ABSTRACT

Surfacing student voices is of utmost importance in higher education institutions. However, the use of large-scale student surveys may not represent the most effective method of eliciting meaningful student perspectives. Focus groups have the potential to elicit a more authentic student voice through greater engagement with students. Furthermore, activities incorporated into these discussions may be beneficial in the higher education context. The aim of this article is to explore the use of activities in focus group discussions within a project focussed on students’ use of feedback. We draw on focus group discussion transcripts, debrief transcripts, field notes and activity artefacts to demonstrate how activities can be incorporated into focus group discussions. The findings indicate several benefits to using activities in higher education focus group discussions. As such, a framework to guide the use of activities, based on the purpose of the focus groups, is provided within the context of higher education research.

摘要

在高等教育机构中，表达学生的声音至关重要。然而，大规模学生调查的使用可能不是引出有意义的学生观点的最有效方法。焦点小组有可能通过与学生的更多参与来引起更真实的学生声音。此外，纳入这些讨论的活动可能对高等教育环境有益。本文的目的是探索在一个以学生对反馈的使用为重点的项目中的焦点小组讨论中活动的使用。我们利用焦点小组讨论记录、汇报记录、现场笔记和活动人工制品来展示如何将活动纳入焦点小组讨论。研究结果表明在高等教育焦点小组讨论中使用活动有几个好处。因此，根据焦点小组的目的，在高等教育研究的背景下提供了一个指导活动使用的框架。