The following blog outlines the different documents and digital channels that participants had access to as part of the action research project. I organised documents chronologically, i.e. in the order that student parts received the information.
UAL Online Student Project Request Sheet
The UAL Online team has put in place a process whereby student partners receive a project request sheet that lets them determine if they would like to take part in a project. It includes a summary of the project, project aims, a draft schedule and commitments. It is important to note the voluntary nature of our student partner positions and the inherent choice that student partners have in participating in projects. The project request sheet was sent to all student partners in advance, to signal to them that the project would soon commence and that they would have the chance to participate. It also included information about the relevance of the project to students’ creative practices.
Digital Storytelling Project Information
Before providing their consent, student partners received a detailed project information document that outlined the action research project in further detail. This included information on how any project data, such as participant contributions, would be processes and shared. The document also outlined a number of limited potential risks and disadvantages. Through feedback received from team members, I also included a section of advantages of participating that highlighted the importance of their engagement. As the learning activity that I designed included a number of learning objectives, I also included these here.
Finally, I included ethical implications and support available for students throughout the project. You can read more about my ethical considerations in my blog on Ethical Enquiry.
Participant Consent Form
I captured participants consent in Jisc, as I wanted to use an UAL-approved platform to capture student data in a confidential and anonymous way. This also meant that student partners were able to provide their consent whenever suited them. I have included here screenshots of the final form as it appears in Jisc, including 12 short statements that I asked student partners to consent to. The form also linked back to the project information documentation as a reference.
Digital Storytelling Activity Instructions
Once student partners completed their consent form, they then received access to a set of detailed activity instructions and further information such as how to submit their contributions. I also included suggested activity timings to help them manage and complete different tasks in a supported but asynchronous way. As the activity includes several steps, I estimated that the activity would take students up to two and a half hours to complete. I decided to give students an extra half an hour to spend on any part of the activity that might take them longer to complete, or on any element that they chose to focus on. I thought it was important to limit the time student partners spent on the overall activity, creating a better environment for me to compare different contributions like for like.
It is important to highlight that student partners were able to participate in the activity without participating in the action research, i.e. participate without their data being accounted for in the research.
Storytelling structures and elements on Padlet
In student partner activity instructions, students were asked to contribute to a collective Padlet made up of a number of storytelling elements. I had included some examples as a guide and students were then able to continue adding to this, as well as comment on each others posts, like posts, and compare and contrast what others had posted. The Padlet allowed students to include relevant storytelling elements from their unique point of view, but also be inspired by others’ contributions. (The image below shows a screenshot of the Padlet and student contributions have been redacted.)
Story Map on Miro
Once student partners completed the activity on Padlet, they were able to access a ‘story map’ which I designed using Miro. The map included project instructions, a suggested timeline, and further resources one more time for easy access, and a large ‘map’ where students were able to read already published stories and spaces to publish their own. All student partners chose to publish their stories in writing, although everyone had the opportunity to publish something in a range of different media, i.e. audio, audio-visual, …
Project Evaluation Form on Jisc
Finally, I asked student partners to complete a project evaluation, which consistent of a questionnaire on Jisc. The survey asked students a range of likert-scale questions, as well as several follow-up questions to better understand why student partners had chosen specific values. The questionnaire included 14 specific questions, and one final question asking students to summarise their experience. I suggested to students to take up to 20 minutes to complete the survey and carefully consider their responses. I have included a number of screenshots from Jisc, including all evaluation questions below.
Research participants also received a number of communications via email and Teams, which I have highlighted in my final findings.