Ahead of meeting with Sian

Some prep ahead of my meeting with Sian, beginning with points to discuss:

Research propsoal, ethical declaration and consent forms updated and submitted

Formally enrolled on course

Contanct made with Architecture and date set for observation

Contact made with ECA, approval gained for observation

Christine, Clara, Hamish, Rory, Jen and Marshall all agreed to be interviewed

Working on lit review

Explored using Prezi as canvas for disemmination - possible, but tricky

Narrowing the focus of my research: As I carried out my literature review, I've been prompted to try and focus on the idea of judging the quality of multimodal artefacts in academic setting, rather than wider tutor attitudes. I still think that might come out, however within the limited (length) constraints of the dissertation, I think it would be really good to try and focus in on the most interesting question. And if so, I would intend to reflect this new focus within my dissertation title, which at the moment is a bit abstract and vague.

Visual data collection: is this really necessary? Is it going to add anything to my project? Will I have sufficient scope for analysis with the interviews and the observation? If I opt not to do this, I'll free up some time for deeper analysis and writing up. Having said that, it might be interesting in terms of dissemination.

Interview participants commenting on artefacts: Rather than asking participants to bring an example of a good and bad artefact to the interview, why don't I instead bring a couple of examples to get their thoughts on. That way I could select artefacts based upon interesting themes emerging from the literature. It might also be interesting to see how different tutors attitudes and ideas compare.

Interview format

I’d intended to opt for face-to-face, however I wonder whether Skype would be better, to save transcription time. I also found this approach worked for me during the New Geographies project.

Videoing crit observation

I thought for a while about videoing crit observations, based upon work by Jewitt. It means I would be able to go back and revisit what took place. I recognise that some students might not be happy with this and that I’d have to seek approval. Unsure about this – I think it might be useful, however I don’t want it to make the process of getting approval more problematic. Maybe if I give participants the chance to opt out. And I could record in an unobtrusive way. It would be really good from a multimodal dissemination perspective to have some video footage.

Making use of suggested contacts

I didn’t need to get in touch with the individual suggested by Jen or Dai. Is it still worth making contact to get their thoughts – or do I recognise how busy they are (and I am) and let the opportunity pass?