Research into the benefits or disadvantages of online courses for students and the impact of these types of courses on newly qualified teachers accord

‘The root problem in all fields is that the majority of human kind was ‘excluded from education and the making of knowledge and the dominant few not only defined themselves as the inclusive kind of human, but also as the norm and the ideal…Their notion of who was human was both exclusive and hierarchical’(Patton,1990).

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My area of research is related to online and distance learning courses for teachers new to the profession. I will be looking at participation of the students on these courses and how and what the advantages are and indeed benefits are to certain groups of learners involved. There are clear routes now established to training over distance that have emerged over the last few years and I would like to review various sources of quantitative and qualitative data to answer and establish some voice to the different students involved in the training. I am keen to identify the learner’s journey on distance learning courses and to evaluate quantitative data that is available to me along with various case studies that are linked to my topic area in order to give a voice to the different groups engaged in this form of learning. Barr and Tagg (1995) encapsulated the emergence of the distance learning paradigm in the ‘Change’ Magazine article when they wrote; “A paradigm shift is taking hold in American higher education. In its briefest form, the paradigm that has governed our colleges is this: A college is an institution that exists to provide instruction. Subtly but profoundly we are shifting to a new paradigm: A college is an institution that exists to produce learning. This shift changes everything. It is both needed and wanted (Robert and Tagg, 1995). Kelly (2015) in his article on the distance learning paradigm further explores the unique nature of my chosen topic area and expands using various arguments that the distance learning paradigm is both a necessity and a requirement of learners these days (Kelly, 2015). I will endeavour to try though my research based activities related to this topic area give a voice to those involved in the process of engaging with learning over distance and hopefully show or discover individual unique voices within the context of this research and the chosen topic area.

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My proposed methods of research are based upon an evaluation of a quantitative data set via a student survey related to student’s perception of the online teacher training courses they are engaged with. I also want to consider through qualitative data sets, case studies and other theory that offers a perspective and feedback to the learner’s position within the context of the learning paradigm. Giving the students a voice as to their thoughts and feelings on the type of training over distance and how each group of learners added to and interacted with the processes involved. This is both a top down and bottom up approach to research but I wanted to see if any triangulation would occur between the two data sets that of a ‘Likert Scale’ (McLeod, 2008) survey and a more theoretical and reflective response to the learners journey involving various case study information. This method of research will allow me to identify any emerging narratives between the different groups involved in the learning and to also gauge what mental pictures could emerge from the research. I am familiar with mixed method approach to research and triangulation of various primary and secondary sources to make arguments for research done via dissertations and my PGCE in service. I am also familiar with assessing learners at Level 5 and above further to my work on teacher training programmes for the last ten years. This mixed method approach has become pretty standard nowadays and something that is expected as the norm in academic departments in Universities in the UK and the USA (Write.com, 2016).

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In this work however I would like to look beyond the mixed method approach and focus instead on methods that I am more unfamiliar with especially continental research methods that I think will eventually lead me to ‘Kant’ and transcendental methods of research. James Arthur et al in their work, ‘Research Methods and Methodologies in Education’ in a note on mixed methods research suggest that the aspect of the research paradigm is very much a UK and USA based perspective of research? They also go onto say that in the continental tradition of research there is a stronger emphasis on explanation and understanding as two completely different approaches to social and behavioural research. ‘Kants’ awareness’s I believe are intrinsic to this view point and I would like to investigate the links between Kant’s exposition and that of the continental arguments that have been prevalent since the 1950’s (Arthur et al, 2012). In No?l’s (2016) paper ‘Promoting an emancipatory research paradigm in Design Education and Practice’ delivered to ?the ‘Design Research Societies’ 50th Conference in Brighton ‘circa’ 2016, Noel’s presented the ‘emancipatory’ research method to all concerned as to raise awareness and an understanding of the design of resources for the ‘other’ 90% of those requiring an education? This being the rest of the world populations with ‘privileged researchers’ being targeted for marginalising whole swathes of world communities due to their elitism? (Noel, 2016, p.2.) Her main focus being the marginalised, disabled and those with ethnic and minority background status this forming the ‘emancipatory’ research paradigm. Further in her paper she expands on the particular paradigm and suggests that, ‘It is seen as a process of producing knowledge that can be of benefit to disadvantaged people and its key aim is to empower its research subjects’(Noel 2016, p.3.).

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What Noel (2016) does through her paper is give us an understanding of the concept of ‘emancipatory research’ and how the paradigm can be respected for exactly what it is to further and reduce the emancipation of human beings in the 21st Century, the setting free of people and the acknowledgment of these people by the elite. Looking at this paradigm it does seem to fit into the ‘Aesthetic’ category of research and as Saunders is quoted in the book, ‘Research Methods and Methodologies in Education’, ‘Research with this kind of aim attempts to express, affirm or represent human experience, to engage, surprise, attract, shock, delight, connect the unconnected, stir the memory and fertilise the unconscious’, or to communicate something ultimately unsayable’ (Arthur et al 2012, p.9.).?

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Maslow (1998) in his work ‘Maslow on management’ touches on a similar aspect of elitism and dogma associated with those working in empirical research fields such as scientists?who by the very nature of their work and positions align themselves with something greater than themselves in order to be perceived as important and self realised (Maslow, 1998). A part of my research project is to also consider the fact of why some learners prefer to actually anonymise their learning by not aligning themselves with recognised and established establishments but rather to work through private and relatively unknown methods of study and in a very andragogic and self directed way. In this way they are essentially working further to Maslow’s (1985) hypothesis of those not needing validation by being connected to something greater than themselves and actually achieving some form of self realisation through other means that are more intrinsic in nature and Taoist in approach (Maslow, 1985 p.14).

Some possible limitations involved in the research could be that the triangulation between the quantitative data sets and the qualitative theory could be difficult to assimilate and to get a clear and objective viewpoint from. It could be that further case studies will need to be relied on to support each group of learners and to really get the answers required for each group involved in the research. I also think the depth of research cannot really go into proper detail on personality types and student demographics to the extent that some data analysis could be rather polarised in some respects and not offer an accurate picture of the actual groups involved. The quantitative data will allow a basic overview of how the type of learning was received and experienced but the theory based data will have to be reviewed on a completely different basis to gauge its accuracy and relevance to the research and this could be time consuming to achieve the feedback required. I think direct questioning across a wider range of students would help to evaluate and prove this research better but it is beyond the scope of this assignment due to the costs and logistics involved in having to work across various institutions and organisations to get a more reliable snapshot of opinions per group. However using the research methodologies outlined I am looking at this research from an emancipatory viewpoint and more interested in a small focused snapshot of learner’s experiences rather than a full scale research exercise of determining if distance learning is viable, useful or valid for this type of training. So on that basis I feel that given the parameters I am working within then the data sets involved and groups associated will be enough for me to utilise this research method and come up with some valuable insights into to my chosen topic area and help me to answer my question. Auditing of various information’s related to the research could also be time consuming for this research project in Brymans (2012) work ‘Social Research Methods’ he refers to dependability and that (Lincoln and Guba, 1985) propose that to establish trust worthiness researchers should adopt and auditing approach to ensure that all records and phases of the research processes are documented to ensure that theoretical inferences could be validated properly (Bryman 2012, p.392).

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“Traditionally risk in universities has been seen in terms of threats from physical work and from accidents on campus; academic and research staff have not been ‘risk assessed’ in relation to social research activity. Notions about academic work as a pen-pushing middle class pursuit contribute to the under-recognition of the risks of social research” (Lee-Treweek & Linkogle, 2000b:201).

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Risks attached to the surveys and questionnaires have to be considered as user data is collected in-regards to the survey and any references to the persons involved in the case studies has to be further anonymised to minimise risk for those taking part. Data Protection is a major consideration these days so those involved in the collection of the data and the respondents need to be informed that no data with any personal details will be held on record or stored in any other form (National Archives 2016). Ethics surrounding confidentiality have to be taken very seriously these days and most research projects of this type need to be aware of this especially surrounding anonymity if that is what is being proposed by the researchers. It could be that for some projects an ethics committee has to be established to review the risks to all involved in the survey and also to evaluate the risks to researchers. It is argued by Dickson-Swift et al in their (2008) work ‘Managing risks and ethics in research’ that very little recognition of the risks attached to researchers and those involved in sensitive areas of data collection especially those?working in field studies (Dickson-Swift, et al,. 2008).

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In his work ‘Information Technology Research Ethics’ Elgesem (2007) suggests that ‘research is sometimes restricted because the risk to research subjects is unacceptably high or because their integrity would be violated by the research’(Elgesem 2007 p.356). So the accessing by users to online systems to populate online questionnaires and surveys has to be reviewed and restricted in some cases via ethics committees to ensure that no access to those can be giving data can be made. This is increasingly difficult in our online age when each user if they access a web page leaves a data link to their location via their very own ‘IP’ address (Internet society 2016). Elgesem (2007) goes on further to refer to Bruckman’s (2002) guidelines on using online surveys and information and these consist of a series of points as below;

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1.??????It is officially, publicly archived. 2. No password is required for archive access. 3. No site policy prohibits it. 4. The topic is not highly sensitive. For everything else not covered by 1, you typically need consent (Bruckman 2002, p. 1).

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In my case as no observational surveys are being made or field visits then I do not have to carry out any form of associated risk assessment as my main focus will be taken from live and controlled data sets and case studies that I will interpret accordingly further to my research topic. This method of research will be a lot less time consuming than observational trials and surveys and will allow me to dedicate more time to my research than with other methods. However the fact that I am approaching this from a top down and bottom up approach the time involved will be greatly added to due to this mixed method research profile and I have to consider the time frames for the analysis of qualitative theory and case studies when embarking on my research project.

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Explanation and Understanding of the survey results.

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The quantitative research data was taken between 2010 and 2016 on a regular basis when students exited the teacher training programmes as newly qualified teachers. The ‘Likert’ scale closed questions had a sliding scale of 1-5 attached to the questions and the student could suggest from one being the lowest score how they felt about each question. The data has been kept as a record of exit from the teacher training programmes as a matter of course and the questions in total have been twelve to date. The questions ranged from IAG (Information and Guidance) questions to how they felt about the course resources and ‘modus operandi’ of the company’s online delivery model. There was an option for the teachers to add their name and date the form but this wasn’t a requirement and optional. Some new teachers did offer a signature and date as a matter of proof that they had engaged with the survey but others ignored this formality and gave their full name and the date instead. The majority of teachers surveyed completed the questionnaire by adding their details in one form or another.?As I wanted to look a variety of ethnographic groups within the research and would like to analyse the data according to different demographic sub sets I inputted the data into a spreadsheet so that I could start my analysis of the data according to each sub set categories such as, age, sex, nationality etc. Once all the data was collected I could then start to draw some conclusions from the figures produced and start to generate some theory responses from the results. I installed a trial version of IBM’s SPSS a tool to present and analyse my survey results but I found that the data I had collected from my survey was not really complex enough to be fed into this type of system and didn’t warrant the related analysis via its functions (IBM, 2016).

Instead I relied on Excel as a tool and crunched the numbers into a spreadsheet whilst this was time consuming it gave me the numeric values I required to then create a theory narrative from the closed questions and the ‘Likert scale’ established review that I had set the students to complete. Another reason for this approach was the fact that I wasn’t necessarily looking for trends in the data over time so no need for a complex approach using data analysis software (Microsoft, 2016). The coding involved in the closed questions is also a lot easier to process according to Bryman (2012) who suggests that ‘the appropriate code can then be almost mechanically derived from the selected answer of the respondent’?(Bryman 2012 p.248). So on this basis I started to ‘crunch’ the numbers from the students to gather the theory narrative I was after. The population of the students surveyed was that 55% of those surveyed had been female and 10% of the students had been foreign or not born in the UK. 55% of the students had also been within the age range of between 30-50 years old and the remaining age of the students was between 19 and 30 years old. One interesting fact of the survey was that the SPOC survey utilised had two questions related to the venue and the facilities and even though the students had been engaged on the distance learning programme some students had answered the venue question that has been omitted on this survey analysis. Some students marked the form with the fact that this wasn’t applicable to them as they are on a distance learning programme. I have kept in the question in-regards to the venues facilities as a question related to the Moodle LMS that had been used for the training as I thought this question was still relevant to a distance learning study and that the facilities could be related to the online resources as such or other aspects of the course and delivery mechanisms (Moodle, 2016).

Obviously with some of the students not completing the facilities question it did score the lowest in the survey but it was very interesting that some of the students attached a value to this question and that they had interpreted it in a similar way to I have in this research. The highest value in the survey was in relation to the course benefiting the students and as a course that attracts a compulsory licence to be able to teach in the UK then again this was a given in that once the students had been awarded their certificate then the course is a great value to them and their career so again this was an obvious ‘spike’ in the survey. Another interesting high scoring question was the fact that the course met the students requirements again the distance learning program is specifically designed for access to materials outside of the normal parameters of conventional study and one of the reasons why students sign up for these particular courses so again this was an expected high scoring response give the nature of the study. The assessment side of the course featured high in the feedback and this was a very positive indicator to suggest that the assessment regime established by the tutors involved was working well and that the fair assessment policy the tutors had been following was tuned to all those involved in the courses including the foreign students engaged on the course. This also was mirrored in similar high ranking response in-regards to whether the student’s enquiries and questions had been dealt with adequately so again this was quite accurate as it ranked in line with the previous high scoring survey response.

On the spreadsheet involved to gather and analyse the data and to give a further indicator I colour coded the text from 1-4 in a green font and then the mid way point question ‘5’ in amber so a traffic light scenario developed just so that I could visualise the higher and lower outcomes. The mid way response was in-regards to IAG (Information and Guidance) at the start of the course so again given the previous responses and importance to the students this was again an estimated response in the survey as a key indicator and one that was quite valuable as again it indicated that the initial assessment of the students and the procedures to deal with them at the start of the course was working well and flagged up by the students accordingly. Getting into the negative values on the survey the response by the tutors as to whether they had been helpful and supportive was picked up just below the half way point again this could have been higher but in the scheme of the survey and given the importance of the previous questions to the students I would say that this wasn’t necessarily a negative indicator it was just a response that had ranked in the importance and order of the questions for the students, so I don’t think it indicated a problem in the survey. Whereas if it had featured any lower in the survey then it could have been a cause for concern due to the importance of what was required from the tutors involved. .

The next question dealt with access to staff and resources outside of the programme time, whereas this is a traditional question for classroom based courses it still was applicable and featured on the negative side of the traffic light scale and at ‘7’ it is a cause for concern as it shows that irrespective of the Moodle LMS being available 24/7 the students still needed more contact with staff outside of the normal working hours that is somewhat impractical especially given the hours from 8pm onwards, but it was a potential indicator of when the studying was occurring and quite late on in the day. But then most of the students have full time work and the majority of their study time will be based around unsociable hours so if the support is not dedicated in this time then this would explain why the feedback was negative in this respect. Another cause for concern was the next question in-regards to access to guidance for progression at the end of the program, this indicates that the students wanted to make the progression but didn’t have the contact to promote this activity. Again something that could have been improved as this is important for those students entering their studies on entry level teacher training courses. At question ‘9’ relating to handouts and exercises provided for the students to engage with this showed quite a negative response, that tied in with the question at ‘10’ concerning delivery models? Clearly this indicates that this form of learning whilst a positive response on the assessment and requirements of the programme being valuable the delivery model pedagogy involved was not in all cases suitable for the student teachers involved. This does tend to indicate the teachers reliance on traditional teaching methods and the need for classroom interaction based upon their previous experiences but also does offer some interesting insights into ‘andragogy’ and the options of self directed learning are not always the right options for students. Again whilst this was the lowest scoring question next to the facilities question it indicative of how student teachers want to learn and whilst the convenience of the Moodle LMS is what they prefer the balance between that and an augmented classroom activity at some point would be preferred. So whilst distance learning does provide a viable option for new teachers in reality there are still some drawbacks to this style of learning and engagement that need to be refined by all concerned in the delivery model.

Further to this I wanted to augment the survey with some research on associated case studies and qualitative data that is held from the student feedback from the teacher training courses. This is in form of open questions given on feedback forms and this is something I wanted to look at to further develop a student narrative and give voice to the proceedings something that can’t always be done with quantitative research surveys. This would give me a top down and bottom up approach to my research and help me look further at the ethnographic groupings to see if there is any response that can add to the overall picture of the research profile of those involved in the training. In Bryman’s (2021) work on qualitative analysis, (Bryman 2012, p.565), Miles (1979) states that qualitative data is an attractive nuisance due to its richness and the analytical paths through this richness can be confusing to the research, how do you start for example??I decided that I wanted to engage with some form of narrative analysis to gain the voice from the case studies and to feed into my research so I can gain further deeper understanding of the student’s journey. The open question that prompted the student response was, ‘are there any changes you would recommend’.

Amanda a mature female student quite simply put that, ‘an open chat would have been better indicating that she would have preferred to talk more openly with her tutor whilst on the course rather than go through the deliver protocols involved. This includes having to book time to engage in a tutorial with the tutors on the course and also to not being able to talk casually to any of the tutor’s down to the delivery model. Again a very good point given the type of delivery model and the fact that you cannot just ‘bump’ into your tutor and have a causal chat about any part of your assignment or course. Louise a younger student wrote that she appreciated the constant support and this was worth its weight in gold to her due to her very hectic schedule. Peter a mature student working in Serbia suggested that the course and style of learning was very different to what he was used to but that even thought it was steep learning curve you still needed enormous amounts of self motivation and even though this is difficult with remote working he appreciated the support when he needed it that was invaluable so another key point made here and what is required from both students and tutors on this type of course.

Alison a mature trainer working in the public sector said that the course had improved her confidence as to what she could achieve and the fact that it inspired her to make learning for adults more rewarding. Sarah a new teacher and young student whilst enjoying her first ever online course experience and irrespective of everything being supportive for her she felt that after the experience she would prefer a more classroom based approach for her next course. ?Jane another mature female student suggested that she didn’t like to be so isolated in her studies and that verbal communication when needed would have been helpful as she tended to contextualise her responses from her own specialism and she would have liked some more input from the tutors to assimilate some different viewpoints. Jennifer a new and young female teacher had a positive experience with her first online course but did find the Moodle LMS slightly confusing but this is common in a lot of students new to that system. Her conclusion was that she would consider this form of learning again as it helped to fit around her work and home life really well. Peter a professional and mature manager and trainer said that the course had helped him develop new tools that would help him push forward in his career. He also stated that the course had challenged his abilities and that he liked that aspect of the course. George a mature a professional business manager working with a large corporate said that he enjoyed the access when travelling around hotels during his work and he thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the course. Overall he thought the course constructive and that it would help him in his teacher career in the future. Ashlyn a young female teacher thought that more interactive video content should be provided to help the delivery model. Veena a young foreign teacher said that she found the whole process confusing and found it hard to differentiate the course information from the student assignments and briefs. Veena was the only foreign student from the entire audience of teachers that commented on the question. The majority of the male students liked the challenge and appreciated the form of learning whilst the most vocal and critical had been the younger female teachers who all favoured the communications being improved and the chance to talk more with the tutors and when they required it. Whereas no male response indicated that this was a preference they would like to option rather as long as they could find a route through the learning they appreciated the mode of delivery that was involved.

Research material and links

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Miles, M.B. (1979) Qualitative Data as an Attractive Nuisance. Administrate Science Quarterly, 24: 590-601

Moodle (2016) [Internet] https://moodle.org/ [Date accessed 21st November 2016]

Microsoft Excel (2016) [Internet] https://products.office.com/en-gb/excel [Date accessed 21st November 2016]

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Maslow, A.H. (1985) Maslow on management, New York: John Wiley and Sons Inc

Bruckman, A. 2002. Ethical guidelines for research online. Retrieved June 18, 2005 from [Internet] https://www.cc.gatech.edu/～asb/ethics/.

Internet Society (2016) IP Addressing [Internet] https://www.internetsociety.org/ip-addressing?gclid=CjwKEAiA6rrBBRDsrLGM4uTPkWASJADnWZQ4Na4Qzf8oHsE0xWJX56zCB3ZmFx7imGTpIqVK7mWeWxoCwIvw_wcB [Date accessed 18th November 2016]

Elgesem, D. (2007) ‘Information Technology Research Ethics’, in van den Hoven, J. and Weckert, J. (eds.)?Information Technology and Moral Philosophy:. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 354–375.

Lee-Treweek, G. & Linkogle, S. (eds.) (2000). Danger in the Field: Risk and Ethics in Social Research. London: Routledge.

Dickson-Swift, V., James, E.L. and Liamputtong, P. (2008) ‘Managing risks and ethics in research’, in Undertaking Sensitive Research in the Health and Social Sciences: Managing Boundaries, Emotions and Risks. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 95–114.

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National Archives (2016) Data Protection Act 1998 [Internet] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/contents [Date accessed 18th November 2016]

Lincoln, Y.S and Guba, E (1985) Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverley Hills, CA: Sage

Alan Bryman (2012) Social Research Methods 4th Edition, New York: Oxford University Press.

McLeod, S. A. (2008). Likert Scale. [Internet] https://www.simplypsychology.org/likert-scale.html [Date accessed 18th November 2016]

Kelly, R. (2015) The Learning Paradigm in Online Courses [Internet] https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/the-learning-paradigm-in-online-courses/ [Date accessed 18th November 2016]

Barr, R.B., & Tagg, J. (1995). From teaching to learning—a new paradigm for undergraduate education.?Change,?27(6),13-25.

Gray, J.W. (2010) Ethical Realism [Internet] https://ethicalrealism.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/kants-argument-for-faith-in-god/ [Date accessed 16th October 2016]

Rudisill,P.M. (2001) 7+5=12 [Internet] https://kantwesley.com/Kant/SevenPlusFive.html?[Date accessed 16th October 2016]

No?l’s, L.A. (2016) ‘Promoting an Emancipatory Research Paradigm in Design Education and Practice’,https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55ca3eafe4b05bb65abd54ff/t/574c8f437c65e4c37e158502/1464635207294/355+Noel.pdf [Internet] [Date accessed 16th October 2016]

Arthur, J. Waring,M. Coe,R. Hedges,L. (2012) Research Methods and Methodologies in Education, London:SAGE

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KANTIAN ETHICS, (2016) https://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gaskilld/ethics/kantian%20ethics.htm [Internet] California State University [Date accessed 16th October 2016]