Reflective Account – Data Collection Practices
This individual assessment requires students to complete practical data collection exercises and write a 400–500 word reflective account based on their experience. The assessment is designed to develop understanding of different data collection methods and encourage students to connect the practical exercises completed in the laboratory with research methods and concepts covered during lectures. Students are required to complete two main types of data collection practice. The first involves questionnaire tests, which students attend during their allocated practical sessions. The second involves a series of recorded interaction exercises involving ChatGPT and human participants. Students must follow the supplied study instructions, use the specified prompts where required, record the requested activities using a camera such as a phone, and upload the relevant files to a designated OneDrive folder. The briefing also requires students to complete and sign the participant consent form and submit it with their collected data. The reflective account should summarise the methods learned during the module lectures and the methods exercised during the laboratory sessions. Students should demonstrate their overall understanding of how data collection works, why data collection is important in research, and how knowledge of data collection methods can be improved through practical experience. The reflection must address several key research and methodological questions. Students should explain how they would design a research question based on the collected data and identify the PICO elements relevant to the research. They should discuss what type of research could be conducted using the data and define an example of a machine learning problem that could be investigated. The reflection should also consider the participant experience by identifying areas of the data collection process that could be improved. Students are additionally asked to consider how they would design a similar data collection project themselves and whether they would make any changes to the methods, procedures or participant experience. The assessment therefore combines practical experience with critical reflection on research design, data collection, research questions, PICO, machine learning applications and methodological improvement. The final reflective account is a Canvas submission and should remain within the specified 400–500 word range. The assessment briefing states that students are marked based on the submitted report, making the reflective account the primary assessed component of the activity.
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