Building on prior learning analytics research at UMBC, DoIT's John Fritz has co-authored "Learning Analytics Research for LMS Course Design: Two Studies" in the current issue of Educause Review Online.
The two studies focus on complementary findings from a sample of 1,530 courses in Fritz' 2016 dissertation, and a sample of 70k Blackboard courses hosted by Blackboard itself. A key takeaway is the importance of the Blackboard grade center, which DoIT has recently been studying as well.
For more information about learning analytics at UMBC, see http://doit.umbc.edu/analytics.