It’s time to reflect on my research and at what stage of the Action Research Cycle I am currently in.

I have been able to got through Step 1, as the problem has been defined and the research question has been framed. The identified opportunity of increasing employability and the sentiment of being part of the LCF by participating in networking activities, translates in the the Research Question: How Networking can positively impact future employability for the MA’s Fashion Design Management Students as well as their personal adaptation journey to the LCF.

I am currently working on Step 2 and it’s being a challenging process, as mentioned in my previous post. Collecting data hasn’t been as smooth as I planned, specifically the survey data collection. However, the casual conversations have been really insightful and hopefully  they will help to shape how teaching or activities related to teaching can be updated. Nevertheless, it would be recommended to work further on increasing the participation ratio from the current 18% to at least a 95% of the survey targeted participants: Current MA FDM students and Graduated ones. This is the sample size recommended by Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2019). Research methods for business students. To conduct this research later on the time line, during the second term of the course, it would help to increase the participation as the students will be more settle.

In reaction to Step 3, the research aim is to deliver a tool to increase the networking opportunities the students have during their one year course, but unfortunately, it won’t be possible to implement it before the submission of the project. Post project submission, I will be involved in a process where I will be able to use the developed tool (Step 3), monitor and evaluate the changes made (Step 4) and review, reflect upon the changes and repeat the cycle if necessary (Step 5).

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2019) Research methods for business students. 8th edn. Harlow: Prentice Hall. (Pages 297 & 298)