Use of Semi-Structured Interviews to Investigate Teacher Perceptions of Student Collaboration

Abstract

Researchers face interesting challenges while interpreting qualitative data. In this study, the authors report the challenges faced in conducting and interpreting semi-structured interviews of English language teachers in a qualitative study. The study was situated with an aim to investigate the strategies that Thai and Singaporean students use while working on collaborative English writing projects. The objective of the teacher interviews was to explore the strategies used by the teachers in encouraging collaborative student work. English language Teachers from Thailand and from Singapore were asked questions related to five facets of student collaboration: intrinsic value, perceived value, noise, teacher intervention, and assessment. The interview responses were then used to create a dual perspective and to support data generated from a student survey. This approach helped researchers explore the potential of collaborative learning for sharing the cognitive load of the learning task. This paper reports on the challenges faced, strategies used, and benefits enjoyed while using the tool of semi-structured interviews.