Research Methods Reflections
Study technique  | Simple but effective This is how I would describe a study technique I adopted towards successful completion of the Research Methods Module. I spent a short while the capturing the main requirements of this module from the student handbook and incorporating them into a screensaver template. (see attached image) Every time I powered up the computer I was presented with a reminder of the structure/outline of the paper and the sections that needed to be covered. There was no escaping it and I never had to be rooting round for the handbook to see what sections I needed to document , it was right there in front of me!! I often found myself referring back to the key points on the image and asking myself –
It served as a useful study technique .Even as each section was documented I found myself referring back and reviewing the key requirements to see if the proposal answered the key questions outlined in this template. |
“Perspectives on Education Seminars 2013 - focus on retention- Using technology to enhance retention”.
I attended a very interesting seminar in Mount St today which focused on student retention. DIT staff were invited to exchange their ideas and thoughts on the area of student retention. Part of the seminar focused on technology that could facilitate student retention so with this in mind I thought it important to attend. The seminar provided an interesting exchange of ideas and I even pitched in with my own proposed research area in learning analytics. What was apparent from these discussions is that we as the DIT community could be doing more to harvest and analyse student data to make better informed decisions around student learning. I think I might finally have nailed down a research question!!
This seminar along with the readings has highlighted the importance of analysing student data to inform lecturing staff regarding their students. How are their students engaging, what Blackboard variables provide indicators of academic success? How useful is the reporting features of Blackboard, what do they tell us... so many questions!!!
With this in mind I am considering a research question along the lines of "how can the data and reporting features of Blackboard Learn inform lecturing staff regarding their students learning".
I need to tease it out a bit more but I feel its slowly but surely coming together.
 | Working my way through the literature
Finalising a research area has become my primary objective since the start of 2013. My aim is to present a well structured and clear research proposal in advance of year 2 which I believe will allow for a smooth transition to second year and enable me to hit the ground running at the start of next year. The area is broad but through the readings I am beginning to narrow the scope of the study. |
Final Reflection on this module.
I really enjoyed this module. It represented the first time I conducted an in-depth literature review and the readings really helped crystallise my research proposal. Previous data mining exercises, particularly the report entitled “Investigating the application of IT generated data as an indicator of learning and teaching performance in higher education” by Dawson & McWilliam were very interesting. Their findings suggested that student engagement with discussion boards can be an indicator of academic success .They were also critical of the inbuilt reporting features of Blackboard Learn 8.0 but it is important that to highlight that this report was published back in was published 2008 so its reasonably to suggest, I feel, that these analytics features would have improved in the interim.
One of the highlights of this module was attending the seminar “Perspectives on Education Seminars 2013 - focus on retention- Using technology to enhance retention". It was interesting to hear other people talking about student data and how we have so much of it. It raises a key question "Are we making the best use of it ". I think all the delegates in attendance felt we could do more to analyse student data to identify potential "at risk" students , find out what teaching methods work, which students are engaging etc. This seminar, I felt, added more weight to the argument and indeed the research proposal to analyse student data, in this case their Blackboard data.
I believe the decision to adopt a mixed methodology approach will yield the best results in this study.I plan to analyse the reporting myself, extract the main findings and present them to the staff participants involved in the study and tease out these findings further and also capture their opinions on the analytic features of Blackboard. Getting ethical approval for this study will be challenging. One of the many issues uncovered the literature review is that of data privacy and students lukewarm attitude towards having their data analysed. Ironically, in order to carry out this research I will need their consent to in fact analyse their data..
I am looking forward to a deserved break over the summer and coming back refreshed for the second leg to use “football terminology of this module. The proposal may need a few further tweaks as it still remains quite broad , so I may need to narrow the scope of the study but overall I confident with the submission as I fell the area is relevant and I believe that I have put forward a good argument for this area to be explored.
