended that future studies of SRL combine the use of process mining algorithms and work on new tools and algorithms specifically created for SRL research.

The temporal and sequential nature of learning is receiving increasing focus in Learning Analytics circles. The desire to embed studies in recognised theories of self-regulated learning (SRL) has led researchers to conceptualise learning as a process that unfolds and changes over time. To that end, a body of research knowledge is growing which states that traditional frequency-based correlational studies are limited in narrative impact. To further explore this, we analysed trace data collected from online activities of a sample of 239 computer engineering undergraduate students enrolled on a course that followed a flipped class-room pedagogy. We employed SRL categorisation of micro-level processes based on a recognised model of learning, and then analysed the data using: 1) simple frequency measures; 2) epistemic network analysis; 3) temporal process mining; and 4) stochastic process mining. We found that a combination of analyses provided us with a richer insight into SRL behaviours than any one single method. We found that better performing learners employed more optimal behaviours in their navigation through the course's learning management system.