Focus Group 1 – BA GMD Year 1 Students

Recording Session 1:

Transcript Session 1:
(Un-edited)

Participants Session 1:
Arushi Prakash
Devananda Sudeesh
Huiyuan Xin
Yifan Jiang
Ravin Raori

Focus Group Questions:
(OpenAI ChatGPT, 2024)
Note*I would like to acknowledge my use of OpenAI Chat GPT in helping structure the questions for my focus groups. I used the AI to help brainstorm some ideas and refine the questions for my focus group. (Refer to Focus Group Methods Post for more details on the prompt)

1. Initial Expectations: What were your expectations about making friends and how has it been so far?
2. Defining Friendship: What does friendship mean to you in the context of university life?
3. Community Perception: How would you describe the sense of community in your cohort or the university as a whole?
4. Challenges: Have you faced any challenges in forming connections?
5. Support Systems: In what situations/contexts/scenarios have you made new friends?
6. Future Outlook: How do you imagine these relationships evolving as you progress through the course?

Further Data and Analysis Session 1:

Link to Miro board: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVL-XmNy0=/?share_link_id=732255999731

I spent some time with the students to look at some of the responses generated and started to draw some links/connections between their reflections.

Recording Session 2:

Transcript Session 2:
(Un-edited)

Participants Session 2:
Denise See
Devananda Sudeesh
Huiyuan Xin
Ravin Raori

Session 2 Activity 1:
I wanted to start analysing some of the data with the students to introduce a participatory element (Refer to Refer to Focus Group Methods Post)

(From Ravin)

Hi folks,
Using some of the data we generated last time, the first task is to pick out 5-6 statements that feel like they mean the most to you?
Perhaps something you resonate with, maybe something you hadn’t thought about before – it could be a value that you hope to take with you moving forward or anything else you find meaningful

Data and Analysis from Activity 1
Link to Miro board: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVL-XmNy0=/?share_link_id=732255999731

Session 2 Activity 2:
(From Ravin)

Hi folks,
Looking at what moved us as individuals – can we start to Organise them under themes .This is a starting point – we can always add more themes.

The themes/categories included (Definitions, Values, Commitments and Misc.)

Data Collected and Analysis:
We analysed and sorted the reflections as a group (see below) to start to articulate an understanding of community and belonging together.
Link to Miro board: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVL-XmNy0=/?share_link_id=732255999731

Note* I would like to acknowledge my work with the Creative Producer Programme at Ars Electronica in 2021. The co-authoring of a manifesto as part of this programme has been a constant source of inspiration in helping me find ways to articulate collective experience and also use Miro as a tool for working.

References:
1. OpenAI ChatGPT (2024) ChatGPT response to Ravin Raori, 28 November.
2. A Manifesto for Creative Producing:
Original Attribution-
Work originally developed as part of the Creative Producer Program for the Ars Electronica Festival 2021, a six-week program that gathered 22 practitioners with the aim of creating a Manifesto for Creative Producing. creativeproducing.online Allison Costa (US), Ana Prendes (GB), Christiana Kazakou (GB), Cui Yin Mok (SG), Hyash Tanmoy (IN), Illya Szilak (US), Ilona Puskas (HU), Justin Berry (US), Kavita Gonsalves (AU), Kazz Morohashi (GB), Kofi Oduro (CA), Komal Jain (IN), Lizzie Crouch (GB), Madhushree Kamak (IN), Maria Kuzmina (RU), Mark Bolotin (AU), Matt Gingold (AU), Nicholas Medvescek (US), Ravin Raori (GB), Robin Reid (US), Viviana Quea (AT), Zeynep Birsel (NL)

Harvard-
Costa, A., Prendes, A., Kazakou, C., Mok, C. Y., Birsel, Z., Quea, V., Reid, R., Raori, R., Medvescek, N., Gingold, M., Bolotin, M., Kuzmina, M., Kamak, M., Crouch, L., Jain, K., Oduro, K., Morohashi, K., Gonsalves, K., Berry, J., … Tanmoy, H., (2023). A Manifesto for Creative Producing. Creative Producing Online. Avalaible at: https://creativeproducing.online/ (Accessed: 13 Feb 2024).