This position paper builds on previous research publications and activities related to trustworthy learning analytics (LA) to provide an additional angle on the fundamental considerations for ensuring trustworthy LA. In our view, these considerations include strategic guidance and support, pedagogical soundness and human interaction, stakeholder engagement, data and AI literacy, ethics, data limitations and meaningful use of algorithms, as well as transparency of the whole process. In this paper, we discuss each of the considerations with respect to the roles and responsibilities of the key stakeholders in the LA systems: educational leaders, educators (especially teachers) and students.

Ensuring constructive alignment between learning outcomes (LOs) and assessment design is crucial to effective learning design (LD). While previous research has explored the alignment of LOs with assessments, there is a lack of empirical studies on how assessment design influences LO mastery, particularly the relationship between formative and summative assessments. To address this gap, we conducted an empirical study within an undergraduate mathematics course. First, we evaluated the course's learning design to identify potential gaps in constructive alignment. Then, using a sample of 169 students, we analysed their assessment results to explore how LO mastery is demonstrated through formative and summative assessments. This study provides a novel learning analytics (LA) methodology by combining cognitive diagnostic models, epistemic network analysis, and social network analysis to examine LO mastery and interdependencies. Our findings reveal a strong connection between the mastery of LOs through formative and summative assessments, underscoring the importance of well-constructed LD. The practical implications suggest that LA can serve as a critical tool for quality assurance by guiding the revision of LOs and optimising LD to foster deeper student engagement and mastery of critical concepts. These insights offer actionable pathways for more targeted, student-centered teaching practices.

Learning analytics (LA) has been opening new opportunities to support learning in higher education (HE). LA dashboards are an important tool in providing students with insights into their learning progress, and predictions, leading to reflection and adaptation of learning plans and habits. Based on a human-centered approach, we present a perspective of students, as essential stakeholders, on LA dashboards. We describe a longitudinal study, based on survey methodology. The study included two iterations of a survey, conducted with second-year ICT students in 2017 (N = 222) and 2022 (N = 196). The study provided insights into the LA dashboard features the students find the most useful to support their learning. The students highly appreciated features related to short-term planning and organization of learning, while they were cautious about comparison and competition with other students, finding such features possibly demotivating. We compared the 2017 and 2022 results to establish possible changes in the students’ perspectives with the COVID-19 pandemic. The students’ awareness of the benefits of LA has increased, which may be related to the strong focus on online learning during the pandemic. Finally, a factor analysis yielded a dashboard model with five underlying factors: comparison, planning, predictions, extracurricular, and teachers.