“In purpose, a field diary or notes, keep a record of what happens during the research activities. It can be useful in tracking how and why your ideas and the research process evolved.” (Clark et al., 2020)
Drawing from the concepts presented in the 2020 book Collecting Data in Your Classroom, I maintained a field diary in which I recorded the tasks I had to complete for my project. These operational notes enabled me to remain focused on my goals, prioritise my tasks, and respond accordingly to my research.
In terms of responsiveness, an uncontrollable variable involving the EDI team occurred (again), necessitating a change in the timing of my preparations for the activity to avoid delays. In the EDI meeting, it was decided that after consent and consultations, I would give the EDI team the participant’s email addresses. They would then communicate with the staff learning team and send the URLs of the modules directly to the professionals so that they could access the training. It was agreed to happen by 13th October 2023, and then the Staff Learning team would email me to confirm that it had happened.
I carried out consultation #1 with the five participants as scheduled between 20th September 2023, and 6th October 2023. I first spoke about the provisions they would be providing at LCC. Following that, I informed them of the ARP, the activity and asked for their consent, as per the script and requested their permission. For further details, view the consenting blog post entitled “Phase 4-Research Blog 4”. In addition, I evaluated and decided on the module that would be recommended to them, maintaining objectivity and critical thinking without unfairly influencing the participants’ assent. The five participants gave me the permission I asked for, concerning the ARP_ParticipantConsentForm_MP consent form. They then consented to complete the training on their initiative, upon acquiring the links from the UAL EDI/Staff Learning department, after considering the particulars and ethical considerations explained.
As planned, I sent the EDI team the email addresses of the five participants and asked that the pertinent links to both modules be made available for an independent commencement. Aware of the time constraints imposed by my ARP, I observed that I had not gotten an email confirming that the participants who gave their assent had received the URLs to the training courses. So, on 24th September 2023, I contacted the EDI team, responding to the current delay that had occurred. View the email trail entitled Screenshots Phase 5-Results Blog 1 attached. Fortunately, the proceedings were not impacted despite the delay.
By 27th October, the participants had attested to receiving the pertinent link and to their intention to complete the course of action, as per my recommendation at the consultation. By 3rd October, two of the five professionals who took part told me they had completed the module. The remaining three participants declined. Nevertheless, since each of the five individuals consented to participate in my study, I was still required to include their responses in my research.
References:
Clark, J.S., Porath, S., Thiele, J. and Jobe, M. (2020). Collecting Data in Your Classroom. [online] kstatelibraries.pressbooks.pub. Available at: https://kstatelibraries.pressbooks.pub/gradactionresearch/chapter/chapt5/.
www.aral.com.au. (n.d.). Action learning and action research. [online] Available at: https://www.aral.com.au/resources/aandr.html#a_aar_flexrig [Accessed 10 Jan. 2024].
dictionary.apa.org. (n.d.). APA Dictionary of Psychology. [online] Available at: https://dictionary.apa.org/uncontrolled-variable