How and why we monitor your engagement

Engagement with your studies

Fully engaging with your studies and accessing University resources will help you to achieve your best outcome from your education. Engaging with your lectures, seminars and practical classes is an important part of learning and allows you to contribute to the University community and the learning experience of your fellow students on the programme.

Contributing to your class and listening to and reflecting on the contributions of others, is an important way of developing your understanding of the subject, and your communication and interpersonal skills, and provides you with feedback on your ideas.

The University monitors engagement and has a Student Engagement Policy (.pdf) that sets out how we will offer advice and guidance, and support you to make an informed decision about your academic progression.

If you have questions about your course or encounter any difficulties which affect your studies, speak to your Personal Tutor or Student Services Hub.

How we use your engagement data

We use engagement data to help identify students who may be experiencing problems so that we can offer support and advice. The University holds attendance data in accordance with Appendix A of the Student Engagement Policy (.pdf) LEAP has six Ethical Use of Data Principles:

• Transparency - We are open and transparent about the data we collect and how we use it. We will explain how to understand the data and keep records of what we have done with it.
• Student benefit - We use the data we collect for the benefit of students, who have been actively involved in helping design and shape the actions that would support them.
• Privacy - We manage all personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act and make sure individuals can’t be identified when providing comparison data
• Training, guidance and support - We provide training, guidance and support to students and staff who use the system. LEAP is a tool that will never replace the human relationships that are needed for delivering a transformational education with students at its heart.
• Accuracy, access and disclosure - You have the right to access your data and to challenge inaccurate data and ask for it to be corrected. Access to student data will be by legitimate need and we will never share your data sets with commercial companies without your explicit consent.
• Responsibility - Areas of responsibility for all activities relating to learner analytics are clearly defined and assigned to specific individuals and groups. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor Education has overall responsibility and accountability for the use of learner analytics at the University.

You can read the full Ethical Use of Data Policy (.pdf).

If you have any questions or concerns on the data displayed on your LEAP record please contact studentprogress@essex.ac.uk.

Who uses the engagement data?

Students

Students use LEAP (Learner Engagement Activity Portal) to:

• reflect on your academic activities and overall engagement to make informed decisions about your academic studies
• discover who your Personal Tutor is
• review the notes created in LEAP from meetings with tutors or other University staff
• check your attendance and ensure the information is correct

Staff

Tutors and other University staff use the information in LEAP to:

• suggest ways you could achieve better outcomes
• check that all is well and offer you information, advice and guidance
• help you in areas of your studies that you are finding a challenge

University staff will be able to make notes, set objectives and let other University services know that you're interested in receiving their help. Although we recommend you contact the service yourself separately. LEAP is transparent therefore you can view all notes entered by members of staff onto your LEAP record, as well as your own engagement information.