Evaluation of Inquiry Tools

Questionnaires

The first questionnaire I constructed was distributed to a group of G.C.S.E Dance students, at the end of a dance class. I handed out over thirty questionnaires, however I only received six back.  Although this was a drastically lower amount of returns than I had hoped for, their answers helped narrow down my inquiry and became the influence behind one of the final questions I investigated: How can using a real life experience as a stimulus influence or support the choreographic process for section 4B of the GCSE Dance specification? The second questionnaire distributed was in the consent pack. Only six choreographers returned consent packs and questionnaires, these students and their dancers went on to become to focus of this inquiry. This second questionnaire was a detailed look at the choreography unit and the questions were based around student’s thoughts and ideas on the process as a whole. I analysed these questionnaires later on in the inquiry and compared their answers.

The questionnaires were the simplest and most efficient tool for gathering information and discovering findings. If I had more time I would have added more questionnaires to the study as I felt they worked best in the hectic school environment, putting the least amount of pressure on students whilst taking up very little of their time. I would have liked to create more questionnaires based on previous answers to hone in on specific matters and findings giving my study more depth and insight. This is something I will consider for future investigations or research. All questionnaires were created from feedback given by colleagues within Performing Arts and reviewed for discussion and learning purposes.

Observations

Observations were a key tool in my inquiry and are the foundation for all my research. I conducted four observations over a four week period, at G.C.S.E intervention that took place on Wednesdays after school. I decided to record the observations in two ways: whole overview recordings of the sessions and close up individual footage of the students. The close-up recordings were filmed on a hand held flip camera and were the best way to capture the students working independently. The recordings allowed me to evidence individual group progress, showing the entirety of their journey from start to finish. I also conducted ‘catch-up’ interviews, to gain the perspective of the rehearsal from the choreographer and dancers. The catch-up interviews make a great addition to the progress footage and are a great resource for future learning to be used for my professional artefact.

The whole overview recordings allowed me to get a true sense for the rehearsal process and capture students working naturally and independently. G.C.S.E students are often filmed for evidence so this is not something they are unfamiliar with. The whole overview recordings captured the chaos of the intervention sessions, showing students fighting for the music speakers, distracting each other, not having enough space as well as the teachers being pulled in many different directions. Observing and instructing lessons in this way is a part of my usual professional practice, however looking back and making notes on the sessions has allowed me to reflect on my own practice as well as students resulting in an evaluation of the effectiveness of intervention. The recordings show evidence of some of the issues students brought up in their one on one interviews about the rehearsal process being difficult.

Professional Journal

The professional journal was a great way for me to reflect on the intervention and make notes of student’s progress. I would document how the session went as a whole and any difficulties or challenges students faced that day. Looking back over the journal has been a great way to solidify my findings and piece together the collective thoughts of both students and teachers as well as my own opinions of the whole process.

Interviews

Interviews were probably the most enjoyable of all the inquiry tools I used during this investigation. I conducted both student and teacher interviews, with a set of questions compiled from feedback given by my peers. I wanted to ensure I asked the right questions, knowing I would only get one chance to interview teachers due to their very busy schedules. I put together a draft set of questions and attach them to a brief rationale of my inquiry. I sent the document to fellow colleagues within the performing arts Department in the hope I would receive valuable feedback and suggestions, to which I did.

The teacher interviews were conducted first. I interviewed all four departments within Arts, Dance, Drama, Music and Art.  Each interview lasted around twenty minutes and took four weeks to conduct due to hectic schedules of all the teachers.

As each department has two teachers, I thought it would be nice and time efficient to interview both teachers at the same time. It gave a more relaxed and friendly approach to the interview giving the teachers room to bounce ideas off each other creating new waves of conversation.

The student interviews were conducted in exactly the same way. The questions were compiled from peer feedback as well as being a topic of discussion with my SIG. The student interviews were short and to the point. I felt students were a little embarrassed and self conscious resulting in rushed answers. If done again, I would try duo or group interviews, once individual interviews had been conducted. Maybe in a more relaxed environment the students would have gone into more detail and as with the teacher interviews had the opportunity to bounce ideas off one another creating new lines of conversation. If given the time I would have also conducted a group session to compare.