Using practice-led enquiry to develop resources for time management in
Higher Education
Kim Shahabudin & Judy Turner, University of Reading
Practice-led enquiry is a central concept in the work of the LearnHigher CETL: our ‘mission statement’
names it as our foremost method of research. Our project collates the expertise of members working
in learning development roles in universities across England. One of its key aims is to formalise and
build on this fund of experience to produce a sound evidence base for effective interventions to
enhance student learning. In this context, practice-led enquiry utilises our everyday interactions with
students and teaching staff both as a source of evidence, and as a motivator for further research. In
addition, our experience of using practice-led enquiry for research suggests that it can also contribute
to another of LearnHigher’s aims: to reward and recognise excellence in learning development
practice.
This paper will discuss our experience at the University of Reading of using practice-led enquiry in
research for the LearnHigher project. In particular it will focus on the use of this methodology in
developing and evaluating a new resource for supporting effective time management strategies. The
methodology has had a dual impact: enabling the collection of data on the quality and effectiveness of
resources; and enhancing our understanding of our own practices as learning developers.
Practice-led enquiry
Practice-led (or practitioner-led) enquiry adopts the same principles as the research methodology
known as ‘action research’. Action research is characteristically conducted by practitioners working
from within a field of operations, who undertake a process of “collective, self-reflective enquiry”
(Kemmis & McTaggart 1988, 5) into their own practices in order to improve those practices. This
contrasts with more traditional approaches to social science research which utilise impartial
researchers observing and reporting on a situation from an external viewpoint.
In the context of this project, the practice-led approach has both strengths and potential weaknesses
over more traditional research methods. In its favour, it gives access to a rich source of non-traditional
knowledge in the qualitative experiences of learning development professionals, working directly with
students across subject disciplines. It enables rapid evaluation of resources and strategies, expediting
the development process. Continual access to students naturally facilitates longitudinal observations of
some subjects to reveal changes in academic practices over their university careers. Perhaps most
importantly, the iterative process of examination, reflection, development and evaluation utilised by
practice-led research models the Self-Regulated Learning process we encourage in our students
(Zimmerman & Schunk, 1989).
Criticisms of the practice-led approach query its academic rigour and objectivity. Practitionerresearchers typically observe and evaluate the practices of their peers. Consequently the negotiation
of power relationships between researcher and subjects may cause difficulties. Relationships between
researchers and student subjects also pose potential problems. Successful study advice interventions
rely on a relationship of trust with the student. However, that positive relationship is likely to
influence feedback.
Researchers must also beware generalising from the views of a relatively small and untypical (mostly
self-selecting) sample. Student communities can differ radically in their learning development needs,
across different institutions, disciplines within an institution and even demographic divisions between
those taking the same module (for instance, mature, international or part-time students). At the
opposite extreme, focusing on divisions may promote the fragmentation of data.
Investigating effective advice on time management practices
LearnHigher research at the University of Reading is conducted by the Study Advice team. Our work
with students advising on effective study practices typically takes two forms: direct contacts (one-toone advice sessions, workshops) and self-directed resources (paper and online study guides). Research
began with the team reflecting on and sharing current practices. Points raised from this process
informed the subsequent evaluation of existing practices and resources with students through focus
groups and surveys.
The existing study guide on time management (A Guide to Organisation and Time Management) was in
A4 format, with three pages of text plus cover. It covered: planning; effective study practices;
organising resources and study space; avoiding distractions. The guide was evaluated through focus
groups composed of students from all levels of study and subject disciplines. Participants liked the
content of advice in the guide, but were critical of format and delivery. Typical comments described it
as having “too much text”, and being “too prescriptive – not everyone works the same way”. It was
felt that the A4 paper format associated the guide with lecture notes, and that it consequently tended
to get lost among other papers. Other comments suggested that more pictures, informal language and
humour would help to engage students. Finally many of the students surveyed were not aware of the
guide: a typical comment was, “I wish I’d known about this earlier in my degree”.
In response to these comments, a new resource on time management was developed. Titled ‘Ten Top
Tips for Managing Your Time’, the resource was formatted as a tri-folded single sheet of A4. The cover
featured a picture of a juggler, and the ten ‘tips’ as brief phrases. The inner flap explained briefly
typical time management issues for students, with more pictures. Unfolded, the ten tips listed on the
cover were explained in more depth: one paragraph for each tip. The back cover included information
on further reading, and contact details including the address for the Study Advice website. The
rationale was that the leaflet could act as an entry-level resource, with directions to more detailed
advice for those who wanted it. The format meant it could be pinned up on a noticeboard with the
cover acting as an aide-memoire to the advice inside.
In addition to the paper guide, the same advice was also produced as a webpage, and as an oral
presentation with a single Powerpoint slide. This was motivated by the perceived need to extend our
research outcomes to include data on accessibility and format preferences. We also wanted to
consider the practicality of producing the advice as a minimal intervention resource for subject
academics to present as embedded advice within subject modules. The resource was presented in all
three formats to c.300 1st year students in three departments in different Faculties across the
university (Classics, Psychology, Geography). Delivery took place in Week 6 of a ten week term (noted
from our records as being a period of increased requests for advice on time management) and students
were surveyed at the beginning of the next term after their first assignments had been submitted.
Questions were posed about the effectiveness of the resource, as well as general attitudes towards
time management at university, and the teaching of effective practices.
Responses were received from approximately 20% of the students. 96% of those who responded said
that the resource had helped to improve their time management practices. There were few criticisms
about the content of advice. Typical responses noted that it was “mostly commonsense” or “what I
know already but don’t do”. When asked what was missing, 86% wanted more advice on how to avoid
time wasting. Also mentioned were the more specific needs of mature students. Of the three formats,
the paper leaflet was preferred in all questions on the specific resource. However, when asked about
general attitudes to advice, students liked the accessibility of online resources. Another trend in this
section was a preference for advice on study practices to be embedded into subject teaching.
Following this generally positive feedback, the Ten Top Tips resource has been circulated in the
university in paper and online formats.
A continuous process of evaluation and development
In an early description of action research, the social psychologist Kurt Lewin described the process as
forming “a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action and fact-finding
about the result of the action” (Lewin cited in Cooke & Cox, 2005). Following our original reflection,
evaluation and development, this second evaluation has suggested ways to improve our current
practices as well as directions for future research which are currently in progress.
In academic year 2006-07, only 13% of students requesting Study Advice came for help with time
management. This contrasts with 62% of respondents in the survey who acknowledged that they were
able to manage their time “sometimes”, “rarely” or “never”, and the very high percentage of students
(96%) who agreed that the resource had helped to improve their time management. The discrepancy
may be explained by a widespread conception that good time management is an innate ability rather
than something which can be learnt (Fontana, 1993). In addition, time management and organisation
problems can be viewed by academics as ‘lifestyle’ rather than academic issues, in contrast to more
obvious practices like essay writing. However, the importance of good time management in academic
study is widely recognised; for instance, Pickford and Brown describe it as “the skill which above all
others can make the difference between graduating and drop out” (2006, 47). Developing ways to
engage both students and academic staff in encouraging better time management practices must be
seen as a valuable endeavour.
These results have motivated new directions for our research, from a focus on content to more
emphasis on delivery. We are now working on ways of producing and promoting minimal intervention
resources that can be embedded in subject teaching, thus reaching the students who would not
actively seek advice on time management otherwise. In addition we are looking more closely at the
needs of specific student groups – not only the mature students mentioned in the survey results, but
also other groups like postgraduate students and Freshers. We are also considering best-practice
strategies for avoiding time wasting and maintaining motivation to study. This is a particular area of
concern at present with the increase in social networking sites and chimes with recent work on the
complex relationship with academic motivation of the Generation Y student.
Conclusions
Taking a practice-led approach to investigating time management has proved valuable in many ways,
providing a model for continuous evaluation and development of all of our practices and resources, and
prompting new and productive directions for research. There has also been an unexpected effect in its
validation of our existing practices with students, and its concrete demonstration of our ability to
successfully develop those practices. Explicit appeal to the practice-led approach has conferred a
methodological authority to the reflective working style we already employed. It has prompted a new
conception of our roles as learning developers, as embodied knowledge resources in ourselves.
References
David Fontana (1993)
Managing Time (Leicester; British Psychological Society).
Kurt Lewin (1946)
‘Action research and minority problems’, Journal of Social Issues, 2, 3446. Reprinted in Cooke, B. & Cox, J.W.(eds) (2005) Fundamentals of
Action Research Vol. 1 (London: Sage).
S. Kemmis & R. McTaggart (1988) The Action Research Planner (Geelong, Victoria: Deakin University
Press).
Ruth Pickford & Sally Brown (2006) Assessing Skills and Practice (London: Routledge).
B.J. Zimmerman & D. H. Schunk (eds.) (1989) Self-regulated learning and academic achievement:
Theory, research, and practice (New York: Springer-Verlag).