RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMISSION COVER SHEET

(MSC APPLIED E-LEARNING)

This sheet should be completed and signed and should accompany your research proposal
submission for the Educational Research Design module.

Module Title: Educational Research Design

ECTS credits: 10 ECTS

Participant name: Sinead Lawton

Participant Student Number: D161287798

Programme of Study: MSc Applied eLearning

Date of Research Proposal Submission: 18 June 2018

Module Tutor Name(s): Dr Claire McAvinia and Dr Ita Kennelly

For reference, the programme learning outcomes are provided below.

Programme Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this programme, graduates will be able to:
Knowledge
1. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the theory of, and best practice in, eLearning in a
range of educational contexts;
2. Demonstrate an awareness and understanding of current eLearning technologies and the
challenges and opportunities associated with each.
Know-how and Skill
1. Identify instances and conditions where eLearning would be appropriate and evaluate its
potential, and use, within different contexts;
2. Apply a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of eLearning in a range of contexts;
3. Create and evaluate strategies for the effective use of eLearning in a range of Higher
Education learning environments;
4. Conduct critically focused literature reviews relevant to the use of eLearning within their
selected discipline area;
5. Design a constructively aligned module integrating the appropriate use of eLearning
technologies;
6. Design specific eLearning applications/resources and evaluate them to determine their value
according to specified criteria;
7. Sustain from the research evidence obtained from the undertaking of an eLearning project, a
reasoned argument and draw consistent and coherent conclusions;
8. Reflect self-critically on the process and outcomes of a development and eLearning
implementation project.
Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

Competence
1. Manage the design, development, implementation and evaluation of a number of
appropriate eLearning resources;
2. Engage in research to evaluate the effective use of eLearning resources within a Higher
Education environment.

Submission Checklist and Declaration

To ensure that the focus of the assessment of your assignment will be on the development of the
higher order skills and competences associated with a level 9 qualification, please complete the
checklist and declaration below. The checklist specifies the mechanical and lower order concerns
that need to have been met before you can submit your work. I declare that the assignment I am
submitting;

Has been proofread thoroughly for typographical errors. Yes

Yes
Meets the word count specification.
Yes
Follows the recommended structure and format. Yes

Contains citations and references that have been formatted according

to the guidelines provided.

Yes

I understand that my work can be returned uncorrected if the criteria above

have not been fulfilled.

Signature: Date:

18 June 2018

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

Introduction

In this research study I will be exploring how online microlearning induction resources
impact on the transition experience of new employees, with an overall aim to inform
practice and bring about change in the employee learning experience.

Adjusting to a new work role is a major point of change in a person’s life and the induction
training offered can impact on job satisfaction, work/family conflict, team cohesion and
organisational commitment (Zahrly & Tosi, 1989; Bauer, Bodner, Erdogan, Truxillo & Tucker,
2007) as well as the feeling of belonging to an organisation or company. While face-to-face
induction training is essential to introduce employees to colleagues, queries and challenges
may arise that would benefit from supplementary online learning resources and just-in-time
performance support.

Microlearning resources that new staff members can access at any time on any device offer
the potential for employees to learn in short bursts, filling in gaps in knowledge and
supporting their transition to the new role.

Context and Rationale

Barnardos children’s charity offers new employees formal, one day, face-to-face national
induction training, however this is only run once every three months. New employees are
often in place for a substantial period before they can avail of the training. Furthermore,
there is insufficient time in the one-day training to cover all of the required information.
Additional learning materials and information are supplied after the training in a dense
employee induction handbook, on the company intranet and the company website. New
employees often find it difficult to know where to access the information they need, leading
to gaps in knowledge and difficulties in transitioning into their new role.

While line managers and colleagues can offer support, they have limited capacity to do so.
New employees also have limited time available to learn what they need to know.

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

This study seeks to explore how best to supplement the face-to-face training, enhancing the
learning experience of new employees with online resources that that are easily accessible,
easy to navigate, are goal oriented and can be fit into the time available.

Aim of the Research

The overall objective of this research is to explore how online microlearning induction
resources can be created to impact on the experience of new employees. This can be broken
into two aims:

1. Explore the microlearning content that will improve new employee experience.

2. Examine how best to design and organise microlearning components for induction
training.

The research will examine what new employees need to know in their first weeks of
employment to enhance their sense of belonging and their understanding of their new role
and organisation. To this end I will review the literature and work with research participants
to explore the most common gaps in new employee knowledge and the most prevalent
questions/problems that arise. I will also consider the experiences of transitioning to new
employment, the time available to avail of training and employees’ preferred ways of
learning to determine the design and content of online microlearning resources to
supplement existing induction training.

I will not have the capacity to build a full suite of induction resources within this time-bound
study so will create and evaluate a learning resource that can serve as a prototype for online
induction training within Barnardos.

Literature Review

For the purpose of this research study, I have identified three key themes in the literature,
microlearning, induction training and adult learning, and a number of linking minor themes
such as attention span, cognitive load theory (Sweller, 1988), working memory (Baddeley &
Hitch, 1974), learning styles, motivation, just-in-time learning support and the pull approach

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

to learning. I will use the literature review to test the validity of my research question, refine
and determine my exact methods of data collection, support data analysis and the
conclusions drawn.

Induction training and adult learning

Induction training is one of the most common types of organisational training programmes
(Klein & Weaver, 2000) and is prevalent in the literature on Human Resource practices. I
have, however, been unable to find literature specifically on the use of microlearning in
induction training.

Induction has been described as “the process involved in familarising a new employee with
the history, culture, products, services, organisation, safety rules, general conditions of
employment and the work of the sector or department in which they are going to be
employed” (Malone, 2005, p. 50). It presents significant benefits to organisations such as a
reduction in the amount of time it takes for new employees to adjust in an organisation and
feel more at home (Ragsdale & Mueller, 2005) and one of its main aims is to “lessen the fear
or anxiety experienced by new employees regarding settling into a job or performance”
(Hendricks & Louw-Potgieter, 2012, p. 1).

“New employee characteristics, or individual differences between employees in terms of

their background and personality traits, play a substantial role in organizational
socialisation” (Bauer & Erdogan, 2011, p. 51). Each new employee's transition experience,
therefore, will be different.

Michael Armstrong, in his seminal publication A handbook of human resource management

practice (2006), states three factors that influence employee behaviour: motivation,
commitment and engagement. Bauer & Erdogan (2011) concur in their discussion of the
importance of commitment and engagement for new employees. The three factors
identified by Armstrong also align with a number of the assumptions made by Knowles about
adult learners (1978, 1984) – that their motivation to learn is internal and that they are both
self-directed and goal-oriented. New employees, therefore, must be active participants in
the induction training process. I will consider the ARCS model of motivation (Keller & Kopp,
1987) and the ‘pull’ approach to learning in the design of microlearning resources to keep
learners engaged.

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

The quality of induction training a person receives during induction is critical in determining
how well, if at all, they will settle into the organisation. Unsuccessful induction training is
“mainly due to initial information overload on day one and a lack of information and support
thereafter” (SCIE, n.d., p. 2). It is recommended that induction training has phased
implementation (Derven, 2008). Receiving critical information in smaller and more
manageable sessions, as with microlearning, has the potential, therefore, to make it easier
for new employees to internalise and apply the learning (Hendricks & Louw-Potgieter, 2012).

Microlearning

While the concept of teaching and learning on a micro level is not new in itself, the term
microlearning has only been in use since about 2002 (Hug & Freisen, 2009). In more recent
years, microlearning has been identified as a growing elearning trend, particularly in the
digital workplace (Gartner, 2016) and is a common topic of discussion on elearning industry
blogs (Hawker, 2017; Glahn, 2017; Thalheimer, 2017; Bersin, 2017). The popularity of
microlearning is often attributed to a shrinking human attention span, generally referenced
to vague statements in one of two studies (Microsoft, 2015; National Center for
Biotechnology Information, 2015), however conclusive evidence on this has so far been
elusive.

Buchem & Hamelmann (2010) suggest microlearning “facilitates self-directed lifelong

learning, as short activities can be easily integrated into everyday activities...it can easily
be used to support on-demand and in-between learning” (p. 4). This would seem ideal for
ongoing induction training support. Furthermore, microlearning fits into the human model
of processing information in small manageable chunks and therefore enables better
retention (Bruck, Motiwalla & Foerster, 2012) aligning it with Sweller’s (1988) Cognitive Load
Theory. I am cognisant of the need not to bombard new employees with a lot of information
at once and the advantages of giving access to concise learning resources they can use in
their own time.

In scholarly literature, Theo Hug (University of Innsbruck, Austria) has written extensively on
microlearning (2005a, 2005b, 2007, 2010). He acknowledges that “there are many different
ways of conceptualizing, analyzing and designing didactics of microlearning” (Hug & Friesen,

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

2009, p. 5) but contests that there is different methodology in use when designing
microlearning, it is not just about chopping a longer resource into smaller chunks.

From the literature, I have determined the following general principles for the design of
microlearning (Buchem & Hamelmann, 2010; Hug, 2005a, 2005b, 2007, 2010; Bruck et al,
2012; Bersin, 2017; skillshub, 2018; Gabrielli, Kimani, & Catarci, 2006 ). Microlearning
should:

• Provide concise, yet coherent and understandable information.

• Be accessible and available for learners to use at any time in any place, on their terms.
• Have a clear focus on a single topic.
• Be self-contained, with all of the information learners need to know about a single
topic.
• Be self-directed. Employees self-diagnose their own learning gaps and take
responsibility for accessing the learning opportunities available to address these
gaps.
• Identify the compelling event that will spur learning on and where and when users
will need this content.
Microlearning would seem an ideal format for induction training as through it learners can
“access very specific pieces of information instead of a complete body of knowledge”
(Gabrielli, Kimani & Catarci, 2006, p. 48) and therefore learn on a need-to-know basis.

Research Design

Theoretical perspective

The move to new employment will be experienced differently by each individual depending
on a whole host of personal attributes, experiences and contexts. I believe, therefore, that
meaning does not exist in its own right; rather “it is constructed by human beings as they
interact and engage in interpretation” (O’leary, 2004. p. 10) and these meanings are in a
constant state of revision (Bryman, 2016). This leads me to concur with Gray that “multiple,
contradictory but equally valid accounts of the world can exist” (2013, p. 20) and I will be
taking a constructivist perspective in this research study.

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

I also believe that “the researcher's intent is to make sense of (or interpret) the meanings
others have about the world” (Creswell, 2014, p. 8), which leads me to take an
an interpretivist approach and I will acknowledge the subjective nature of my interpretation
for my study.

Methodology

I have chosen action research as a methodology for three primary reasons. The first is that,
while it consists of the usual components of research of exploration, understanding,
description and explanation, action research is distinguishable as a methodology “in terms
of its purpose, which is to influence or change some aspect of whatever is the focus of the
research” (Robson, 2011, p. 188). Action research, therefore, adds an element of change to
the usual steps of research and is reflective in nature. Within this study I will be creating and
implementing a microlearning resource to improve practice and therefore fulfilling a
practical need as well as answering a research question.

My second reason for choosing action research is that it involves a “commitment to involving
people in the diagnosis of and solutions to problems” (Bryman, 2016, p. 387). Action
research is a highly participative and collaborative methodology, especially suited to the
“study of change processes in social contexts” (Blichfeldt & Andersen, 2006, p. 2), and, as
such, requires partnerships. I will be partnering with research participants to conduct second
person action research which engages with others “to inquire together into issues of mutual
concern and to learn in action together” (Donnelly, n.d., p. 2). As an employee in Barnardos,
I will be considering what works for ‘us’ rather than ‘me’ or ‘them’, using a collaborative
approach rather than viewing stakeholders merely as sources of evidence (Blichfeldt &
Andersen, 2006).

The third reason for choosing this methodology is that it is a cyclical process involving “a
feedback loop in which initial findings generate possibilities for change which are then
implemented and evaluated as a prelude to further investigation” (Denscombe 1998, p. 58).
I will be moving through two cycles of research as outlined below to create a prototype for
a full induction course and the iterative process will continue after this study has ended.

The first cycle will garner an understanding of the learning resources required to improve
the transition experience and explore suitable content and design. This cycle will end with

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

the evaluation of a small pilot resource. This will feed into cycle two where the full prototype
will be designed and created, with a further evaluation phase at the end. Each cycle will be
based on Norton’s stages of action research (2001).

As I will be examining a situation in a real world context in one organisation I will use the
case study model of action research.

Methods

Due to the exploratory nature of this study, the bulk of the data collected will be qualitative
in nature. I will include some quantitative data only to give context to my study.

I will begin with an analysis of organisational documents such as the Induction Policy,
existing training resources and employee handbook. I will then design, pilot and disseminate
an online questionnaire to approximately 70 Barnardos employees who started within the
previous 12 months to explore experiences of transitioning to the organisation and identify
the most common gaps in knowledge, aiming for approximately 20 responses. To illicit
credible data I will ensure that questions are clear, unambiguous, and open ended yet
specific enough to prompt the answers I hope to discover without being leading.

Access to the pilot components will be given to participants and I will evaluate these by
facilitating a group interview (six participants) to discuss content, design, ease of use and
likely impact on transition experience. The group interview will hopefully generate
interesting findings as people interact, listen to the views of others, perhaps reaching
consensus on some points (Bell, 2005). I have identified flexible, semi-structured interviews
as the most appropriate approach as I will have specific questions and themes to explore but
I also want to pursue “interesting tangents that may develop” (O’leary, 2004, p. 164) as well
as clarify and develop responses.

Following analysis of this data I will amend the pilot components, and design and build the
full resource. Four staff members who are awaiting face-to-face training will be given access
and then interviewed on a one-to-one basis, as these employees may be less open among
new colleagues.

“The interview process demands a high level of engagement with others” (O’leary, 2004, p.
162) which suits the collaborative and in-depth nature of the case study model of action

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

research. Interviews questions will be carefully planned, designed and piloted. As well as
recording both group and one-to-one interviews I will take field notes during the
interviewing process and keep a reflective journal throughout the study.

By triangulating the data, I will compare findings and draw out comparisons, similarities and
disparities to identify the main themes and explore concepts and meanings, being conscious
not to try to ‘fit’ the data with my expectations.

Ethical Considerations

Diener and Crandall (1978) identified four main issues relating to ethics in research as
whether: there is harm to participants; there is a lack of informed consent; there is an
invasion of privacy; and whether deception is involved. I will address all of these issues as
outlined below.

The participants in this study will all be employees of Barnardos – adult professionals in
various roles. I will not be in a position of power over any participants. This is not a
traditionally vulnerable group. However, there may be some vulnerability with new
employees in terms of how confident there are in the organisation so I will need to take this
into consideration. Participation will be on a purely voluntary basis.

All participants will be fully informed about the purpose of the research study, the methods
of data collection, use and storage, and any possible outcomes of the research, including
publication of findings. Interview participants will be informed that notes will be taken and
that interviews will be recorded and transcribed. Answers will remain confidential and
participants will be able to clarify any responses made or withdraw completely within a given
timeframe. I will disseminate all of this information to potential participants in advance of
their agreement to volunteer so they have ample time to ensure they fully understand the
information and to get clarifications if needed. I will ask them to read it again before they
give consent to their participation.

Existing quantitative data will be used to give organisational context (e.g. number of new
employees in a timeframe, average wait time for induction training) and there will be no

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

identifiable traits. Qualitative data collected will be anonymised using a code for interviewee
names. All data will be stored on a password encrypted Google drive account.

I have already received verbal consent for the study from the relevant ‘gatekeepers’ (O’leary,
2004, p. 151) within my organisation as well as my own line manager. I will be seeking ethics
approval from Barnardos ethics committee in the first instance and from DIT ethics
committee.

Delimitations and Limitations

Participants in this research will be volunteers, which may impact on how representative
they are of the overall new employee population. Some participants may have a specific
agenda in volunteering, for example, they may have had a negative induction experience
when they started with the organisation.

Participants will be colleagues, which I am hoping will create an environment that is

conductive to open and honest communication but could potentially make people wary of
expressing negative opinions about either the existing face-to-face training or the
microlearning resources created. I will assure participants of the confidentiality of the
information they provide and the need for total honesty and transparency. As a colleague of
participants and an employee of Barnardos, my own subjectivity will be part of the
interviewing process and, as such, I “will need to consider and openly report how [my]
engagement in the process might influence the conversation” (O’leary, 2004, p. 168).

As an employee of Barnardos I have a thorough understanding of the context but must avoid
making any assumptions about what my reader will know. The field notes I take, how I
interpret documents and my analysis of the literature, questionnaire and interviews will all
be impacted by my own subjective experience as a once new employee within Barnardos. I
will be open and transparent about the potential for bias and thorough in my description of
my research process to add validity to my study.

As this study will be set in a particular, unique context it will be difficult to make findings
truly generalisable. I will instead strive for relatability by being detailed about my research

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

process, offering a rich understanding of both theoretical and practical issues, and clearly
outlining my role as a researcher.

For easier access to participants, I may confine this study to new support staff within
Barnardos (HR, IT, Finance) rather than including project staff, who will also have some
different learning needs. I need to be cognisant, however, that recruitment levels may fall,
reducing the potential number of participants. Due to time constraints and the potential size
of a full online induction learning resource, I will focus on national induction rather than local
induction.

The timeline for this study is given on the following page.

Summary

My aims for this study are to gather a comprehensive data set that I can reflect on, analyse
and interpret to meaningfully understand what is required to build online microlearning
induction resources to improve the experience of new employees in Barnardos. I will take a
constructivist and interpretivist approach to this iterative process, collaborating fully with
participants to ensure resources are varied, effective and engaging.

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 Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June

eportfolio

Ethics approval

Literature review

CYCLE 1

Documents gathered and

analysed

Quantitative data gathered and

analysed

Questionnaire designed and

piloted

Questionnaire disseminated,
data gathered, transcribed and
analysed

Pilot components design and

built

Pilot components accessed by

participants

Group interview designed and

piloted

Group interview held (data

gathered, transcribed and
analysed)

CYCLE 2

Learning resource designed and

built

Learning resource accessed by

participants

One-to-one interview designed

and piloted

Interviews held (data gathered,

transcribed and analysed)

Learning resource completed

Write up

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

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early work role adjustment. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 10(1), 59-74.

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

Appendix 1: Artefact

For this research study I will be designing and creating microlearning induction resources for
new employees in Barnardos. The elearning resources will be hosted on the Barnardos’ LMS
(Moodle) as all staff members are given access to this from the first day of their employment
and it can be accessed any time in any location from multiple devices.

The initial phases of data collection will help to determine the learning objectives of the
microlearning resources, with an aim to ensure that new employees have access to the
information they require and that content is aligned with the existing face-to-face training.
I will need to carefully consider the organisation and categorisation of components to meet
the learner at the point of need.

The content and design of the microlearning intervention will be storyboarded and
developed in line with the requirements and needs established during the research using
the ADDIE instructional design model.

Each component will follow the design tenets of microlearning as identified in the literature
and will be short and concise, taking no more than 5 minutes to complete. Each component
will focus on a single and coherent topic and will be self contained. The tone will be
conversational and encouraging. A mix of media will be developed using a variety of e-
authoring tools. Components may take the form of video, animation, infographics, podcasts,
screencast, links, text and games.

Components will be organised to deal with a particular challenge, categorised to answer

simple questions or solve problems as shown in the table below.

Question Learning components

What family support ● definition of what family support is

programmes does ● a map showing where Barnardos family support services are
Barnardos run? located
● an infographic detailing various family support programmes
offered: who they are aimed at; what they do etc.

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Sinead Lawton MSc. Applied elearning. Educational Research Design

● a talking head video from a family support worker describing work

in a family support project
● an interactive activity to match services with locations

How do I book annual ● a screencast showing the online leave booking procedure
leave? ● Barnardos Leave Policy
● a pdf detailing leave entitlements
● a calendar showing public holidays and Barnardos holidays (Easter,
Christmas etc.)

The organisation of the components is crucial to ensure content is easily identified and
consumed. I will endeavour not to put all of the content into push mode and instead design
components using a pull approach as far as possible, by asking, for example, what do you
want to learn next? The pull approach is suitable for these learners as they have different
levels of knowledge and understanding, and different needs and will therefore require
access only to specific parts of the available content. In this way, the learning experience will
be unique to the learner.

There will be some content that all staff are required to access, for example child protection
training. This content will be made clear to users and I will consider the use of digital badges
or student facing dashboards to allow learners and managers to track their progress with
required content.

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Appendix 2: Research Ethics: Draft Application

Title of Project:

An exploration of how online microlearning induction resources impact on the transition

experience of new employees.

Lay Summary (this should provide an overview of the research suitable for a general audience
and should explain the methods and research activities):

In this study I will explore the impact of online microlearning induction resources on the
experience of new employees in Barnardos, a children’s charity. These microlearning
resources will be accessed in the first few weeks of employment supplementing existing face
to face induction training.

As the face to face training is only held every three months, employees can be in their new
role for many weeks before they can access training. Furthermore, there is insufficient time
in the one-day training to cover all of the required information and additional learning
materials and information are supplied after the training in a dense employee induction
handbook, on the company intranet and the company website. New employees often find it
difficult to know where to access the information they need leading to gaps in knowledge
and difficulties in transitioning into their new role.

I will use document analysis and a questionnaire to first examine the experiences of
employees who have undertaken the existing face-to-face induction training to explore the
most common gaps in knowledge and the most prevalent questions/problems new
employees have, the experiences of transitioning to new employment, the time available to
avail of training in the first weeks of employment and employees’ preferred ways of learning
to determine how best to supplement existing induction training and the design and content
of online microlearning resources.

I will then create a small pilot resource and give access to this to a number of employees
who completed the initial questionnaire who I will then facilitate in a group interview to
evaluate the content and design of this pilot resource. On analysis of this data I will design
and create a full resource which will then be accessed by a different cohort of research

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participants, new employees who are awaiting the face-to-face induction training, who I will
then interview to evaluate the full resource.

Overall Aim of the Study:

In this research study I will be exploring how online microlearning induction resources
impact on the transition experience of new employees with an overall aim to inform practice
and bring about change in the employee learning experience.

Does your research only include the following activities?

If it includes these activities but also additional work such as qualitative data collection or
biospecimen collection, you should pick no from the drop-down list.

1. Desk-based work using publically available data

2. Laboratory or workshop based activity using commercially available material
3. Observational studies in public places where the participants remain anonymous
4. Purely theoretical activity
Please indicate your choice using the drop-down field below. You will be taken to a different page
depending on your answer. Note that if your proposed research includes participants at any stage
then you should answer yes.

Select - No

Total number of participants: ___74_____

Justification for this sample size (please describe the procedure(s) used to decide upon this
number of participants):

Barnardos employs approximately 70 new employees per year. I will ask the 70 employees
who began employment within 12 months of this study to complete a questionnaire about
their induction training experience. As participation in the questionnaire will be completely
voluntary, I do not expect to get a 100% return rate and will be hoping for approximately 20
responses. Of these respondents, I aim to interview approximately 6 in a group interview to
evaluate the pilot resource.

After the complete resource has been built I will be seeking volunteers among those
employees who are waiting to avail of the face-to-face induction training with an aim to

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interview 4 employees on a one-to-one basis after they have accessed the microlearning
resource.

Recruitment of research participants (please describe how participants will be recruited and
selected):

Participants for the questionnaire and group interview will be approached based on the fact
they began employment in Barnardos in the previous 12 months. I will contact these
employees by email asking if they will volunteer to complete a questionnaire and giving
them full details about the purpose and design of the study. I will then circulate the
questionnaire to those who have volunteered to participate. On completion of the
questionnaire I will ask respondents if they will be willing to take part in a group interview,
again giving all relevant details.

Interviews to evaluate the impact of the completed resource will involve new employees
awaiting induction training. I will ask all employees in this cohort to volunteer to be
interviewed.

For both sets of interviews, in the unlikely event I have too many volunteers I will select a
representative sample, for example, employees in different roles or on different grades.

Will you provide any payment or remuneration to the participants?

No

If Yes, please give some further details:

Consent procedures (please describe how you will obtain consent from the participants and/or
their parents/guardians):

I will contact the 70 employees in Barnardos who started their role within the previous 12
months by email, asking if they will volunteer to complete a questionnaire and informing
them of the purpose and design of the study and how and for what purpose the data will be
collected, used and stored. I will highlight that participation is completely voluntary. I will
then circulate the questionnaire to volunteer participants, again including all relevant detail

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on the study, asking them to give their consent by way of a tick box question which must be
ticked before they can access the questionnaire.

On return of the questionnaire I will contact the participants by email to ask if they will be
willing to take part in a group interview, again giving all relevant details about the study and
how data will be collected, used and stored.

I will ask each participant to sign a consent form before the interview takes place, indicating
they have understood the purpose and design of the study and how the data will be
collected, used and stored.

For one-to-one interviews I will email employees awaiting induction training asking if they
would be willing to take part in the study, supplying relevant information on the study. Again
I will emphasise that participation in the study is voluntary. I will ask each participant to sign
a consent form prior to interviews taking place indicating they have understood and consent
to all aspects of the study and data collection, use and storage.

All interview participants will be informed of the confidentiality of the study, that they can
withhold answering any question they do not wish to answer, and that they can clarify any
responses made or withdraw completely with a given timeframe.

Will any participants be (a) under 18 years of age during the study or (b) lacking in capacity to
provide consent (e.g. due to incapacitation) or a vulnerable population?

No

If Yes, please give some further details here:

Will any participants be your employees or students? If so please describe how you will address
issues related to unequal relationships (e.g. lecturer-student) in this situation.

No. Participants will be colleagues and I will not include any employees who either manage
me or who I line manage in the study.

Will your interviews/focus groups be recorded?

Yes

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Describe how data will be collected and recorded?

Both the group and one-to-one interviews will be recorded using a recording device. I will
transcribe these recordings. I will also take notes during all interviews. Data collected during
interviews will be anonymised using a code for interviewee names.

All files, both audio and written, will be stored on a password encrypted google drive
account.

Does your research involve surveys, either pen-and-paper or electronic?

Yes

Please describe how the survey will be administered and the data collection procedures?

A questionnaire will be created in Survey Monkey using a password encrypted account. A

link to this survey will be emailed to participants and all responses collected securely stored
in the password protected account.

Describe how consent will be obtained for the survey:

I will email potential participants in advance of the dissemination of the survey, outlining the
purpose and design of the study, how data will be collected, used and stored, and any
possible outcomes of the research, including publication of findings. This will give
participants time to read and understand what they are volunteering for and to come back
to me if they require any clarification. The survey will include all of the relevant information
at the start and participants asked to tick a box to confirm that they have read and
understood the information given and that they consent to their data being used for the
purpose stated. This tick box must be actively ticked before participants can proceed with
the survey.

Participants will also be informed that they can withhold answering any questions to which
they do not wish to respond. Also that they may clarify any responses made or withdraw
completely within a given timeframe.

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Please describe any other data collection activities which will be used:

I will collect and analyse company documents relevant to this study such as HR policies,
existing induction training resources and the employee handbook. I will seek permission
from the relevant parties within Barnardos to gain access to these. I will acquire approval for
the full study from Barnardos ethics committee.

I will include some quantitative data to give context to the study including total number of
new employees within specific time periods and average waiting time for face-to-face
induction training. This will be statistical data only and no person will be identifiable.

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