Our research summer began over the past week, with my group’s research project focused on evaluating teamwork, adapting, belonging, and school engagement in primary education, through the participation in curricular enrichment programmes. We will be analysing data from two parallel year 6 pilots in Oxford and Sunderland; the data, which has already been collected, will be used to investigate how pupil background characteristics (e.g. gender, disadvantage, English as an Additional Language) relate to developmental outcomes.
Any initial ambiguities we had regarding the research project had been cleared up after a meeting we had with our supervisor, Kristen McCollum, and another group who is also working on the same schools, albeit from a policy-making angle. I find the educational lens in the project really interesting, and I am eager to know how various characteristics influence developmental outcomes differently.
We have been suggested to use Stata / R / Python for our data analysis, which I’m quite excited about, especially since I’ve never used Stata or R before. I’ve only dabbled in Python briefly and am looking forward to polishing up my coding skills.
After the iSkills training workshops, I’m happy to say that I’ve now placed Excel and NVivo skills in my repertoire (though I’ve still got much to learn!). Anjali Sakar from the Oxford Character Project also came to speak to us on Friday, touching upon the underrated qualities of a leader – integrity, drive, purpose, and the ability to take on new perspectives.
Our week concluded with a presentation of our research proposals to Ben. It was a great opportunity to gain feedback on our objectives, plans, and research strategies. Our group left the lab imbued with newfound confidence!
Speaking of groups, I am incredibly grateful for my teammates (you guys are wonderful!), and I really appreciate how the Laidlaw Scholars Programme is not limited to students studying specific subjects. Everyone brings something different to the table, and I’m glad for the opportunity to collaborate with other scholars.
Excited to see where the project will take us!