Update No. 11 - draft intro

i sent this draft intro (slightly modified since) over to my project supervisor sometime yesterday.
i welcome comments from anyone still reading this blog

Update No. 10 - Mind Maps

Mind Mapping
apologies
.... i should have started uploading these a while back.
i've been putting together a few mindmaps over the last couple of months just to get my ideas down on paper to help me with this project.
i'll upload some more in the next couple of days... but here is one of the early ones that i uploaded to my flicker some time ago

Update No. 9 - working Abstract

ok so well im into report writing... to be honest im a little reluctant to post up the working abstract i've just written... though at present i feel it possibly best describes this study to date...

bear in mind it is subject to change - and will more than likely change!

This study titled [Title of Project], documents an investigation into how final year Advanced Systems Analysis (ADSYS) students approach and handle the ADSYS unit.

The study observes and monitors the students’ progress, problems faced and interaction amongst other students studying the unit, through the use of a web-based tool aimed at assisting and supporting students studying the unit.

The study concludes with suggestions to future improvements that could be made to the ADSYS unit and the tools used to support students studying the unit.

comments are welcome...

Update No. 8 - mini update

apologies for the lack of movement over the winter period. things should pick up again quite soon

just a quick update to say that

1. im still alive and this project is still making progress
   
2. i've had to bring the completion date forward - as i will be moving to london sometime mid-march. this means that i am now currently aiming to get around 90% of the project completed by 16th March 2007 (instead of the 4th May)

you can expect another update in the next few days...

Update No. 7 - the plan/waffling

so i've yet to explain what the plan is now as a result of the slight change in direction i've decided to make - described in the last post.

i left the last update with the following question:

would individuals interested in learning SSM, get a better grasp of the subject if the communication medium was different?

this question really forms the basis of this new direction, which in many respects is now beginning to look at areas such as:

how could individuals interested in learning SSM could get a better grasp of the subject area - further than the core texts?
what impact would collaboration have? - we used a tool last year which promoted collaboration when studying the ADSYS unit.
what is actually wrong with the core texts? is there anything 'really' wrong with them?
if the core texts were communicated using a different medium - would that really make a difference?

i'm going to keep this post brief. really because im still a little unsure of a few things and never managed to get a chance to touch base with my project supervisor today

i will be meeting with my supervisor tomorrow morning, then giving a short presentation to a group of final year ADSYS students to hopefully get them on board with my research - they'll hopefully be my 'ginuea pigs'

Update No. 6 - slight change of direction

okay... as mentioned in my last update i've decided to change slightly the direction of this project/study - following some feedback from a few useful people whom left comments on this blog.

i've decided to do this for a number of reasons. the main reason being that at present, it appears that i am almost attempting to duplicate what the book 'SSM in Action' by Checkland tries to do.

'SSM in Action' attempts to put SSM in context using case studies to illustrate use of SSM in the real world.

as mentioned already (in my poor chapter 1 - first draft) from my own experiences studying the ADSYS unit, i noticed that students still struggled to get a grasp of SSM, despite books like 'SSM in Action'. this could have been due of a number reasons, one of which might be the 'medium' that was chosen teach/describe SSM. the new direction this study is attempting to look at this...

'the medium that is used to teach/describe SSM'
i.e. books - which rely on the individual interested in learning SSM understanding exactly what is written.

perhaps if the medium that is used to teach/describe SSM (i.e. books) was different, students would get a better grasp of the subject and learn/understand SSM more easily.

would individuals interested in learning SSM, get a better grasp of the subject if the communication medium was different?

i'll leave it there for the time being and elaborate further once i've met with my supervisor on monday.

Update No. 5 (confusion?)

firstly thanks to those who took some time out to read my Chapter 1 (first draft) and either left comments on the blog or gave me feedback in person.

just a couple of things to make clear - that perhaps haven't been made clear enough so far...

1.  this blog is being kept separate from the project itself.

i'm using it to track my progress (so to speak) but also make available to you guys currently reading it in the hope to get some feedback on what i'm doing and how the project is progressing. i've only sent this out to a few, but soon i'll hopefully get a chance to post up a recap then make it available to more.
so just to be clear, when i refer to blogs in documents like my first draft i'm not referring to this blog

2.  was brought up by someone in the comments on the last update...

that it seems like im attempting to re-create some of Checklands work. especially when you compare what what was described in my Chapter 1 Draft with books like SSM in Action, which does literally does look at SSM in the first part then SSM in Action/Practice; looking at examples of SSM being used.

after reading my first draft again - i do agree it can seem like i'm trying to attempt this. so far my Chapter 1 first draft is quite vague, is a very rough draft that does need revising.

just to make it clear, what should have been described in chapter one was ...

that im essentially researching into the problems students commonly find understanding SSM from the core texts.
then taking my findings and using Case Studies/Real World Examples of SSM being used to 'better' illustrate/describe aspects and areas of SSM which students often strugle with.
My findings from the investigation will help form the artefact - which will assist help students learning SSM.

hopefully thats cleared up a few things?

just to keep you guys informed, i've decided to change the direction a little thanks to some of the feedback i've received on what was just described but also to give the project a little more direction

i'll leave it there for now... and update over the weekend.