Pamela McKinney p.mckinney@sheffield.ac.uk
@ischoolpam
Chloe Cook: Undergraduate student in the Economics
department

Introduction
 Motivations for the study
 An Arts Informed visual research
methodology using the Draw-and-Write
technique
 Selected results
 Questions

Motivations

Motivations
Group work does not always go smoothly:
 Variable levels of commitment
 Freeloading
 Personality clashes
 Enhanced admin & teaching work if groups
encounter problems
 Often we assess the product of group
work while knowing very little about the
process of group work

What conceptions do
students have about working
in groups?
How can we better support
students in their group work?
Research questions:

Arts Informed Visual Research
Methodology: the draw and
write technique
Dr Jenna
Hartel,
Associate
Professor,
University of
Toronto

The isquare corpus:
conceptions of information
http://www.isquares.info

Data Collection
 Data collected in 2014-15 from students
in the Information School
 1 x Undergraduate module and 3 x
Postgraduate modules: 164 isquares
collected (12 x UG; 152 x PG)
 Students had all experienced group work
as part of their Information School course,
and may have had prior experiences in
other courses/institutions
 Large number of international students

SURE: Sheffield Undergraduate
Research Experience
• SURE scheme funds a 2nd year
undergraduate student to work
on a research project with an
academic for 6 weeks in the
summer vacation
• I recruited 2nd year BSc
Economic student Chloe Cook
• Chloe made exact replicas of
each isquare, undertook
compositional, content and
thematic analysis. Interviewed
students, transcribed & analysed
the interviews

Data Analysis
 Compositional interpretation using
categories defined by Engelhardt (2002)
 Content Analysis
 Thematic analysis
 Theoretical analysis

Motif/Graphic representation Number
Stick figure 82
Arrows 59
Circles 53
Table/Desk 26
Thought/Speech Bubbles 26
Paper/Writing 18
Technology 16
Reading/Books 13
Hands 10
Building/Structure 8
Parts/Puzzles 7
Question Mark 5
Lightbulb 4
Whiteboard 4
Trees 4

Figures around Table/Desk

Use of Laptops/Technology

Multiple information inputs /
outputs

Paper/Writing

Hands/holding hands

Question mark

Lightbulb

Buildings/structures

Parts/Puzzles

Circles

Leader role/Hierarchy

The ‘process’/stages of group
work

Negativity

Different
Cultures/Languages

‘Freeloading’

Positivity

Summary
 Face-to-face working is an important part group work
 Students work creatively with various technology and
non-technology based tools and information inputs
and outputs
 Free-loading and communication problems are
significant barriers to effective group working,
although students may not be sympathetic to outside
commitments
 The drawings reveal interesting conceptions of group
work i.e. “solving a puzzle” and “building”
 Students can view group work as a process, and a
set of defined stages
 Some students see a need to have a hierarchical
group structure with a named leader and specific
group roles
 Although negative views about groups are
expressed, many of the drawings present a
reasonably positive view of group work.

Reflections
 An interesting and quick way to collect
data
 Prompts students to reflect on their
experiences with group work
 A way to identify sources of problems in
groups (e.g. language & communication)
 A way to stimulate discussions about
group work with students

Questions?

References
 Engelhardt, Y. (2002). The language of graphics: A
framework for the analysis of syntax and meaning in
maps, charts and diagrams. (Unpublished doctoral
dissertation). Institute for Logic, Language and
Computation, University of Amsterdam, The
Netherlands.
 Hartel (2014) An arts-informed study of information
using the draw-and-write technique. Journal of the
Association for Information Science & technology 65
(7)
 Weber, S., & Mitchell, C.A. (1995). That’s Funny You
Don’t Look Like a Teacher: Interrogating Images and
Identity in Popular Culture. Routledge: London.