Angela Liegey Dougall Angela Liegey Dougall, Ph.D. | Psychology
Dr. Angela Liegey Dougall is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington. She received her doctorate at the University of Pittsburgh in Health Psychology and completed post-doctoral work as a biostatistician and research assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and the University of Pittsburgh. As a faculty member at the University of Texas at Arlington, her lines of programmatic research focus on identifying biological, psychological, behavioral, and social mechanisms and risk factors for outcomes, such as behavior change, academics, and physical and mental health. She is currently examining the impact of technology on socioemotional processes of learning. In particular, she is examining the use of smartphones as both a possible hindrance and a possible facilitator of academic and health outcomes among college students.
Henry Anderson Henry Anderson | Language Analytics
Henry is a research scientist and the resident Language Analyst at LINK. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Rice University in Physics and Linguistics. He is interested in how big language data can be leveraged to provide insight and solutions to a wide range of problems, as well as language use in digital contexts, especially how it is used to construct and reflect identity in online communities and how digital media create unique structures and patterns of communication.
Dragan Gasevic Dragan Gasevic, Ph.D. | Research Scientist
Dr. Dragan Gasevic is Professor of Learning Analytics in the Faculty of Education and Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University since Feb 2018. Previously, he was a Professor and Sir Tim O’Shea Chair in Learning Analytics and Informatics in the Moray House School of Education and the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh from Feb 2015 to Feb 2018. He also was the Canada Research Chair in Semantic and Learning Technologies and a Professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems at Athabasca University from Jan 2007 to Feb 2015. He is a co-founder and served the President (2015-2017) of the Society for Learning Analytics Research. He holds several honorary appointements including an Honorary Professor in the Moray House School of Education and the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University, Adjunct Professor in the School of Education at the University of South Australia, a Research Scientist in the LINK Research Lab at the University of Texas, Arlington, Adjunct Professor in the Centre for Distance Education at Athabasca University, and a Distinguished Professor in the Institute for Research in Open and Innovative Education at the Open University of Hong Kong. A computer scientist by training and skills, Dragan considers himself a learning analyst developing computational methods that can shape next-generation learningtechnologies and advance our understanding of information seeking, sense-making, and self-regulated and social learning. Funded by granting agencies and industry in Australia, Canada, Europe, and USA, Dragan is a recipient of several best paper awards at the major international conferences in learning and software technology. The award-winning work of his team on the LOCO-Analytics software is considered one of the pioneering contributions in the growing area of learning analytics. Recently, he has founded ProSolo Technologies Inc that develops a software solution for tracking, evaluating, and recognizing competences gained through self-directed learning and social interactions. Committed to the development of international research community, Dragan had a pleasure to serve as a founding program co-chair of the International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge in 2011 and 2012 and the general chair in 2016 as well as a founding program co-chair of the Learning Analytics Summer Institute in 2013 and 2014. He also served as a founding editor of the Journal of Learning Analytics (2012-2017) and is a (co-)author of numerous research papers and books and a frequent keynote speaker.
Shane Dawson Shane Dawson, Ph.D. | Research Scientist
Dr. Shane Dawson is the Director of the Teaching Innovation Unit and Professor of Learning Analytics at the University of South Australia. Shane’s research focuses on the use of social network analysis and learner ICT interaction data to inform and benchmark teaching and learning quality. Shane is a founding executive member of the Society for Learning Analytics Research and past program and conference chair of the International Learning Analytics and Knowledge conference. He is a co-developer of numerous open source software including the Online Video Annotations for Learning (OVAL) and SNAPP a social network visualization tool designed for teaching staff to better understand, identify and evaluate student learning, engagement, academic performance and creative capacity
Abelardo Pardo Abelardo Pardo, Ph.D. | Research Scientist
Dr. Abelardo Pardo is Professor and Dean Academic at the Division of Information Technology, Engineering and the Environment at the University of South Australia. His research interests include the design and deployment of technology to increase the understanding and improve digital learning experiences. More specifically, his work examines the areas of learning analytics, personalized active learning, and technology for student support. He is the author of over 150 research papers in scholarly journals and international conferences in the area of educational technology and engineering education. He is currently member of the executive board and vice president of the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR).
Ryan Baker Ryan Baker, Ph.D. | Research Scientist
Dr. Ryan Baker researches how students use and learn from educational games, intelligent tutors, and other kinds of educational software. Drawing on the fields of educational data mining, learning analytics, and human–computer interaction, he develops methods for mining the data that come out of the interactions between students and educational software. He then uses this information to improve our understanding of how students respond to educational software, and how these responses influence their learning. Prior to joining Penn GSE, Dr. Baker was an associate professor in the Department of Human Development at Teachers College, Columbia University. While at Teachers College, he taught the “Big Data and Education” MOOC twice, with total enrollment of more than 50,000 students. He has served as founding president of the International Educational Data Mining Society, where he currently serves on the board of directors. He has been co-author on nine award-winning papers. He serves as co-lead of the Big Data in Education spoke of the NSF Northeast Big Data Hub.
Nia Dowell Nia Dowell, Ph.D. | Research Scientist
Dr. Nia Dowell is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Information and Digital Innovation Greenhouse at the University of Michigan. She completed her Ph.D. at the Institute for Intelligent Systems in the University of Memphis under the advisement of Professor Arthur Graesser. Her primary interests are in cognitive psychology, discourse processing, group interaction dynamics, and learning sciences. In general, her research focuses on using language and discourse to uncover the dynamics of socially significant, cognitive, and affective processes. She is currently applying computational techniques to model discourse and social dynamics in a variety of environments including small group computer-mediated collaborative learning environments, collaborative design networks, and massive open online courses (MOOCs). Her research has also extended beyond the educational and learning sciences spaces and highlighted the practical applications of computational discourse science in the clinical, political and social sciences areas.
Vitomir Kovanović Vitomir Kovanović, Ph.D. | Research Fellow
Dr. Vitomir Kovanović is a Research Fellow at the School of Education, University of South Australia and a Data Scientist at the Teaching Innovation Unit, University of South Australia. His research focuses on the development of novel learning analytics systems using learners’ trace data records collected by learning management systems with the goal of understanding and improving student learning. He is particularly interested in students’ self-regulation of learning and understanding how trace data can be used to gain a deeper understanding of learning processes. Dr. Kovanović also serves as an executive member of the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR) which is a leading research society focused on promotion and development of Learning Analytics field. He obtained his Ph.D. in Informatics, at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom in 2017, under the supervision of Prof. Dragan Gaševic.
Srećko Joksimović Srećko Joksimović, Ph.D. | Data Scientist
Dr. Srecko Joksimovic is a data scientist at the Teaching Innovation Unit and a research fellow at the School of Education, University of South Australia. His research interests center on the analysis of teaching and learning in networked learning environments. His efforts include developing theory-driven data-informed analytics models for assessing the quality of learning in computer-mediated context, generating insights into factors that promote effective collaborative learning and informing the design of digital environments in which collaborative learning occur. Srecko is also an executive committee member and Website Portfolio Chair of the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR).