Since 2020, the Learning Analytics in STEM Education Research (LASER) Institute has empowered 142 early to mid-career researchers across 30 states and 7 countries to examine and improve STEM learning environments through leveraging learning analytics (LA). By advancing scholars’ technical expertise, fostering a diverse group of scholars and promoting actionable research, the program has made contributions to both the intellectual and societal dimensions of STEM education. The LASER Institute’s achievements underscore the critical role of targeted professional development in shaping the future of STEM education and research.
“The LASER Institute has been an incredible journey, bringing together a diverse community of scholars eager to use learning analytics to tackle persistent challenges in STEM education,” said Shaun Kellogg, principal investigator of the LASER Institute and senior director at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation. “It’s inspiring to see how their work is already making an impact, and I have no doubt their contributions will shape the field for years to come.”
Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the LASER program has combined an intensive summer workshop with an ongoing online community of practice. Scholars engage in foundational and advanced LA labs covering machine learning, text mining, social network analysis and data visualization. Their sustained engagement through webinars, office hours and collaborative activities foster an inclusive network of researchers committed to improving STEM education through data-driven insights.
“I think one of the coolest things about LASER was how we built a strong community of scholars” said Rob Moore, a co-principal investigator of the LASER Institute and an assistant professor of educational technology at the University of Florida. “It’s been great to see the collaborations that have developed that are from cohort members from the different iterations. They are doing some amazing things!”
Commitment to Excellence and Program Evolution
The LASER Institute has demonstrated a strong commitment to excellence by continuously refining its curriculum and support structures to maximize accessibility and impact. To accommodate scholars with varying levels of technical expertise, the program implements differentiated learning paths, providing enhanced scaffolding for both novice and advanced users while integrating cutting-edge tools such as large language models. Additionally, LASER fosters a highly collaborative and supportive research community where scholars benefit from mentorship, networking opportunities and structured research goal-setting sessions. These efforts not only facilitate long-term collaborations but also cultivate a vibrant network of researchers dedicated to advancing STEM education through innovative learning analytics methodologies.
Differentiated Learning Paths
- Adapted workshops to accommodate varying levels of technical expertise
- Improved scaffolding for both novice and advanced users
- Integrated cutting-edge tools such as large language models
Supportive and Collaborative Research Community
- Scholars reported high satisfaction with LASER’s emphasis on mentorship and networking
- Research goal-setting sessions and networking events fostered long-term collaborations
- Created a vibrant community of researchers dedicated to advancing STEM education
Research Outcomes
The LASER Institute has advanced STEM education research by enhancing participants’ ability to apply computational techniques to complex educational problems. Scholars leverage their training to produce a wide range of academic contributions.
“For me, it kind of changed my identity,” said Nikki Lobczowski, assistant professor of learning sciences at McGill University. “It’s helped me identify more as a scholar in that area [of learning analytics].”
Academic Productivity
The breadth of research publications, conference presentations and further grant funding that have resulted from the LASER Institute highlights the program’s success in equipping scholars with technical and conceptual tools to conduct impactful STEM education research. Several research applications have included text mining for qualitative data analysis in educational research, machine learning applications for predicting student retention and social network analysis to study collaboration in online learning environments.
“Learning analytics is a community, and the more we build it, the more people involved, is going to have a bigger impact,” said Rogers Bhalalusesa, a lecturer from The Open University of Tanzania. “It’s not only about people with an IT background because learning analytics is more to do with how we can use data, and we can use all these learning processes to help students learn. So it’s about the teachers; it’s about the students. When we look at it from that angle, it’s going to help everyone. So we should try to reach more and more people, and more people should try to join in, regardless of their background, because as long as they have an interest in teaching, then it’s going to have an impact to them.”
Broadening Participation
The LASER Institute has played a pivotal role in broadening participation in STEM education research, successfully exceeding national benchmarks for representation in STEM research. Of its participants, 72% were women, 57% identified as members of racial or ethnic minority groups and 21% were affiliated with minority-serving institutions. This focus on broadening participation has helped create a more inclusive research community and supported NSF’s goal of increasing diverse scholars in STEM education.
“So often when you’re interacting with sort of the data science/learning sciences world at large, is that it can feel, as a woman, very male dominated, and here, I was so excited that there were so many women,” said Ashley Vaughn, associate director for the Center for Integrative Natural Science and Mathematics at Northern Kentucky University and a LASER scholar. “It was really great to see so many women participating and being able to have that community where you didn’t come in feeling like the only woman in the room.”
of participants were women
of participants identified as members of racial or ethnic minority groups
of participants affiliated with minority-serving institutions
Driving Meaningful Change
Beyond representation, LASER scholars have applied their training to drive meaningful change in education. They have developed tools to analyze gaps in STEM learning, informed institutional policies through data-driven decision-making and mentored students while designing inclusive curricula. The program’s long-term impact is further reinforced by its sustained research infrastructure. LASER’s open-access curriculum, hosted on GitHub, provides researchers with conceptual overviews, interactive case studies, code-alongs, essential reading and assessment activities. Additionally, the adoption of LASER methodologies within universities and institutions ensures that its influence extends well beyond individual participants, contributing to systemic improvements in STEM education.
The LASER Institute has made a lasting contribution to STEM education research by developing scholars’ technical expertise, fostering collaboration and promoting actionable research. Its impact is evident in the breadth of academic productivity, the role LASER has played in broadening participation in STEM education and the meaningful change that has resulted, driven by LASER scholars’ application of their training. As a model for professional development in STEM education, LASER has demonstrated the importance of targeted capacity-building initiatives in shaping the future of learning analytics and educational research.
