The logistics involved in the data collection in this research project were profound because the schools were far apart and therefore data collection had to be planned meticulously to allow (i) a planned tool like questionnaires to be administered to all participants during their different free times but during school hours. Some participants were given tools before school begins, during break, and others during a free lesson or after school and (ii) class observations to be done every day as timetabled in all the given sites selected for this research project (iii) duplicating enough copies of the research tools to be done (iv) constant communication with the project sites and participants to ensure their presence or any unforeseen circumstances to be addressed. Therefore a sizeable amount of personal financial budget was set aside to allow modalities of this data collection possible in an acceptable university time limit to allow the completion of the study.
Make sure there isn't a space here once all corrections have been made. .
3.4.1 Summary of the Sequence of Data Collection
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3.4.2 Initial questionnaire
The first tool to be administered was the initial (structured) questionnaire. In high schools A and B the participants did not consent to being audiotaped whilst being interviewed. After negotiation a settlement was reached whereby, I gave them the questions in paper form and they would write down the answers without being necessarily audio-taped. According to ethics principles a participant cannot be coerced into an act which they did not want to engage and furthermore they have the right to withdraw from the research project at any given level. The latter conditions I did not even want to contemplate about them. According to Cohen et al (2007) one of the strengths of a case study was that it can embrace and build in unanticipated events and uncontrolled variables. This was being addressed in the ethical issues appropriately in section 3.8. In high school C they consented to the interviews being audiotaped but for uniformity sake, we did make a decision that they write on paper as others had done in view of the constraints of time. The teachers were given ample time, a maximum of two hours if they so wished. After answering I collected the scripts and thanked them for their participation and left for another school and repeated the same process the same day. All scripts were collected and kept according to the ethics procedures.
3.4.3 Main questionnaire
According to best practice, questionnaires that ask descriptive and behavioral questions about the professional development experiences have been shown to have good validity and reliability scores Mayer (1999). The second tool was a questionnaire which was administered four days after the initial questionnaire. The participants were now more relaxed and at ease. Participants were given a maximum of two hours to answer the questionnaire. I am conscious that when questionnaires are administered in a social setting such as face-to-face situation, the presence of the researcher has an effect on the behavior of the participants towards providing pleasing information (Cronk and West, 2002). On the other hand, the presence, and specifically the supervision provided by the researcher during the administration of customary instruments, encourages the completion of the instrument. Once completed in one high school another was approached according to the site plan until every participant was covered.
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3.4.4 Observations
Observations were the main significant strategy of capturing and measuring the extent of use of ICTs during the teaching of the topic Mechanics in grade 10. Observations were the tangible method that did give an insight into Physical Science classroom context and the actual contextual variables affecting the integration of ICTs in a normal lesson set-up. A maximum of 10 working days was dedicated to making these class observations in all schools. According to Cohen et al (2007) a case study captures exceptional characteristics that may be missing in huge scale obtained information; these distinctive features might hold the clue to understanding the condition. Observations within this strategy provide just that, a unique data gathering where one was able to discern ongoing behavior as it occurs and are able to take appropriate notes about participants’ salient behavior. After nine days all the observations had been completed and I arranged with the participants to participate in the final tool – the follow-up questionnaire.
3.4.5 Follow-up questionnaire
Hard and soft copies of lesson plans, class activities and notes made by teachers were availed to me during their lessons. In some cases I had questions about the whole ICT integration process or issues to do with the planning of lessons other than the one of Mechanics observed. A follow-up questionnaire was designed to achieve that aim. According to my research design this was an act of a “mop-up” exercise which participants could use a maximum of 2 hours if necessary
Because the above mentioned methods of collecting data were comprehensive, they provided a rich source of data from the quantitative and qualitative research methods of the study. This enabled triangulation, therefore lessening the weaknesses of each method or any prejudice associated with a monolithic method.