Category: Semester 1

Semester 1 (Week 8)

Theses are the important set of notes I took after watching the YouTube video at the link below on 14th November 2017.

Video Topic:  Qualitative Analysis of Interviews

Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRL4PF2u9XA

Phase 1 – Reading
(1) Quickly browse through all the transcripts, as a whole
(2) Make notes about your first impressions
(3) Read the transcripts again, one by one

Phase 2 – Coding or Indexing
Label relevant words, phrases, sentences, or sections
Labels will include actions, activities, concepts, differences, opinions, processes
Repeated, surprising, interesting, important parts of the interviews will be coded
Parts of the interview that refer to published reports or journal papers may be coded
Parts of the interview that relates to a concept or theory will be coded
I will be aiming to code for conceptualisation of underlying patterns

Phase 3 – Decide which codes are important and create categories by amalgamating codes
Create new codes by combining two or more codes
Create categories or theme by amalgamating codes
Disregard codes that I now deem to be irrelevant from Phase 2

Phase 4 – Label categories, decide the most relevant categories and decide how they are connected to one another

Phase 5 – Create a hierarchy amongst the categories
Display using a mindmap or concept map.

Phase 6 – Write up your results
Under the heading ‘Results’, describe the categories and how they are connected
Under the heading ‘Discussion’, write out your interpretation and discuss your results
Interpret the results in the light of results from similar previous published studies, theories or concepts from your field, other relevant aspects

Suggested Reading:

Alan Bryman’s book: “Social Research Methods” published by Oxford University Press
Steiner Kvale’s and Svend Brinkmann’s book “Interviews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing” published by SAGE.

Semester 1 (Week 7)

Theses are the notes I took during the Tuesday afternoon workshop that took place from 14:00 to 17:00 on 7th November 2017.  The tutors were Dr Claire McAvinia and Dr Ita Kennelly.

Topic for today’s workshop

– Research Methods

Learning Activity

Review your research question, methodology and methods.

Consider – how is it all lining up. Does everything fit?

Review individually (5 mins)

Review in pairs (5 mins each)

Justify your choice of methods/instruments to your partner (critical friend)

We will then feedback to the group?

Interviews

We talked about

(a) recording versus note taking (recording was recommended)
(b) identifying the participants (or not) in my academic paper
(c) allowing the participants to vet the transcripts
(d) allowing the participants to vet the final paper

Triangulation

Something to think about…

Does the analysis of qualitative data involve some quantitative methods?

Does the design and analysis of quantitative data involve some qualitative judgements?

Questionnaire Design

Perhaps jumble up the negative and positive responses in a Lichter scale

Interviews as a Method

Interviewing: a method of data collection that involves researchers seeking open-ended answers related to a number of questions, topic areas, or themes. (O’Leary, 2010)

Interviews yield rich…..
(May, 1997)

Different epistemological conceptions of the role, different rules of the game and potentially different data…
(Kvale, 1996)

Interviews and Ethical Considerations

It would be considered unethical to…

Trying to get interviews at all costs
Not safeguarding anonymity and confidentiality
Making promises you cannot or do not intend to keep
Not being honest about the purpose of the interview or your intentions in relation to the data being collected

Interview Considerations (Planning)

Formality
Structure
Single or Multiple
In Person or Distanced

Interview Questioning

Structured – fixed and predetermined questions. No new questions added during…
Semi-structured – some questions fully decided, others might not be fixed. Researcher has scope to ask follow-up questions. Mixed framework for analysis.
Unstructured interviews – small set of self prompts to investigate research question. One question can lead to others.

Types of Questions

Closed
Open-ended

How to do a research interview (You Tube)

Commentary by Graham R Gibbs, University of Huddersfield

Knowledgeable
Structure
Clear
Gentle
Sensitive
Open
Steering
Critical
Remembers
Interprets (summarise what the interviewee has just said)

Balanced (don’t talk too much)
Ethically sensitive

Bad Interview

No eye contact
Asking two questions at the one time
No prompts, no follow-up questions

Good interview

Have a good introduction
Ask the interviewee if they still wish to participate in the interview
Inform the interviewee that they don’t have to answer a question.
Use follow-up questions on interviewee answers.

Developing Your Questions

Decide on research topic
Generalise puzzlements
Create a list of research questions
Generate list of issues, topic, themes, subjects, etc

 

Semester 1 (Week 6)

Theses are the notes I took during the Tuesday afternoon workshop that took place from 14:00 to 17:00 on 24th October 2017.  The tutors were Dr Ita Kennelly, Dr Muireann O’Keeffe, and Dr Claire McAvinia.

Topics for today’s workshop

– Part 1 – Methodology Analysis (Poster) – Dr Ita Kennelly
– Part 2 – Action Research – Dr Muireann O’Keeffe
– Part 3 – Case Study – Dr Claire McAvinia.

Part 1 – Methodology Analysis (Poster)
Ita Kenneally

See photo of poster.
See pages 27 to 41 of Barry Ryan’s thesis
Think about giving the interviewees the semi-structured questions in advance of the interviews.

Part 2 – Action Research
Muireann O’Keefe

Think about validity and reliability.

Part 3 – Case Study
Claire McAvinia

Used for inquiry into ‘processes and relationships’ (Denscombe, 2007, p.38)
Inve…

Asks why and how questions to uncover meanings and relationships.

Types of Cases

Stake, 1995
Intrinsic…aim to understand the particularities of the specific case generalise
Instrumental…generalise
Collective…generalise

Yin, 2003, 2014
Exploratory, e.g. Pilot project
Explanatory – suitable for causal studies, implementation of process
Descriptive – describe an intervention or occurrence in real-life context

Could use the word transferable rather than generalisable. A degree of generalisability. Could use word indicative or compelling.

Comparative cases – two or more cases compared

Phenomenology and phenomenography

Difference between case study and phenemonology

Phenomenology is a philosophical stance as well as a methodology.
The focus is on the lived experience not the person, group or event
The data are gathered to examine the lived…

Referencing Handbook APA: University of Lincoln: The Library (PDF)

Semester 1 (Week 5)

Theses are the notes I took during the Tuesday afternoon workshop that took place from 14:00 to 17:00 on 17th October 2017.  The tutors was Dr Claire McAvinia.

Topics for today’s workshop

– eLearning Design Methodologies & Methods
– Formative Evaluation/Evaluation Processes

Instructional design strategies for your e-learning project /How “finished”e-learning resources are evaluated in practice.

N.B. There’s no need to re-write my Research Proposal if I am simply changing my domain area from Patterns/Functions to Algebra. Run it past my supervisors by emailing them.

N.B. One part of my case study is documentation data. You can either put this in the literature review or the dataset. For me, I think I will be writing up about the syllabus and the state examinations in my literature review.

Part 1 – recalling some important ID models (materials from Damian Gordon and available in Webcourses)

Part 2 – using an evaluation tool to evaluate RLOs

Part 3 – time to work on your artefacts, then undertake some work

Part 1

Bloom’s Taxonomy
Evaluate –
Synthesise – put together knowledge
Analyse – break down knowledge
Apply – use your understanding
Comprehend – show understanding
Know- Recall information

ADDIE Model
Analysis
Design
Development
Implementation
Evaluation

How is learning theory connected with the above two models.

ASSURE MODEL

THE ABCD FORMAT
Audience, Behaviour, Condition. Degree

From “Instructional Technology – A Systematic Approach…..”

DICK AND CAREY MODEL

ICARE MODEL
Introduce, Content, Apply, Reflect, Extend

TRIPP AND BICHELMEYER

GAGNÉ’S NINE EVENTS OF INSTRUCTION

1. Gain attention
2. Inform learners of objectives
3. Stimulate recall of prior learning
4. Present the content
5. Provide “learning guidance”
6. Elicit performance
7.
8.
9.

CHARLES M. REIGELUTH – Elaboration Theory

COMPONENT DISPLAY THEORY
CDT classifies learning along two dimensions:
Content – facts, contents, procedures
Performance –

ACTIVE LEARNING – an umbrella term that refers to several models of instruction
– Think-Pair-Share
– The Pause Procedure
– Fact Rounding
– Network Phasing
– Learning Cell
– Active Writing
– Team Quizzes

EDWARD DE BONO

OTHER MICRO TECHNIQUES
– Learning by teaching
– Problem-based learning
– Project
– Inquiry
– Action
– Progressive inquiry
– Service learning

Now for some Evaluation…

“The systematic acquisition and assessment of information to provide feedback about some object.” (Trochim, 2006)

“Research is aimed at truth. Evaluation is aimed at action.” (Patten, 2008).

USING AN EVALUATION TOOL

(1) LOAM (Learning Object Attribute Metric). Tool has been designed as an evaluation tool for elearning materials.

http://www.nottingham.ac.ak

It was used for the NLDR project.

Look at Pat Walsh’s MSc project.

ASKING GOOD EVALUATION QUESTIONS

Evaluations are structured around questions
– Shape the evaluation process
– Define whats is understood or assumed about the programme

It’s important to ask good questions, rather than obvious ones
– blah blah blah

WHICH DATA COLLECTION QUESTIONS

blah blah blah

COLLECTING YOUR DATA
– Checklists/Questiinnaires
– Confidence logs / pre-post testing
– Focus groups / interviews
– Observation techniques
– System log data / tracking
– Group based / individual techniques
– Reflective diaries, blogs, portfolios
– Cost effectiveness

WHICH METHODS
– Do you know which factors are influencing learning or have you yet to do so?
– Do you want to make a comparison – if so what are you comparing with what?
– What kind of data do you want – qualitative or quantitative?
– What are you going to be doing with the data

Check out memoing.

Suggestion: Create a roadmap for my data on one page.

Semester 1 (Week 4)

Theses are the notes I took during the Tuesday afternoon workshop that took place from 14:00 to 17:00 on 10th October 2017.  The tutor was Roisin Guilfoyle.

Topic for today’s workshop

– Digital Literacy Workshop

N.B. The following library staff are available by appointment, telephone, email:
– Roisin Guilfoyle
– Diana Mitchell
– Bill Murphy (EndNote Specialist) – bill.murphy@dit.ie

Types of Literature
– Books
– Journal Articles
– Reports
– Official Publications
– Conference Proceedings
– Grey Literature
– Websites
– Theses
– Popular Media

Literature
– Published or Unpublished
– Peer Reviewed
– Not Reviewed
– Community Reviewed
– Not always scholarly

N.B. Research Gate (Australia)
Try emailing the journal article writer using your DIT email address and ask the writer to send you a copy. Tell the writer that you are a Masters Student.

N.B. Alcid Card

ALCID: Academic Libraries Co-operating in Ireland
http://www.dit.ie/library/a-z/alcid/

This can be used to access library resources in other third level institutions such as TCD and UCD.

Evaluating Web Resources
– Websites: Who, Why, When, Where, Ease of Use, Presentation, Use of Graphics
– Content: Authority, Writing/Grammar, Audience (Depth & Scope), Timeliness, Relevance, Bias, References

Advantages of Google
– Quick, Easy to Access, Easy to Use, Lots of Material, Covers Lots of Subjects

Number of Databases DIT has access to
– Approximately 84
Note: Access to Science Direct costs DIT a six figure sum.

What is Summon
– Summon is a powerful search engine that provides fast, simple access to scholarly material. It provides an integrated single search box for Library, Journals, Journal Articles, Print and eBooks, Dissertations, Multimedia Content, Newspaper Articles, Citations in Abstracting & Indexing Databases.

Welcome to DIT Library Services
http://www.dit.ie/
Note: This is where you will find SearchAll/Summon@DIT

The Research Process
– Develop a Research Strategy
– Select Appropriate Resources
– Do a Systematic Search of the Relevant Databases, including Search Engines
– Keep a History
– Keep Records
– Manage References (EndNote)
– Avoid Plagiarism

Semester 1 (Week 3)

Theses are the notes I took during the Tuesday afternoon workshop that took place from 14:00 to 17:00 on 3rd October 2017.  The tutors were Dr Claire McAvinia and Dr Ita Kennelly.

Topics for today’s workshop

– Topic Development and Resources Access
– Advanced Literature Review and Critique
– Ethics Procedures

Ethics – your concerns and questions

Research Ethics Committees meet approximately every 6 weeks

Meeting 1 – Mid October 2017
Meeting 2 – End November 2017

N.B. Look at the screencast sooner rather than later.

Research question:
How can a domain model for adaptive learning in secondary school mathematics be evaluated?

Key Phrases:
Domain Model, Adaptive Learning, Mathematics

ACTIVITY: DISCUSS IN GROUPS

What is a literature review?
Ans. Analysis, Relevance, Piece of writing to add to your work in a particular domain,

What is the purpose of the literature review?
Ans. Establish what is known, what has been researched, what has been published, get ideas.

What does it mean to write a high quality, effective literature review?
Ans. Who is seminal, comprehensive, relevance to context,

What are the greatest challenges involved in writing a literature review?
Ans. Strong enough, drawing appropriate conclusions, categorising what you review

Showing the links between theory and practice
….
etc

Read published work – study a wide range of print and web-based materials.

Interpretation – explain the significance and interpret the evidence presented in each piece of literature – not simply listing what others have writteN

Synthesis – creation of an integrated whole

Managing Literature

– Set up a reliable system of logging references
….(plus 2 more)

Reading critically and analytically

Things to extract from each piece of reading material

Definition, Problem, Theory, Hypothesis, Techniques, Interpretations

Concepts, Arguments, Standpoint, Evidence, Perspective, Styles

Justification, Ways of thinking, Events, Motives, Politics, Conclusions

Developing Your Reading

E-Portfolio – make short annotated bibliographies

Assignments – briefly revisit your work

…etc

Action Planning

Review your research question

What 3 actions can you take in the next week to progress your research relating to those key terms?

What are your goals for next week’s tutorial?

Semester 1 (Week 2)

Theses are the notes I took during the Tuesday afternoon workshop that took place from 14:00 to 17:00 on 26th September 2017.  The tutor was Dr Claire McAvinia.

Topic for today’s workshop

– Re-introduction to Academic Writing

Consider your choice of academic paper.

Phyllis Creme, Writing at University

Mike Wallace and Alison Ray, Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates

Paul J Silva, How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing

Note: Approaches to Learning (look up this learning theories pirated copy online)

What is academic writing?

Clear formal language
Evidence from others (references)
Answers or debates a specific question in the feld
Has clear organisation and layout

Writing is a process that happens to have a product

Prepare -> Research -> Organise -> Draft -> Revise
(Circular)

Getting started

What do you do to help you start writing

Brainstorming
Free-writing
Mind-mapping
Outlining
Sharing writing with someone else
Speaking aloud
Asking W questions (who, what, when, where, why)

Key elements in your writing (from Creme & Lea, 2003)

Development an argument
Linking theory and practice
Drawing a conclusion
Analysing
Being critical
Developing a central idea
Processing information
Incorporating facts
Correct terminology
Logical order
Use of evidence to support argument
Use of primary texts
Use of quotation
Drawing on personal experience

Why can it be difficult to write?

Academics are taught to be analytical and critical
There can be few short-term deadlines for the work
Writing is often undertaken in isolation

Writing Strategies: Free Writing

The following will be use to me in Year 2:

I have previous experience of research and academic writing from a previous Masters (thesis and publication) in 1994. This, together with MSc Year 1 has given me a lot of confidence in my ability to successfully get through this year. I enjoy working alone on longer term projects, of a creative nature, so I am looking forward to Year 2 overall.

Setting a writing goal

Where are you now?
– Amending proposal?
– Starting some literature review?

What is the next piece of writing you need to do?

When will you start this piece?

…
2 more questions

A commonly used structure

Abstract
Introduction
Literature Review

… plus a few more

Starting to think about journals

Who is the publisher?
Who is the editor / who is on the editorial board?
Is the journal national or international?
What do the guidelines for contributions stipulate?
Is some or all of the content peer-reviewed?
How many issues are there per year and how many of these are themed/special issues?
What types of material are published?
Are articles illustrated?
How many references do papers typically include?
How long is the average article?

My note: try to match keywords and topics with journals.

What is the impact factor of the journals.

Reference the people on the editorial board.

Why do journals reject articles?

It fails the technical screening
It does not fall within the Aims and Scope
It’s incomplete

Semester 1 (Week 1)

Theses are the notes I took during the Tuesday afternoon workshop that took place from 14:00 to 17:00 on 19th September 2017.  The tutor was Dr Claire McAvinia.

Topics for today’s workshop

– Introduction to Applied eLearning Project
– Project Management
– ePortfolio Support Tutorial for Year 2

Introduction
Working more independently
Project/Artefact/Resource + Journal Paper (30 ECTS)
e-portfolio (15 ECTS)

Assessment Process

Project – 4th June 2018
Journal Paper and e-portfolio – 2nd July 2018
1st Examiner (External)
2nd Examiner (Your Supervisor)
Your work is blind double-marked
You will receive a result and six marksheets
All sections of the 3 pieces need to be passed by both supervisors

Supervision Process

Guideline of 15 hours supervision time – this is inclusive of online contacts and formative assessment
You must agree how you want to work and how you will use the time – a “learning contract”
The First Examiner can also be involved, if appropriate, in consulting with you about your work and he/she will be invited to attend the works-in-progress presentations
Any contact with the First Examiner should be through your supervisor.

Graduation

3rd November 2018

Tutorials in Year 2

In Year 2 you will be working more independently than in Year 1
It is not a requirement for you to attend every Tuesday afternoon but the works-in-progress sessions are obligatory
The workshops throughout the year are to support your research and paper writing.
There is flexibility on workshop content: ask if you would like particular copies to be addressed.
Peer learning is also key to these workshops

Before your first meeting

Ethics Meeting (1st) – some date in October (before middle) – online
Ethics Meeting (2nd) – 6 weeks later – possibly end of November – online
Claire will do a screencast of how to do the ethics submission

Supervision Meetings

It is your responsibility to make notes of the meeting and any actions
The notes should be available to your supervisor
Don’t go longer than 5 weeks without contact with your supervisor

Journal

Will need to accept submissions of 5,000 to 7,000 words
The librarians can be helpful
You might enjoy a particular journal(s) that you have read last year

Time Management (Year 2)

Where are you at the moment?

– Structure your work for the Year (Mk 1)
– Do a draft of every single piece of work that has to be done for the year (to get the big picture)
– Detailed timetable
– What days of the week will you work
– What blocks are available?
– brain time and non-brain time

Next Steps

Review your Research Proposal
– What kind of timelines had you built in?
– Can you develop these now?
– What questions could you ask your Supervisor to help refine your project plan?

Log your time for a day or two
Calculate the time for a week

Arrange first meeting with Supervisor for Tuesday 3rd October 2017

The e-portfolio in Year 2

Needs to be a record of the implementation of your project
Milestones
Deliverables
Log of meetings with supervisor
Make parts of e-portfolio correspond with pages 17, 18 of handbook (also see page 10)
Evidence if on-going reflection and development
Final reflection – project (about 1,000 words)
Final reflection – entire MSc (about 1,000 words)

Supporting supervision

Add a logbook section
Keep it private
Log your meetings with
– main points
– agreed stuff

Assessment of e-portfolio

Review module sections
– Storyboards from ID
Ensure links are still active
Link to your project
Final reflective pieces
– Reflection on the implementation of your project as a whole
– Reflection at the end of Year 2

N.B. Look at support site
https://ditmsceportfolios.wordpress.com

Where are you now?

Have a look at the checklist
Make sure you can access the WordPress site
Make sure you can access each other’s e-portfolios and try to share feedback.