Evaluation of processes of the Inquiry

Below are the 10 main processes of my Inquiry and evaluation of each:  

Research

• It is essential to do plenty or research. Read literature, watch videos, visit blogs and websites...
• The research should be broad to start with, find what interests you, what is significant to your practice and a topic that is relative - research that you think is missing or needs further exploration.
• Share ideas with others through a professional network or social media to see what more you can find out. 'Everyone you meet knows something you don't' - They might know something useful to you and your inquiry.

Evaluation - Research and literature reviewing has been the most influential contributor to my inquiry. The process has inspired interests and has made me passionate about so many topics related to my practice. Sometimes I can got lost in an overload of information but once I had multiple sources and found a real interest in a topic, it becomes easier to chose a line of inquiry later on.
My tutor helped me realise how important it is to not limit your research. For example, when looking into dance injury as a topic, I was able to collaborate literature from sporting professionals, health professionals, dancers, teachers, academics and psychologists.

Plan

• Make a step by step plan -  What do I want to find out? What do I need to do?
• Make sure it is realistic and therefore achievable
• Set a schedule
• Consider Ethics
• Context

Evaluation- I found planning the inquiry quite difficult and I think I would have benefitted from further research in order to narrow down my inquiry. I had chosen a very broad topic and not refined it enough so I wouldn't have been able to produce a sufficient inquiry. I realised this after my Module 2 hand in, so I guess a little too late. On the other hand, after reflecting upon my feedback I was able to give my inquiry a new direction and focus.

Pilot

• Consider different tools - What will work best? A Questionnaire? An interview? A focus group?...
• Create a draft/dummy version
• Try out tools - Pilot test the tools

Evaluation- I enjoyed piloting the tools and found out there's much more to creating a questionnaire than compiling a list of questions. From evaluating the tools and testing the sufficiency, I was able to confirm 2-3 tools that I would use for my actual Inquiry. Sometimes the only way to truly know if something works or not is to test it.

Analyse and evaluate pilots

• What worked best?
• What went wrong or did not work?
• What yielded the best results?
• What did the participants think of your pilot? Feedback
• Decide on 2-3 tools that you are going to use

Evaluation- When looking back at my pilot results I realised I had collected data which was not entirely relevant to my inquiry. I therefore looked for the reasons why and shared my concern with others. After much deliberation I felt confident that I chose the most suitable tools for my inquiry.

Share and collaborate

• Others opinions/thoughts?
• What could you improve?
• Is there anything you are missing?

Evaluation- I shared my questions in my SIG via google+ and also on blogger to receive feedback from my peers. Other students and peers helped me to refine my questions and cut them down to a more acceptable length. 

Draft tools

• Type up questionnaires/interviews/plans for focus groups etc
• Review from peers - does anything need adapting?

Evaluation- Creating my questionnaires and interview questions felt very rewarding. After much research and testing I felt ready to begin preparation for the data collection. I re-drafted my questions multiple times until I was happy they looked and sounded professional and concise. I also sent drafts to my gatekeeper for review which ensured that both parties were happy and confident.

Literature review

• Narrow down research
• Find literature that is relevant to your inquiry
• Review - does it have limitations? Is it from a reliable source? Professional?

Evaluation- The Literature review felt rather arduous and became very time consuming. I did however understand how essential it was to review the validity, limitations and professionalism of my selected literature. After all this could effect the success of my inquiry. I knew I had collected some interesting data from my questionnaire and interview and this inspired me to find the documentation to support it.

Carry out inquiry

• Refine plan after any changes/alterations 
• Execute tools eg. interviews
• Review schedule
• Collect data

Evaluation- I enjoy learning and developing as a professional so carrying out the inquiry made me feel like I was achieving something. All the paperwork had suddenly come to life and I enjoyed collaborating with other professionals.

Analyse and evaluate data

• Interpret data - graphs, charts, images
• Relate to literature and findings - who/what supports your analysis?
• What your results mean? - change needed? improvements?
• Include anything that have influenced your results
• Type up notes

Evaluation- Although I had planned how I wanted to represent my data I struggled to keep my analysis under 2500 words. I am in the process of editing  my analysis by cutting any superfluous data. 

Reflect

• Why is the inquiry important?
• How has this developed your practice? practice of others?
• Professional scope
• Inspirations for future inquiries?
• What have I learnt?
• How have I learnt?

Evaluation- I am pleased with the data I have collected and it has been thought provoking towards other areas of potential inquiries. I have learnt a lot about my topic of 'injury support systems' but also a lot about myself. My research has influenced my practice as a teacher and carrying out the inquiry has developed my ability to undertake professional work based projects.