Ingrained in Artefact 5 are several notions that influenced me during my studies in the MDE program. Rogers’ (2003) seminal work, Diffusion of Innovations and Benkler's (2006) revolutionary book, The Wealth of Networks guided me in working on Artefact 5. The resulting work was a significant milestone. My professor provided a very encouraging feedback¹:

“You have submitted a very good assignment 2 paper. The introduction of open textbooks for distance education will indeed have a major impact on its availability and on its effectiveness…”

He also indicated the challenges associated with open textbooks:

“… the matter is a complex one and will undoubtedly stir up much controversy.”

Framing the purpose statements for phenomenological and grounded theory (see pages 4 and 13 in the Artefact 5 file respectively) was a daunting task at first. Reading the sample studies in the course text and trying to emulate the language in those examples did not yield satisfactory results. Using Creswell’s (2007) template statements however helped me to produce several alternative statements. I discussed these with my instructor on the phone and in the end I was able to formulate two purpose statements for the two methods I was applying in my course-based research work. (Please click here to view the purpose statement for phenomenological study). My professor commented:

“Your statement of purpose is on-the-mark.”

In the next stage I devised a set of research questions by following the textbook examples religiously. (Please click here to view the sub-questions for grounded theory). My professor noted:

“Good questions given your statement of purpose for this approach.”

Once the foundation of the research work was established, constructing the interview questions was relatively straightforward. In the interview questions, I embedded some of the ideas that I derived from Rogers (2003), for example Question 2 "Do you think the open textbook is compatible with the existing DE system(s)?" and from Benkler (2006) Question 3 "Do you think collaborative authoring and use of open textbooks is a viable option for DE?". The interview questions are included in Appendix 1 on page 20 of the Artefact 5 file.

Creswell (2007) offers a set of practical prescriptions that are intended to analyze qualitative data. His iterative procedures, vigorous reading and analysis of interview scripts produced numerous codes. My professor made the following remarks (see page 15 of the Artefact 5 file):

"Your tables 4 and 5 in the appendices section of your paper were very well done and represent an accurate distillation of the codes in tables 1-3."

The Artefact 5 served two purposes. First, it gave me some insight into my classmates perceptions of and criticism to open textbooks. Second, it was a deep learning experience in qualitative research particularly from the data collection and analysis perspectives and comparing phenomenology and grounded theory. I concluded (see page 19 of the Artefact 5 file):
 
"... the grounded theory approach can easily mystify the novice and requires painstakingly long analysis. Phenomenology allows beginners to learn the essential steps ... and appears to have a relatively shorter learning curve."

¹:Permission to use this graded assignment as artefact was received by email on 07/12/2010.