Emma Howard

 

Research Interests

 

My interdisciplinary research transforms higher education through advancing statistical analysis and tools for educational research and progressing teaching practices. My research areas include learning analytics, clustering analysis, statistics/data science education in higher education, supporting student services through data analytics, reproducibility, and student mental health.

Open Source Software

 

Ugly mug     Howard, E. (2024). ouladFormat: Loads and formats the Open University learning analytics dataset for data analysis.
    [Computer software], https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/ouladFormat/index.html (ouladFormat homepage)


   

Journal Articles

 
  • Howard, E., White A., & Wyse, J. (2026). Contextualizing the research problem: Improving cluster analysis insights into student learning. International Journal of Research & Method in Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2026.2617530 (pre-copy editing version)
  • Meehan, M., & Howard, E. (2024). The university mathematics lecture: to record, or not to record, that is the question. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 36, 285-310, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13394-023-00444-2 (open access)
  • Mullen, C., Howard, E., & Cronin, A. (2024). A scoping literature review of the impact and evaluation of mathematics and statistics support in higher education. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 117, 1–22, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-024-10332-6 (open access)
  • Howard, E., Tayer Farahani, Z., Rashleigh, C., & Dooley, B. (2024). Developing a national database for higher education student counselling services: The importance of collaborations. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 41(2), 247-253. (open access)
  • de la Hoz-Ruiz, A., Howard, E., & Hijón-Neira, R. (2024). The enhancement of statistical literacy: A cross-institutional study using data analysis and text mining to identify statistical issues in the transition to university education. Information, 15(9), 567, https://doi.org/10.3390/info15090567 (open access)
  • Mahon, C., Hamburger, D., Webb, J.B., Yager, Z., Howard, E., Booth, A., & Fitzgerald, A. (2023). Protocol of a cluster randomised trial of BodyKind: a school-based body image programme for adolescents. BMC Public Health, 23, 2246, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17002-x (open access)
  • Farahani, Z. T., Howard, E., Rashleigh, C., & Dooley, B. (2023). Data collection and outcome measurement in student counseling services in Irish higher education institutions: Counselors' views on challenges and facilitators. Psychological services, 20(Suppl 2), 136–149, https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000759 (open access)
  • Mahon, C., Howard, E., O'Reilly, A., Dooley, B. & Fitzgerald, A. (2022). A cluster analysis of health behaviours and their relationship to mental health difficulties, life satisfaction and functioning in adolescents. Preventive Medicine, 164, 107332,, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107332https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107332. (access here)
  • Howard, E. & Cronin, A. (2021). Improving service use through prediction modelling: a case study of a mathematics support centre, IMA Journal of Management Mathematics, 33(3), 369–380, https://doi.org/10.1093/imaman/dpab035 (open access)
  • Howard, E., Meehan, M., & Parnell, A. (2019). Quantifying participation in, and the effectiveness of, remediating assessment in a university mathematics module, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44(1), 97-110, https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1476670 (access here)
  • Howard, E., Meehan, M., & Parnell, A. (2018). Live lectures or online videos: students’ resource choices in a first-year university mathematics module, International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 49(4), 530-553, DOI: 10.1080/0020739X.2017.1387943 (access here)
  • Howard, E., Meehan, M., & Parnell, A. (2018). Contrasting prediction methods for early warning systems at undergraduate level, The Internet and Higher Education, 37, 66-75, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2018.02.001 (access here)
 

arXiv Articles

 
  • Howard, E. (2025). ouladFormat R package: Preparing the Open University Learning Analytics Dataset for analysis. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/pdf/2501.08366 (open access)
 

Conference Proceedings

 
  • Howard, E. (2025). Demo of ouladFormat: an R package for loading and formatting the Open University Learning Analytics dataset. Companion Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge (LAK25), (p. 290). Dublin, Ireland. (open access)
  • Howard, E., Mullen, C., & Cronin, A. (2023). A scoping systematic review of mathematics and statistics support evaluation literature: Lessons learnt. Proceedings of the Ninth Conference on Research in Mathematics Education in Ireland (MEI9), (pp. 69-72). Dublin, Ireland: MEI. (open access)
  • Howard, E., Meehan, M., & Cox, T. (2021). An exploration of the impact that continuous, summative assessment has on how university mathematics students spend their study time. In Kingston, M. & Grimes, P. (Eds.). Proceedings of the Eight Conference on Research in Mathematics Education in Ireland (MEI8), (pp. 212-219). Dublin, Ireland: MEI. (open access)
  • Howard, E., Meehan, M., & Parnell, A. (2019). Escalating interventions to improve behaviour and performance in an undergraduate statistics module. In Harbison, L. & Twohill, A. (Eds.). Proceedings of the Seventh Conference on Research in Mathematics Education in Ireland (MEI7), (pp. 131-138). Dublin, Ireland: MEI. (open access)
  • Howard, E., Meehan, M., & Parnell, A. (2019). An exploration of the relationship between continuous assessment and resource use in a service mathematics module. In Jankvist, U. T., Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, M., & Veldhuis, M. (Eds.). Proceedings of the Eleventh Congress of European Research in Mathematics Education, Utrecht, the Netherlands: Freudenthal Group & Freudenthal Institute, Utrecht University & ERME. (open access)
  • Meehan, M., Howard, E., & Ní Shúilleabháin, A. (2018). Students' sense of belonging to mathematics in the secondary-tertiary transition. In Bergqvist, E., Osterholm, M., Granberg, C., & Sumpter, L. (Eds.). Proceedings of the 42nd Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 3), (pp. 371-378). Umea, Sweden: PME. (open access)
  • Copeland, C., Howard, E., Meehan, M., & Parnell, A. (2018). Engaging with feedback: How do students remediate errors on their weekly quiz. In Durand-Guerrier, V., Hochmuth, R., Goodchild, S., & Hogstad, N. M. (Eds.). Proceedings of the Second Conference of the International Network for Didactic Research in University Mathematics, (pp. 306-315). Kristiansand, Norway: INDRUM. (open access)
 

Book Chapters

 
  • Howard, E. & Dooley, B. (2022). Epidemiology of mental health difficulties in young people. In E. Hennessy, C. Heary & M. Michail. (Eds.) Understanding Youth Mental Health: Perspectives from Theory and Practice. Open University Press, McGraw-Hill Education (UK). (access here)
  • Rasmussen, C., Fredriksen, H., Howard, E., Pepin, B., & Rämö, J. M. (2021). Students' in-class and out of class mathematical activities. In V. Durand-Guerrier, R. Hochmuth, E. Nardi, & C. Winsløw. (Eds.). Research and Development in University Mathematics Education. Overview Produced by the International Network for Research on Didactics of University Mathematics. Routledge. (available here)
 

Reports

 
  • Howard, E. (2022). Student success: Exploring evidence-based academic, emotional, and social supports seminar report. (open access)
  • Armstrong-Astley, R., Flynn, F., Dooley, B., Fox, T., Battle, B., Byrne, D., Chambers, K., Connolly, A., Cunniffe, S., Howard, E., Kirwin, S., Maguire, T., McNamara, R., O'Connor, T., O'Reilly, E., Rashleigh, C., Sheaf, G., Sita, G., Surdey, J., Tayer Farahani, Z., Weiner, R., & Ó Mathúna, C. (2022). How counselling and peer-led services can optimise student success: An integrated approach to student mental health and wellbeing in higher education. (open access)
  • Meehan, M., & Howard, E. (August, 2020). Report on undergraduate mathematics students' perceptions of the affordances and constraints of the online environment for learning. (open access)
 

PhD Thesis (2019)

 

Dissertation with Associate Professor Maria Meehan and Professor Andrew Parnell entitled: Learning Analytics and Mathematics Education: Complementary Approaches to Supporting Non-specialist Students at Undergraduate Level. (access here)