Understanding the Study Experiences of Students in Low Agency Profile : Towards a Smart Education Approach

Abstract

In this paper, we use student agency analytics to examine how university students who assessed to have low agency resources describe their study experiences. Students ( n=292 ) completed the Agency of University Students (AUS) questionnaire. Furthermore, they reported what kinds of restrictions they experienced during the university course they attended. Four different agency profiles were identified using robust clustering. We then conducted a thematic analysis of the open-ended answers of students who assessed to have low agency resources. Issues relating to competence beliefs, self-efficacy, student-teacher relations, time as a resource, student well-being, and course contents seemed to be restrictive factors among the students in the low agency profile. The results could provide guidelines for designing systems for smart education.