Strengthening the Use of Learning Theories for Personalization of Learning Analytics

LAK Theory Workshop @ LAK26 — Bergen, Norway

Workshop date & format: Half-day pre-conference
Call for participation / papers: https://www.solaresearch.org/events/lak/lak26/general-call/

Description

This half-day workshop brings together researchers and practitioners to explore how learning theories can inform personalised learning analytics. Personalised LA systems often rely on population-level models that overlook meaningful individual differences among learners, such as cognition, motivation, prior knowledge and learning strategies. Building on calls to integrate theory and to treat learners as individuals rather than averages, this workshop will focus on designing theory-informed and ethically grounded personalisation approaches.

Together, participants will:

• Map key theoretical constructs from psychology and learning sciences (e.g., self-regulated learning, expectancy–value, cognitive load, goal orientation, and mindset) to measurable analytics indicators.

• Examine idiographic and within-person modeling as complements to aggregate predictive approaches.

• Co-develop transparent and ethical workflows for tailoring feedback and support to individual learners.
  
  

The workshop format includes a short keynote speech, lightning presentations and guided small-group design sprints. These collaborative sessions will culminate in a shared roadmap and co-created artefacts outlining how theory-driven personalisation can be implemented in practice.

Participants are invited to submit short, peer-reviewed extended abstracts or workshop papers presenting empirical work, showcasing methodological innovations or provoking discussion around theoretical integration in personalised learning analytics (LA) systems.

The event builds on the ongoing conversation within the LAK community about connecting learning theory with analytics, fostering a community of practice and producing practical, transferable outputs that advance research and application in theory-informed personalisation.

Intended outcomes

• New insights about how theory and data-driven research can be interwoven

• Concrete feedback and refinements for participants’ working projects

• Strengthened network and collaboration among LA researchers interested in theory

• Formation of potential follow-up workshops, papers, or special issues

Important dates (LAK26 timeline)

Below are the relevant dates according to the LAK26 general call:

• Deadline for papers submitted to individual workshops: 4 December 2025 

• Notification of acceptance for workshop papers: 19 December 2025 

• Camera-ready for workshop organizer proposal docs: 12 January 2026 

the conference itself is scheduled for 27 April – 1 May 2026 in Bergen, Norway.