TPC 12 - Reading, Viewing, and Listening (Research II)

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

• determine when original research may be needed and devise strategies to conduct it
• gather, analyse, organize, and make effective use of primary source information with reference to purpose and intended audience
• select and use systematic print and electronic methods to compile and store information and ideas

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Challenge students to create needs inventories to plan for a community centre that will serve the wants and needs of the diverse cultural groups in the local community (e.g., new immigrants, the elderly). Emphasize the need for primary source information (e.g., eliciting actual community views). Have students identify other situations in which primary source information may be required (e.g., writing the oral history of a local First Nations people to further land-claim negotiations).
• Have the class brainstorm strategies for conducting original research (e.g., participant observation, interviews, polling, controlled experiments, field work data, field notes).
• Invite students to work in groups to poll the population of their school on issues of concern or interest (e.g., smoking around school, dress code) by:
  • creating surveys
  • revising and finalizing their surveys - with the best questions from all groups being used to make up a class list and being reviewed for cultural sensitivity and other forms of audience appropriateness
  • conducting the surveys and tabulating the data
  • interpreting and reporting on results (e.g., in graphic form)
  Ask students to create written descriptions of the methods they followed. Relate this activity to original research activities that occur in various technical and professional settings.
• Ask students to create organized inventories of personal collections (e.g., CDs, recipes), using electronic databases or paper files and explaining their organization.
• Have students maintain organized portfolios (e.g., alphabetical, chronological, or subject-based organization) of materials related to this course. Periodically request specific materials of students and have them reassess the effectiveness of their organizational systems.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

• To check on students' awareness of when primary research is required, have individuals or pairs of students each propose a research issue or inquiry question for a quiz. Have their classmates record:
  • whether original research is needed or secondary sources are appropriate
  • examples of appropriate techniques (if original) or sources (if secondary)
• When students plan polling or survey activities, look for evidence that their data-collection plans are clearly thought out, complete, feasible, and appropriate for the analyses planned. A survey plan should include:
  • the inquiry or research question
  • the planned analysis techniques
  • definition of the population of interest
  • data requirements (e.g., sample size required; type of codes anticipated)
  • resources required or available (e.g., interviewers, data processors, software)
• Collaborate with students to establish criteria such as the following for an effective survey or interview schedule:
  • initial questions are easy and straightforward
  • all questions contribute to the purpose
  • instructions are clear and are repeated as needed
  • response format is easy to understand and use
  • questions are clear; respondents do not have to guess or infer
  • response format provides relevant and usable data
  • format is organized for ease of coding and data processing
• In the process of conducting and analysing survey data, students should demonstrate that they have:
  • field tested the questions and instructions and revised them accordingly
  • maintained careful records and quality control of the data collection (interviewing)
  • processed and analysed the data accurately, using appropriate software
  • summarized and interpreted the results logically, with specific reference to patterns and statistical results

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

• Canadian Writer's Companion
• The Communications Handbook
• Effective Technical Communication
• Guidelines for Report Writing
• Impact
• Information Systems
• Speaking for Success
• Speaking Our Minds
• Technical Writing: Situations and Strategies
• Technically-Write!
• Tools For Technical and Professional Communication

• Extraordinary Answers to Common Interview Questions
• More Bloody Meetings

• Making Movies on Your PC
• Technical Writing, Sixth Edition

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