This is the plan that was submitted and approved in advance of starting my action research project.
| What is your project focus? My context is the business models and planning unit (unit 5) of MA Arts & Cultural Enterprise – a course which is taught largely online and involves a ‘UK’ cohort and a Hong Kong cohort. It’s worth bearing in mind that the ‘UK’ cohort is actually a very international group with students being geographically spread from the US to the Middle East. My research will focus on the UK cohort only for this cycle. They are classed as being the ‘UK’ cohort in that they are prepared to travel to the UK to attend the 3 day face-to-face element of each unit. Unit 5 has a practical focus and narrative is an important teaching method, utilising case studies and the experiences of guest speakers to bring the content to life. I plan to trial the use of object based learning in breakout rooms to encourage narrative exchange and ‘social interactions’ in the online classroom based on the Community of Inquiry Framework (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2021). My aim is two-fold – to improve learning by increasing social interactions and also to build community within the classroom environment. My challenge is to design a task that utilises object based learning methodology but also links to course content. To date, I have found this harder to achieve in an online classroom environment in comparison to the in-person experience. I have been inspired to test object based learning in the online classroom environment following a trip to Hong Kong in September to teach, in person, with the Hong Kong cohort. I instigated an object based learning task where they were asked to work in groups, pick an everyday object out of a bag (provided by me) and use the object to come up with an idea in groups for an arts based social enterprise which can generate profit but also create societal benefit. I provided a series of prompts for them to respond to. This was inspired by the micro-teach session I ran as part of the PgCert. |
| What are you going to read about? General reading: McNiff, J. (2002)Action research for professional development. Concise advice for new action researchers. Beetham and Sharpe (2013) ‘Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age’ BERA Ethical Guidelines for Action ResearchFreire, P (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Creating community in online learning: Garrison, D.R., Anderson, T. and Archer, W. (2000) ‘Community of inquiry framework’. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity.Cambridge University Press. Swan, K. (2002). Building learning communities in online courses: the importance of interaction. Education, Communication & Information, 2(1), 23-49. Object based Learning: Willcocks, J. & Mahon, K., 2023. The potential of online object-based learning activities to support the teaching of intersectional environmentalism in art and design higher education. Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education, 22(2) Mitchell, P., & Mason, M. (2019). Object-Based Learning and Digital Curation in an Online Context: Opportunities and Challenges. In Innovations in Digital Learning (pp. 51-70) Love, B. D., & Lidwell, K. (2021). Virtual Object-Based Learning: Bringing Museum Collections to the Classroom Through Digital Technology. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 18(1), 1-13.Parry, J., & Reynolds, R. (2022). Object-Based Learning and Online Pedagogy: Virtual Engagement with Material Culture. Journal of Museum Education, 47(2), 163-176. |
| What action are you going to take in your teaching practice? Following a series of semi-structured interviews with colleagues, I am going to design an object based learning task for use in the online session in week 3 of the course (financial planning and management). My current thinking is that it will be a task designed to demonstrate how sensitivity analysis works in business. I will make sure the students understand the instructions for the task and how it links to the learning objectives for the unit. I will introduce the task in the previous week so that they are all prepared with a suitable object. |
| Who will be involved and how? In designing my research I will conduct semi-structured interviews with the following people: Yasi Tehrani, UAL Digital Learning DesignerTim Morgan, CSM MA ACE, Digital Learning TechnologistAndy Marsh, CSM MA ACE Course Leader I will then use their insights to design a suitable object based learning exercise which uses breakout rooms and fits with the curriculum of Unit 5. I teach this Unit between November and February so I will need to conduct these interviews in the next 2 weeks so that I have time to work on the design of the intervention. I will ask students to fill in a reflective questionnaire about the task once it is completed and then I will refine the exercise based on student feedback. N.B. If any of your participants/co-researchers will be under 18, please seek advice from your tutor. |
| What are the health & safety concerns, and how will you prepare for them? I can’t see any health and safety concerns besides potentially creating extra stress for students by asking them to do something which could be perceived as ‘extra work’. I will mitigate this by giving them as much advance notice as I can and briefing them sufficiently on the task plus being flexible in my approach and expectations. |
| How will you protect the data of those involved? I use a password protected laptop and will dispose of any data after the lifespan of this course. |
| How will you work with your participants in an ethical way? I will let the students know that I am undertaking my PgCert and that I am trialling the use of object based learning in the online environment. I will provide them with some background on object based learning as a teaching methodology. I will be clear about my values as a researcher which include respecting the valuable contributions that students can bring to my classroom, celebrating diversity of experiences and acting as a facilitator of knowledge rather than a teacher who simply delivers information to students. In conducting the semi-structured interviews, I will provide a consent form in advance. |