Types of Work Integrated Learning: A World Perspective

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CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction

Based on the discussion in the literature review and the importance of work placement in the professional training of technicians and technologists, this research study has identified lacuna in the literature regarding WIL practices in South Africa. It has, therefore, articulated the research question and sub-questions based on areas where further study is required. These questions will now be investigated and discussed.
In this research, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used, because the nature of the research is such that more comprehensive source data was required for analysis. The use of a mixed method enabled the researcher to investigate the responses to the questions from the perspectives of both the students and the supervisors. The quantitative and qualitative methods worked in a complementary way and enabled a deeper understanding of the issues.
This chapter discusses the procedure that was used to carry out the study under the following sub-headings, namely, research design, population, sampling, data collection and data analysis.

Research Design

The study used descriptive survey research because the researcher was trying to account for what had already occurred and wished to analyse the information and draw conclusions. According to Best (1970), “at times, descriptive research is concerned with how “what is or what exists” is related to some preceding event that has influenced or affected a present condition or event”.
The study used survey research because the researcher wanted to obtain information from groups of people by using the questionnaire method (Ary, Jacobs, & Razavieh, 2002). Gall, Gall and Borg (2003) state that “the purpose of a survey is to use questionnaires or interviews to collect data from a sample that has been selected to represent a population to which the findings of the data analysis can be generalized”.

Population

The population in this study, for the quantitative component, comprised engineering National Diploma and BTech students from one university of technology and one comprehensive university in South Africa, who had completed their WIL placement. Graduates from these two qualifications have to complete their experiential learning before graduation. The population for the qualitative component of the research comprised supervisors for Work Integrated Learning (WIL) at the same two universities. Both universities are based in Gauteng province, a major metropolitan population centre where the majority of the universities of technology in South Africa are found. One university was residential while the other offered solely distance/online education. The offering of the engineering work placement is very similar in both residential and distance/online institutions.

Sampling

One university of technology and one comprehensive university were selected for this study. Both are currently accredited to offer the National Diploma and BTech qualification. In each university two disciplines were selected, Civil and Chemical Engineering. The total of 600 questionnaires were distributed and 254 students responded. The WIL supervisors, for each of these programs, at these two institutions were interviewed, comprising 7 participants.
The quantitative component of the study used cluster sampling by selecting the Chemical/Metallurgical Engineering and Civil Engineering students at Unisa and the Tshwane University of Technology. The survey was carried out in 2009. The information was collected from a sample within a predetermined population and at the same point in time. The final data did not differentiate the university concerned although it did indicate the discipline. The sample students were registered for either the National Diploma or BTech between 2005 and 2009. A total of 600 students received the questionnaire.
The qualitative component of the study used semi-structured interview for data collection. The same two universities of technology were selected for this purpose. The interviews were organised with WIL supervisors for the two disciplines of Civil and Chemical Engineering (including Metallurgical Engineering or Pulp and Paper supervisors within the Chemical Engineering Department) at the two institutions. A total of 7 supervisors were interviewed.

Data Collection

Questionnaire

The instrument used for data collection during the quantitative part of the study comprised a structured questionnaire, which was developed after a review of the related literature. The questionnaire used in the study consisted of two sections, namely, the biographical section and the WIL section. In the biographical section of the questionnaire, general questions were asked, such as gender, university attended, year of completion of study and whether employed or not. In the WIL section, WIL-related questions based on the research question and sub questions were asked. A copy of the questionnaire is contained in Appendix A.
The researcher included questions that would provide information relating to all the research questions cited in chapter 1. The style of the questionnaire is unique. The researcher had studied other work done in this field and, based on her own personal knowledge of the field and other previous research works, she developed a questionnaire which was then checked by experts in the field. After consultation with experts, some changes were made to the questionnaire, thus making it more user-friendly.
The questions included dichotomous answers such as “yes” and “no” options for questions 11, 12, 13, and 16. Some of the questions included tables while questions 19, 21 and 23 included five-point scales with response options such as “hardly ever”, “seldom”, “sometimes”, “often”, and “almost always”. Questions 24 to 29 referred to the responsibilities of the various role players and the respondents were given different options from which to choose. Other questions involved descriptive answers, or presented participants with a few answers from which to choose. There were also two open ended questions ‒ questions 15 and 20.
Section B in the questionnaire included questions about the students’ overall satisfaction with WIL placement and its importance in their training. Questions were asked about the guidance, mentoring and supervision provided during the WIL period. There were also questions regarding the challenges faced during the WIL period, as well as questions which aimed at ascertaining the attitude of the students towards their placements. In addition, there were questions on the overall design of the WIL programme in different institutions.
Each questionnaire was accompanied by a covering letter, explaining the purpose of the research study, consent terms, voluntary participation, confidentiality and the anonymous nature of the work, as well as the telephone number and e-mail address of the researcher for further enquiries. Copies of the cover lettering for Unisa and Tshwane students are contained in Appendix B.
The final draft of the questionnaire was distributed among those students who had registered for WIL in either Civil or Chemical/Metallurgical Engineering. The questionnaire was distributed to the National Diploma and BTech students from 2005 to 2008 who had already completed their experiential learning. Approximately 400 questionnaires were distributed by mail ‒ 200 for Chemical and 200 for Civil Engineering students ‒ while a further 200 questionnaires were distributed in classrooms or during contact sessions. The details are reflected in Chapter 4.
The envelopes were addressed to each individual student and mailed to their home address. The questionnaire was identical for all the students and was accompanied by a covering lettering for each institution. The covering letter briefly explained the purpose of the survey, emphasised the confidentiality of the study, provided a postal address for the completed questionnaires and the contact details of the chief researcher. Large envelopes were used for the outgoing questionnaire while small envelopes were used for the returned questionnaires. The postal address of the researcher was indicated on the outgoing envelopes and, as a result, a few envelopes were returned as undelivered because of a change of address. Stamps were affixed to the return envelopes so that a lack of stamps would not constitute a problem. The questionnaires that were distributed in the classroom or during the contact sessions were collected at the end of the session by administrators. At the end of the survey, 254 responses to the questionnaire had been obtained‒ a response rate of 42% which may be deemed as satisfactory.

Interview

The interview was used as the data collection instrument in the qualitative component of the research project. Academic supervisors/academic lecturers from the two universities indicated above were interviewed and asked questions regarding their experiences, including questions on the advantages and disadvantages of the WIL component, challenges and learning, reflections on the programme and any similar questions that required a deep understanding of the challenges faced.
The semi-structured interview method was used during the interviews. Face-to-face interviews were arranged with all the supervisors/lecturers from the two academic institutions of the Unisa and the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). An interview guide was prepared and, within the guidelines, more probing took place. A copy of the interview guide is contained in Appendix C. All the interviews were tape recorded, while detailed documentation of the comments was made and kept, without indicating the name of the individual. The purpose of these interviews was to obtain a deeper understanding of the situation and to acquire information regarding the quality of supervision, mentoring, guidelines given, and so forth. The results from the interviews were compared with the results of the questionnaire, which provided the views of the students.
Seven supervisors from the two identified institutions were interviewed, four of them from one institution and three from the other. All supervisors were supervising students for work placement in Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering or closely related qualifications such as Metallurgical Engineering or Pulp and Paper. The interviews were based on a set of questions that had been prepared in advance. A copy of the questions is attached in Appendix C.
During the actual interviews the interviewers requested the consent of the interviewees. If they granted their consent they were asked to sign the consent form. The interviews took place in the supervisors’ workplace. With the exception of one, all the interviews were face to face. The interviews were all tape recorded and text was also noted down in case the tapes were not clear. Each interview took between 30 minutes to an hour. The supervisors all provided their full support during the process. The majority of the supervisors were extremely open about their views and answered all the questions. A text of all the interviews and the tapes themselves are available.

Validity and Reliability of the Instrument

Validity

For the purposes of this research study, both face and content validity were established by a panel of experts (see list in Appendix A). In order to check the face and content validity of the questionnaire before its distribution, the questionnaire was given to three experts in the field in order to make sure that the questions were both appropriate and comprehensive. Comments were received and included in the final draft of the questionnaire. It was then given to the research and ethics representative in the Institute of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education and, eventually, to the Senate Research and Ethics Committee at the University of South Africa (Unisa) for final approval. All comments were included in the final draft and the set up of a couple of questions changed. The questionnaire was also sent to the Research and Ethics Committee of the Tshwane University of Technology and their specific comments regarding the questionnaire and the covering letter were attended to. A similar process was applied for the face and content validation of the interview guide. The panel of experts as well as the two research committees checked the interview questions.

Reliability

The questionnaire was pretested, as described under ‘Pilot Project’, to make sure that questions were understood properly and were not ambiguous.
During the main study, an internal consistency reliability estimation was used for different factors in each question. One of the instruments used for this purpose was Cronbach’s alpha, which finds the correlation between all possible splits of questions. Ultimately, the programme generates one number for Cronbach’s alpha. The closer the number is to one, the higher the reliability. The Cronbach’s alpha value for factors in question 19 were 0.8390 and 0.7091 respectively, and for the two factors in question 21 were 0.7765 and 0.6531 . Question 23 has the Cronbach value of 0.9031.

Pilot Project

In order to test the research instrument, a pilot study was performed. In other words, before distributing the questionnaire, it was pretested. The questionnaire was sent electronically to 24 Chemical Engineering students at Unisa who had been randomly selected from the class of 2009, but who were not participating in the study. These students had recently completed their experiential learning (part 2) in 2009. A covering letter and the questionnaire were sent to them electronically. They were asked to participate in the project, the importance of the research was explained to them and they were requested to send back the online survey.
The result provided a pretest regarding the content of the questionnaire, indicating any ambiguous questions or those that were not clear. Four students replied, thus indicating an extremely low response to the electronic method. This was one of the reasons why it was decided to use the mail method instead of the electronic method for the main study and provide contact opportunities for the distribution of the questionnaire. Small changes were made to the questionnaire after the pilot project.

Statistical Tests Used in The Data Analysis

Several statistical tests were carried out during the data analysis. The descriptive statistics recommended for this data analysis included mean for central tendency and standard deviation for variability. Additional data procedures included Pearson’s r, the t-test, ANOVA and regression analysis, as well as Likert data analysis specifically for questions 19, 21 and 23. Our method of data analysis was not based on individual question analysis but rather on composite score from the series of questions that represented the attitudinal scale.
In our questionnaire we had both Likert scale and Likert-type data. Variations of the Likert response alternatives are extremely common in research. However, it is essential that care be taken in the proper usage of Likert scale data (Boone, & Boone, 2011). One problem area is related to the difference between the Likert scale and Likert-type questions. In terms of Likert-type questions, multiple questions are used in a research instrument but the scores are not combined. Likert-type items such as question 24-29 are ordinal and the measuring scales that was used include a mode or median for central tendency and frequency for variability. Additional analysis were chi-square measure of association, Kendall Tau B, and Kendall Tau C.
Factor analysis was used to find the composite scores in Likert scale questions. The main purpose of factor analysis was to reduce the number of variables, to find a relationship between variables and categorise them.
There are different methods for factor extraction and also different procedures for factor rotations and factor score calculations. The methods for factor extraction include principal components, generalised least squares, maximum likelihood, principal axis factoring, alpha factoring and image factoring, although the main two methods are principal component analysis and principal axis factoring. In factor analysis it is necessary to take into account the theoretical background as well as the empirical outcome. A summary of the tests carried out in this study are as follows:
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy (MSA) Test and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity were carried out on the Likert scale data. These are the standard test procedure for a factor analysis. As a rule of thumb, KMO should be 0.60 or higher in order to proceed with a factor analysis of sample adequacy tests. The p-value of Bartlett’s test (represented by “Sig”) must be below 0.05 to indicate that the correlation structure is significantly strong enough for performing a factor analysis on the items.
Eigenvalue was used to decide on the number of factors. Methods such as eigenvalues and scree plots were used for this purpose. An eigenvalue indicates how many factors should be extracted in the overall factor analysis. The Kaiser rule is to drop all components with an eigenvalue of under 1.0.
The scree test was used to plot the eigenvalue on the Y-axis and the components on the X-axis. As the x value increases, the eigenvalue decreases and, when the drop in eigenvalue was ceased, the curve made an elbow. None of the components after the drop (or elbow) were considered. The number of factors were selected from those components that were before the drop (elbow).
Graphical Interpretation were used after the extraction of the factors, each variable was shown as a vector. The coordinates in this figure are factors. Factor loading, which is the cosine of the angle between the factor and one variable, was then calculated. Factors are rotated in order to make them more readable.
Communalities Tables were presented which indicate the extent to which the variables may be explained by the factors. A value near 1 indicates an item that correlates highly with the rest of the items in a factor. Items with low communalities (near 0.2) were reconsidered.
Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient was used to determine the internal consistency or average correlation of items in a survey instrument. When the reliability was low, then the individual items within a scale was either changed completely or modified.
Pearson Chi-square Test was used in this study. This is a statistical test that is used to compare observed data with the expected data based on a hypothesis. The chi-square test is intended to test the likelihood that an observed distribution is due to chance. The Pearson chi-square value gives the p-value. If the p-value is smaller than 0.05, then a statistically significant association exists between different categories. This means that the results cannot be attributed to chance and that a real association exists between the variables.
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) provides a statistical test of whether or not the means of several groups are all equal. This is useful when comparing two, three, or more means.
H0 = µ1= µ2= µ3= …..= µk
Where µ is the group population and k is the number of groups. The one-way ANOVA which was calculated in each case compares the means between the groups and checks whether any of the means is significantly different from others, testing the null hypothesis. If the one-way ANOVA produced a significant result, then the alternative hypothesis was accepted. This means that there are at least two group means that are significantly different from each other, without it being possible to identify them. In order to determine the groups, it is necessary to conduct a post-hoc test.
Statistical Significance (p-value) – It is the probability that the observed relationship between items is as a result of either chance or luck and indicates that there is no relationship between the components. It also provides the decreasing index of reliability. The results where p = 0.05 are considered to be borderline. The p-value still has a high probability of 5%. Results where p ≤ 0.05 are significant while results that are between 0.005 and 0.01 are highly significant. This number is an arbitrary selection based on experience and literature.

Ethics in this Research Work

Social research is usually carried out within cultural, legal, economic and political environments. However, this may become complicated if there are sponsors with a set of agendas or if the researchers have their own agenda and priorities. It is for this reason that it is essential that ethical considerations be strictly upheld. The three major scientific norms that should govern any research are beneficence, respect and justice.
In this study, the rights of the individuals were protected by keeping the information confidential and anonymous and also by ensuring that participation in the study was voluntary. The research framework and agenda were both objective and clear. The administration of the research was consistent with research principles, the purpose of the research was explained and research team was introduced in the covering letter. Every effort was made to be sensitive to cultural and social issues and no conflict of interests existed. Further, there were no sponsors with specific agendas. The methodology was explained to all respondents.
As regards the questionnaire, the Unisa and TUT ethical guidelines were strictly adhered to. The research and ethics committees of both Unisa and TUT approved the final draft of the questionnaire. All the participants were provided with a covering letter, indicating that their participation in the study was voluntary. During the interview the supervisors were also given a letter indicating that their participation was voluntary and they also signed a consent form.
In summary, this research study made use of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The use of a mixed method enabled the researcher to investigate the responses to the research questions from both the students and the supervisors. The quantitative and qualitative methods worked in a complementary way. The instrument used for data collection during the quantitative part of the study was a structured questionnaire, and the instrument for the qualitative part was a semi-structured interview. Several statistical tests were carried out for data analysis of the survey results..

TABLE OF CONTENT
INDEX PAGE NO
Table of Contents
List of Tables
List of Figures
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Research Questions
1.4 Significance of the Study
1.5 Assumptions of the Study
1.6 Limitations of the Study
1.7 Definition of Some Keywords
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Conceptual Framework of the Study
2.3 Training of Engineering Technician and Technologists
2.4 Definition of Work Integrated Learning
2.5 Types of Work Integrated Learning: A World Perspective
2.6 Organisation of Work Integrated Learning for Engineering Students in South Africa
2.7 Partnership in Work Integrated Learning
2.8 Assessment of Learning
2.9 Professional Degrees and Research in Engineering Education Field
2.10 WIL Curriculum Content
2.11 Summary of the Reviewed Related Literature
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research Design
3.3 Population
3.4 Sampling
3.5 Data Collection
3.6 Statistical Tests Used in the Data Analysis
3.7 Ethics in this Research Work
CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS OF DATA
4.1 Analysis of Data from the Quantitative Method (Questionnaire)
4.2 Data from Qualitative Analysis (Interviews)
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION
5.1 Discussion on Research Questions
5.2 Discussion on Biographical Information
5.3 Discussion of Information from Open-ended Questions 15, 20, and 22
5.4 Discussion – Additional Information from Interview
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 General Conclusions and Recommendations
6.2 Research Questions – Conclusions and Recommendations
6.3 Others – Conclusions and Recommendations
References
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