I have conducted the literature review pertaining to previous surveys that aimed to capture student perceptions of sustainability. These were across 6 key areas including visibility, course content etc. This I performed via documentary research on the Internet to collect secondary research. Within this I located a range of surveys, journal articles and webpages from organisations that included universities.
I recorded a set of key terms as I searched the internet. This was a 'live document; which I added to as more arose from the literature.
From the raft of literature I collected, I printed a selection of the most relevant and reviewed them to look for themes. Here, one has to consider researcher bias, as I selected which to print from those I located. However I printed all of those surveys which I located which were close to the research aims. I also used a key word search within Mendeley for the remaining literature and continued this as more search terms arose.
From the surveys that were produced by other universities and organisations there was a range of demographic information that we could collect to use for comparison, depending on what we wanted to contrast. This included age, gender, on campus/off campus etc.
It appeared important to take a baseline of student's own lifestyle choices, in relation to sustainability, in addition to what they expected from the university. However there were some questions over how 'sustainability' or 'education for sustainable development' should be defined and what this would mean to the student. As I have found during the Masters and my Doctorate, most terms have multiple definitions. Do you take a suitable definition or use the research to create your own?
I drew together some suggested questions utilising the previous studies as a foundation and I grouped these into themed areas, such as: demographics, course content, student contribution and student expectations.
I recorded some queries around specific questions, such as whether to go quantitative and multiple choice answers for some questions or quantitative with an open text box. The former would mean giving the answers, whilst the later might draw a range of answers that make comparison difficult. The previous surveys utilised both of these options with varying results. These are questions that need teasing out within the research.
It was decided to call a meeting to discuss the questionnaire's aims. This would then underpin the questions. For me, this highlights the importance of having research questions at the outset of any research that we decide to perform. These can then be referred to, as we are unpacking these issues.
I recorded a set of key terms as I searched the internet. This was a 'live document; which I added to as more arose from the literature.
From the raft of literature I collected, I printed a selection of the most relevant and reviewed them to look for themes. Here, one has to consider researcher bias, as I selected which to print from those I located. However I printed all of those surveys which I located which were close to the research aims. I also used a key word search within Mendeley for the remaining literature and continued this as more search terms arose.
From the surveys that were produced by other universities and organisations there was a range of demographic information that we could collect to use for comparison, depending on what we wanted to contrast. This included age, gender, on campus/off campus etc.
It appeared important to take a baseline of student's own lifestyle choices, in relation to sustainability, in addition to what they expected from the university. However there were some questions over how 'sustainability' or 'education for sustainable development' should be defined and what this would mean to the student. As I have found during the Masters and my Doctorate, most terms have multiple definitions. Do you take a suitable definition or use the research to create your own?
I drew together some suggested questions utilising the previous studies as a foundation and I grouped these into themed areas, such as: demographics, course content, student contribution and student expectations.
I recorded some queries around specific questions, such as whether to go quantitative and multiple choice answers for some questions or quantitative with an open text box. The former would mean giving the answers, whilst the later might draw a range of answers that make comparison difficult. The previous surveys utilised both of these options with varying results. These are questions that need teasing out within the research.
It was decided to call a meeting to discuss the questionnaire's aims. This would then underpin the questions. For me, this highlights the importance of having research questions at the outset of any research that we decide to perform. These can then be referred to, as we are unpacking these issues.