In order to better contextualise the failure of the workshops, below I have compared the poster display interaction data to the workshop attendance data:
Active interaction with display poster: 8
Active interaction with workshops: 2
Visualisations of this data, isolated from the rest of the ‘data garden’:
Evaluation
The salient, and perhaps predictable data comparison shows that there were more active interactions with the poster display.
Analysis
These pieces of data are not really comparable, as there are to many differences between the ways in which they were executed, and the data was collected. The poster required less active action from students, less commitment, and less time thank the workshops, which were scheduled near the end of term, outside of university hours. The poster display was always available during open access hours (Monday to Friday, 10:00 – 17:00).
There is also an assumption here that each student that interacted with the poster stuck two stickers on it – one in answer to each question. However, it is entirely plausible that some students stuck multiple sticker on, or looked at it, took a photo, and didn’t use the stickers to record it. In this, the workshop data is more accurate and reliable.
However, there is a clear indication here that is worth reflecting on, which is to say, that the display poster is easier to access for students – always available, and does not require and planning.
Perhaps this can be taken forwards, and different times, days, and lengths of workshops could be trialled – ones that during university hours, and different point sin the academic term, and attendance data could be collected from these.