Data literacy linked to greater perceived dashboard support

Updated Oct 27, 2026

Students with higher self-rated data literacy reported greater support from a learning analytics dashboard over an academic year. In Computers & Education, Anceli Kaveri and colleagues examine how data literacy and academic self-efficacy relate to perceived support for planning and monitoring studies.

What the researchers examined

The quasi-experimental study surveyed 105 students at a Finnish higher education institution, with three survey occasions across an academic year. It compared students offered an additional learning analytics dashboard with peers using regular digital tools. Statistical models tracked perceived support for planning and monitoring studies.

Data literacy here concerns students’ reported ability to interpret, communicate and judge digital information.

Key findings

The dashboard group reported greater gains in perceived support. It also began with higher perceived support.

Data literacy was associated with support. Within the pilot group, higher self-rated data literacy related to higher initial support and greater increases over time. The authors raise an equity concern about who benefits.

General academic confidence showed a different pattern. Self-efficacy did not significantly predict the pilot group’s change in perceived support.

The single-institution, voluntary sample limits generalisation. Measures were self-reported, data literacy was measured only at baseline, and the design does not establish causation.

References

[Paper Source]: Anceli Kaveri, Ismail Celik, Egle Gedrimiene, Anni Silvola and Hanni Muukkonen. "Longitudinal effects of learning analytics support for study planning and monitoring: Role of self-efficacy and data literacy"

DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2025.105532

Published online 11 December 2025; Computers & Education, June 2026 issue.