Qualitative analysis of the potential use of a learning schedule for retrieving learning contexts

In this section, I address the research question – “How feasible is the adoption of a learning schedule for retrieving learning contexts from aqualitativeperspective?” To answer this question, I investigated the following three aspects - 1) whether the participants did indeed make use of a diary in the first instance (and also which type of diary they used – whether paper-based or electronic-based), 2) why they used diaries and what benefits they obtained from them and 3) how closely participants conformed to their diaries (to determine the realistic accuracy of retrieving learning contexts from the learning schedule). I obtained data which showed the relationships between learner characteristics and the type of diary usage, which is subsequently presented. Finally, I conclude with an overall analysis of the section.

1) Do participants make use of a diary in the first instance?

In order to analyze the potential use of a learning schedule for retrieving learning contexts, I asked interview study participants whether they made use of a paper-based or electronic-based diary on a daily basis. A total of 17 participants made use of paper-based diaries, 10 participants made use of electronic-based diaries on their

PDA, mobile phone and/or computer and 10 participants made use of a ‘mental’

diary. I describe the reasons participants chose to use each of these types of diaries below.

 Paper-based diaries were used because some participants preferred to record new events by hand and cross off those that had been completed, thus updating

their diary. They described feelings of satisfaction at ticking boxes by hand when tasks have been completed; the diaries were portable and more convenient as they do not require being switched on.

 Electronic-baseddiaries were used on a PDA, mobile phone and/or computer because some participants liked 1) their portability and the integrated approach of using the same device for other activities (such as reading and creating lecture notes, office applications, Internet browsing and phone services); and 2) the ability to synchronize their diaries with their other desktop and/or laptop computers. One participant has made use of Google Calendar because it allowed events to recur requiring minimal effort and because reminders as text messages were sent to the participant’s mobile phone informing them of forthcoming events and deadlines. Many participants who had used an electronic-based diary as well as other software applications on their mobile devices were computer science students.

 A ‘mental’ diary i.e. ‘mental scheduling’ was used by some participants because a) it is potentially more flexible for more spontaneous students who do not wish to conform to a set of scheduled activities; and b) they would not be able to conform to a structured time-plan for each day. There were two types of ‘mental’ diary users – 1) users who regarded themselves as too lazy, and felt that the physical diaries required too much time and effort to keep and update, and they were often forgetful of events; 2) spontaneous users, who did not want to adhere to a strict schedule, but often performed ‘mental scheduling’ and knew what they were required to do each day.

The data analysis shows that a number of paper-based diary users would switch to and be willing to use electronic-based diaries if a) the input of diary events

was sufficiently easy (or their lecture timetables were directly transferrable to the device), b) they had an electronic-based diary made available to them and/or c) they were not against the use of mobile technologies. Users would also be more inclined to use electronic-based diaries if they had used and found other accompanying software applications useful on the mobile device.

2) Why participants made use of diaries and what benefits they obtained from them?

I gathered the participants’ opinions on why they found the use of a learning schedule to be beneficial for them. This helped me to further determine the real potential deployment of my framework utilizing a learning schedule, i.e. if most users used a diary, then the realistic applicability of my framework using a learning schedule would be higher. There are two main types of benefits of diary usage gathered from the interview participants. The first is those which are obtained through the act of planning either as a time management technique and/or as a goal-setting and

achievement technique.

The advantages of using a diary for time management techniques include the

following.

 The ease of assigning time to pending tasks because diaries allowed users to visually see the free blocks of time in day/week/month format, and urgent tasks/priorities could be viewed and scheduled.

 The ease of breaking down tasks and assigning each partition into free time slots.

 The ease of planning tasks to be completed for the whole day/week/month so that no time is wasted.

 Having the feeling that they are in control of their activities and do not forget important events, deadlines etc, because at any one time a learner may have a number of complex and/or novel tasks to complete, and without a plan or learning schedule to assign time slots to complete each task the learner may forget to complete some of them (Kennedyet al., 2000).

 Help in alleviating or lowering stress as users know that their important tasks are assigned a time slot for completion and that they will not forget about these tasks/events.

Using a diary can be regarded as a goal-setting and achievement technique

because the act of planning can be seen as a motivating, self-regulated and/or self- directed learning strategy to reach one’s desired goals (Claessens, 2004). Self- regulated learning theories include deployment of motivational strategies such as elaborative planning, processing and monitoring (Code et al., 2006). Self-directed

learning is a “student-centred approach to learning where learners take control of their own learning processes and experiences” (Ibid). The logistics of the learning/studying processes, such as how, where and when to learn, are decided and controlled by the learner through the act of planning. Most of the participants were able to describe techniques (including planning techniques) to motivate their studies as well as to actually carry out their studies, and identify study locations which best suit their learning requirements. This suggests that these participants have a number of self- directed and self-regulated learning characteristics, and through the act of planning, they are able to motivate themselves with their studies.

3) How closely participants conformed to their diaries?

I gathered information from interview participants on how closely they conformed to their diaries, as this can give an indication of how accurately the learning contexts (i.e. location and available time) can be retrieved through the use of their diaries. Three categories of diary conformance by interview participants were identified – close

conformance, loose conformance, and spontaneous. Note that all categories of users

had met all of their coursework deadlines.

 Users who closely conformed to their diaries usually attended all of their scheduled events, aside from when there were exceptional circumstances (such as illness or something more urgent came up). Some participants noted they would keep all their planned events if they have written them in their diaries.  Users who looselyconformed to their diaries used these as a reference tool to

remind them of possible events/tasks that they can attend or complete and not to record a set of events that they must strictly conform to. They may note down several events which they may or may not attend depending on their mood and/or whether they had sufficient time when the time arrived. They generally carried out a set of tasks that they had planned for each day. Some participants reported that they had not attended less important events (such as social meetings).

 Spontaneous users (i.e. the ‘mental’ diary users) did not follow a set of scheduled events. They carried out tasks selectively depending on their mood.

I identified some relationships between a user’s learner characteristic and their diary usage. This information can be used to indicate how successfully a user keeps to their diary given that information is known about their learner characteristics.

Throughout each individual interview with participants, it was possible for the researcher (i.e. myself) to obtain a clear picture of participants’ views relating to the importance of their learning and studies. It was observed that those learners who closely followed their diaries were those who regarded their studies as more important, prioritized their studies as most important amongst other activities and were generally more hard-working. Learners who did not closely followed their diaries or did not use a diary often also regarded their studies as important, but performed studying tasks at a more personally suitable time and had a more laid-back approach to their studies.

Whether the student enjoyed their studies is sometimes arbitrary and may not have a positive correlation to how hard-working they are. This may be because they are working hard to achieve their goals, and not necessarily because they enjoy their studies. I observed both intrinsically-motivated and extrinsically-motivated students in the interviews, and both groups of students described a number of self-regulated strategies for motivating themselves regarding their studies.

Some of these strategies relate to the use of learning schedules whereas others relate to the choice of study locations, or general goal-setting and persistence in studying. These include 1) choosing and planning study locations in which they are less likely to be distracted and can concentrate better, 2) motivating themselves to finish studying tasks and then rewarding themselves afterwards with, for example, social activities. As described by many participants, the act of planning their study- related events can be 1) helpful for general time-management, 2) used as a motivating technique when they persist themselves with performing/continuing study activities

that they have assigned a time slot for these activities or 3) used as a self-satisfying or rewarding mechanism when they tick off completed tasks in their diaries. Participants who noted such learning strategies were seen to have the following learner characteristics –conscientious, self-disciplined, organisedandroutine-structure.

Seven characteristics of learners were collected; see the learner

characteristics scalein 3.2.1. A statistically significant strong positive correlation was

found between the hardworking learner characteristic and how closely they

conformed to their diaries (r = 0.2917, p < 0.5). This finding suggests that the more hard-working a student is, the higher probability that they closely conform to their diary events, when it is within their control. Most of the statistical correlations obtained between each of the other learner characteristics and how closely they conformed to their diaries were relatively weak and insignificant.

5) Overall analysis of the section

It can clearly be seen through the data obtained in my interview study that many students do make use of a diary to help them organize their time. From this, I can deduce that many students will not object to the use of electronic organizers for time management of their studies.

The majority of participants (27 out of 37) made use of a paper- or electronic- based diary to support their studies. Most of these participants had found the use of a diary (paper- or electronic-based) to be beneficial in terms of general time- management, as a motivating technique to themselves for performing/continuing study activities that they have assigned a time slot for or as a self-satisfying or rewarding mechanism when they tick off completed tasks in their diaries. Many

participants also followed their events closely and would attend or complete all important lectures or tasks. These findings confirm that learning schedules can be used successfully by university students to record schedules, and that students will follow the events that are important to them. This would enable the learning schedule approach to effectively retrieve the learner’s location and available time information accurately. Further data results and analyses from the quantitative perspective are necessary to support this claim. These are presented in 5.3.

5.2 Quantitative analysis of the potential use of a learning schedule for