Learning Analytics Center of Excellence

The Learning Analytics Center of Excellence, or LACE, is a dynamic data team. The professionals in this service provide expertise on how to leverage teaching and learning data to better support educational practices on campus. 

LACE has three primary foci: 

• Support of data empowered educational practices, including learning analytics
• Stewardship of the teaching and learning data domain
• Internal DoIT AT evaluation and continual service improvement needs    

LACE collaboratives on strategic teaching and learning data initiatives aimed at sustained data-driven practices that maintain and enhance student learning. These strategic initiatives, prioritized by a broad range of campus partners, take place throughout the university, within and across schools, colleges, divisions, and programs. Our work is grounded in our core values: shared governance; public mission to serve others through research, education and service; and a culture and history of innovation, creativity, and collaboration.

Learning Analytics

The focus of learning analytics is to provide actionable data that can improve the teaching and learning environment. Learning analytics has been contextually defined for campus as “the undertaking of activities that generate actionable data from the learning intended to improve student outcomes by informing structure, content, delivery or support of the learning environment” (defined in 2018 by the Learning Analytics Roadmap Committee, led by the Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning).

Learning analytics is a process or instructional approach, and not a specific tool, although it uses tools and data to answer questions. There are numerous ways learning analytics can be used as explained in the Learning Analytics Functional Taxonomy, and there are a number of projects and resources on campus supporting the different opportunities.

Current Projects and Resources

In collaboration with the Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning and others, LACE  leads and facilitates learning analytics projects including a  course-level dashboard for instructors, an analytics pilot for advisors and the exploration of student facing learning analytics.

Upcoming Events

For more information about upcoming events, please join the UW-Madison Learning Analytics team or email LearningAnalytics@office365.wisc.edu and request to be added to the group.

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