Improving language learning insights for Welsh secondary schools through data-driven analysis
Butterfly Data collaborated with the MFL Mentoring Project, funded by the Welsh Government and based at Cardiff University, to enhance their reporting and analysis of 12-14 year olds experiences of, and feelings towards, learning International Languages in secondary schools across Wales.
MFL Mentoring Project: Learner Survey Data Visualisation
The Butterfly Challenge
The MFL Mentoring Project required a more streamlined and automated approach for analysing and reporting on the large volume of data collected each year. In addition, the Project wanted a more automated way to conduct comprehensive analysis across all years of data, enhancing their ability to identify key trends
The data included insights from 12-14 year olds across secondary schools in Wales who are studying International Language (IL) and had historically been collected by the MFL Mentoring Project via annual questionnaires completed by learners. It also included key open-source data to for contextualise and add value to the insights provided.
Providing Interactive Dashboards for Easy Reporting
Our team developed interactive PowerBI dashboards for the MFL Mentoring Project, ensuring it was fully aligned with their branding.
This consistent branding not only provided a cohesive look but also significantly facilitated the sharing and recognition of documents across the team and with schools.
The dashboards empowered the Project Team to review data insights over time through an easy-to-use report with clear, user-friendly visualisations. This included comprehensive data analysis, graphs, and key insights.
To ensure ongoing usability, we also provided a user and maintenance guide, along with recorded walkthroughs.
We developed two automated PowerBI dashboards. The first offers an in-depth analysis of the overall data which currently encompasses data from 4 academic years. The second produces individual school-specific reports, mirroring MFL Mentoring’s previous presentation format for individual school reporting. This individualised school presentations.
The overview dashboard includes 36,483 learner survey responses, across 155 secondary schools in Wales from across 22 local authorities across Wales, and includes data spanning 4 years. The presentation dashboard automates the production of data for 45 slides for each of the 155 schools for each year of data, historic and going forwards.
This has saved the MFL Mentoring team an estimated 6 weeks of effort per year and supported the Project with identifying important new trends and insights.
The Butterfly Effect
Lucy Jenkins, Product Owner, MFL Mentoring Project
“Butterfly have been a pleasure to work with, offering exceptional service and outcomes which will have immediate positive impact on Project delivery and Project users. The added value offered through this project will resonate for many years and will help inform our understanding of learner attitudes towards International Languages at a critical moment - diolch yn fawr/merci beaucoup/grazie mille!!”
