Peer Progress Indicator Research

Team Member Names

Name: David Nganga
Section worked on: Existing Systems & Features

Name: Faith Wandabwa
Section worked on: Existing Systems & Features

Name: Mudith Makawitage
Section worked on: Functional & non-functional requirements

Name: Sanjana Bottu
Section worked on: Brainstorm & draft initial user stories

1. Research: Existing Systems & Features

1.1. Overview

This report examines Learning Management Systems (LMS), student facing analytics dashboards, and project management platforms to identify progress tracking features, privacy models, and design patterns suitable for the OnTrack Peer Indicator System.

Currently, OnTrack provides:

• Individual task and portfolio progress

• Tutor feedback

However, it lacks peer visibility features. The following systems were reviewed:

• Canvas

• Moodle

• My Learning Analytics (MyLA)

• GitHub

1.2. Systems and Features Reviewed

1.2.1. Canvas LMS

• Displays progress via status labels: Complete, In Progress, Locked

• Instructor-only analytics dashboard

• No peer visibility

Key Ideas for OnTrack

• Status labels can map directly to OnTrack tasks

• Aggregate cohort data can be anonymised for students

Reference: https://community.instructure.com/en/kb/articles/660912

1.2.2. Moodle

• Uses progress bars and circular indicators

• Students see only their own progress

• Teachers access detailed reports

Key Ideas for OnTrack

• Familiar progress bar UI

• Reinforces need for built-in privacy (not retrofitted)

Reference: https://docs.moodle.org/en/Tracking_progress

1.2.3. My Learning Analytics (MyLA)

• Privacy-first student analytics dashboard

• Uses anonymised performance bands (e.g., 90—100%)

• Visualisations include:

  • Timeline activity

  • Grade distributions

  • Content popularity

Key Ideas for OnTrack

• Performance bands (On Track / Behind / Ahead)

• Anonymised cohort percentages

• Opt-in sharing + tutor controls

Reference: https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/my-learning-analytics-help/home/about-myla

1.2.4. GitHub

• Activity-based visibility (not grades)

• Contribution heatmap

• Public/private control

Key Ideas for OnTrack

• Activity heatmap (engagement only)

• Opt-in visibility model

Reference: https://github.com

1.3. Privacy Controls

All reviewed systems share a privacy-first philosophy. The table below maps key principles observed across systems to their application in our design. 

Privacy Principle	Observed In	Application to Peer Indicator System
Default opt-out / private	Canvas, Moodle, MyLA	All peer visibility is off by default. Students must explicitly opt in.
Anonymised aggregates only	MyLA, Canvas (instructor view)	Group-level statistics shown (e.g., ‘72% of your tutorial completed Task 3’). No individual names or scores exposed.
Performance band grouping	MyLA	Students grouped into broad bands (On Track / Slightly Behind / Ahead) to reduce direct comparison.
Tutor enable / disable	MyLA, Moodle plugins	Tutors can turn the peer panel on or off per unit. Students cannot override this.
Minimal data exposure	All systems reviewed	Only task status is shared no marks, feedback content, or submission scores.
Right to withdraw	MyLA	Students can opt out at any time with immediate effect and no residual data retained in peer views.

1.4. Key Insights

What Works Well

• Anonymised Cohort Comparisons: Aggregate group-level data (e.g., ‘your tutorial is 72% complete on average’) motivates students and supports self-regulated learning without triggering direct competition. This is the most well-supported finding across the literature. (MyLA, General LADs)

• Visual, Glanceable Indicators: Progress bars, colour-coded status icons, and activity heatmaps allow students to absorb progress information instantly. Text-heavy reports are consistently less effective for motivation. (Canvas, Moodle, GitHub)

• Seamless Dashboard Integration: MyLA succeeds because it embeds within the existing student dashboard rather than requiring navigation to a separate system. Our peer indicator should live within OnTrack’s existing student view.

• Tutor Oversight: Allowing tutors to enable or disable the peer panel per unit prevents inappropriate use and gives staff control over social dynamics in their cohort.

• Status Labels Over Scores: Simple labels (In Progress / Needs Help / Complete) carry enough information for peer support without exposing grades. OnTrack already has these statuses, making implementation straightforward.

Potential Risks

• Social Comparison Anxiety: Visible peer data can increase anxiety in students who see themselves as behind. Risk is highest when individual names are shown. Mitigation: anonymised aggregates by default; named data only with mutual opt-in.

• Gaming the System: Students may mark tasks complete prematurely if progress is visible. Mitigation: maintain OnTrack’s existing model where only tutors can confirm final task completion.

• Privacy Legislation: Sharing student records without explicit, revocable consent may breach the Australian Privacy Act and Deakin University’s data governance policies. Mitigation: opt-in model with clear consent and right to withdraw.

• Leaderboard Backlash: Research consistently shows that ranking or ordering students is negatively perceived. Avoid any ranking; use only bands or aggregates.

1.5. Recommended Features for OnTrack

Priority	Feature	Description	Inspired By
Quick Win	Cohort Progress Bar	Anonymised bar showing percentage of the class that has completed each task. No names, low privacy risk, high motivational value.	MyLA, Canvas
Core	Tutorial Group Peer Panel	Opt-in sidebar showing task status of peers in the same tutorial group. Visible only when both parties have opted in.	MyLA, GitHub
Enhancement	Performance Band Summary	Students grouped into On Track / Slightly Behind / Ahead rather than raw percentages to reduce comparison anxiety.	MyLA
Enhancement	Activity Heatmap	Weekly activity chart showing days a student engaged with tasks. Opt-in only; no grade or score data.	GitHub
Future	’Who Needs Help’ Signal	Aggregated count of students who flagged a task as ‘Need Help’, enabling peer or tutor support without naming individuals.	Moodle, OnTrack

1.6. Comparison Summary

System	Category	Peer Visibility	Privacy Controls	Key OnTrack Fit
OnTrack (current)	Academic LMS	None	Tutor-only	Baseline add peer layer on top
Canvas	Academic LMS	None (students)	Instructor-only	Status label model
Moodle	Academic LMS	Nonnative	Instructor-only	Progress bar UI pattern
MyLA (U. Michigan)	Student Analytics	Yes anonymised	Consent-based, opt-in	Strongest privacy model performance bands
GitHub	Project Management	Full (public repos)	Public / private toggle	Opt-in activity heatmap

2. User Stories

Format: As a [user], I want [goal] so that [reason]

User Story 1:

As a student, I want to view the anonymised average progress of my tutorial group so that I can benchmark my own performance without seeing individual names.

User Story 2:

As a student, I want to see peers grouped into performance bands (On Track / Slightly Behind / Ahead) so that I can understand where I stand relative to the group.

User Story 3:

As a student, I want to opt-in (or opt-out at any time) to share my task-status data with my tutorial group so that I control my own privacy.

User Story 4:

As a tutor, I want to see an aggregated count of students who have flagged a specific task as difficult so that I can prioritise which tasks to address in my next tutorial session without singling out any individual student.

User Story 5:

As a tutor, I want to enable or disable the Peer Indicator panel for my entire unit so that I maintain oversight of social dynamics.

User Story 6:

As a tutor, I want to send a targeted in-app nudge to all students who have not yet started a task by a set date so that I can prompt action without revealing which specific students are behind. 

3. Functional Requirements

What the system must do.

ID	Requirement	Description
FR1	View Peer Progress	The system must allow students to view the progress of peers enrolled in the same unit or tutorial group using task completion data (e.g., percentage, completed tasks, or progress indicators).
FR2	Privacy Control (Opt-in/Opt-out)	The system must allow students to opt in or opt out of sharing their progress. Only students who opt in will have their progress included in peer views.
FR3	Anonymised Display	The system must display peer progress in an anonymised way (e.g., “Student A”, averages, or ranges) unless explicit consent and policy allow identification.
FR4	Tutor Configuration	The system must allow tutors or unit staff to enable or disable the peer progress feature at unit or task level, ensuring appropriate use.

4. Non-Functional Requirements

System quality requirements.

ID	Category	Requirement
NFR1	Performance	The system should display peer progress data quickly (within a few seconds) and support near real-time or cached updates without noticeable delay to users.
NFR2	Security / Privacy	The system must protect student data by using existing OnTrack authentication and role-based access control. It must not expose identifiable progress data without user consent.
NFR3	Accessibility	The system must comply with accessibility standards (e.g., WCAG), ensuring the interface is readable, usable with keyboard navigation, and does not rely only on colour to convey information.
NFR4	Scalability	The system should support large numbers of students across multiple units without performance degradation and should scale as more users adopt the feature.

5. Constraints (OnTrack Integration)

• Must integrate with the existing task/portfolio model and task statuses.

• Must use current authentication system and user roles (student, tutor).

• Must respect the current Angular 17 migration state (components added to migrated views only).

• No new backend tables required — reuse existing task-completion and tutorial-group data.

6. References

1. Canvas Module Progress Guide: https://community.instructure.com/en/kb/articles/660912

2. Moodle Tracking Progress Documentation: https://docs.moodle.org/en/Tracking_progress

3. MyLA Dashboard Overview (University of Michigan): https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/my-learning-analytics-help/home/about-myla

4. Peer-Comparison Dashboards Research (ScienceDirect): https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/pii/S2050700319001141

5. Learning Analytics Dashboards Review (PMC): https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8853217/

6. GitHub: https://github.com