Discovering disciplinary differences: blending data sources to explore the student online behaviors in a University English course

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to explore disciplinary differences in completing blended learning tasks in an academic literacy course and the feasibility of adopting a blended learning analytics approach to explore disciplinary differences. Design/methodology/approach Following a learning analytics approach, this study blends data from the learning management system and timetabling arrangements. Findings Results suggest that online behaviors of design students and accounting students are different in terms of starting day and completion rate. Blending data sources also provides a new perspective to our learning analytics study. Originality/value This study is an important contribution to the field because studies on learning analytics with multiple data sources are rare, and most disciplinary studies rely on survey data; students’ actual behaviors are under-explored.