Big Data and Data Science: A Critical Review of Issues For Educational Research

British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 50 No 1 2019 101–113
doi:10.1111/bjet.12595
Big Data and data science: A critical review of issues for

educational research
Ben Kei Daniel

Ben Kei Daniel is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, and the convener for Educational Technology for the
University of Otago, New Zealand. He studies the value of Big Data and Learning Analytics in Higher Education. He
is also investigating Data Science approaches for educational research, as well as developing pedagogical theories and
praxis for research methodologies in Business and Academia. Address for correspondence: Dr Ben Kei Daniel, Higher
Education Development Centre, University of Otago, 65–75 Union Place West, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
Email: ben.daniel@otago.ac.nz
Abstract
Big Data refers to large and disparate volumes of data generated by people, applications
and machines. It is gaining increasing attention from a variety of domains, including
education. What are the challenges of engaging with Big Data research in education? This
paper identifies a wide range of critical issues that researchers need to consider when
working with Big Data in education. The issues identified include diversity in the
conception and meaning of Big Data in education, ontological, epistemological disparity,
technical challenges, ethics and privacy, digital divide and digital dividend, lack of
expertise and academic development opportunities to prepare educational researchers to
leverage opportunities afforded by Big Data. The goal of this paper is to raise awareness on
these issues and initiate a dialogue. The paper was inspired partly by insights drawn from
the literature but mostly informed by experience researching into Big Data in education.
Introduction
Big Data describes a phenomenon involving complex and dynamic growth in data. Researchers
conceptualize Big Data along structural and functional dimensions. The structural dimension of
Big Data covers elements of volume, velocity, veracity, variety, verification and value (Manyika
et al., 2011; Poulovassilis, 2016). The structural diversity and complexity of Big Data is attributed
to the emergence of new forms of data generated by sensor networks, social media applications
and other mobile and ubiquitous devices (Manyika et al., 2011; Snijders, Matzat, & Reips, 2012;
Ward & Barker, 2013). Moreover, the functional dimension describes the use of innovative
technologies for capturing, storing, distributing, managing and analyzing large and heterogene-
ous datasets (Dede, Ho, & Mitros, 2016; Lazer, Kennedy, King, & Vespignani, 2014).
As a new research paradigm, Big Data in education stimulates new ways of framing research
questions, designing studies, analyzing and visualizing data (Daniel, 2015; Dede et al., 2016).
With the availability of large amounts of data in education, researchers can investigate subgroups
within a population (a particular group of people), without necessarily relying on sophisticated
probabilistic methods (Mayer-Sch€ onberger & Cukier, 2013). Further, Big Data tools enable
researchers to collect large amounts of research data with relatively low cost (Mayer-
Sch€onberger, 2015).
Big Data provides educational researchers with a comprehensive set of tools for manipulating
and visualizing data on learning and teaching (Baker & Siemens, 2013; Bhat & Ahmed, 2016).
C 2017 British Educational Research Association
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Practitioner Notes
What is already known about this topic?
• Potentials of Big Data in transformation of education is growing
• Researchers in educational technology and computational sciences, in particular,
have generated a reasonable volume of literature on the promise of Big Data and
analytics in higher education in influencing teaching, learning, and research
• Over the last 6 years, a number of institutional research projects have focused on
the development of tools, systems, and strategies for successful deployment of
learning analytics
• Research is also available on challenges of implementing learning analytics sys-
tems across institutions.
What this paper adds
• Identifies a broad range of issues that educational researchers need to consider
when working with Big Data in educational research.
• Sets the stage for discourses on the development of educational research design
with the theoretical and epistemic tools and approaches to Data Science in educa-
tional research
• Introduces Data Science as the fourth research methodology tradition in educa-
tional research
Implications for practice and policy
• This paper aims to bring awareness of the fundamental issues facing educational
researchers in fully leveraging the promise of Big Data
• The paper appeals for an immediate reconceptualization of value and relevance of
Big Data in educational research
• Work presented in this paper will provide institutions to think about creating
educational research programs in Data Science that support the successful imple-
mentation of Big Data in education
Greer and Mark (2016) propose the use of visualization techniques to identify useful patterns in
educational data that may not be obvious for teachers working with conventional statistical
approaches. Research has also demonstrated that visualization dashboards can help teachers
with limited mathematical knowledge to easily navigate and interpret student data (Bueckle,
Ginda, Ranga Suri, & B€orner, 2017; Ong, 2015).
The analysis of a large set of educational data can inform the development of predictive models
for identifying opportunities and addressing challenges of educational institutions (Daniel & But-
son, 2013). It is also argued that insights gained from predictive models can be used to explore
student learning trajectories to facilitate the design of adaptive and personalized learning environ-
ments (McKenney & Mor, 2015).
Though Big Data in education is a new phenomenon, with the availability of vast amount
of educational data stored in institutional databases (eg, data obtained from social media
and learning management systems), educational research is likely to become a data-
intensive field, utilizing methods and techniques from Data science. Data Science is
primarily concerned with the development and use of tools as well as processes for
extracting and discerning valuable knowledge from complex data (Leek, 2013; Waller &
Fawcett, 2013).
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Figure 1: A brief overview of educational technology fields related to Big Data
Data Science can provide educational researchers structure and principles necessary for tackling
complex educational data. It offers a set of fundamental principles that support the extraction of
information and knowledge from data (Provost & Fawcett, 2013, p. 52). The application of Data
Science principles and techniques in education can yield high-quality benefits (Klasnja-Milićević,
Ivanović, & Budimac, 2017).
Though the literature on Big Data in education offers educational researchers numerous opportu-
nities, various issues need to be addressed. This paper examines the emerging promise of Big Data
in education and identifies a broad range of issues likely to affect the future utilization of Big Data
in education.
Related research
The analysis of student data has only become an important phenomenon in education in the
last decade (Lodge & Corrin, 2017). However, the use of data to support student learning
can be traced back to research on intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) and artificial intelligence
in education (AIED) (see Figure 1). Today, the primary purpose of using data in education is
to identify strategies for designing better learning environments (Mor, Ferguson, & Wasson,
2015).
ITS as shown in Figure 1 utilizes computational approaches to track student learning activities
and build diagnostic learner models (Anderson, Boyle, & Reiser, 1985; Brusilovsky, Schwarz, &
Weber, 1996; Nwana, 1990). As the need to support diverse and complex students in different
forms of learning environments increases, new methods of data gathering and analytics were
developed. Researchers in AIED and educational data mining (EDM) in particular have proposed
various student modeling techniques (eg, Bayesian Networks, Regression models, Cognitive mod-
els, etc), and mechanism for analysis and visualization of data (see, eg, Slater, Joksimović,
Kovanovic, Baker, & Gasevic, 2016).
Learning analytics (LA) describes a set of various tools and approaches for handling large and
complex student data and the contexts in which learning occurs (Greer & Mark, 2016). Although
EDM preceded LA, the two research communities share a common goal of supporting education.
EDM is mostly concerned with automated knowledge discovery, and offers a collection of auto-
mated data gathering and visualization tools intended to support adaptive learning (see, eg,
Baker, 2010; Jones & Jo, 2004; Luan, 2002; Romero, Ventura, & Garcıa, 2008). LA research on
the otherhand aims to provide students and teachers with actionable tools to support education
(Mor et al., 2015; Siemens & Baker, 2012).
Reconceptualization of big data in education

Big Data in education is a new phenomenon (Picciano, 2012), with most of the research dis-
courses centered on the use of data to inform the quality of instruction and research (Eynon,
2013). For instance, Kalota (2015) suggested the utilization of Big Data techniques in education
allows academic institutions to understand challenges students face and identify strategies to
address them. The availability of large educational data, in particular, provides educational
researchers with the opportunities to use automated tools and techniques to explore complex
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Figure 2: Use case scenarios of Big Data in education (Daniel, 2015)
educational phenomenon on a massive scale. Daniel (2015) proposed three uses of Big Data in
education namely; supporting learning, teaching and administration (see Figure 2).
Various sources of Big Data in education are noted elsewhere in the literature. For example, Pou-
lovassilis (2016) describes various sources of Big Data in education including, data generated and
stored in virtual learning environments, assessment data, student personal records, learner mod-
els, video data and physiological data (eg, heart rate, blood pressure, etc). LA also allow teachers
to identify risk factors associated with student engagement in learning and optimize the design of
learning environments (Lodge & Corrin, 2017; Mor et al., 2015). Teachers can use LA dashboard
to visualize student learning pathways and identify areas where students struggle the most, so
that they can design better intervention strategies. Similarly, providing students with access to
the personalized dashboard fosters a greater sense of self-awareness and promotes self-directed
learning dispositions (Tan, Koh, Jonathan, & Yang, 2017).
Although Big Data offers a number of opportunities to education, Big Data in education and edu-
cational research are two separate areas of inquiry, requiring different sets of skills and
knowledge (Table 1). While educational research is broadly concerned with the investigation of
various aspects of education, such as student learning, teaching methods, technology-enhanced
learning, Big Data in education deals with the analysis of large and complex data, using Data Sci-
ence techniques. Working with Big Data in education, therefore, requires an adequate knowledge
of Data Science and the ability to work with automated techniques (eg, machine learning) and
high-performance database systems such as Hadoop and MapReduce.
Though, currently, there are not many data scientists working in education (Buckingham et al.,
2013; Koprinska, Stretton, & Yacef, 2015), some universities have started offering degrees in LA,
a subset of Big Data in education (see, eg, Teachers College Columbia University, University of
Queensland and Northeastern University), opening up future opportunities for extending Data
Science into the educational domain.
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Table 1: Features of educational research and Big Data research in education
Educational research Big Data research in education
Context of data known to researchers Context of data might be unknown to researchers

The researcher may be involved in data The researcher might use data already collected
collection
Focused epistemology and ontology Emergent epistemology and ontology
Clear ethical protocols and accountability Ethical accountability might be unknown
Requires expertise in education and research Needs additional knowledge of Data Science
methods
Clean, and often small/manageable sample Large and complex data structures (measured in
size data (measured in Megabyte, Gigabyte) Terabytes, Petabytes, Exabyte)
Does not require real-time analysis Might employ real-time analysis
Data are stored within the limits/possibilities Highly distributed file systems (HDFS), or NoSQL
of available storage mechanisms
Analysis is manual or using standalone Use Hadoop, MapReduce systems, web mining
software systems such as (SPSS, NVivo, applications, sensors networks, traffic monitoring.
STATA)
It is apparent that educational researchers often work with relatively small data. However, mas-
sive quantities of educational data can now be easily collected, stored, analyzed and shared
across individuals and institutions. The affordance of Big Data in education, however, requires an
understanding of the fundamental differences between educational research and Big Data in edu-
cation (Table 1), as well as addressing possible challenges (Figure 3) that might occur as
researchers’ transition from educational research to research with Big Data in education.
Big data and educational research: issues of conception

The rapid generation of data by different devices and people has reached huge sizes exceeding the
capacity of hardware or human abilities to process and manipulate (Vaitsis, Hervatis, & Zary,
2016). Subsequently, there is a general tendency in the literature to conceptualize Big Data along
the magnitude of data. This, in turn, has led to the belief that educational data is not big enough
and therefore, cannot be considered Big Data. However, there is little agreement among research-
ers in many areas outside education on what constitutes Big Data in terms of magnitude. For
example, can a terabyte of data qualify as Big Data? Others argued that the characterization of
Big Data in terms of size is relative to the domain (Baker, 2015).
While there are different views on what constitutes Big Data in the literature, Daniel and Butson
(2013) propose a theoretical framework for describing Big Data in higher education along: insti-
tutional analytics (IA), information technology analytics (ITA), academic analytics (AA) and LA.
Figure 3: Big Data in education and critical issues for educational research
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IA is concerned with the analysis of administrative data to enhance the quality of decision-
making process. ITA relates to the collection and analysis of data associated with student and
administrative use of technology services (eg, data warehouse, data standards, tools and policies).
AA refers to the analysis of data on activities and performance of academic programs (measured
in terms of completion and graduate rates, passing and failure rates, etc). The outcome of AA
informs strategic decisions relating to aspects of administration such as resource allocation, and
student retention (Charlton, Mavrikis, & Katsifli, 2013; Siemens, 2013).
LA is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data about learners and the context
in which learning occurs (Jones, 2012; Siemens & Long, 2011). Researchers use the outcomes of
LA to understand and optimize the process of learning.
It is important to note that the variety of the conceptions of what constitutes Big Data in educa-
tion raises issues of different interpretation, which is likely to impact on the implementation of
Big Data projects in education.
Big data and educational research: technical issues

Working with Big Data systems requires access to a high-speed computational infrastructure
capable of handling a massive amount of data, which by large can incur a significant cost associ-
ated with data capture, storage, analysis and visualization (Chen & Zhang, 2014). Though many
academic institutions are currently collecting various forms of data, this data is kept in disparate
databases, making analysis difficult. Further, the lack of interoperability of institutional data sys-
tems makes aggregating data for analysis from disparate systems cumbersome (Daniel, 2015).
Also, the absence of data sharing agreements and data governance models can constitute an
additional bottleneck for cross-institutional data integration and comparison (Miyares & Cata-
lano, 2016).
Concerns on protecting individual and institutional privacy through authentication and security
are other major issues in Big Data systems. For example, Big Data systems such as Hadoop
designed for managing public data, has only a single level of data protection, making it difficult to
employ in educational domain. Building an additional layer of control and encryption to protect
data in education can incur significant resources.
Furthermore, one of the values of Big Data in education is the extensive use of predictive modeling.
However, over-reliance on predictive modeling can be limiting, since educational issues are far
complex, and difficult to handle in a single model. For example, building models that can accu-
rately identify students at the risk of failing their program of study require a thorough analysis of
possible triggers of computationally intractable problems. Computationally intractable problems in
education include student socio-economic challenges (such as family background, health status,
available resources and living conditions at home). These problems are by large, beyond the learn-
ing environment, as such, they can be difficult to capture and incorporate into a predictive model.
In addition, accurate interpretation of predictive models requires technical knowledge of Data Sci-
ence. However, such knowledge may not be accessible to many educational researchers.
Big data and educational research: ontological issues

Ontology constitutes a particular view of reality. Researchers use a particular ontology to situate
their understanding within a theoretical perspective. In educational research, especially qualita-
tive research, engaging with the process of data collection is a critical part of research integrity
located within a particular ontological thinking or world-view, because researchers infer the
meaning of a phenomenon based on the context in which data is collected and analyzed. How-
ever, researchers working with Big Data are rarely involved in data collection or the study design
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Figure 4: The four research methodology traditions
(Dede et al., 2016), raising the question of how educational researchers can meaningfully engage
and analyze data generated for different intent and context.
The relationship between the researcher and what is being researched, referred to as reflexivity, is
an essential component of the educational research process. An ontological orientation facilitates
an understanding of both the phenomenon being researched and the research process itself (Watt,
2007). A lack of engagement during data collection in Big Data research in education, can drasti-
cally diminish the value of reflexivity, possibly compromising the rigor of research outcomes.
Since researchers working with Big Data might make use of data already collected, the essential
elements of experimental research such as randomization, countermeasures of threats to various
forms of validity and manipulative control are hard to achieve (Boyd & Crawford, 2012; Craw-
ford, Gray, & Miltner, 2014).
Big data and educational research: epistemological issues

The use of a particular epistemology (eg, positivism vs. interpretivism) informs the choice of any
research methodology. And in turn, shapes the design of a study. Working with Big Data in edu-
cation requires an understanding of universal scientific theories for inductive inferences (Fricke,
2015). It entails embracing new forms of empiricism (Kitchin, 2014) that transcends quantitative
and qualitative traditions.
The new forms of empiricism are characterized by emergent research design, shaped by the
technological environment, complex and dynamic data. This new kind of empiricism
constitutes the fourth research methodology tradition (Data Science). The first research
methodology tradition is based on the scientific methods (quantitative), characterized by
positivist epistemology. Whereas, the second tradition consists of research practices that are
theoretically situated in interpretivism (qualitative methods). Mixed methods with its over-
arching epistemology of pragmatism forms the third tradition. The four traditions to with
associated forms of data are shown in Figure 4.
The epistemology associated with Data Science differs from conventional methods (Harford,
2014), because the research process in Data Science does not depend on pre-deterministic and
hegemonic paradigms, but rather requires a continuous negotiation of meaning constrained by
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the environment in which the research is carried out. Unlike the three methodological traditions,
to effectively work with Data Science requires, researchers ability to deal with complex and heter-
ogeneity data (Fan, Han, & Liu, 2014). The fourth research methodology tradition proposed in
the paper substantiates Tansley and Tolle (2009) views on the fourth research paradigm, which
appeals to new approaches and procedures for undertaking scientific research, in the light of new
forms of publically generated data, which can be repurposed and curated within certain regula-
tory constraints(Tolle, Tansley, & Hey, 2011).
Big data and educational research: methods and data analysis

Romero and Ventura (2010) noted researchers in higher education have worked with relatively
small amounts of data that has limited interpretative power, latency, and validity. Big Data in
education, offers researchers with robust approaches for discovering subtle population patterns
unlikely to be achieved with small-scale data (Fan et al., 2014). However, the outcome of Big
Data research is by large limited to correlational models and predictive analytics, leaving the cau-
sality of educational research results desirable but to some extent unattainable.
Many methods in Big Data research are concerned with asking the “what” rather than “why”
questions. However, the outcome of educational research is often needed to address particular
learning problems. Therefore, identifying causes of problems, rather than simply describing prob-
lems is needed to develop better strategies to achieve desirable educational outcomes.
Research contests the use of correlation versus causality (see, eg, Bollier, 2010; Mayer-
Sch€onberger, 2015). Mayer-Sch€ onberger (2015) argues that correlational analysis of Big Data
research can often yield useful connections for the development of interventions even in the
absence causality. However, mistakenly treating correlation as causality can result in choosing
ineffective interventions, even if such an outcome is based on the analysis of a large dataset.
Big data and educational research: digital divide and digital dividend issues
Big Data is a source of competition for some institutions because researchers can extract useful
insights from data and use it to enhance productivity (Gurstein, 2011; McGuire, Manyika, &
Chui, 2012). Junque de Fortuny, Martens, and Provost (2013) stated that institutions with larger
data assets could take advantage of Big Data to achieve competitive advantage over other institu-
tions (digital dividend).
Big Data research in education requires specialized skills lacking in many educational researchers.
The use of data visualization in particular, requires knowledge of statistics and information visu-
alization, limiting accessibility to many educational researchers.
Further, many educational researchers are unfamiliar with technologies associated with Big Data
research (eg, Hadoop, NoSQL and MapReduce). There is also a lack professional development
opportunities for educational researchers interested in working with Big Data (digital divide).
Working with Big Data requires the involvement of a Data Scientist, knowledgeable about the
right educational research questions. However, there are limited number of data scientists who
are familiar or interested in working in the domain of education.
Big data and educational research: ethical and privacy issues

Big Data in education presents potential threats to student safety and security. The use of LA,
where students are being tracked and their performance flagged can lead to unintended outcome.
For instance, the use of student data to make a decision might deny a student access to future
programs. Moreover, some students might object to the use of their data even if a proper consent
is obtained. As Prinsloo, Archer, Barnes, Chetty, and Van Zyl (2015) noted collecting data with-
out any clear purpose or obtaining an appropriate consent from students raises issues of ethics,
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privacy and data ownership. Concerns over ethics and privacy in Big Data in education are com-
plex, requiring an understanding of power relations between students and institutions (Slade &
Prinsloo, 2013). To address issues of ethics and privacy, institutions need to consider creating
data governance models, and data protection policies as well as the context in which data can be
used (Diaries et al., 2014; Dyckhoff, Zielke, B€
ultmann, Chatti, & Schroeder, 2012; Metcalf &
Crawford, 2016)
However, the current standards for obtaining participants’ consent in Big Data research is chal-
lenging since most of the data already exist in institutional databases. Another ethical dilemma
associated with the use of Big Data for research is maintaining research integrity when using
publicly accessible data, because those who might have generated such data might not be willing
to consent to the use of their data, or such individuals are no longer accessible to researchers.
The right to data ownership and access are additional issues to consider. For instance, should a
student have access to the same data as a lecturer? Should educators be able to see analytics from
other courses? Moreover, would it be appropriate for academic institutions to make student data
available to a third party including employers? There are also questions of institutional moral obli-
gations associated with the use of student data for predictive modeling. For example, if it becomes
apparent that a particular student is struggling, will an institution be morally obliged to help the
student, even if the cause of the difficulty might be of complex social and financial background?
As educational researchers explore analysis of data stored in cloud-based computing, issues of pri-
vacy and safety are likely to become even more complex, necessitating the establishment of
global ethics and moral obligations to use educational data.
Issues of trust need to be addressed when sharing research data across institutions. A growing
number of academic journals (eg, British Journal of Educational Technology) encourage research-
ers to share data with other researchers. However, sharing data without proper guidelines might
trigger intellectual property rights and concerns with informed consent. Since those who con-
sented to the use of their data might not have permitted sharing with third parties.
Conclusion and future research

Big Data in education has prompted researchers and developers to see possibilities of how to intro-
duce different technologies to process and generate information to support student learning.
Despite the growing research into Big Data in education and its apparent value to learning, many
academic institutions are slow in implementing Big Data projects (Macfadyen, 2017). Eynon
(2013) cautioned us about the overuse of the Big Data in education as a form of “technical fix”
instead of as a way of empowering researchers to carry out better educational research.
As Big Data in education becomes a mainstream research paradigm, issues of conceptualization
need to be addressed, before it is widely embraced. A new conception of Big Data in the context of
educational research is needed, one that takes into account the complexity of educational envi-
ronments and the nature of data being collected. Big Data creates unique opportunities for
research. However, these opportunities are not immediately accessible to all educational research-
ers, unless professional development opportunities are provided (Daniel, 2017). Furthermore,
establishing educational research programs using Big Data will require addressing issues of episte-
mology, ontology, methodology and inequality in leveraging the outcomes of Big Data in
education.
Issues of infrastructure, tools and human capacity required for the efficient collection, cleaning,
analysis and distribution of large datasets are important to address. Further, critical concerns of
privacy, ethics, access and governance remain a major concern (Gasevic, Dawson, & Jovanovic,
2016). As institutions increase the need for sharing educational data, it will be imperative that
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national and international standards be developed to address issues of data security and intero-
perability, privacy and access. Educators can engage in collecting various forms of data for class
improvement, rather than for research (Ho, 2017), repurposing this data for research might not
be ethical.
Future research needs to explore these issues and identify strategies to support educational
researchers. Moreover, the successful implementation of Big Data in education depends on the
ability of educational researchers to work with principles and approaches of Data Science driven
by insights in the fourth research methodological tradition.
Statements on open data, ethics and conflict of interest

The ideas presented in this article are developed from the review of published literature. It does
not pose any risks to individuals or institution. No potential conflict of interest was reported by
the author.
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