1

ESCALATE E-Research Small Grant Final Report

______

ESCALATE SMALL GRANT FINAL PROJECT REPORT

E-RESEARCH PROJECT:

Using Multimedia for Research Methods Training

Sheena Banks

School of Education

University of Sheffield

  1. Introduction

This ESCALATE final project report has been prepared with the aim of reflecting on and analyzing the impact of undertaking a small grant ESCALATE project in 2003-4. The particular project outputs have had both an internal impact within the University of Sheffield and also an external and national impact.

With the benefit of hindsight and reviewing the impact of this ESCALATE project, it is possible to state unambiguously that the small grant ESCALATE funding has created strategic opportunities for the University of Sheffield School of Education that would otherwise not have been possible. Not only has the small grant ESCALATE work led to new national funding and research collaborations, but the project has also enabled us to develop our pedagogic and technological knowledge of the use of multimedia technologies in research methods teaching and learning, leading to new conceptual understandings and impact on learning and teaching. The case study highlights how this was achieved.

  1. Background to the project

In 2002-3 a team of academics in the School of Education at the University of Sheffield, funded by a small in-house learning and teaching grant, developed an interactive multimedia online resource covering a range of educational research topics. The online resource was produced as a cd-rom that could be used by individuals or groups in a range of online or blended learning contexts for study at masters or doctorate level.

The aim of this work was to present multiple representations of 'real' researchers projecting their knowledge and experience of the research process through video narratives, to show complexity and the contested nature of educational research and to project the idea of a research community.

The project team comprised 8 academics, a multimedia designer and a video production unit. Our aim was to produce a resource that could be used flexibly particularly by part-time masters and doctoral level students studying in distance learning/online learning contexts.

At the start of the project, surprisingly, we did not share our beliefs about pedagogy, epistemologies or ontologies in an explicit way. However, our individual beliefs and values emerged strongly during the various iterations and production phases of the project, and in a sense underpinned and framed the development of the resource.

The task of producing online resources and decision-making in relation to editing of large quantities of video material is a dynamic process for producing narratives that offer meaning to educational researchers. We often found that we did not really understand each other's beliefs and values until we reached this critical point in production. It is difficult to make beliefs and values explicit unless there is a process that facilitates this. It is something identified by Laurillard (1993) and her 'conversational framework' except that the initial 'conversation' in the project was between the academics, the production team and the group response to content.

There are 10 sections in the resources, five containing 'expert' and 'student' narratives with additional sections about using computers in anlysing qualitative data, annotated resources, research writing and a glossary:

In the timescale of this institutional project, it was only possible for us to carry out a limited evaluation of the multimedia resources. In addition, because of the complexity of what we were trying to do, we were well aware that we had only achieved a first stage prototype of electronic resources with an interactive design that engaged students and were conceptually robust. Despite the limitations of the resources, the initial evaluation results were sufficiently encouraging for us to believe that the resources had great potential and should be developed further. We therefore aimed to use the ESCALATE funding to extend the evaluation of the resources both internally at the University of Sheffield, externally at the University of Bristol and through national dissemination.

  1. Project objectives and outcomes

Given the above context, the key objectives of the ESCALATE small grant project were to extend evaluation of the resources within the University of Sheffield and externally at the University of Bristol, with both staff and students and through national dissemination. Once this empirical data had been analysed, it was expected that the insights gained would lead to new insights about how the resources could be improved. The project has now been completed and we have analyzed the evaluation data to incorporate in a shortened version into this report.

The evaluation has provided important formative feedback to us about the following issues:

Breadth and depth of topics: because the resources were developed on the basis of available research methods expertise at one institution, there were inevitably significant gaps in the coverage of research methods topics, for example there was much more emphasis on qualitative than on quantitative methods. There were also issues about the breadth and depth of topics and contextual information. In addition, both teachers and students were uncertain about how to use the resources. This feedback highlighted the need both to develop a conceptual and pedagogic framework for online research methods that consistently covered major topics and provided guidelines for use and defined learning objectives.

Learning design, interactivity and navigation: the evaluation indicated that the learning design of the resources needed further work, particularly in how to achieve the engagement of the learner through interactive tasks and communication with other learners. The evaluation provided a range of practical suggestions for achieving this.

Technology: even though the resources were provided as a CD-rom, the users still encountered technical problems about loading and using the resources. There was a strong recommendation in the evaluation that the resources become-web-based.

Summary: The most challenging pedagogic issues that came out of the evaluation were those relating to how knowledge about educational research methods can be constructed and developed, the cognitive models used to develop that knowledge and issues related to scaffolding of knowledge – in particular the design of the surround.

The evaluation showed us that we needed to be aiming at having video narratives that were broad and deep, and were fully contextualised, that there needed to be a site map that indicated the scope and content of the narratives and user guides for both staff and students. Our biggest challenge related to the issue of interactivity and customisation to individual needs and contexts. The evaluation showed that the original design was tooopen-ended and unstructured and lacked the required scaffolding to be effective. We had hoped that the learners could construct their own meanings from the narratives and that this was a way in which the narratives could be personalised, but neither the pedagogic design nor the functionality of the technology was sufficiently advanced to achieve this.

These insights have formed the priority for the next stage of development, namely to aim at a pedagogic design that facilitates learner autonomy and construction of knowledge through active engagement but which also enhances researchers’ capacity to engage critically with research issues – and supporting technologies.

Potential for further development: despite the many issues raised by the evaluation and the need for further development work, the evaluation showed us that the innovative approach of the online resources was well worth developing further. The evaluation has not only given us the confidence to build on what we have learnt from the project, but also specific evidence on which to base further development work.

Because of the ESCALATE funding, we have been able to present conference papers at BERA 2004, Networked Learning 2004, CAL 2005 and a journal paper is also in press. We gained a higher profile as a result of these activities and consequently made contact with other institutions who wanted to work with us. In particular, we are now collaborating with the University of Nottingham who had an ESCALATE small grant in 2002-3 that also looked at the teaching of research methods.

A major outcome of the ESCALATE small grant funding is that we are now working in a consortium with the Universities of Nottingham, Bath and Canterbury Christ Church University on a national FDTL5 Project. This is the V-ResORT Project (Virtual Resources for Online Research Training), a three year HEFCE-funded project. We have been able to contribute the expertise and research data developed in the ESCALATE Project and grow these ideas in collaboration with our partners.

Another outcome is that we have developed new collaborations internally at the University of Sheffield. In 2005, the University secured funding for two CETLs. We are now bringing our expertise developed in the ESCALATE project and in the subsequent FDTL5 V-ResORT project into one of the CETLs - the Centre for Information Literacy in the Arts and Social Sciences (CILASS). In addition we are collaborating with the University Graduate Research Office on innovation in the University Research Training Programme and also on virtual research training through the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN). The CD-rom content is still being used but we are adapting it into a web version as part of our e-learning development in the School of Education.

In conclusion, the ESCALATE small grant project has proved to be important ‘seedcorn’ funding for us. The evaluation undertaken with the small grant funding provided us with useful empirical data for the development of multimedia resources for online research training that has significantly assisted us with further pedagogic and technological development. In addition, we have now secured further national funding, an international profile and research opportunities. The ESCALATE small grant funding played a significant part in facilitating this.