Research project and other progess
For some reason I haven’t updated here in ages, so a lot has happened since the last entry. I expect to hear about my ethics application in the next couple of weeks, which is when I hope to be able to actually begin collecting data. I hit a couple of snags relating to the particular student cohort, which I’m still trying to get sorted out. After finding out that DRALE isn’t being used in “group” mode in one of the subjects, I was told that it was being used in another subject. The lecturer for that subject was away overseas, however, so I couldn’t verify this until she got back. Sadly, it turns out she isn’t using it at all this semester. However, yet another (smaller) group has just used it this semester. So I hope to do a combination of the non-groupwork usage and the smaller group, which is using the system in its full glory.
It might even add a few areas for comparison that I may not have otherwise got. I still need to write to the Dean to get approval for the study, and I may need to modify my ethics application, but it shouldn’t be too tough.
As I’ve mentioned before, the whole process is a little offputting and in my case quite frustrating, but I still see it as a learning curve. Part of the point of getting a student to do all this is surely to find out what barriers there can be, and how to overcome them.
Meanwhile I’ve now got N6 installed on top of Virtual PC 7. N6 seems to work fine. Virtal PC is sluggish on my G4 iMac. I want a G5! I’m not sure if this is going to be a viable solution when I really get down to data analysis. It basically requires Virtual PC to go into fullscreen mode, which means multitasking is not easy, and that’s a big pain.
On Tuesday I finally heard that an assessor has been appointed for my progress report. So on Wednesday I sent over the latest copy of my work with all the paperwork signed. I don’t know what happens next — I guess I get the paperwork back with some comments in a couple of weeks or something. All I know is that it was late getting back to Faculty because the (already extended) due date was March 28th. It wasn’t my fault, though, so I assume that it shouldn’t be a problem.