Beyond surveys, focus groups and interviews: supporting our students to use a range of approaches and methods in their dissertations and projects
In this session participants will have the opportunity to discuss a range of research approaches and methods, each of which may prove suitable for students’ use in Level 6 and 7 dissertations and project work.
The first part of the session will focus on ‘the nature of knowledge’: why different approaches and methods to building and disseminating knowledge are important to our different disciplinary and practice-based settings. Following this, participants will have opportunities to explore, discuss and reflect on some of the different approaches that have evolved to build that knowledge (both familiar and new), and consider their potential usefulness within their own contexts.
Please come prepared to listen, debate and contribute (you may already be experienced in one of the areas we discuss!), to build our collective knowledge and understanding. We hope that the session will inspire you to work with your students to consider methods beyond the often default choices of surveys, focus groups and interviews.
Session outcomes
By the end of the session participants will have had an opportunity to:
- Use Boyer’s ‘Scholarship Reconsidered’ as a starting point for deliberations on and planning for dissertation and project supervision.
- Hear about a number of different approaches and methods that may be useful to those supervising dissertations.
- Exchange ideas and experiences to build a collective ‘supervisory’ knowledge base and network.
Who should attend?
The session is primarily designed for colleagues who supervise UG and PGT dissertation students. However, it is open to anyone who would like to explore some of the many established and new ways of thinking about knowledge creation and dissemination at Levels 6 and 7.
Session Lead: Prof. Elizabeth Cleaver (Visiting Professor, CETI, University of Westminster)
Liz started her research journey over 30 years ago as she embarked (with extreme trepidation) on a PhD in sociology, leading to the first installment of her career as a sociology academic. In 2001 she took a break from academia and became a Senior Researcher at NFER where she led large- and small-scale policy evaluation projects for a range of Government departments. Returning to higher education in 2008, Liz initially worked in educational development before taking on a series of senior leadership roles in learning and teaching (University of Hull, UWE Bristol and Buckinghamshire New University). She was awarded Principal Fellowship of the HEA in 2014 and a personal Chair in 2016. Liz has co-written two texts that focus on research methods (Researching Young People’s Lives and Disciplinary Approaches to Educational Enquiry). Her most recent ‘methods’ work for QAA – Evidencing Value: Beyond the Metrics – is designed to support colleagues to identify and evaluate their ‘intangible assets’ – things that we know are vitally important to the education we offer, but are sometimes lost from sight in our increasingly metrics-driven world.
For those who are engaged in working towards Advance HE fellowship, the content of this workshop aligns with and supports the following dimensions of the Professional Standards Framework:
Areas of Activity (A) which demonstrate that you:
· A1: design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of study
· A2: teach and/or support learning through appropriate approaches and environments
· A4: support and guide learners
· A5: enhance practice through own continuing professional development
Core Knowledge (K) which is needed to carry out the areas of activity:
· K1: how students learn, generally and within specific subjects
· K2: approaches to teaching and/or supporting learning, appropriate for subjects and level of study
· K3: critical evaluation as a basis for effective practice
Professional Values (V) which show how you:
· V1: respect individual learners and diverse groups of learners
· V2: promote engagement in learning and equity of opportunity for all to reach their potential
· V4: respond to the wider context in which higher education operates, recognising implications for practice