FDTL5 – V-ResORT Project

Project partners

The University of Nottingham (School of Education)

Contact: Dr Gordon Joyes, Project Director

The University of Sheffield (School of Education)

Contact: Sheena Banks, Project Coordinator

University of Bath (School of Education)

Contact: Louise Poulsen, Institutional Coordinator

Canterbury Christ Church University College

Contact: Mike Blamires, Institutional Coordinator

Project description

The V-ResORT (Virtual Resources for Online Research Training) is working with the Higher Education research training community to develop, evaluate and disseminate a new pedagogic framework for the teaching of research methodology and methods online at Masters and Doctoral level.

The project addresses the need to build capacity in UK research and to develop research skills training that acknowledges educational research as a complex, dynamic and diverse process. It incorporates new technologies to provide students with opportunities to engage with a wide range of researchers and to discuss methodological issues with experts. This provides an authentic context for engaging with theory and practice.

Our specific aims are to:

  • Develop and evaluate a multimedia online framework for the teaching of research methodology and methods at Masters and Doctorate level;
  • Develop online content for the teaching of research methods through case studies and video narratives of researchers exploring key questions and issues related to their research;
  • Adapt technology to produce web-based materials that will integrate streamed video, web resources and synchronous and asynchronous communication tools to support both online and face-to-face teaching and learning contexts;
  • Produce support materials giving practical examples of different teaching contexts and implementation from both pedagogic and technological perspectives.

Pedagogic and professional challenges

In higher education, recent rapid changes in the knowledge base and pedagogical approaches for educational research teaching, together with the diversification of modes of study, have highlighted the potential of new technology to offer improved access and flexibility (Birbili, 2001). This is developing in tandem with a national policy emphasis to build ‘capacity’ in the social sciences generally, resulting in the emerging e-social science infrastructure (JISC, 2003). These changes have particular relevance for the postgraduate student body that is becoming increasingly global , distributed and diverse and for whom the traditional campus-based research methods training programme may not be appropriate.

In developing the use of video narratives in the teaching of research methodology and methods online, we believe that we can address this problem. A key idea of the V-ResORT project is that video narratives can present multiple representations of ‘real’ researchers projecting their knowledge and experience of the research process, can show complexity and the contested nature of educational research and can help to build online learning communities. We are using internet-based technologies that support video streaming with the potential to capture a wide range of researcher experiences, case studies and expert views that can then be organized into flexible e-learning materials to give an authentic context for theory and practice. We are building on our existing knowhow in research methods teaching and e-learning, framed from our own practice, to develop a new pedagogic framework that will be evaluated and disseminated nationally. We are collaborating with a number of other universities (Bradford, Coventry, Newcastle and Southampton) who will contribute additional case studies and who will be involved in trialling materials.

We have carried out some initial pilot work and evaluation in relation to these ideas over the last three years, with the assistance of ESCALATE small grant funding. The ESCALATE-funded project ‘Research Methods Teaching and Learning: Effective Online Support’ led by Gordon Joyes at the University of Nottingham and the ‘E-research project’ (a CD-rom on research methods) evaluation led by Sheena Banks and Chris Winter at the University of Sheffield identified a national need for the development of online materials for research methods teaching, and these projects began work on early prototypes.

An evaluation of the E-research project, funded by ESCALATE, provided some empirical evidence that has helped us to refine and develop our ideas. We were able to carry out an evaluation with students at the University of Sheffield and with staff at the University of Bristol that has enabled us to consider the effectiveness of the learning design in the initial e-research project. Our pedagogic approach to the development of the video narratives has been influenced by the work of Land & Hannafin (2000) who, in describing their principles of grounded design in e-learning, emphasise the need for a clear alignment of a defensible theoretical framework, assumptions and methods, need for generalisability and an iterative approach to learning design where the theoretical framework can be tested and adapted. The evaluation of the Sheffield CD-rom highlighted a number of issues that we are addressing in the current project:

  • The video narratives with associated web links offered a more interesting experience than reading an educational research textbook – effective representation of the work of international researchers, good quality video and audio and multiple perspectives on research terminology and approaches were particularly valued features;
  • However, more comprehensive coverage of research methods was needed – particularly in relation to quantitative methods – improved navigation, a site map and a search facility will help to support learners in finding what they need;
  • More scaffolding was needed for both staff and students to clarify the the context of use, the structure, purpose, tasks and ways to engage with the narratives. The video narratives needed further development in terms of interactivity and instructional guidance.
  • Users want breadth and depth in the video narratives. Interestingly, they would like full transcripts of the video narratives to be displayed simultaneously.
  • For technical and access reasons, the first prototype was produced as a CD-rom – however, the use of Internet-based technologies will enable there to be integration of content with communication, links to web resources and will make updating and the production of new content much easier.

This evaluation showed us that there were two strategic objectives for the new V-ResORT project. Firstly, it is the development of a robust pedagogic framework for the video narratives combined with a context of use. Secondly, it is being able to trial and evaluate the video narratives widely across higher education in order to show how they can be used in practice and as a consequence to be able to make a national impact on the way in which research methods are taught.

According to Goodyear (2001), a pedagogic framework for e-learning involves bringing together pedagogic ideas with methods, tools and processes for facilitating learning and linked closely to the design of learning tasks and activities and the functionalities of the technologies being used. This also encompasses the existing context of learning and integration with existing learning and teaching practices that will inevitably be adapted and changed through their impact. The most challenging issues that came out of the evaluation were those relating to how knowledge about educational research is constructed and how this can be embedded and supported in an online environment.

In the V-ResORT project we have therefore given major priority to the drafting of a pedagogic framework which specifically addresses these challenges. With the help of national experts, Professor Rosemary Deem, from Bristol, Professor Jerry Wellington from Sheffield and Louise Poulsen from Bath, we have taken as the starting point for this the perspective of the learner/novice researcher and drafted a sequence of questions that address issues of research methodology from their viewpoint and provides a coherent basis for organising e-research resources. Taking practical issues and dilemmas faced by researchers, we are identifying the various disciplinary, theoretical, conceptual and methodological perspectives underpinning and informing research. This guides the construction of video narratives. The personal stories of researchers represent a personalized and nuanced view of educational research with the expert narratives giving added insight and authority. The video narratives are also supplemented by digital artefacts such as thesis chapters, sets of data, reports and publications. We plan to add synchronous and asynchronous tools to enable individual users to explore the video narratives and to add their comments to them, as well as participating in online discussions to share practice and promote reflection.

The contexts of use range from individual self-study through to group work and from face-to-face teaching to fully online learning, and we also believe there is scope for roll-out across the social sciences. We will be demonstrating early versions of the video narratives on the project website, and later in the project will be running regional workshops on their use.

Bibliography

Birbili, M. (2001) Teaching educational research methods

Goodyear, P (2001) Effective Networked Learning in Higher Education: notes and guidelines, JISC Report.

JISC (2003)The Development of an Awareness and Training Environment for E-Social Science in the UK.

Land, S., & Hannafin, M. (2000). Student-centred learning environments.In

D.H. Jonassen & S. M. Land (Eds.), Theoretical foundations of learning

environments (pp. 1-23). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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