Week 1 | Introduction

08.30.20

Hello thesis world 👋

So what’s happened since I submitted my thesis proposal this past Spring? Lots in the realm of unique learning opportunities:

• fostering relationships with colleagues in the school of design
• gaining a better understanding of the IRB and research process by actually participating as a research assistant
• participating, conducting, and overseeing a variety of different virtual research methods

Overall I would say that my summer was fruitful in preparing for what’s ahead. However, as the semester begins I find myself wanting to tackle the following steps first to kick off the semester.

1. Rereading my proposal + repositioning my Research Question
   * As the global Covid-19 pandemic continues to be at the forefront of our lives, I feel my thesis falling short of responding and reacting to the current moment. I hope to make some slight tweaks to this before moving forward.
2. Mapping out the next four months and what I want to accomplish. Recently I have been thinking about starting my work with senior high school students and high school guidance councilors in both the rural and urban public high schools to better understand student barriers, motivations, or indifferences about furthering their education post-high school graduation. Specifically, I have been considering the following questions.

• As a senior in high school, where do you see yourself positioned a year from now?
• Looking forward to a post-pandemic world as a high school graduate what are some of your concerns and hopes and aspirations?
• Please expand on how these have changed since the pandemic — have your concerns and hopes or aspirations shifted?
• What do you see as some of the barriers to furthering your education after graduation?
• How does graduating from high school make you feel?
• Please expand on how these resources have assisted in helping you prepare for graduating from high school?
• What have been the most difficult things to prepare for?

This is just a sampling of some of my initial questions.

After running some of my new questions by Stacie (my thesis advisor) she responded by making the following suggestions.

To determine if these are effective questions, I encourage you to always consider the answers you may receive and how you will find them useful. Do they answer important questions that you have and will aid your next steps? If not, don’t ask them. I find it helpful to actually write down what I’ll do with the responses to check the validity of my questions.

*This reminded me that when I go back through my proposal I need to come back to my subquestions and see what answers I want them to align to. I plan to practice this exercise to check the validity of my repositioned questions.

Stacie then came back to question “why” I want to research this stakeholder group and what do I want to learn from them. This sounds like I need to come back to re-editing my proposal project goals and significance. As well as a rescoping of my Research Question and Subquestions.

3. Revised Stakeholder Map

4. Reaching to IRB about doing research with High Schools

5. Start reaching out to High School Guidance Counselors to see if this is something they would be interested in working with me on?

6. Start Reading!

One of my biggest concerns for the thesis would be reading, reading strategically, reading enough, and finding the right reading materials.

Books that I have in my new thesis library but I haven’t cracked open yet…

08.31.20

My Research Question 1.0

In an effort to identify areas for fruitful intervention through design and conduct research within this problem space I plan to investigate the structure, affordance, and limitations of academic tools. I believe my inquiry will offer insights and opportunities that will enable me to propose design approaches that effectively serve and engage students in determining their academic careers and professional endeavors.

Through my research I plan to address the underlying question of how the design of academic tools can help students develop confidence in long-term decision-making, understand the value
of a post-secondary education, aid in their pursuit of degrees, move them effectively through the many phases of study, enhance their engagement in the planning process, and provide insight into career opportunities that extend beyond their academic experience?

Sub Questions 1.0

Confidence and Decision Making

How are students currently making decisions with confidence and what is informing the decisions they make about their post-secondary education?

Understanding Value

What do students currently value from their educational experiences and what motivates them to continue pursuing educational experiences that extend past their high school graduation?

Stages of Study

What assistance might post-secondary students want and need across four-year colleges and universities, trade schools, community colleges, junior colleges, and military schools?

Engagement and Motivation

How are students currently engaging in their educational planning and future thinking and how can this motivation continue to be fostered?

Opportunites

What career opportunities exist for students outside the classroom and how can these opportunities and experiences be designed to help students gain insights from them?