*Author for correspondence Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 9(46), DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2016/v9i46/107193, December 2016 ISSN (Print) : 0974-6846 ISSN (Online) : 0974-5645 Application of Learning Analytics in University Mathematics Education Dong Ryool Kim 1* , Jeong-Phil Hue 2 and Seung-Soo Shin 3 1 Department of Mechatronics, Tomgmyong University, Korea; drkim@tu.ac.kr 2 Tongmyong University, Korea; twinty-hjp@hanmail.net 3 Department of Information Security, Tongmyong University, Korea; shins@tu.ac.kr Keywords: Big Data, Education Engineering, Learning Analytics, Mathematics, Mathematics Education Abstract Objectives: The method of learning analytics was applied to Mathematics in a college course. Methods/Statistical Analysis: For one semester, Naver Cafe had been managed in a manner of question and answer and data were collected. Findings: The data were analyzed in terms of the correlation between the number of utilization and grade and pattern of study and we figured out which chapter is difficult for students. The results tell us that higher the number the students access to Café, higher the score they gained. Improvements/Applications: This method is able to apply for other subjects and further, various learning-methods should be developed in the future. 1. Introduction he 21st century’s information and communication technology has brought us into a new era where the amount of data generated by emails, online video ser- vices, web-browsing and Social Networking Services (SNS) is exponentially expanding 1 . his large amount of data is called big data, which requires new technologies for storage, management and analysis 2-4 . Modern society is facing challenges demanding alternative approaches to access of incredibly large data 5 . Keeping pace with the era of big data, value creation by prompt decision-making are increasingly witnessed in various areas, including national defense, elections, marketing, sports, and education. he recent advent of new technologies and eforts to take advantage of them are drawing much attention to learning analytics, which represents the educational use of analytics 6 . he goal of learning analytics is to develop customized educational strategies for improving learn- ing eiciency of each individual student by collecting and analyzing student data 7 . In this study, we ran a Naver Cafe for the students enrolled in a basic mathematics course ofered by Pusan University as a general education course and pro- vided online mentoring and responded to the students’ questions regarding class materials. In particular, we investigated the potential usage of learning analytics as an educational tool by analyzing visiting log and contents in the students’ posts using the tools provided by Naver. 2. Learning Analytics 2.1 Learning Analytics Analytics uses computer science, mathematics and statis- tics to extract useful information from the large amount of data records. Learning analytics measure, collect and analyze learner’s data and environment to optimize the learner’s learning ability and environment. he data acquired from the learner provide useful information to the teacher and removes the risk of the learner giving up on a class in the learning process; thus, it supports learn- ing success 8 . he purpose of such data is to support the teacher and school in predicting and providing a custom- ized education according to the student’s learning ability 9 .