AI-enabled learning analytics use relates to physical literacy and engagement in university PE via smart teaching and personalised feedback

Abstract

Digital transformation and AI-enabled learning analytics are reshaping higher education, and wearable-enabled analytics are increasingly used in embodied curricula such as university physical education (PE), but empirical evidence linking these systems to physical literacy remains limited. This study investigates how AI-enabled learning analytics use (wearable-derived dashboards and automated alerts) in smart PE relate to students’ physical literacy and learning engagement, and tests whether perceived smart teaching quality and personalised feedback mediate these associations within an established human-centred learning analytics perspective. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design combined a survey of 1,182 students from four Chinese universities with semi-structured interviews with 12 students and six staff members. Structural equation modelling showed that analytics use was associated with perceived smart teaching quality (β = 0.47, p