Learners’ Preference for Reference Frame Before, During, and After Task Performance

Abstract

Learners often have difficulty with regulating their learning processes before, during, and after task performance. Learning environments need to offer support to help them with this. In immersive learning environments (ILEs), learning analytics are available that could provide such support by means of learning analytic dashboards (LADs). With LADs, learning analytics (LA) can be visualized and support SRL skills before, during, and after task performance. However, this will only happen if learners appreciate the LA visualizations on their dashboards. Therefore this study focuses on the preferences learners have for LADs used before, during, and after task performance that use a specific means to present LA, namely reference frames. Reference frames provide an anchor point for comparing learning analytics that could help learners evaluate their learning. Three different types of reference frames were used: the social reference frame, the progress reference frame, and the achievement reference frame. This research showed that regardless of timing (i.e., before, during, or after task performance), learners have a preference for LADs with a progress reference frame. This insight can contribute to the design of LADs in ILEs that learners appreciate and potentially support them in regulating their learning.