Dissertation Question Education Undertaking Educational Enquiry – F2: Draft of Ethics Application Form

Dear Writer,

So sorry for coming with aa so urgent order but tomorrow the first teacher accepted to take the interview.
I already prepare a set of interview questions for each group of teachers, parents, and students. The last group will take the question interview after keeping a dairy notebooks for 2 weeks.

The questions are related to the topic and our goal investigation, as you are already familiar with.
I would like to have your opinion, too. Please could I ask for your opinion to write a couple of questions to be addressed to teachers and parents only for this dissertation project? Not for students yet.

Please, check these if necessary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsAUNs-IoSQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRL4PF2u9XA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t-_hYjAKww

Thank YOU very much!
PS: Do not mind about the number of resources.

YC

Dear Writer,
Please read the message below and follow the instructions.
The researcher intends to analyses especially the aspect of learning English in Eikaiwa classes as part of on extra-curricula activities and its connections.The new focus on extra-curricula activities looks much more manageable.

The formative assignments are much more informal than has been the case on previous modules – they are more like an ongoing conversation than a form of assessment – and it is likely that several iterations of these conversations may happen as the project takes shape.

With this in mind …..

As it stands your current design aims to link attendance at extra-curricula activities with school performance. I think this might be difficult to show. It may be that those who choose to go to these activities are already the most motivated and higher performers – or those who already have more home support – thus any advantage you discover may not be so much about the activity as about those who go anyway. There is an easy way to resolve this however and that is to link attendance to perceptions of their value and not performance per se.

So your main questions become

1. How are out-of-school activities perceived to influence students’ academic success?
2. How much variety is there in the views of parents, teachers, and students?

The main aim might be: To enable a school leadership team to promote attendance at extra-curricular activities in light of how they are valued by different stakeholders

Sub-questions might be:

· Which out-of-school activities are attended and why?
· What links are made between these activities and school learning?
· Are these activities seen to have value beyond their relevance to academic learning?
· How do the views of teachers, parents and students vary in relation to these perspectives?

This data might be gathered through a questionnaire to a wider cohort and perhaps (if there is time) 3 focus groups each made up of a small sample (e.g. 4) of teachers, parents and students. Thus your supplementary data takes a more central role – the main data set (the questionnaire) will still be quantitative data and the additional focus group data will illustrate how these views are articulated.

You don’t need to spend a lot of time rewriting anything.

The only thing you need to do is adapt the ethics form and letters of consent to this slightly different emphasis on perceptions rather than performance.

This is a two pages order. If you need more space for, please let me know and I will add it, no problem.
Thank you very much for your hard work.
YC

PS’ Do not mind about the number of sources.. it is just 1 because of computer input requirements.

Dear Writer,

The “Undertaking Educational Enquiry – F2: Draft of Ethics Application Form” should be remade. Please use the materials attached to orders 9663726173 and 4481029508. The number of sources it is not strict but having 3 or 4 could be great. Please read the details below:

1. This triggers the ethics approval feedback and approval process with your supervisor. To give you an idea, once you have acted on the feedback for the ethics form and the information sheet (F3) and consent letter (F3) you will submit the ethics application.

2. The thesis is going to be about a combination of research on data collected about students who study in regular out-of-school English cram schools called Eikawa in Asao yard, a suburb of Tokyo and how these data could be used by the cram schools’ leaders to improve students’ academic success. The papers will also analyze how their English learning accumulated through studies in Eikawa can influence their school studies, and how parents and school teachers see these studies influence on their future academic studies.
In Japan, there are a large number of Eikawa cram schools (I will provide the numbers and how many employers they have on average) in the chosen area.
In the first part, it will be explored
o Documentary analysis of web presence and materials produced
o What other out-of-school activities are attended by the students who attend the Eikawa classes in a suburb of Tokyo.
o Who attends them (compared for gender, achievement, neighborhood)
o How different groups (parents, teachers, students) value this activity
o Links made between these activities and learning
o Comparing two groups: Eikawa attendees and a group of non-attenders
– Students sharing stories about why they attend and why they might recommend them. A number of 4-5 students who attend Eikawa will make a dairy recording for two weeks and share their stories about why they attend and why they might recommend them.
– A group of 4-5 students (it is intended to have a similar number of…) who never attend such groups might talk about why they do not.
In the second part, to make a connection to educational leadership, it will be explored
O If educational leaders might be interested in having access to these data and why.
O How these data could be used by educational leadership to improve the Eikawa teaching and learning
O In what other (practical) ways could be used these data in an Eikawa institution.

Undertaking Educational Enquiry – F2: Draft of Ethics Application Form

Title of the Project

The title of the proposed small-scale research study is: Out-of-school activities and their perceived influence on students’ academic success.

Synopsis of the Research Project

The proposed small-scale research study seeks to investigate how out-of-school activities are perceived to influence students’ academic success. Examples of extracurricular activities that most students partake include sporting and recreational activities, music, art, volunteer work and community service, debate clubs, social activism, roleplaying, and culture and languages, among others. For the current small-scale research study, the out-of-school activity to be considered is learning English in Eikaiwa classes. The researcher will be concerned with how learning English in Eikaiwa classes as an extra-curricular activity is perceived to influence students’ Eikaiwa classes’ academic success. The research study will involve different participants, such as teachers and school leaders, students, and parents from which first-hand views and experiences will be collected based on the research objectives. A simple random probabilistic sampling method will be used during the recruitment of participants to make sure that all individuals in the population of targeted participants have the same chance of being enlisted into the representative sample. By the time the small-scale research study culminates, it is expected that the researcher will have gathered adequate data to help address the proposed research question, which is: How are out-of-school activities perceived to influence students’ academic success

Research Context

The setting of the proposed small-scale research study will be Eikaiwa classes in Asao Yard, a suburb of Tokyo. The research will investigate how engagement in extracurricular activities, particularly learning English, by students studying in regular English cram schools, called Eikaiwa classes, affects their academic success. The data collected during  the research process will be analyzed to offer valuable suggestions on how cram schools’ leaders could promote attendance at extracurricular activities, that is, learning English in Eikaiwa classes, in light of how they are valued by different stakeholders, including teachers, students, and parents. Besides, the research study will investigate how students’ English learning accumulated through studies in Eikaiwaclasses can influence their school studies, and how parents and teachers perceive the influence of these studies on students’ future academic success.

Research Methods

The data necessary for the proposed small-scale research study is quantitative data. It will be focused on gathering numerical data, including the number of times that students engage in the selected extracurricular activity and their school grades and how the particular out-of-school activity directly influences them. Overall, the collected data will emphasize objective measurements and the statistical, numerical, and mathematical analysis of data, as informed by Walliman (2017). The quantitative data will be collected from the carefully chosen participants through different methods, namely questionnaires, focus groups, and in-depth interviews. Besides, pre-existing statistical data will be manipulated through computational techniques. Other sources of the required quantitative data will be documentaries of web presence and other materials such as case studies, which will be analyzed to provide supplementary information to add to what will be gathered from teachers and school leaders, students, and parents. The quantitative data collected through the different methods will be analyzed distinctly but interpreted in light of each other. Boudah (2019) recommends the concept of data triangulation to be applied to foster both the validity and credibility of results.

Participants

The participants for the proposed small-scale research study will include teachers and school leaders, students, and parents.The first group of participants will include teachers. They will be engaged to offer their views and experiences with students partaking extracurricular activities, which is, learning English in Eikaiwa classes, as well as those that do not. The goal will be to get a first-hand account of whether students taking part in the extracurricular activity have a better chance of succeeding academically relative to those who do not participate in extracurricular activities.

The second group of participants will involve school leaders. The goal of involving school leaders as research study participants will be to explore whether they value them, and thus, support them by allocating the required resources. Their interest in having access to this research study’s findings for use in improving Eikaiwa teaching and learning outcomes, as well as Eikaiwa institutions, will be assessed.

The third group of participants will consist of students. Up to 5 students who have attended Eikaiwa classes will be invited to make a diary recording for their involvement in extracurricular activities for two weeks. Similarly, as the research study’s participants, students will be requested to share stories about why they prefer to learn English relative to other out-of-school activities, and why they would recommend them to fellow students. Another group of students with a dislike for learning English in Eikaiwa classes will be invited to share their experiences and why they are not motivated to partake it as their extracurricular activity of choice. Ultimately, the views of the two groups will be compared and analyzed in examining how each of the groups of students performs academically.

The final group of participants will include parents. As research study participants, parents will offer their views about their children’s participation in extracurricular activities. Here, the goal of the researcher will be to understand parental attitudes towards children’s extracurricular activities, and whether parents support their children’s interests in out-of-school activities, particularly, learning English in Eikaiwa classes.

The Voluntary Nature of Participation

All the participants to the proposed small-scale research study, including teachers and school leaders, students, and parents, will be enrolled voluntarily. The implication of this is that no participants will be coerced to participate in the research study. Once recruited, the participants will be informed that they can withdraw willingly at any time without facing any remedies, and without an antagonistic relationship ensuing with the researcher. Nonetheless, the recruitment process will be designed in such a way that the recruitment process will be based on a strict suitability criterion. The essence of this is to ensure the selected participants will have a broad and thorough understanding of the subject matter and the research topic.

Special Arrangements

The researcher will make special arrangements for participants with special needs. These could include sick students, students with physical disabilities, and other participants, such as semi-illiterate parents, with limited reading and writing abilities, among others. At the same time, it will be imperative to make special arrangements for students and teachers who might be inconvenienced by the study. Here, the researcher will negotiate with the school leaders to have participating students and teachers to have a quiet space where they can be engaged in interviews, focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews. Other forms of arrangements could include transport and lunch stipends for participants who will be forced to travel to take part in the research and writing materials such as pens and notebooks for use during data collection.

Informed Nature of the Participation

Research studies involving human participants are essential since they help researchers in developing a thorough understanding of the topic of interest. Nonetheless, the priority for any researcher should be to protect the rights, interests, and safety of the participants(O’Leary, 2017). The proposed small-scale research study in this context is expected to be undertaken following prescribed standards. Firstly, the researcher will adequately inform the enlisted participants of the research aims and process, their rights and limitations, and whether they are entitled to any benefits or remuneration, after which they will be requested to sign the consent forms. Besides, the enlisted participants will be adequately and appropriately informed about their confidentiality and its limits and given a chance to select between verbal and written consents, depending on which best protect their interests.

Assessment of Possible Harm

The small-scale research study is likely to have various negative implications on the participants, but which can be addressed in various ways. The first negative implication is about inconveniencing teachers and students with the research study. To address this implication, questionnaires, which are less time-consuming methods of data collection, will replace other means of quantitative data collection, such as in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, where necessary. The second negative implication relates to the risk of teachers revealing information about students’ educational outcomes and academic success. Some students with poor performance in academics due to their lack of participation in extracurricular activities might not wish to have their information revealed to strangers. The best way to address this issue is to ensure that all responses collected either through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and questionnaires are strictly kept anonymous(Boudah, 2019). The final negative implication relates to violating the rights of young students. To address this issue involving students below 18 years of age, consent to engage them in the research study will be sought from their parents and teachers.

Data Protection and Storage

All the information on the participants’ identities and their responses will be stored safely in lockable safes. Dawson (2019) documents that the essence of such a measure is to ensure that all information pertaining to participants and their responses remains anonymous and are accessible by unauthorized third parties.

Declaration of Interests

A considerable proportion of the research participants is known to me, the researcher, other than professionally.

User Engagement and Feedback

The participants will be free to share their personal views and experiences as long as they offer valuable insights on how students’ engagement in extracurricular activities impacts their educational outcomes and academic success.

Undertaking Educational Enquiry – F2: Draft of Ethics Application Form

Title of the Project

The title of the proposed small-scale research study is: The effect of extracurricular activities on students’ academic success.

Synopsis of the Research Project

The proposed small-scale research study seeks to investigate the extent to which students’ engagement in extracurricular activities affects their academic success. Examples of extracurricular activities that most students partake include sporting and recreational activities, music, art, culture and languages, volunteer work and community service, debate clubs, social activism, and roleplaying, among others. The research study will involve different participants, such as students, school leaders, teachers, and parents from which first-hand views and experiences will be collected based on the research objectives. A simple random probabilistic sampling method will be used during the recruitment of participants to make sure that all individuals in the population of targeted participants have the same chance of being enlisted into the representative sample. By the time the small-scale research study culminates, it is expected that the researcher will have gathered adequate data to help address the proposed research question, which is: How do out-of-school activities influence students’ academic success?

Research Context

The setting of the proposed small-scale research study will be Asao Yard, a suburb of Tokyo. The research will investigate how engagement in extracurricular activities by students studying in regular out-of-school English cram schools affects their academic success. The data collected the research process will be analyzed to offer valuable suggestions on how cram schools’ leaders could leverage extracurricular activities to improve students’ academic success. Besides, the research study will investigate how students’ English learning accumulated through studies in Eikaiwa can influence their school studies, and how parents and teachers perceive the influence of these studies on students’ future academic success.

Research Methods

The data necessary for the proposed small-scale research study is quantitative data. It will be focused on gathering numerical data, including the number of times that students engage in extracurricular activities and their school grades and how various out-of-school activities directly influence them. Overall, the collected data will emphasize objective measurements and the statistical, numerical, and mathematical analysis of data, as informed by Walliman (2017). The quantitative data will be collected from the carefully chosen participants through different methods, namely polls, surveys, in-depth interviews, and questionnaires. Besides, pre-existing statistical data will be manipulated through computational techniques. Other sources of the required quantitative data will be documentaries of web presence and other materials such as case studies, which will be analyzed to provide supplementary information to add to what will be gathered from students, teachers, school leaders, and parents. The quantitative data collected through the different methods will be analyzed distinctly but interpreted in light of each other. Boudah (2019) recommends the concept of data triangulation to be applied to foster both the validity and credibility of results.

Participants

The participants for the proposed small-scale research study will include students, teachers, parents, and school leaders. The first group of participants will consist of students. Up to 5 students who have attended Eikaiwa classes will be invited to make a diary recording for their involvement in extracurricular activities for two weeks. Similarly, as the research study’s participants, students will be requested to share stories about why they prefer specific extracurricular activities to others and why they would recommend them to fellow students. Another group of students with a dislike for extracurricular activities will be invited to share their experiences and why they are not motivated to partake at least one extracurricular activity. Ultimately, the views of the two groups will be compared and analyzed in examining how each of the groups of students performs academically.

The second group of participants will include teachers. They will be engaged to offer their views and experiences with students partaking extracurricular activities as well as those that do not. The goal will be to get a first-hand account of whether students taking part in extracurricular activities have a better chance of succeeding academically relative to those who do not participate in extracurricular activities. The third group of participants will include parents. As research study participants, parents will offer their views about their children’s participation in extracurricular activities. Here, the goal of the researcher will be to understand parental attitudes towards children’s extracurricular activities, and whether parents support their children’s interests in out-of-school activities. The final group of participants will involve school leaders. The goal of involving school leaders as research study participants will be to explore whether they value them, and thus, support them by allocating the required resources. Their interest in having access to this research study’s findings for use in improving Eikaiwa teaching and learning outcomes, as well as Eikaiwa institutions, will be assessed.

The Voluntary Nature of Participation

All the participants to the proposed small-scale research study, including students, teachers, parents, and school leaders, will be enrolled voluntarily. The implication of this is that no participants will be coerced to participate in the research study. Once recruited, the participants will be informed that they can withdraw willingly at any time without facing any remedies, and without an antagonistic relationship ensuing with the researcher. Nonetheless, the recruitment process will be designed in such a way that the recruitment process will be based on a strict suitability criterion. The essence of this is to ensure the selected participants will have a broad and thorough understanding of the subject matter and the research topic.

Special Arrangements

The researcher will make special arrangements for participants with special needs. These could include sick students, students with physical disabilities, and other participants, such as semi-illiterate parents, with limited reading and writing abilities, among others. At the same time, it will be imperative to make special arrangements for students and teachers who might be inconvenienced by the study. Here, the researcher will negotiate with the school leaders to have participating students and teachers to have a quiet space where they can be engaged in interviews, focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews. Other forms of arrangements could include transport and lunch stipends for participants who will be forced to travel to take part in the research.

Informed Nature of the Participation

Research studies involving human participants are essential since they help researchers in developing a thorough understanding of the topic of interest. Nonetheless, the priority for any researcher should be to protect the rights, interests, and safety of the participants(O’Leary, 2017). The proposed small-scale research study in this context is expected to be undertaken following prescribed standards. Firstly, the researcher will adequately inform the enlisted participants of the research aims and process, their rights and limitations, and whether they are entitled to any benefits or remuneration, after which they will be requested to sign the consent forms. Besides, the enlisted participants will be adequately and appropriately informed about their confidentiality and its limits and given a chance to select between verbal and written consents, depending on which best protect their interests.

Assessment of Possible Harm

The small-scale research study is likely to have various negative implications on the participants, but which can be addressed in various ways. The first negative implication is about inconveniencing teachers and students with the research study. To address this implication, questionnaires, which are less time-consuming methods of data collection, will replace other means of quantitative data collection, such as in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, where necessary. The second negative implication relates to the risk of teachers revealing information about students’ educational outcomes and academic success. Some students with poor performance in academics due to their lack of participation in extracurricular activities might not wish to have their information revealed to strangers. The best way to address this issue is to ensure that all responses collected either through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and questionnaires are strictly kept anonymous(Boudah, 2019). The final negative implication relates to violating the rights of young students. To address this issue involving students below 18 years of age, consent to engage them in the research study will be sought from their parents and teachers.

Data Protection and Storage

All the information on the participants’ identities and their responses will be stored safely in lockable safes. Dawson (2019) documents that the essence of such a measure is to ensure that all information pertaining to participants and their responses remains anonymous and are accessible by unauthorized third parties.

Declaration of Interests

A considerable proportion of the research participants is known to me, the researcher, other than professionally.

User Engagement and Feedback

The participants will be free to share their personal views and experiences as long as they offer valuable insights on how students’ engagement in extracurricular activities impacts their educational outcomes and academic success.