Sampling strategy

According to Fellows and Liu (1997, p.103) ‘Sampling is necessary because it is rarely possible to examine an entire population.’ The samples chosen by the researcher are on the basis that they ‘represent the population as a whole, that is, the sample’s main characteristics are similar or identical to those of the population’ (Grey, 2009, p.148). The sampling strategy was highly structured and it placed a great emphasis on the careful random selection of samples so that the results can be generalised to other built environment courses and other HE institutions.

The research utilises three different methods of data collection. Table 6.3 provides an indication of how each research objective is achieved through the different methods of data collection and a justification for their use.

Questionnaires are selected where the breadth of study is seen as being more important than the depth of answers given and interviews are chosen where depth, narrower focus and detail of the answers are of a higher priority than a wide set of topics. Focus groups can gather information, which is beyond the scope of quantitative research however the researcher should not bias the findings.

Table 6.3: Mapping of research objectives, methods of data collection and justification for their use

Objective Method of data collection Justification of research method 1. Identify what is included in

the process of learning and how students might apply knowledge in both an academic and workplace setting.

Literature review.

Questionnaire

The first research objective requires the views and opinions of Anglia Ruskin University undergraduate Built

Environment students to be obtained. This research gathers using a questionnaire, a

significant amount of data from students on how they learn and applied knowledge.

Construction management students at Anglia Ruskin University are asked for their opinion on the ‘super suite of employability skills and competences’.

To establish theoretical perspectives from published research.

In excess of 300 students and the questionnaire is seen as a quick way of capturing a significant amount of data covering students, pathways and groups across a range of issues. This enables a quantitative analysis of statistical sampling to be made.

A questionnaire to construction management students is chosen as it easily enables students to provide quick feedback on the ‘super suite of employability skills and competences’. Two areas of the skills and competencies are more general and the other two areas are construction

management specific.

2. Establish whether a structured programme of PDP and professional skill development is likely to enhance capability.

Literature review.

Questionnaire

Research objective two takes the research one step further with a questionnaire being given to Anglia Ruskin University final

To establish theoretical perspectives from published research.

In excess of 300 students and the questionnaire is seen as a quick way of capturing a significant amount of data covering students,

year undergraduate Built Environment students. Students are asked for their experience of PDP and what knowledge and skills

substantiate and enhance success in order to become a professional in their area. The questionnaire also captures what is meant by ethics and professional responsibility and asks the students to identify which employability skills taken from the Course Specification Forms (CSFs) are present on their courses.

Interviews

A representative sample of experienced professionals working at the cutting edge of the construction industry are interviewed, firstly through a preliminary study, to explore if, the higher-level personnel had studied a structured programme of PDP and professional skill development, as part of an academic award, would they have achieved their current position quicker and be more capable at their job.

courses and groups across a range of issues. This enables a quantitative analysis of statistical sampling to be made.

The interviews allow thoughts and ideas to be captured in more detail than with a questionnaire. This gives a greater depth to the study and enables a qualitative analysis to be made.

3. Establish whether WBL can contribute to an academic qualification and whether there is a shortfall in the skills needed in order to prepare students for work

Literature review.

Questionnaire

A questionnaire is sent to built environment pathway leaders at UK universities offering a BSc Construction Management course. The questions are based on the literature review and in-depth responses regarding the contribution WBL can make to professional competence, from higher-level personnel.

Interviews

The structured interviews with a representative sample of experienced professionals working at the cutting edge of the construction industry explore if, the experienced professionals had studied a structured

programme of WBL as part of an academic award, would they have achieved their current

To establish theoretical perspectives from published research.

The questionnaire was seen as an easier way of capturing a significant amount of data from pathway leaders. This data was then analysed through a

quantitative analysis.

The interviews allow thoughts and ideas to be captured in more detail than with a questionnaire. This gives a greater depth to the study and enables a qualitative analysis to be made.

position quicker and be more capable at their job.

4. Explore the importance of academic study and professional training to experienced professionals working at the cutting edge of the construction industry.

Literature review.

Interviews

The structured interviews with a representative sample of experienced professionals working at the cutting edge of the construction industry explore whether academic study is important to these personnel. The interviews identify what professional training is preferred and how that training is applied in the workplace.

To establish theoretical perspectives from published research.

The interviews allow thoughts and ideas to be captured in more detail than with a questionnaire. This gives a greater depth to the study and enables a qualitative analysis to be made. 5. Propose an integrated model of PDP and WBL to enhance traditional academic theory. Literature review. Focus Groups

Focus groups of academic staff and construction management students at Anglia Ruskin University, and experienced professionals working at the cutting edge of the construction industry provide detailed feedback on the integrated model during its design and production.

To establish theoretical perspectives from published research.

The focus groups enable the researcher to draw upon staff, students’ and experienced professionals’ attitudes,

perceptions and beliefs so that a consensus of opinions on the new model can be established.

6.5.2 Questionnaires

Five different questionnaires are distributed (two to final year built environment, one to Pathway Leaders at UK universities offering a BSc Construction

Management course, one to all construction management students and one to final year construction management students). A rationale for using the different research groups for the questionnaires is given in Table 6.4.

Table 6.4: Rationale for using the different research groups for the questionnaires

Topic Research group Rationale for using each

research group How students learn and apply

knowledge

Final year built environment students

This group was chosen as the students had spent up to 3 years full-time and six years part-time studying at ARU and therefore had experience of study at HE level. All final year built environment students rather than just one course/group were chosen to enable the researcher to undertake an overall analysis, comparing different student groups e.g. civil engineers and construction managers, and see if there are any significant differences and/or trends that need further investigation.

Personal development planning and skill development (based on information on the CSFs)

Final year built environment students

All final year built environment students are chosen to enable the researcher to undertake an overall analysis, comparing different student groups e.g. civil engineers and

construction managers, and see if there are any significant differences where the focus of the course is slightly different. Contribution work-based

learning can make to the curriculum

Pathway leaders running a BSc construction

management course at other UK universities

This group was chosen, as they are experts within the built environment educational field and possibly the wider construction industry. The sample size was limited to a more construction

management focused group. Draft super suite of

employability skills and competencies

All construction management students

This group was chosen because the super suite covers both general (graduate skills, and personal attitudes and attributes) and

construction management specific (technical and professional knowledge, and career competencies) areas and all students have experience of their course

(positive and negative). Additional questionnaire

following the mid semester review, what students learnt

Final year construction management students

This particular course is chosen, as the group are easily accessible enabling the research to be triangulated with the results of the main questionnaire given to all final year built environment students.

The sample sizes for the questionnaires were determined using the criteria suggested by Bartlett, Kotrlik and Higgins (2001) in relation to Cockran’s (1997) formula, which estimates the margin of error. Appendix 6.1 provides a

summary of the population and sample size required for each of the five questionnaires.

Data collection on how students learn and apply knowledge follows mainly a quantitative approach through the use of a questionnaire (Appendix 6.2) to Anglia Ruskin University undergraduate built environment final year students. It is collected on a ‘one-shot’ basis rather than longitudinally (Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2013, p.140). At the time of the study, 314 undergraduate students are registered in their final year and a questionnaire provides a relatively quick and efficient way to collect data. The response rate (sample returned 166 – 53%) was disappointing since the students are easily accessible (within the researcher’s own institution) however the researcher is mindful that students have many pressures on their time and they are asked to complete other university wide surveys such as module evaluation, the student experience survey and National Student Survey. Questionnaires were returned from six out of seven course areas.

The questionnaire sought to answer the first research objective, which is ‘To identify what is included in the process of learning and how students might apply knowledge in both an academic and workplace setting.’ The most direct way to find out how students learn and apply knowledge is to ask them (Turner, 2005, p.55). As students have usually had at least 13 years educational

the merits, as non-experts, on the most appropriate ways to learn. There are fourteen questions, which generate quantitative data and one question, which allows the respondent to express a qualitative view on the definition of learning.

Nominal scales are used to denote categories or groups, for example whether the students are studying full or part time. Ordinal scales such as rating scales and Likert scales are used to indicate the strength of feeling or opinion to a particular statement or question. By using this type of approach the researcher is able to compare one group’s feelings with that of another group of

respondents (Fellows and Liu, 1997).

A quantitative approach is also used with three further questionnaires. One being given to undergraduate final year built environment students at Anglia Ruskin University (Appendix 6.3), one to pathway leaders at UK universities offering a BSc Construction Management course (Appendix 6.4) and one to all construction management students at Anglia Ruskin University (Appendix 6.5).

The questionnaire to undergraduate final year built environment students (population – 323) is based on the literature review of PDP and professional skill development. It also uses evidence of the skills that are present on built environment courses at Anglia Ruskin University (as identified by course leaders from the CSFs) and also the outcomes from the main interviews to higher-level personnel in the construction industry. The interview questions themselves are based on the information from QAA (2012a, 2012b, 2012c, 2008) (on the Quality Code and Subject Benchmark Statements), the

information from CIC (2012) (on Graduate Common Learning Outcomes), the template presented by Higher Education Academy Centre for Education in the Built Environment (2004), ARU (2011a) Employment Strategy 2011-2014, ARU (2011b) Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy, the University of Kent (2011) Employability Skills Map and the work of Edwards (2009) on the four foundation degree projects.

The questionnaires are colour coded depending on the course being studied. This is to make sure that a particular cohort of students e.g. construction

management only answered the first question which is related to the information on their CSF. The questionnaire achieved a response rate of 38% (123 out of 323).

The questionnaire to pathway leaders is also based on the literature review and the outcome of the preliminary interviews to higher-lever personnel in the

construction industry and it considers the contribution WBL can make to the curriculum. The researcher chose the recipients of the questionnaire by searching the UCAS (2012) website for BSc Construction Management courses. The search revealed 76 courses at 47 institutions. Of these 35 are relevant (foundation degree courses are discounted) and the questionnaire is sent to institutions covering construction management, construction project management and property development, construction and project management, design and construction management, construction and commercial

management, project management for construction, construction engineering management, construction management and the environment, and project and construction management. The questionnaire achieved a response rate of 43% (15 out of 35).

The questionnaire to all Anglia Ruskin University undergraduate construction management students (population – 141) asks for feedback on the draft version of the ‘super suite of employability skills and competencies’ defined in Appendix 7.14, which followed previous student questionnaires and interviews with

higher-level personnel. The questionnaire achieved a response rate of 34% (48 out of 141). The feedback is useful before finalising the integrated model of PDP, WBL and skill development to see if there are any differences of opinion between the construction management year groups.

An additional qualitative questionnaire is given to the final year construction management students (population – 44) at Anglia Ruskin University (Appendix 6.6) following the mid-semester review, which takes place after week 6 during the first semester of the academic year 2013/14. The aim of this questionnaire is to find out from construction management students what they get out of the

modules and what skills they develop in the modules. The questionnaire achieved a response rate of 61% (27 out of 44).

Questionnaires are a useful tool in gathering data on people’s opinions, beliefs, attitudes and responses to a series of stimuli questions (Wisker, 2001, p.147). The researcher ensured all of the questionnaires are relevant to the research and could be easily understood by giving each questionnaire to a small group of staff and asking for their opinion and comments. This process of checking makes sure the questions are legible, easy to answer, unambiguous and relevant to the research. The elimination of bias is of paramount importance. Bias, in this instance, is limited by preventing the use of leading questions, and also by the sample of students and pathway leaders chosen in relation to the population.

It is also important when designing the questionnaires to ensure the anonymity of the respondents. Names are not asked for as this could have been seen as threatening. The length of the questionnaire can be an issue, both in terms of the number of pages and the number of questions. ‘In general, the shorter the questionnaire is, the easier it is to fill out and the higher the response rate will be’ (Anastas, 2012, p.382). Fellows and Liu (1997, p.92) also indicate that ‘The questions should be unambiguous and easy for respondents to answer.’

The questionnaires contain ‘open’ and ‘closed’ questions. A closed question is one in which the respondents are offered a choice of alternative replies. They have been asked to tick their replies, and they include some simple alternatives such as ‘yes and no’ questions. Open or free-response questions are not followed by any kind of choice. The advantages of closed questions are that they are attitudinal as well as factual, and are easier and quicker to answer. They require no writing and quantification is straightforward. This means that more questions are asked within the questionnaires. However, the

disadvantages of closed questions are the loss of spontaneity and

expressiveness, and this is the reasoning behind asking a mixture of open and closed questions.

The vast majority of the questions require the respondent to tick only one box. This enables the questions to be easily analysed and compared with existing results and findings. The results of the questionnaire are given in Chapter 7.

6.5.3 Interviews with experienced professionals working at the