Interview questions/focus group prompts

General

As the interviews and focus groups will be conducted at the same times and have the same general purposes (namely to get detailed qualitative responses to the issues we are researching), the structures and questions below can apply to both forms of data collection. Three rough formats are provided:

one to consider using early in the course (in the first couple of weeks, after the information in the initial questionnaire has been examined);
one for possible use just over half-way through the course (just after the information from second questionnaire has been assessed); and
one for possible use at the end of the course or just after it (after the information from the final questionnaire has been assessed).

The suggestions below are only generalised and indicative. They can be altered to take account of local circumstances and investigative design, and in any case it is important that the interviews and discussion groups are used to follow up on issues and student opinions declared in the questionnaires. In addition, you may find that you can't manage to get through all the questions you want to explore in a focus group, say, in which case you could then use the interviews to cover those areas as well as some joint areas.

N.B. The questions indicated are also only 'starters', to get discussion going. You will need to follow up on the individual student responses with further questions to bring their attitudes and views in more detail. The questions also assume that you have already done some general work settling the students down with initial informal questions about how they are, how they are doing etc.

1. First set of interviews/focus groups

Issues to explore 2-3 weeks into the course. Questions concerning issues which have become clear from the administration of the first questionnaire, at the beginning of the course, will need to be added, along with others that seem important/useful.

Area 1 - General attitude to web-based work

Now that you are a couple of weeks into the course, how are you finding it?
Have you gone through the topics you have done so far in the order suggested by the menu, or have you taken your own route through the materials. Why did you adopt the ordering strategy you have used?
How do you feel about the web-based nature of the course compared with the lecture/seminar courses you are doing? Which do you prefer and why?
Has your attitude changed about doing web-based work from what you said in your first questionnaire return? If so, how and why?
From your experience so far, what do you think the advantages of web-based learning are, if any?
What do you think the disadvantages are, if any?
Have you begun to use the chat café? If so, how?
How can we have encourage students to use the chat café more?

Area 2 - Attitude to web-based workshops

Do you find working for a 50-minute period at a computer problematic or not? (follow up by asking them for the reasons behind their statement, if they do not make them clear)
Have you worked in a pair, as we suggested, or have you worked alone?
Have you always worked with the same partner or not? Why?
What are the advantages and disadvantages for you of working with a partner?
Have you found the group discussion periods in the workshop helpful or not? In what ways?
Do you have any suggestions for changing the workshop format? Should there be more or less group discussion?
We have made the workshops compulsory. If they had been voluntary, would you still have attended?

Area 3 - Attitude to course content

Thinking about the course content, rather than its mode of delivery, how interesting do you find it and why?
What areas so far have you found particularly interesting/helpful, and why?
What areas so far have you found particularly boring/unhelpful, and why?
Do you think the content relevant and appropriate?
Is the amount of material on the site OK? Can you skip some material because you are already reasonably familiar with it? If so, which parts?
Is what you are learning new, or are you going over old ground? If the latter, please specify which areas.

Area 4 - Attitude to task-based learning

Do you find going over the same kind of thing on different texts helpful (for example because it helps you practise your analytical skills) or unhelpful (for example because you get bored)?
Is the size of the various tasks appropriate for you or not? Would you prefer them to be smaller, or bigger, and why?
Does it help to have to think through your own answers to tasks before seeing ours, or would you prefer just to read 'the answers'? Why?
What should we remove from Topic1, if anything, and why? (Repeat for each topic covered so far)
What should we add to Topic1, if anything, and why? (Repeat for each topic covered so far)
Do you prefer to be told things first and then apply what you have been told in tasks, or to start from the beginning with tasks, building up your knowledge through our commentary on the tasks?

Area 5 - Attitude to being observed

Does the investigation we are carrying out affect your behaviour in any significant way? If so, how?
What advantages and/or disadvantages are there for you in being observed closely, filling in questionnaires and being interviewed?

Area 6 - General

Is there anything else that you want to say about the course so far?

2. Mid-course interviews/focus groups

Issues to explore 1-2 weeks after the administration of the second, mid-course questionnaire. Questions raised by the analysis of this questionnaire, will need to be added, along with others that seem important/useful.

Area 1 - General attitude to web-based work

Now that you have completed the poetry section of the course, how did you find the web-based mode of working overall in that section?
What aspects of the poetry section worked particularly well and did not work well?
What aspects of the part of the prose section you have covered so far has worked particularly well and what has not worked so well?
Have you gone through the topics you have done so far in the order suggested by the menu, or have you taken your own route through the materials. Why did you adopt the ordering strategy you have used?
From your experience so far, what do you think the advantages of web-based learning are, if any?
What do you think the disadvantages are, if any?
What aspects of the web-based work do you think should be changed?
How much use have you made of the chat café? In what ways?
How can we have help students to use the chat café more?

Area 2 - Attitude to web-based workshops

Do you find working for a 50-minute period at a computer problematic or not? (Follow up by asking them for the reasons behind their statement, if they do not make them clear)
Have you continued to work with a partner, as we suggested, or have you worked alone?
Did you always work with the same partner or not? Why?
What are the advantages and disadvantages for you of working with a partner?
Have you found the group discussion periods in the workshop helpful or not? In what ways?
Do you have any suggestions for changing the workshop format? Should there be more or less group discussion?
We have made the workshops compulsory. If they had been voluntary, would you still have attended?

Area 3 - Attitude to course content

Thinking about the course content, rather than its mode of delivery, how interesting did you find the poetry section and why? How interesting have you found the prose section so far, and why?
Do you think the content of the course relevant and appropriate?
Is the amount of material on the site OK? Can you skip some material because you are already reasonably familiar with it? If so, which parts?
Is what you are learning new, or are you going over old ground? If the latter, please specify which areas.

Area 4 - Attitude to task-based learning

Do you find going over the same kind of thing on different texts helpful (for example because it helps you practise your analytical skills) or unhelpful (for example because you get bored)?
Is the size of the various tasks appropriate for you or not? Would you prefer them to be smaller, or bigger, and why?
Does it help to have to think through your own answers to tasks before seeing ours, or would you prefer just to read 'the answers'? Why?
Thinking of each Topic in turn, what, if anything, should we remove, and why?
Thinking of each Topic in turn, what, if anything, should we add, and why?
Do you prefer to be told things first and then apply what you have been told in tasks, or to start from the beginning with tasks, building up your knowledge through our commentary on the tasks?

Area 5 - the poetry self-assessment mechanism

Did you work through the self-assessment mechanism at the end of the poetry section to practise the stylistic analysis of poetry? If not, why not?
If you used the self-assessment mechanism, describe in detail exactly how you used it. What did you do?
Did you use all of it? If not, why not?
Did you use it in the manner intended, or did you use it differently (give details)?
Overall, was the self-assessment mechanism useful or not (give details)?
Should it be changed in any way? If so, how?

Area 6 - General

Is there anything else that you want to say about the course so far?

3. Final interviews/focus groups

Issues to explore after the administration of the final, end-of-course questionnaire. Questions raised by the analysis of this questionnaire, will need to be added, along with others that seem important/useful. It will probably be helpful to split the interviews and discussion groups so that some take place soon after the completion of the course and others take place later, after the students have done their assessed work (to see whether the process of doing the assessment has changed their perceptions in any way).

Area 1 - General attitude to web-based work

Now that you have reached the end of the course, how did you find the web-based mode of working overall, and, in particular, in the prose and drama sections?
What aspects of the prose and drama sections have worked particularly well and what have not worked well?
From your experience so far, what do you think the advantages of web-based learning are, if any?
What do you think the disadvantages are, if any?
What aspects of the web-based work do you think should be changed?
Did you use the chat café? If so, how?
How could we have encouraged students to use the chat café more?

Area 2 - Attitude to web-based workshops

Overall, how well do you think the computer-based workshops worked (give details of advantages and disadvantages)?
Did you work with a partner, as we suggested, or did you work alone?
Have you always worked with the same partner or not? Why?
What are the advantages and disadvantages for you of working with a partner?
Have you found the group discussion periods in the workshop helpful or not? In what ways?
Do you have any suggestions for changing the workshop format? Should there be more or less group discussion?
We have made the workshops compulsory. If they had been voluntary, would you still have attended?

Area 3 - Attitude to course content

Thinking about the course content, rather than its mode of delivery, how interesting did you find the prose section and why? Thinking about the course content, rather than its mode of delivery, how interesting did you find the prose section and why?
Do you think the content of the course overall relevant and appropriate?
Was the amount of material on the site OK? Could you skip some material because you were already reasonably familiar with it? If so, which parts?

Area 4 - Attitude to task-based learning

Did you find going over the same kind of thing on different texts helpful (for example because it helped you to practise your analytical skills) or unhelpful (for example because you got bored)?
Was the size of the various tasks appropriate for you or not? Would you have preferred them to be smaller, or bigger, and why?
Did it help to have to think through your own answers to tasks before seeing ours, or would you have preferred just to read 'the answers'? Why?
Thinking of each Topic in turn, what, if anything, should we remove, and why?
Thinking of each Topic in turn, what, if anything, should we add, and why?
Do you prefer to be told things first and then apply what you have been told in tasks, or to start from the beginning with tasks, building up your knowledge through our commentary on the tasks?
How could we have made the web-based course more interesting for you?

Area 5 - How the web-site was used in preparation for assessment

Did you use the site to help you prepare for your coursework assessment? If so, how?
How helpful was it for this purpose, and how?
Did you use the site to help you prepare for your examination? If so, how?
How helpful was it for this purpose, and how?
How many of the self-assessment mechanisms did you work through, and why?
If you used the self-assessment mechanisms, describe in detail exactly how you used each one. What did you do?
Did you use them in the manner intended, or differently (give details)?
Overall, were the self-assessment mechanisms useful or not (give details)?
Should they be changed in any way? If so, how?

Area 6 - General

If you were advising next year's students on how to get the best out of the course, what would you suggest to them (please give as much detail as possible on every aspect you can think of)?
Which things on the website did you find the most helpful and why (topics, different kinds of activities etc)?
Did you find the course handbook helpful? Do you have any suggestions for improving the course handbook?
Is there anything else that you want to say about the course that we have not covered?

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