ACE uses data logs from students’ engagement with different activities in LEARN and Echo360 and creates an engagement “score” for each student. It then compares the student’s score to the average engagement score of all students in that course. The ACE dashboard does not track performance or attendance at lectures.
ACE uses data already available within LEARN and Echo360, it simply aggregates it in one place. This data is available to the Teaching & Learning and ACE teams. Students can see their own data on their ACE Dashboard on LEARN.
While ACE initially focused solely on first-year students, the programme now monitors the online engagement of all undergraduate students. This means that 200, 300 and 400-level undergraduate students will be flagged if they have not engaged with their courses on LEARN.
The ACE system has a designated coordinator who regularly accesses the engagement data. When students are flagged for reduced engagement, this initiates the ACE process where students will then go through a workflow to contact the student. ACE adopts a collaborative approach with several UC support services and agencies to reach out to students proactively. At each stage of the workflow, ACE responders from the relevant team will be assigned to reach out by text, email, or phone.
The services involved with ACE are the Kaitoko (first-year advisors), Faculties, Student Accessibility (SAS), Halls, Student Care, and the Māori and Pasifika Student Support teams.
The UC Student Agreement ensures that students know that UC might contact them or their emergency contact if we have concerns about their engagement or safety. All students agree to this when they accept their acceptance offer. The ACE team works closely with the privacy team to ensure we meet our legal privacy obligations. For more information, contact records@canterbury.ac.nz.
ACE is a tool that measures the engagement level of students with their online resources. As a student, UC may reach out to you and see if there is something we can do to help get your engagement back on track when we notice that your engagement level has dropped.
ACE collects data when you use online resources like LEARN and Echo360. Your engagement level increases each time you engage with different activities in LEARN, such as participating in a forum, downloading lecture notes, completing a quiz, or submitting an assignment. We know that different courses have different things on LEARN, but the ACE Student Dashboard will allow you to monitor your engagement level and help you stay on track with your studies. You also have the option to look at the engagement level of your classmates and see whether you’re engaging at a similar rate.
You can access the ACE Student Dashboard on LEARN by clicking on the ACE Engagement Analytics block on your LEARN home page.
The ACE Student Dashboard helps students get an overview of the level of online engagement in the courses they are enrolled in. As a broad overview, the tool:
- Shows your engagement level within a course and overall engagement level for all courses every three days
- Gives you the option to shows the average engagement level from all students within a course and from overall courses every three days
- Lists the Top 5 Activities that your classmates have accessed over the past 7 days
- Shows you any upcoming assessments
- Provides you with a handy task-list to help organise your studies
To hide the mini graph when you first log in, click ‘Switch to static image’. Your user preferences will be retained so you won’t have to change this again next time you log in. You can hide the ACE tracker from your home page on LEARN by changing the settings on your LEARN home page. Click the “Customise this page” button to change the blocks you see.
Hiding the tracker on your LEARN page does not remove you from the ACE system. If ACE notices your engagement has dropped, UC may still contact you to see if there is something we can do to help get you back on track.
A line graph displays your engagement so that you can see how it changes over time. The vertical axis shows your engagement, and the horizontal axis shows time in three-day increments. On these dates, your engagement for the previous three days is measured, and your engagement level is calculated and displayed.
The dark teal line shows your engagement over time. The larger light teal band is centred on the average engagement in the course. The wider the band, the greater the range of engagement by other students within your course.
Not every course is part of ACE. Some courses with minimal LEARN activities are not included. To start with we’re only looking at 100 to 400 level undergraduate courses, so if you’re enrolled in other courses you won’t be able to see any data. It may also take a few days at the very beginning of a course to show some data. If you can’t see your courses or you’re having issues with your ACE Dashboard, email us at analyticscourseengagement@canterbury.ac.nz
ACE will only check in on your engagement levels during term time and UC won’t contact you about this during any breaks. However, your graph may continue to show your engagement level over the break. Being able to see average engagement means that you’ll be able to see how much your classmates are engaging during these times too.
UC does not use ACE data to assess you in any way. Remember that ACE looks at engagement, not performance, but engaging with your LEARN resources is a great way to work towards getting a good grade!
ACE looks at your engagement with your online resources on the LEARN platform only, it does not look at your attendance in your tutorials or lectures. We know that engagement in online resources is only one part of student engagement. However, it is also an important part to be successful in your study. It is always good to get in the habit of checking LEARN every week in case the lecturer has decided to add more materials or updated information. Regular online engagement helps ensure you keep up to date with the material and assessments in your course.
You may want to check in with your classmates, tutors, or lecturers, to be sure you haven’t missed anything like an assessment or online quiz. There are also several support services on offer across UC. Make the most of your studies and check them out.
If ACE notices your engagement has dropped, we may contact you to see if there’s something we can do to help get you back on track. If your engagement hasn’t improved, we will continue to work collaboratively with several UC support services to contact you, either by text, email, or phone call. It’s important that you respond to the communication from UC. If UC is concerned about your engagement and can't get in touch with you, we may contact your secondary contact person or other relevant agencies.
If you have any questions about ACE, please get in touch. You can email us with your questions and feedback at analyticscourseengagement@canterbury.ac.nz. Alternatively, you can complete the ACE Feedback Form by clicking here.
