Beyond performance data: Improving student help seeking by collecting and displaying influential data in an online middle-school science curriculum

Technology makes possible abundant new opportunities to capture and display data in online learning environments. We describe here an example of using these opportunities to improve students' use of the rich supports available in online learning environments. We describe an example of a blended learning experience that uses an online inquiry‐based middle‐school science curriculum in which we provided sixth graders (n = 126) data aligned with the Universal Design for Learning instructional framework. Students were provided and asked to reflect on their own data not only about performance but also about use of optional embedded supports vis‐à‐vis their perceptions of difficulty of key concepts. We determined that students were generally able to understand and interpret these rich data and that providing these data influenced subsequent help seeking in the online environment. We discuss implications for supporting help seeking and designing assessment and feedback within online learning environments.