There is growing advocacy for including the student voice in educational research and initiatives. Students involved in such projects are often transformed through the process, finishing their participation with new insights and awareness of the curriculum they experience. One way to document the students’ experience and activity is through the use of private blogging software.
In 2015, a large discrete learning outcomes project was completed with the help of three undergraduate co-op students. The aim of this project was to map the learning outcomes of eight courses into a learning outcomes framework using real assessments from the courses. The logistics of the project required excellent communication, task delegation, and time management of the students. The students used private online blogging software to document their progress on the project. Through a qualitative secondary data analysis, we analyzed the blogs and identified a number of emergent themes that suggest how the blogging software may have contributed to the students’ success in the project.
In this presentation, we will share the main findings of our secondary analysis of the students’ use of the blogging platform. Although the sample of students is small, the dataset itself consists of over 100 blog posts. Our intention was to conduct an in-depth qualitative analysis of the use of the blog for a complex project, to explore how blogs could be used by students to work as a productive team. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss their thoughts and reflect on student engagement opportunities within their practice
