LEARNERS VOICE

Evaluating Learner Participation And Empowerment In Educational Settings

Introduction1

Literature review2

Research method7

Focus group7

Learners voice in practice and process of capturing it8

Ethical issues9

Results from evaluation10

In-depth analytical discussion12

Analyzing the findings15

Meaning and significance of findings16

Issues for Student Voice16

Conclusion and recommendations17

Learners Voice

Section 1

Introduction

A focus group is a form of qualitative research conducted in a group interview format. The focus group typically consists of a group of participants and a researcher who serves as the moderator for discussions among the group members. In focus groups, there is not always the usual exchange of questions and answers between the researcher and the group that one would commonly envision in an interview setting. Rather, the researcher often ensures that specific topics of research interest are discussed by the entire group in hopes of extracting data and self-disclosure that might otherwise be withheld in the traditional researcher-interviewee environment. In this entry, the purpose, history, format, advantages and disadvantages, and future direction of focus groups are discussed.

Although focus groups have enormous versatility and diversity in how they operate, a step-by-step format for conducting focus groups has emerged in recent years. The first step is to determine the goals of the study. Although not highly specific at this point, it is common for the researcher to write a general purpose statement that lays the foundation for the research project. The second step is to determine who will serve as the moderator of the focus group. Selection of a moderator is of utmost importance to the success of the focus group, as the moderator promotes interactions among group members and prevents the group from digressing from the topic of interest. The next step involves refinement of research goals.

Lists of information to obtain during the focus group interviews are created, and these lists serve as the basis for formulating questions and probes to be used later in the focus group interviews. Following this step, participants are recruited for the focus group, preferably through intentional sampling, with the goal of obtaining a group of individuals that is most apt to provide the researcher with the needed information. After the participants have been selected, the number of focus group sessions is determined. The number of focus group sessions will vary and will depend on the number of participants needed to make the focus group interviews successful. The next step is to locate a focus group site where the interviews will be conducted. However, there are no specific parameters for how this step is to be accomplished. The seventh step involves the development of an interview guide. The interview guide includes the research objectives and ensuing questions that have been developed and refined from earlier steps in the process.

The questions are constructed with the intent to facilitate smooth transitions from one topic to another. The culminating step is to conduct the focus group interview. The moderator should be well prepared for the focus group session. Preparation includes having the necessary documents, arranging the room and chairs, and arriving early to the site to test ...