Ghania Zgheib's Ph.D. Portfolio

Description:

Teaches how to apply qualitative data collection and analysis procedures in educational research, including ethnographic and other field-based methods, and unobtrusive measures.

Reflection:

In the past, I have conducted research studies using qualitative methods or mixed methods and the experience was always challenging due to the quantity of data that is collected through interviews and focus groups. This course facilitated this process through the extensive readings in Maxwell (2013) and Glesne (2011), and Kvale (2009). The readings were easy to digest and they guided me through the process of designing interview questions, conducting the interviews, transcribing them, and analyzing the data, and ending up with a report. The course was also a great exercise for me to reflect on my research focus and to generate reasearch questions. It was a challenging process for me, but the continuous reflection papers narrowed down my focus and helped me identify what information I was eager to learn about. Furthermore, the course discussions and the critical friends teams in which we gave each other formative feedback throughout the process, gave me insight into my friends’ research studies which narrowed down my research interests. The outcome of this course was a qualitative research paper in which I investigated my research interest on how faculty members are using social media for teaching and learning. In this research study, I interviewed five faculty members at George Mason University and explored their perceptions about the use of social media in their courses and the types of learning activities that they assign through social media. The research questions were the following:

• In what ways are faculty members using social media in higher education?
• What are the most common learning activities that faculty assign for students to complete through social media?
• What role do faculty members think that social media activities play in their students’ learning?

Results from the interviews suggested that faculty members use social media to introduce students to new tools that they will be using in the workplace and to help them connect with their peers, their professor, and people in their field. Moreover, the findings suggested that faculty perceive quality in students’ learning and an opportunity for the students to be mindful of the topic as a result of using social media in their courses.

Curiosity memo, Research identity memo, Research Proposal, Pilot Interview Memo, Interview memo, Literature Review, Final Paper – Exploring perceptions of faculty members’ use of social media in higher education