Summary information for three key research methods is highlighted on these pages:

1. Attitudinal and Self-Efficacy Measures
2. Measures of ICT Awareness and Use
3. Photo Elicitation

Attitudinal and Self-Efficacy Measures

When to use this: Consider using (or adapting) one of the following survey instruments if you want to investigate students’ attitudes to learning and study at University.

Sample research questions: How do my students like to learn? How confident do my students feel about their ability to complete the course/module/assignment?

Instrument	Created By	Research Warrant	Notes
SETLQ / ASSIST	ETL Project, University of Edinburgh (Enhancing Teaching -Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses)	Noel Entwistle’s work on student approaches to learning (deep, surface, strategic)	The project has produced various measurement instruments, so check out the different versions to see which one is the best fit for your needs.
PALS	PALS Study (Patterns of Adaptive Learning), University of Michigan	Albert Bandura’s work on self-efficacy	Created for a North American audience – check wording of individual items carefully as they may be culture-specific

Measures of ICT Awareness and Use

When to use this: Consider using (or adapting) one of the following survey instruments if you want to investigate students’ experience levels, and capacity to use, ICTs.

Sample research questions: Are my students really “digital natives”? How many students at my institution own a laptop?

Instrument	Created By	Research Warrant	Notes
A Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users	Pew Internet and American Life Project	Pew / Internet empirical research base	Especially useful for tracking Internet-based and “Web 2.0” activities and behaviours (e.g. online photo sharing).
SEUSISS	Survey of European Universities Skills of ICT in Students and Staff (multinational European survey, funded by the European Commission)	Not Stated – but based on Edinburgh’s 10+ years of experience collecting student feedback	Questionnaires are available in multiple languages (for the English versions, see the questionnaires used by the UK project partner, University of Edinburgh)

Photo Elicitation

When to use this: Consider using photo elicitation if you want to gain insight into the daily lives of staff/students, and especially if you are interested in exploring issues of space and (self-) organisation.

Sample research questions: Who uses the computer at home? Where / in what kinds of spaces do my students undertake private study?

Banks, Marcus (1995). “Visual Research Methods”. Issue 11. Social Research Update. Department of Sociology, University of Surrey.

Clark-Ibánez, Marisol (2004). “Framing the social world with photo-elicitation interviews”. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 47, No. 12, 1507-1527

Collier, John Jn and Malcolm Collier (1986) Visual anthropology: photography as a research method. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Harper, D. (2002). “Talking about pictures: a case for photo elicitation”. Visual Studies, Volume 17, Number 1, 13-26