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Algoma Reads as a Research Project8/23/2017 Algoma Reads Blog Archive 2017Hello everyone! For this week’s blog post, I would like to look more closely at the academic side of Algoma Reads. This course is both a community and an academic project, meaning that there are different aspects to both of these components of the project. The last few posts have been spent in discussing how this course is reaching out into the community in order to get as many people involved as possible. This post however, will look more at Algoma Reads as a research project.
As this course is being offered for the first time in the fall, there are many things that need to be observed and studied in order to make changes for up and coming years if the program is to continue. Think of the first run of this course as the pilot episode of a TV show – feedback is required in order to make any adjustments that will ensure the project is achieving its goals. The same is true with this course, or any new course for that matter. In order to do this, a large variety of data must be collected and analyzed. Part of what must be considered in doing this, is the ethics of the research project. If anyone has completed the TCPS 2 Core training, you will know the importance of proper data collection and storage. You must be careful in collecting data from individuals because they have to be fully aware of what your intent is with the information they are providing you before they consent. For example, a part of the course will likely consist of students keeping journals. In the journal they can include things like:
The ethics of the research project must be maintained if it is to be taken seriously. We must also be careful with the kinds of questions we ask and how we word them to get the sort of answers we want. We have to ensure that we don’t ask questions that may be damaging to the course or the school as a whole. For example; it would be improper to ask something like: Who was your least favourite speaker at the public lectures? Not only could this harm that speaker’s reputation, but it is also entirely unethical to ask this question. A better way to phrase the question would be something like: Which public lecture was your favourite? Which was your least favourite? Then you are keeping the speaker out of the equation and simply asking questions about the lecture and how it could be improved for coming years. The ethics of the project is simply one of the issues we must consider as we study the project’s efficacy. In order for the study to be successful, we also have to trust that the students will give honest answers to things like questionnaires and interviews, which is why it is helpful to have student volunteers as students are more likely to open up to other students, rather than a figure of authority. This, though, is an easy fix with the hire of student assistants and volunteers. While there are many hoops to jump through in order to create a successful research project, the project has started smoothly because much data collection is built into social media platforms and that data is already helping us to assess community involvement thus far. We hope that the project will provide insightful feedback to make future Algoma Reads courses meaningful, popular, accessible, and an excellent learning experience for all. As always, thank you for stopping by and be sure to check us out on Instagram @AlgomaReads and on Facebook. Written by: Hailey Buckley Comments are closed.
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