Student Name: Sinead Lawton (sineadlaw@gmail.

com)
Student ID: D16128798
Programme: MSc Applied eLearning, DIT LTTC
Supervisor Name: Dr Frances Boylan (france.boylan@dit.ie)
Head of School: Dr Jen Harvey (jen.harvey@dit.ie)

Research Title: What value do online microlearning induction resources bring to

the transition experience of new employees?

The organisation at the centre of this research recruits approximately 70 new employees
each year. Every new employee is obligated to undertake a one day face-to-face induction
training programme. This training is only held every three months and employees can be in
their new role for many weeks before they can avail of training. Furthermore, there is
insufficient time in the one-day training to cover all of the required information. New
employees can find it difficult to know where to access the information they need, leading to
gaps in knowledge and difficulties in transitioning into their new role.

The aim of this study is to explore the value of supplementing the existing face-to-face
induction training with online microlearning resources, with an overall aim to inform practice
and bring about change in the employee learning experience. Due to the exploratory nature
of this research, the bulk of the data collected will be qualitative in nature with the main
methods being a questionnaire, a focus group interview and four one-to-one interviews.
Additional research will include analysis of organisational documents such as the existing
induction training materials and the employee handbook. Some quantitative data will be
included only to give context to the study including the number of employees employed
annually and the average wait time for induction training. No employees will be identified in
this data.

The questionnaire will aim to explore the experiences of employees transitioning to the
organisation, opinions on the existing induction training programme, the most common gaps
in knowledge for new employees, the time available to avail of training in the first weeks of
employment and preferred modes of learning online. Potential participants are the
approximately 100 employees in the organisation who started their role within the previous
18 months. These employees will be contacted by email one week in advance of the
dissemination of the questionnaire, outlining the purpose and design of the study, how data
will be collected, used and stored, and any possible outcomes of the research, including
publication of findings. This will give participants time to read and understand what they are
volunteering for. It will be emphasised that participation in the study is completely voluntary
and contact details for the researcher provided if they require any clarification on any aspect
of the study.

The link to the online questionnaire will be circulated by email. The questionnaire will again
include all of the relevant information on the study and participants informed that they can
withhold answering any questions to which they do not wish to respond. Participants will be
asked to tick a box before they can proceed with the survey to confirm that they have read
and understood the information given and that they consent to their data being used for the
purpose stated.

The survey will be administered using SurveyMonkey and data collected automatically. All
responses are anonymous. The SurveyMonkey account is password protected and only the
researcher has access. The link will not be made publically available. At the end of the
questionnaire, participants will be asked to email the researcher if they are willing to take
part in a focus group interview.

Following analysis of the questionnaire responses, a focus group interview of approximately

50 minutes with 4 to 5 participants will be held to further explore the experiences and needs
of new employees, and content and design for the online induction microlearning resources.

After the learning resources have been created, four one-to-one interviews will be held to
evaluate the design, content, ease of use of the microlearning resources and likely impact on
the transition experience of new employees. Interviews will take approximately 45 minutes.
In the unlikely event there are too many volunteers for either the focus group or one-to-one
interviews, the researcher will select a representative sample, striving for gender balance
and representation in terms of role and location. Participants will be colleagues of the
researcher, healthy subjects and over 18. There will be no renumeration offered to
participants.

Both the focus group interview and the one-to-one interviews will be held in the offices of the
organisation at a time convenient to participants. At the start of all interviews, participants will
be given information outlining the purpose and design of the study, how data will be
collected, used and stored, and any possible outcomes of the research, including publication
of findings. Participants will be informed of the confidentiality of the study, that they can
withhold answering any question they do not wish to answer, and that they can clarify any
responses made or withdraw completely with a given timeframe. Participants will then be
asked to sign a consent form to confirm that they have read and understood the information
given and that they consent to their data being used for the purpose stated before interviews
begin. Before the focus group interview, participants will be asked not to name co-
participants. If this occurs, data will be anonymised and pseudonyms used if appropriate.

All interviews will be recorded verbatim using a digital recorder. Notes will also be taken
manually by the researcher. The files will be removed from the recording device immediately
to be stored safely on a password protected cloud account. The researcher will be the only
person will access to the file. Data will be anonymised at point of transcription. The
researcher will make full transcriptions of the recordings. No third party will be involved in the
process and data will not be shared with the Supervisor. Data will be anonymised at the
point of transcription and pseudonyms used if appropriate. Analysis of the data will be
undertaken by the researcher alone. Files will be held securely along with all files associated
with the project on a password encrypted cloud account. Analysis of the data will use
appropriate analytical methods agreed with the supervisor.

Interview participants will be emailed copies of the transcripts to review and suggest any
changes. Emails will be marked Private and Confidential to the recipient only. They will be
asked to confirm receipt of the message. They will be advised that if they do not make any
further contact with the researcher following a two-week period, it will be assumed that they
agree with the transcript. Any amendments or changes requested will be made and the
revised transcript sent to the participant for final approval.

I have received permission from the ethics committee of the organisation being researched
to proceed with the study as outlined above following the Principles for Conducting Research
as set out by the organisation. Please see below confirmation of ethics approval.