On Monday, September 29th, the TIDE member Ariel Ortiz-Beltrán successfully defended his PhD thesis, earning his doctoral degree. The dissertation focuses on the critical intersection of pedagogical strategy and data analytics within university settings.

The thesis, titled "The interplay between Learning Design and Learning Analytics Indicators in Higher Education," was conducted under the supervision of Dra. Davinia Hernández-Leo.

The members of the examining committee were:

• President: Dr. Carlos Delgado Kloos (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid)

• Secretary: Dra. Lourdes Guàrdia Ortiz (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya)

• Member: Dr. Bart Rienties (The Open University)

Summary of the Doctoral Research

Dr. Ortiz-Beltrán's research addresses the fragmented way Higher Education Institutions often analyze educational data. Traditionally, institutional efforts have examined student satisfaction, academic performance, and digital platform usage as separate domains. This dissertation argues for a more integrated approach.

The central research question of the thesis is: How can Institutional Analytics bridge Learning Design and Learning Analytics (LD-LA) to generate actionable insights in Higher Education? Through a series of case studies at a large Spanish university from 2018 to 2022, the work examines the relationship between pedagogical design decisions and key student indicators.

The dissertation provides three main contributions: Design principles for institutional analytics that align learning design with learning analytics indicators. A set of indicators and techniques for implementing LD-LA Institutional Analytics. Evidence demonstrating the benefits of an integrated LD-LA institutional analytics approach.

The research concludes that for Learning Analytics to be practically applicable, it must incorporate pedagogical context. This integrated, data-informed model can help generate more meaningful insights for institutional decision-making.