Traces: ambient data that provides insight into the learner's focus, and motivational, cognitive, and emotional states

Specific congruent feedback is what I immediately thought of while reading this chapter and it is a term I use a lot in the assessment world (which I work in) and even with my own children as it pertains to behavior in the home. As time passes our connection to why we make the choices we make weakens. Therefore, the efficacy of our response to feedback or data also wanes. Most parents know this to be true that the feedback given to a child at the moment that needs correction is far more effective than feedback given after time has passed, memory has fogged, and excuses have formed.

So, capturing these traces in a timely manner and then reflecting on the data they provide is imperative in maximizing potential growth. Performance metrics or goal achievement records that offer specific congruent feedback and the space to reflect on what that data means to the learner can offer powerful learning traces.

A simple but powerful example of this could be seen in highly effective classrooms I worked in as an instructional coach. We called it “heatmaps,” but what students were doing was self-assessing their competence and confidence in each question they answered on an exam. After completing each question, they would simply color in a happy, indifferent, or sad face to indicate how they predicted they did on the assessment item. Then at completion of the entire assessment, they would immediately self-grade their exam and compare their initial heatmap to how they actually performed. The self-awareness students gained from comparing their initial perception of how they did to what the actual outcome was created a cognizance around what it meant to know something and how to demonstrate that knowledge in an assessment platform.

Reference

Winne, P. H. (2022). Learning analytics for self-regulated learning. The Handbook of Learning Analytics. https://doi.org/10.18608/hla22.008