Identifying needs for learning analytics adoption in Latin American universities: A mixed-methods approach.

Learning Analytics (LA) is perceived to be a promising strategy to tackle persisting educational challenges in Latin America, such as quality disparities and high dropout rates. However, Latin American universities have fallen behind in LA adoption compared to institutions in other regions. To understand stakeholders' needs for LA services, this study used mixed methods to collect data in four Latin American Universities. Qualitative data was obtained from 37 interviews with managers and 16 focus groups with 51 teaching staff and 45 students, whereas quantitative data was obtained from surveys answered by 1884 students and 368 teaching staff. According to the triangulation of both types of evidence, we found that (1) students need quality feedback and timely support, (2) teaching staff need timely alerts and meaningful performance evaluations, and (3) managers need quality information to implement support interventions. Thus, LA offers an opportunity to integrate data-driven decision-making in existing tasks. • The adoption of Learning Analytics (LA) services is still incipient in Higher Education Institutions in Latin America • We identified needs for LA in Latin American universities from the perspectives of students, teaching staff, and managers • Study findings highlight areas of interest in LA including quality feedback and timely data-driven support for students • It is believed that LA can provide quality and actionable information to inform educational interventions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]