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dear people apologies for any cross posting also, apologies if this does not have any relevance and/or interest to you I am hoping to collaborate with a small number of Deaf and hard of hearing university students (who have worked with notetakers at some point in their higher education) to work with me on the first stage of my doctoral thesis. the details are below as the posting was rejected when I had an attachment. I am keen to include students who have worked with notetakers rather than making assumptions. if you have any questions please email me. if you would like to participate in the discussion, please contact my IT advisor (details below) to ensure the anonymity of the co-researchers. many thanks for your time melanie melanie thorley *AspireAbility project worker c/o blake 048 the university of greenwich at medway central avenue chatham kent ME4 4TB [log in to unmask] 07931 226599 INFORMATION SHEET FOR CO-RESEARCHERS TITLE Exploring D/deaf university students’ experiences of working with notetakers (this is the provisional title). AIM To gain insight into the (positive and negative) experiences of D/deaf university students and recent graduates who are supported by notetakers whilst at university. I am involving students as co-researchers rather than making assumptions about their experiences. STAGE ONE SAMPLE A small number (5-8) of D/deaf students and recent graduates (since 2005) will hopefully assist me in formulating a semi- structured questionnaire exploring the experiences of students supported by notetaking. The questionnaire will be compiled by myself, a disability advisor and the co-researchers using WebCT (electronically). We will be using a discussion board to generate questions and to discuss positive and negative experiences of working with notetakers. The questionnaire will be used in the second stage. As the co-researchers need to remain anonymous, they will need to contact my WebCT advisor ([log in to unmask]) for a guest log-in and information about how to access the site. It may be possible for you to save the discussion board as one of your favourites which will hopefully make it quicker and easier to access once the discussion gets going. I am hoping to compile some comprehensive guidelines at the end of the research on four topics. I would like to provide information for notetakers themselves, D/deaf students who use notetakers, teaching staff and students who have notetakers in their class. The discussion board will run until 30th September 2008 and the information on the database will be removed on 31st December 2008 to comply with Data Protection issues. Co-researchers will need to read this information form and the netiquette guidelines; they will also need to sign (electronically) a consent form to participate. No-one except myself, a fellow disability advisor, my ICT advisor and the co-researchers will have access to the discussion board. The compiled questionnaire will then need to go through the Ethics Committee before it can be distributed. STAGE TWO SAMPLE the eventual questionnaire will be available electronically for a self-selected national sample of D/deaf university students who have an ‘ac.uk’ email address and would like to contribute their experiences to this piece of research. RATIONALE FOR INVESTIGATION Hopefully, the information generated from the questionnaires will enable myself and fellow notetakers to provide a good quality service for disabled students in higher education. PRACTICAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES should the co-researchers experience anger and/or anxiety addressing this subject, I suggest they contacted via their Student Union or the Samaritans (08457 909090). Using an electronic forum will hopefully minimise fatigue, maintain a safe environment and enable students to use their preferred software. Many thanks for contributing to this thesis – I genuinely could not have undertaken a comprehensive doctoral thesis without your input and comments. Melanie Thorley ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.