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Supporting diverse learners through a website for teaching research methods

This paper presents the development, use and evaluation of a website to supplement face-to-face teaching of research methods at postgraduate level. Diversity as well as disparity in student backgrounds presented challenges in providing appropriate educational support at multiple levels. The site was developed to meet the diverse student needs with scarce teaching resources and represented an innovative use of Information Technology in a small higher education institution in Scotland. Formative evaluation methods that included questionnaires and focus groups were used to investigate the student learning experience. Positive student evaluations showed the effectiveness of developing a website to enable and empower students. Lessons drawn from the project include the importance of pedagogical principles, simplicity and user-friendliness in web design. The study showed the feasibility and desirability of integrating World Wide Web resources with on-site teaching for students who seek attendance-based courses and for initiating them to more effective use of the Internet. However, technical support and appropriate infrastructure for faculty who develop web resources remains essential. It is hoped that this case study may encourage others to harness the strengths of web technology to meet contemporary challenges in teaching students with diverse needs.