Journalisation dans un Programme de carrière en nouveaux médias : Le rôle de la réflexion par l’action

The purpose of this case study is to report on the use of learning journals as a strategy to encourage critical reflection in the field of graphic design. Very little empirical research has been published regarding the use of critical reflection in learning journals in this field. Furthermore, nothing has been documented at the college level. To that end, the goal of this research endeavor was to investigate whether second-year students in the NewMedia and Publication Design Program at a small Anglophone CEGEP in Québec, enrolled in a Page Layout and Design course, learn more deeply by reflecting in action during design projects or reflecting on action after completing design projects. Secondarily, indications of a possible change in self-efficacy were examined. Two hypotheses were posited: 1) reflection-on-action journaling will promote a deeper approach to learning than reflection-in-action journaling, and 2) the level of self-efficacy in graphic design improves as students are encouraged to think reflectively. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, a mixed methods approach was used to collect and analyze the data. Content analysis of journal entries and interview responses was the primary method used to address the first hypothesis. Students were required to journal twice for each of three projects, once during the project and again one week after the project had been submitted. In addition, data regarding the students' perception of journaling was obtained through administering a survey and conducting interviews. For the second hypothesis, quantitative methods were used through the use of two surveys, one administered early in the Fall 2011 semester and the second administered early in the Winter 2012 semester. Supplementary data regarding self-efficacy was obtained in the form of content analysis of journal entries and interviews. Coded journal entries firmly supported the hypothesis that reflection-on-action journaling promotes deep learning. Using a taxonomy developed by Kember et al. (1999) wherein "critical reflection" is considered the highest level of reflection, it was found that only 5% of the coded responses in the reflection-in-action journals were deemed of the highest level, whereas 39% were considered critical reflection in the reflection-on-action journals. The findings from the interviews suggest that students had some initial concerns about the value of journaling, but these concerns were later dismissed as students learned that journaling was a valuable tool that helped them reflect and learn. All participants indicated that journaling changed their learning processes as they thought much more about what they were doing while they were doing it. They were taking the learning they had acquired and thinking about how they would apply it to new projects; this is critical reflection. The survey findings did not support the conclusive results of the comparison of journal instruments, where an increase of 35% in critical reflection was noted in the reflection-on-action journals. In Chapter 5, reasons for this incongruence are explored. Furthermore, based on the journals, surveys, and interviews, there is not enough evidence at this time to support the hypothesis that self-efficacy improves when students are encouraged to think reflectively. It could be hypothesized, however, that one's self-efficacy does not change in such a short period of time. In conclusion, the findings established in this case study make a practical contribution to the literature concerning the promotion of deep learning in the field of graphic design, as this researcher's hypothesis was supported that reflection-on-action journaling promoted deeper learning than reflection-in-action journaling. When examining the increases in critical reflection from reflection-in-action to the reflection-on-action journals, it was found that all students but one showed an increase in critical reflection in reflection-on-action journals. It is therefore recommended that production-oriented program instructors consider integrating reflection-on-action journaling into their courses where projects are given.

Social media to support collaboration in the product life cycle of SMEs

Abstract : The use of social media tools to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to support their business activities throughout the product life cycle (PLC) phases represents an interesting opportunity. SMEs operate in very competitive environments, and face significant challenges primarily caused by their size disadvantage. By nature, social media tools and platforms can enable them to overcome some of these challenges, as they are often very inexpensive, familiar and easy to use, allowing them to reach large audiences they would not be able to reach with traditional and expensive marketing initiatives. To provide solutions to this problem, this research identified three main objectives. The first objective was to draw a picture of the existing academic literature on the use of social media tools in the PLC context to better understand how these tools were studied and used in businesses, and for what purpose. Second, this research aimed at understanding how SMEs actually use social media tools to support their different business activities to identify the gap between academic research and actual business practices. Finally, based on the findings highlighted from the previous objectives, this research aimed at developing theory on this topic by proposing a conceptual framework of customer engagement enabled by social media. The conceptual framework aimed at answering general questions that emerged from the initial two objectives: Why do some SMEs use social media to support customer engagement, while others do not? Why do firms use different social media tools to support their customer engagement initiatives? Why does the scope of customer engagement initiatives (i.e., across different PLC phases) vary between SMEs? What are the potential outcomes of conducting customer engagement initiatives for the organizing firms? In order to achieve these research objectives, the methodology employed for this research is threefold. First, a systematic literature review was performed in order to properly understand how the use of social media tools in the PLC context had been studied. The final results consisted of 78 academic articles which were analyzed based on their bibliometric information and their content. Second, in order to draw the contrast between the academic publications and managerial reality of SMEs, six semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand how these firms actually use social media to support different activities in each of the PLC phases. Third, five additional semi-structured interviews were performed to gather a deeper understanding of this phenomenon and generate theory to support the proposed conceptual framework. The conceptual framework focuses on the degree of customer engagement, which is comprised of the scope (PLC phases) of customer engagement and the technology (social media tools) employed to support these initiatives. Two sets of antecedents were examined, firm motivators and firm impediments, as they could both potentially affect the scope and the social media tools used to support customer engagement initiatives. Finally, potential customer engagement outcomes for SMEs developing these initiatives were also examined. The semi-structured interviews lasted approximately 25-35 minutes, and were performed using an interview grid consisting of 24 open-ended questions. The interview grid was developed based on the findings of the systematic literature review, and this qualitative approach allowed for a rich understanding of the interviewed SMEs’ use of social media tools to support and engage customers in their different PLC activities. The main results highlighted by this project demonstrate that this field is relatively recent and sees constant increase in research interest since 2008. However, most of the academic research focuses on the use of social media tools to support innovation activities during the new product development process, while the interviewed firms almost exclusively used the tools to engage customers in the later phases of the PLC, primarily for promotion, customer service support, and business development activities. Interestingly, the interviewed firms highlighted several benefits of using social media tools to engage customers, some of which could help them overcome certain size disadvantages previously mentioned. These firms are in need of further guidelines to properly implement such initiatives and reap the expected benefits. Results suggest that SMEs are far behind both large companies and academic research in their use of social media to engage customers in different business activities. The proposed conceptual framework serves as a great tool to better understand their reality and eventually better support them in their social media and customer engagement efforts. However, this framework needs to be further developed and improved. This research project provides a 360-degree view of the phenomenon of the use of social media to support customer engagement for SMEs, by providing both a thorough systematic review of the academic research and an understanding of the managerial reality of SMEs behind this phenomenon. From this analysis, a conceptual framework is then proposed and serves as a stepping stone for future researchers who are interested in developing theory in this field.