Reflexive Blog: Crafting and Trialling a Questionnaire

Crafting a questionnaire requires extensive exploration and careful consideration. The instrument has been designed to investigate students’ metacognitive knowledge and regulation regarding soft skills—particularly those related to STEM—and to assess the effectiveness of my newly developed curriculum and pedagogy in fostering these skills.

To develop the questionnaire, I drew on data gathered during Cycles 1 and 2 of my Action Research, my intervention plan from the previous PG Certificate term, and my ongoing observations of student behaviour that is the target of my intervention. After drafting the questionnaire, I used Copilot AI to test its effectiveness. The feedback was positive, but it suggested reframing some questions to avoid vagueness and potential confusion.

I submitted the questionnaire, along with its intended purpose, to my Course Leader for review and he aprooves of it.

Another strategy to evaluate the questionnaire’s effectiveness involves consulting my tutor, Kwame. As someone outside my academic and industry subculture, he serves as a “cultural stranger,” which helps reduce bias. As Presser and Converse (1986) highlight, it is important to seek “differing perspectives and experiences to get new information.”

To trial the questionnaire as a pretest, I am using a group of MA students who are nearing the end of their course. These students are not part of my intervention group. The aim is to identify any issues such as missing response options, inappropriate vocabulary, or potential misinterpretations. This pretest will be conducted without informing participants that the questionnaire is still under development, to ensure authentic responses.

Since these students are not involved in the December workshop and are unfamiliar with its activities, I have designed a short introductory session to provide context. This includes a presentation of the newly reformulated Soft Skills Passport (following earlier engagement challenges) and a brief discussion on industry expectations for graduates. This segment will last approximately 20 minutes.

Following this, students will complete the questionnaire during the remainder of the class (approximately 1.5 hours), while regular one-to-one tutorials take place. As this trial does not include group activities, I am focusing solely on the individual questionnaire component.

Trial Structure:
1- Soft Skills Passport Introduction and Brief Discussion (20 minutes):
Students will be introduced to the soft skills—particularly STEM-related ones—most in demand in the industry. I will also present relevant data on employer expectations.
2- Questionnaire Completion (1.5 hours):
Since these students are preparing to graduate and enter the job market (some are already applying, and one has received an offer), the questionnaire has been adapted to reflect their context. They will refer to the Soft Skills Passport during the process.

Only after completing these two stages—design exploration and trialling—will I be able to revise and finalise the questionnaire for use in the December workshop.

Reference:
Converse, J. M. and Presser, S., 1986.  Survey Questions. Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. Available at: <https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412986045> [Accessed 5 Nov 2025].

1- Individual Questionnaire File:

2- Post-Collaboration Reflection Questionnaire File: