IBP TASK 2 - Empathy Conversations PDF

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Natasha Chanhdara IBP TASK 2 – Completion and Analysis of Empathy Conversations The first year of tertiary education marks a stressful and at times, overwhelming experience for students. The expectations to maintain organised and equipped for learning, while also developing new academic skills, may put a strain on a student’s wellbeing. In order to further analyse the extent of this issue, interviews with first year students were conducted to gain new insights and an overall in-depth perception of the issue. By interviewing students from different backgrounds and courses at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), I was able to expand my knowledge and understanding of the importance of organisational skills for university students. The interviewees included three first year students at UTS, and a student events coordinator at UTS Insearch. The three students were selected, based off their status as a first-year student who has directly transitioned from secondary schooling. Interviewee 1 and 2, are currently studying a Bachelor of Business at UTS, while Interviewee 3, is currently studying a Bachelor of Medical Science. In particular, these three students, all have similar concerns about their ability to stay motivated and organised. This ensures that they are relevant to the problem space, as possible consumers as well as provide genuine responses to the interview questions. I also had the opportunity to interview another possible stakeholder, from UTS Insearch. They were able to provide their perspective on the issue from an informed and experienced position. They contributed a valuable opinion on the effectiveness of motivation for students, which will further be analysed in this report. Especially through the introduction of online learning, the respondents had differing opinions that were able to be compared and contrasted with one another to present a wider representation of the problem. A combination of closed and open-ended questions was asked to students (shown in Appendix A and B), in order to develop a steady flow and an informal structure for the empathy conversations. Appendix A demonstrates simple opening questions for the student interviews in order to establish a comfortable and trusting atmosphere between me and the respondent. This was important as it presents research integrity, as an interviewer to ensure my respondents are open to express their opinions freely, with no judgement (Shaw and Satalkar, 2018). Open ended questions (Appendix B), were utilised to evoke a conversational approach to the issue. These types of questions allow respondents to provide more detail including their feelings, attitudes and overall understanding of the topic. It further enhances the researcher’s ability to gain a better understanding of the problem space and develop possible solutions to the issue. The intentions and motivations for all empathy conversations was to establish a steady flow of an informal conversation that would lead to insights that hadn’t already been considered. For example, question 1 and 2 of Appendix B, allowed students to express their opinions on how they view university so far. By allowing them to talk without interruption or leading statements, they were able to provide genuine perspectives on the topic. For instance, Interviewee 1 states he ‘has adapted well’ to online learning and believes he is ‘good at adjusting’ his schedule from face to face classes to online. Interviewee 2 had similar views and believes that online learning gave her ‘more time to study other subjects and saves time on travelling, thus saving money’. Despite the fact that these responses were expected, it was a great starting point for the rest of the conversation as I was now able to cater further probing questions, following their responses (Bell, Fahmy and Gordon, 2014).

In order to gain more insights and further detail on some of the responses, I found that asking questions such as ‘why do you think that?’ ‘how do you feel about this?’ ‘how so?’ etc, was effective in continuing the flow of the conversation as well as encourage the interviewees to ‘dig deeper’ with their responses. It also gave interviewees a sense of assurance and comfort that their responses were being utilised meaningfully. Questions 3 and 4 (Appendix B), go hand in hand, when determining if multiple commitments and external factors influence their ability to stay organised. Interviewee 2 was the only student who is working part time. Considering the current circumstances, she has been unable to take many shifts, thus leaving her with more time to study and complete tasks. In order to gain more insights, I asked, ‘what would your schedule consist on, pre-quarantine?’ and with this, I was able to receive responses from all three interviewees, despite the fact that initially, only one participant having external commitments. Probing questions such as these, encouraged participants to answer in greater detail. Questions 6-7 aimed to target a specific response and perspective. I was curious to know what the variety of organisational strategies looked like, which will be further discussed in the next section. Appendix C includes questions catered to the student’s event coordinator at UTS Insearch. I considered them a potential stake holder as they are involved with many activities such as the student helper volunteering program. Question 1 was aimed to develop a connection between the researcher and the participant. Question 2 and 3 specifically targets an experience-based response. This is important as I was able to understand the issue beyond the perspectives of students. Lastly, questions 4 and 5 seek an opinion-based response, that demonstrates a personal understanding of the issue. Overall, the variety of questions asked during the empathy conversations, allowed me as a researcher to actively listen and understand the different perspectives of selected people in regard to the issue of organisational skills in students.

As a result of these open-ended interviews, qualitative data was obtained as well as interesting insights that were not initially considered. The main consensus across the three students’ responses was that online learning has allowed them to have more time for study, but they do not believe they have been using their time effectively. Interviewee 3 feels she is ‘falling behind’ in course content due to the requirements of her degree, being heavily science and practical based. She feels she’s at a ‘disadvantage’ in comparison to the students in her course. An insight that was intriguing, was when she mentioned she ‘needed guidance, maybe from someone with more experience’. This sparked a revelation as many other students must feel they do not have sufficient guidance to properly transition into university. All three participants indicated, they feel unable to fulfil their responsibilities in everyday life, due to the lack of clarity for some tasks and their lack of time management. Interviewee 2 explains one of the ways she chooses to study and stay motivated, ‘I study with my group of friends from high school via video call and we all just study together and not let each other get distracted’. This was an interesting insight as it demonstrates that online learning can be collaborative and enjoyable when with friends (Edirisingha, Nie, Pluciennik & Young, 2009). Interviewee 3 mentions how, prior to quarantine, she ‘would go to the library with a small study group and we would check up on each other to make sure we finish what we needed’. This further reiterates the impact of socialisation on a student’s wellbeing and motivations. Another insight she provided was that her study schedules and patterns ‘are influenced by others’. ‘I usually watch YouTube videos about how to properly plan out my day and how to effectively study. But I have altered it to fit how I do things. It was clear that the female students, felt motivated by their friends as well as tangible organisation supplies such as a planner or a diary. Interviewee 2, highlights that ‘in high school, they encouraged

us heavily to use diaries and gave them to us for free at the start of each year. It helped me get into the habit of having a schedule’. As for the only male participant, he utilises a planner ‘of some sort, I just use a page from a book and write down everything I have due then tick it off as I complete them’. Although this is similar to how the female students utilise their supplies, Interviewee 1 states he is not an organised person but rather a ‘neat person who just happens to know where everything should be.’ The event coordinator at UTS Insearch, explains that many of her students struggle with keeping up to date with their work. She observed that they often leave things to the last minute and or attempt to study right before exams. When asked how she encourages them to stay motivated, ‘I usually send them emails with motivational quotes or even just have a conversation with them about how they are feeling’. This is a significant insight as someone who is in a position of authority, is able to empathise and support students emotionally. As educators, it is important to keep students motivated as they are more likely to succeed when they understand and can apply what has been learnt in the classroom (Thoonen, Sleegers, Peetsma & Oort, 2010). Another insight gained was that the interviewees were excited to experience social gatherings and the commercial ‘fun’ side of university. The event coordinator commented that by organising events such as a beach day or movie day, helped the students relieve some stress and enjoy time with fellow peers. This was significant, as it further demonstrates that staying motivated can influence one’s wellbeing. (Cejovic, 2011) The insights gained from these interviews assisted in refining the problem down to tackling the motivations of students to stay organised rather than the broader concept of organisation in general. These interviews also provided in-depth responses that can be used for further research on developing a possible solution for the issue for UTS students.

References: Bell, K., Fahmy, E. and Gordon, D. (2014). Quantitative conversations: the importance of developing rapport in standardised interviewing. Quality & Quantity, [online] 50(1), pp.193–212. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4705135/ [Accessed 5 May 2020]. Cejovic, V. (2011). Student Organizational Skills and Motivation: What’s the Connection? [online] pp.1–4. Available at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1050&context=luc_diss [Accessed 7 Apr. 2020]. Edirisingha, P., Nie, M., Pluciennik, M. and Young, R. (2009). Socialisation for learning at a distance in a 3-D multi-user virtual environment. British Journal of Educational Technology, 40(3), pp.458–479. Shaw, D. and Satalkar, P. (2018). Researchers’ interpretations of research integrity: A qualitative study. Accountability in Research, 25(2), pp.79–93. Thoonen, E.E.J., Sleegers, P.J.C., Peetsma, T.T.D. and Oort, F.J. (2010). Can teachers motivate students to learn? Educational Studies, [online] 37(3), pp.345–360. Available at:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03055698.2010.507008?scroll=top&needAccess=true [Accessed 5 May 2020]. APPENDIX A: Short response 1. How old are you? 2. Are you a first-year student? 3. What are you studying at UTS? 4. Have you completed secondary education?

APPENDIX B: Long response 1. Are you enjoying your first year of university – why, why not? 2. How has your transition to first year university been for you? 3. How have you managed to cope with your workload? 4. Do you have any other commitments such as work, sporting activities etc.? How many hours in a week have you dedicated to your other commitments? 5. How has learning online affected your ability to stay organised? 6. Are you using any product or service to help you through the transition? If so, how have they been useful? If not, what do you think can improve the experience of the transition? 7. Since being online, how have you stayed motivated to complete tasks?

APPENDIX C: Specific questions for UTS Insearch Coordinator 1. Would you consider yourself an organised person? If so, how do you stay organised? 2. In your position, have you witnessed students being unorganised and or stressed due to workload? 3. What advice do you give them? What methods do you suggest? 4. Do you believe that students should be taught such organisational skills? 5. Is motivation a factor in ensuring that students complete their given tasks...