Data Collection for ‘how can I develop the time management tool to help students organise study tasks effectively?
Data Collection Method – closed questionnaire to staff and post staff meeting discussion
Feedback was sought from staff regarding 2 elements of the time management tool, due to lack of permission from disability department to canvas students’ reflections on the developing time management tool. Feedback topics include the elements: phrasing of language and colour design. The questionnaire and the developing tool can be found at the conclusion of this blog.
Distributing the questionnaire in advance of staff catch up meeting was considered advantageous to the research, as staff have time to consider elements of the tool individually and review their thoughts before attending the catch-up meeting and feeding back. Originally, the researcher planned to capture colleagues’ responses to the tool’s elements spontaneously at the catch-up meeting. Advance distribution gives staff the option of looking ahead of time.
Disadvantages of deciding to distribute the questionnaire ahead of the staff catch-up meeting might be staff resentment of the expectation of having to spend their non-contact time in giving their attention to the research project. Advantages are, that colleagues’ thoughts might be ordered from responding to the questionnaire before meeting at the staff catch up. Staff catch up meetings are aimed at discussing reflections of the service and ways to improve the quality to the students we support, so it is hoped that in light of this, any resentment might be lessened. Additionally, staff will be told that, filling out the questionnaire in advance is optional. Feedback can be delivered spontaneously at the staff catch-up.
Power Dynamics of Data Collection
Power dynamics in research will probably always prevail (Riet and Boetigger, 2009) and in any staff catch up, they will probably always exist, though variable. The staff catch up tutors participating in this data collection comprises four tutors and one line manager, also a tutor. In terms of how this affects the research responses, some participants may make positive responses to elements of the time management tool’s development in order to appear like a team player in front of the line manager, generating bias. Contrastingly, personal/professional power dynamics may generate negative responses if particpants’ attention is drawn to personal hierarchial issues rather than the time management tool itself.
Sample for the Data Collection
The members of the staff catch up group, the sample, is a sample of convenience as they are easily available to the research. However, there may be bias as they do not represent the wider population (Simkus, 2023). Nonetheless, there are elements of purposive sampling, as the researcher has targeted the sample with goals in mind (Bryman, 2015), in order to find responses that are relevant to the research question: how can I develop the time management tool?
Questionaire (data collection tool)
Thank you for participating in my research. I’m gathering feedback on language used with the time management tool and also the colour scheme. First:
Language options (title of each quadrant square) – phrasal choices
There are 3 phrases under consideration, each with 2 options as shown below.
One
- ‘takes long time to do’
b.) ‘takes me long time to do’
Two
- doesn’t take long time to do
‘b.) doesn’t take me long to do
Three
‘Important’ vs ‘urgent’
| Urgent OR Important | Non-urgent OR Not important | |
| Takes long time to do OR Takes me long time to do | ||
| Doesn’t take long time to do OR Doesn’t take me long time to do |
What is your preference? Please circle one choice from 1-3 below.
One
‘takes long time to do’
‘takes me long time to do’
Two
‘doesn’t take long time to do’
‘doesn’t take me long time to do’
Three
‘Important’ vs ‘urgent’
Colour (colour semantics of each quadrant square)
There are 6 colour palette choices. Please circle your choice.
1 2 3 4 5 6
Data Analysis
Language choices for quadrant labels
Colleagues were asked what they thought was better for a quadrant label:
‘takes a long time to do’
OR
‘takes me a long time to do’
Unsurprisingly, the option to use the phrase ‘takes me a long time to do’ was popular, due to the phrase highlighting that different tasks take different lengths of time for different people/students, thus highlighting the importance of personalising individual learning approaches.
Colleagues were asked, what they thought was better for a quadrant label:
‘Important’
OR
‘Urgent’
There was considerable discussion over the using either the label ‘important’ or ‘urgent’. One colleague was insistent that ADHD students need to have the sense of urgency of doing a task emphasised, although my reservations have been around the word ‘urgent’ triggering a panic which leaves many students in paralysis. 3 out 4 colleagues suggested ‘important’ over ‘urgent’.
One colleague suggested using both the category ‘urgent’ and ‘important’, extending the quadrant to include a choice of both, which would make the quadrant formed of 6 squares/boxes, though it was also acknowledged this might be too ‘busy’ or ‘fussy’ for the student.
| Urgent | Important | Unimportant | |
| Takes me a long time to do | |||
| Doesn’t take me a long time to do |
A spontaneous result was that we all agreed that ‘unimportant’ wasn’t such a helpful word to use and that ‘less important’ was much better as the former suggests ‘unvalued’ tasks.
One colleague highlighted how people sometimes use a bullet point key or personal system with their lists that convey different categories of the types of tasks they have to do. This made me think of the set of personal icons that I use when reading, marked down a column of text in the margin to give me a visual cue of the value of the textual content. This contribution from my colleague further highlighted the creative ways that students can develop the time management model for themselves, once introduced to the possibilities and encouraged to consider new possibilities, unique and relevant to what they need.
This feedback, together with feedback below, pointed to the importance of student participation in designing the model and falls in line with Freirean pedagogy, as the time management model becomes a co-creation, where the tutor can facilitate as the student guides the design.
colour options – and colourblind people
Colleagues wanted to explore the social semiotics of the colours, which I had considered a relevant discussion. One liked the idea of a traffic light system to inform the meaning of each quadrant, which meant partly sticking to the primary colours of the Eisenhower matrix.
Significantly, others thought there was merit in students making their own selection, individualising the matrix to their tastes and preferences.
I was taken aback that I hadn’t considered a colour palette relevant to colour blind people and was pleased to hear this suggestion from a colleague, who gave me a link to explore a digital range of possibilities.
digitalise it to assist further personalisation
An unexpected outcome of the feedback was the suggestion to explore digitalising the time management model, to further increase possibilities of the student personalising or customization.
Summary of Findings from Staff Colleagues
-change the label ‘unimportant’ to ‘less important’
-used the phrase ‘takes me a long time to do’ to personalise it
-adapt the time management model WITH the student to reflect their choices/needs
-consider digitalising the time management model to increase a range of choices to enhance personalisation
Initial findings from early exploration of topic – student anecdote
Organising my Time/Sections
‘During the process of writing my thesis I became very overwhelmed with organising my chapters, I had lots of different sections to consider writing up and couldn’t organise my time very clearly. The quadrant was a tool recommended by my support tutor Denise. I decided to put each chapter of my dissertation on a post it notes and placed them within the different categories:
- Quadrant 1: Urgent and important
- Quadrant 2: Not urgent yet important
- Quadrant 3: Urgent but not important
- Quadrant 4: Not urgent and not important
This task really helped me to prioritise the tasks that needed to be completed. Moving them from being not important to important. It almost felt like a reward system as I could see the tasks that I achieved and what sections I needed to work on in more detail. This also made me feel like I was making progress with my writing.
Moving forward I will try to colour code the different tasks possibly on the post it notes, this could possibly make me feel a bit more organised’.
References
Bryman, A. (2015). Social Research Methods (5th ed.). Oxford University Press
Convenience Sampling: Definition, Method and Examples. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/convenience-sampling.html (accessed 29.10.2023)
Riet, M. and Boettiger M. (2009) Shifting Research Dynamics: Addressing Power and Maximising Participation through Participatory Research Techniques in Participatory Research. South African Journal of Psychology. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/008124630903900101?journalCode=sapc (accessed 28.10.2023)
Simkus, J. (2023) Psychology: Research Methodology. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/convenience-sampling.html (accessed 28.10.2023)