ARP My Data Collection

For my personal data collection, I decided to create a questionnaire and hand it out to 10 students. The parameters were: 

• The students were all on the Technical Arts and special effects Course ( The course I teach on)
• Each Questionnaire had a physically attached consent form on the front
• They were given a verbal explanation that was repeated on the consent form, explaining what the data collection was being used for 
• The students were given a group explanation, then allowed to collect a physical printout of the questionnaire from the front of the class. They were told to return the form when they had finished it. (This was done to preserve anonymity and allow for student agency) 
• I printed 10 forms and received 10 filled forms back 

The questionnaire focused on 

•  Understanding of learning outcomes
•  Understanding of summative assessment 
•  Tutors role in explaining and delivering unit briefs and marking criteria
•  Accessibility and inclusivity 
•  Free space to write any final thoughts 

My main takeaways from this questionnaire are: 

The Students gave mixed feedback; it seems they understand the LOs and what’s required of them most of the time, but when it came to writing in their own words, they agreed that the language is overly academic, and visual information would be deeply appreciated (from both a neurotypical and neurodivergent perspective). 

Academic language was repeatedly mentioned as a barrier for learning- the students almost universally asked for visual assurance (previous submissions and examples) and they regularly talk with their peers and tutors about what’s expected of them to reassure themselves of what they should submit. 

Overall, the feedback was very positive; the barriers aren’t impossible to overcome, but as they are, the delivery could be more accessible if it were visual, the requirements were weighted for importance, and if they had simpler language. 

The main takeaway here is that students want clearer, less jargoned and more visually based briefs and learning outcomes.

As the students were anonymous in this instance, I cannot be sure there were any English second-language students. However, I will refer to the previous studies, which indicate that visual representations and succinct language result in better outcomes for students.