Developing Research Writing by Video Conference

John Morgan

jpm@aber.ac.uk


The following questions are designed to elicit responses on aspects of the video conference
component of the Academic Writing for PhD Students programme at Masaryk University. This is only
for the component in which I gave a talk on clarity in writing via the argument of fact, the
subsequent submission of written work and feedback and the final video conference in which we
discussed the feedback.


If you consent to participate in this survey, the results will be analysed and presented as part of
a proposed book chapter on aspects of developing writing via video conferencing. If accepted for
publication, the chapter will appear in a book to be published by Masaryk University. At this stage
it is not expected that the findings will be used elsewhere, though they may be also be used at
some stage in a conference presentation on the same topic, or in a different paper if the book
chapter does not go ahead.


All responses will be anonymised prior to inclusion in the chapter or in other discussions.


Please write freely on any of these questions.


1.      Did the content of the first video conference help to identify general or specific issues
in writing?




2.      What was it like to follow instructions between the audio visual aspect of the session with
a remote speaker and the printed documents that the speaker was referring to? Did this differ from
a face to face seminar environment in any way?




3.      Did you gain a sense of any added value from this session in the framework of the whole
writing course? How did the video conference add to, or detract from, that sense?




4.      What sense of expectation was there—in advance—in writing for an external reader who would
give comments and feedback by video conference? Were those expectations met, or was the process
somehow different to what you were expecting?





5.      What was it like to hear comments on your writing in the larger group context where others
are listening? Is this something you are used to when receiving feedback on writing?





6.      When listening to comments on other participants’ writing did you identify with any
specific issues that you recognise in your own writing, or that could help you with your writing?





7.      How do you think this environment is similar or different from a traditional classroom
environment?





8.      Do you have any other observations or comments?





Thank you for your participation