Category: Paul McAfee

Excel & Word for qualitative data analysis

6/16/2019

I have continued to experiment with the use of MS Excel and Word to analyze qualitative date -- in this case, interview data for my PhD dissertation. The method described by Ose (2016) is amazing, although it has a few disadvantages.

Disadvantages include having online one major code for each interviewee quote. In my spreadsheet, I have an additional column for a secondary code, but I do not include that column when going through Ose's (2016) steps to convert the Excel file for Word. I use the added column as a reference as I work with the Word file during my secondary coding, categorizing, and creation of themes.

If you use her method as described in her paper, you will need to enlarge the Figure 10 and 11 screen shots. The concatenation instructions are complex, but trust what she writes, and pay special attention to the following on page 9:
F1 cell: =CONCATENATE(D1;"(";A1;"_";B1;"_";C1;")")
The "_" underscore symbols represent spaces, not use of the symbol, and in my instance of Excel, the semicolons were commas when I used the Function feature to create this string.

This is what the formula looks like in my file:
=CONCATENATE(D1,"(",A1," ",B1," ",C1,")")

The screen shot below is Ose's (2016) Figure 6 image on page 9. Keep in mind that there are additional "Text" boxes that aren't visible in this image.

Reference
Ose, S. O. (2016). Using Excel and Word to Structure Qualitative Data. Journal of Applied Social Science, 10(2), 147–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/1936724416664948

#dataanalysis #qualitativedata #interviewdata

0 Comments

Analyzing qualitative data - excel & word (QDA)

6/2/2019

0 Comments

I have struggled to find the best way to compile and structure my interview data for analysis. The analytic methods will follow the direction provided by Saldaña (2015, pp. 14-15). These methods will include transcription of the recorded interviews, coding the transcribed data, categorizing the data, and developing themes and concepts. See Figure 3 below from Saldaña (2015, p. 14) for a graphic illustration of the process. The written report on the data will follow the recommendations of Saldaña (2015) and Seidman (2013). See the first figure below. This shows the process of developing categories and themes following coding of the interview data.

The challenge is in the process of finding an efficient method to analyze as many as 38 interviews, comprising first and second interviews from 19 participants. For researchers with similar challenges, I am sharing an article by Solveig Ose (2016) that provides a process to convert the MS Word transcripts of the interviews into tables in Excel for coding and analysis. See the second figure below. This is an illustration of the data copied from Word to Excel. This is part of the qualitative data analysis (QDA) process.

Figure 1. A model for moving from data through codes to themes and theories (Saldaña, 2015, p. 14).

Figure 2. Example of transcribed text in Excel (Ose, 2016, p. 5).

Ose, S. O. (2016). Using Excel and Word to Structure Qualitative Data. Journal of Applied Social Science, 10(2), 147–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/1936724416664948

Saldaña, J. (2015). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (Third ed.): Sage.

0 Comments

Interview Highlights

5/23/2019

0 Comments

Following are highlight quotes from my experiential learning research interviews.

Instructor
Talking about the comments in student evaluations of the course at the end of a semester:

"I always have a student or two who are like, 'She didn't teach anything. We just discussed things in small groups. Why do I pay to have discussion?'"

I'll add to this list as work through my analysis.

0 Comments

Writing my Experiential Learning Dissertation

4/22/2019

0 Comments

The research for my PhD dissertation is almost complete. The analysis starts in one week, along with starting to write. The research subject and questions are:

Exploring definitions and perceived value of experiential learning at an American university in Asia.

1) What definitions of experiential learning are expressed by students, faculty, and administrators?

2) Within a classroom learning context, how do participants describe teaching and learning related to experiential learning? Specifically, how do:

a. students describe their own classroom experiences with experiential learning?

b. instructors describe their experiences with experiential learning?

c. administrators describe their understandings of the ways in which instructors and students experience and engage in experiential learning?

3) What value, if any, do students, faculty, and administrators ascribe to experiential learning?

During this research, which involved interviews of students, instructors, and academic administrators, I was impressed by the insights and thoughtfulness of many of the students. Interview questions included asking about the value of experiential learning, its challenges, and definitions from the students' perspectives. Here is one student's statement of value:

"I think it enables me to ... be more adaptable. Yeah, because it puts me in a situation likes there's no predictability. I have no idea what I'm going to face next. So it keeps me on my toes ... enables me to think fast and be more ... malleable, yeah."

Here is another quote from a student who is defining experiential learning:

"I think experiential learning is ... a more active form of learning ... it doesn’t involve just like the lectures and the spoon-feeding that most Asian education systems are like ... Asian education system is ... it’s very common to have the lecture style of teaching in Asian schools, but I feel that the program [I am in now] is more of interactive ... We did class group projects and discussions in class. So it’s more about like an active engagement in the content that we’re learning. It’s not simply just memorizing from the textbooks. So I feel that yeah, it’s like we get to interact first hand with practicalities of the content that we’re learning."

Several students identified social loafers among the challenges of experiential learning. For example:

"I guess one of those would be social loafer where people do not put in as much effort as you do, and perhaps also the level of motivation, because maybe some people are not as motivated to accomplish this task."

There is so much more. For the next two months, I will be analyzing the interview data to code and categorize the interviews, and then to identify themes. Listening to the students during the interviews was a treat. I look forward to revisiting the interview transcripts and the recordings to conduct the analysis. More updates will follow.

Image reference
Bergsteiner, H., et al. (2010). "Kolb's experiential learning model: critique from a modelling perspective." Studies in Continuing Education 32(1): 29-46.

0 Comments

Interested in Teaching Online?

1/18/2019

0 Comments

For my fellow educators who are interested in teaching online, I am sharing a free online course from the State University of New York (SUNY). I'll see you there. This is the content of the email I received:

Colleagues,

We will be offering an informational webinar on January 31st at noon providing a brief overview of Interested in Teaching Online? - an openly-licensed self-paced online resource that is free of charge and open now to anyone interested in learning more about online teaching and learning.

Access the webinar at noon on January 31st: https://zoom.us/j/507669719

To access the resource visit: http://commons.suny.edu/interested/

For a more detailed description, check out the video overview: https://youtu.be/S3P0IwcLoqw

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Determine if you have the prerequisite skills, knowledge, attitudes, and support to be successful teaching online.

Define common terms related to online teaching and learning.
Identify core competencies needed to teach online.
Explain the value of applied effective online teaching practices.
Evaluate the benefits and affordances of teaching online.
Determine if online teaching is right for you.
Locate and participate in the Open SUNY Community of Practice.

0 Comments

amazing Students

1/5/2019

0 Comments

I've conducted my Ph.D. dissertation interviews with seven students, with one interview each for four, and two interviews for three. My methodology involves conducting two interviews about a week apart. This allows the students to receive a transcript of their first recorded interview, review it, and comment on it if they wish, prior to the second interview. That is called member checking in the methodology I am using.

More importantly, the time between interviews allow the students to reflect on their first conversation. The always expand extemporaneously on what they had previously discussed at the start of the second interview. The time allows me to review the first transcript and ask follow-up questions for clarification and to gather more information.

Interviewing these students, and then reading their transcripts has been a high-point in my brief educational career. I only started teaching in 2012, and of course I brought a lot of assumptions and baggage to the teaching process. The first reason for pursuing a Ph.D. in Education was to unpack the baggage and to learn more about teaching and learning processes.

Having just scanned a transcript of a recent interview, I decided to share some excerpts that illustrate why I am so amazed at our students. I selected these from several transcripts, so they are not from only one student. The "Q" is my question, and the "A" is the student's response. Here you go . . .

Q - How many languages do you speak?
A - Four.
Q - What are they?
A - Portuguese, Japanese, English and Spanish.

Q - [Following up on the student's explanation of experiential learning:
A - It's a lot more personal. [Same student contrasting lecture-based courses with experiential courses:] So like it or not, it will just leave us some lingering impression. We will not revisit it again.

Q - What value do these experiential learning activities hold for you?
A - Experiential learning environments . . . make me feel a lot more like I'm actually working. They give me a sense that I'm actually, uhm, maybe not contributing to an industry, but I'm getting a grasp on it in a way that I wouldn't . . . just through lectures.

There is so much more, and it will have to go into my dissertation because the students' observations need the context of the conversation. I'll return to this post as I analyze the data and add a few more comments.

Image Reference
Bergsteiner, H., Avery, G. C., & Neumann, R. (2010). Kolb's experiential learning model: critique from a modelling perspective. Studies in Continuing Education, 32(1), 29-46.

0 Comments

Early Research INterview Reflections

11/29/2018

0 Comments

This week, I started interviewing instructors and students for my Ph.D. dissertation research. I am amazed at the depth of thought that the instructors and students invest in their work. The reflections from students show real consideration for what they are learning, how they are learning it, and how they can apply their new knowledge to their lives and careers. The instructors demonstrate a sincere consideration for the quality of education they deliver, and for how they educate. I've also interviewed one administrator and I was impressed by his concern for the quality of education in the institution.

As the research progresses, I will share my insights and fresh points of learning that I gain from talking to these interviewees. For those who are interested, here are my research questions.

Research Subject: Exploring definitions and perceived value of experiential learning.

1) What definitions of experiential learning are expressed by students, faculty, and administrators?

2) Within a classroom learning context, how do participants describe teaching and learning related to experiential learning? Specifically, how do:
a. students describe their own classroom experiences with experiential learning?
b. instructors describe their experiences with experiential learning?
c. administrators describe their understandings of the ways in which instructors and students experience and engage in experiential learning?

3) What value, if any, do students, faculty, and administrators ascribe to experiential learning?

0 Comments

"Psychology’s Replication Crisis Is Running Out of Excuses" (Yong, 2018)

11/23/2018

The glass is half full.

While half of the replication attempts in this study failed, half succeeded. That is wonderful news for the researchers whose studies succeeded.
The methods of the replication attempts appear to be valid and thorough, according to the article. The replication attempts also checked for possible cultural differences.

That half of the original study results were replicable across cultures is a positive outcome, at least for the half of the studies that were confirmed.

The researchers from the unconfirmed studies can return to their methodologies to evaluate how they might improve their studies, and maybe can confirm their outcomes, or otherwise, modify their conclusions.

The article is not clear about the actual research methodologies that were evaluated. I assume the study designs were quantitative as opposed to qualitative, because qualitative studies generally may not be expected to be replicable.

The first thought that I had after "The glass is half full," was of the work by Hatch (2002) on research paradigms. Not all research can be replicated. See the illustration below.

References
Hatch, J. A. (2002). Doing qualitative research in education settings. Suny Press.
Yong, E. (2018). Psychology’s Replication Crisis Is Running Out of Excuses. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/11/psychologys-replication-crisis-real/576223/

Research Paradigms (Hatch, 2002, p. 13).

Experiential Learning in Vietnam

8/3/2018

I recently led a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on my research at a Vietnamese STEM university. I co-led a workshop on Project-Based Learning methodology. The two workshops were:

22 August
Experiential Learning Methodology Workshop with Mr. Paul McAfee

23 August
Training on "Project-Based Learning" with Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen and Mr. Paul McAfee

August 22 Experiential Learning Research

Project-Based Learning Workshop

experiential learning at a vietnamese stem university

5/11/2018

Bergsteiner et al. (2010, p. 36) schematic describing student involvement in teaching methods. The authors adapted this model from Svinicki and Dixon (1987).

I passed my Research Experience Component presentation yesterday. This clears me to deliver and defend my dissertation research proposal. One more milestone out of the way. Message me if you would like a copy of the paper.

In the illustration above, we see the four quadrants of the D. A. Kolb (1984/2015) Experiential Learning Theory cycle, with the distinction of the “student as actor” and the “student as receiver.” The two axes represent student activities, moving from a relatively passive role (student as receiver), for example, lecture analogies or descriptions, to the student acting, as in fieldwork. I find Figure 4 to be a useful tool to identify experiential learning activities because it presents the activities as continua rather than as discrete and separate. In the following table, Bergsteiner et al. (2010) created a visual framework that could be helpful in categorizing experiential learning activities and in explaining experiential learning to survey and interview participants.

Following is a video of the slides from my presentation (no audio).

Exploratory Study of Experiential Learning at a Vietnamese STEM University from Paul McAfee on Vimeo.

References

Bergsteiner, H., Avery, G. C., & Neumann, R. (2010). Kolb's experiential learning model: critique from a modelling perspective. Studies in Continuing Education, 32(1), 29-46. doi:10.1080/01580370903534355

Kolb, D. A. (1984/2015). Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development (Second ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Excel & Word for qualitative data analysis

Analyzing qualitative data - excel & word (QDA)

Interview Highlights

Writing my Experiential Learning Dissertation

Interested in Teaching Online?

amazing Students

Early Research INterview Reflections

"Psychology’s Replication Crisis Is Running Out of Excuses" (Yong, 2018)

Experiential Learning in Vietnam

experiential learning at a vietnamese stem university

Paul mcafee

Archives

Categories