The Blind Search
This innovative project implements a unique transformative innovation ‘TBS’ [The Blind Search], which is inspired by the reality singing competition ‘The Voice: la plus belle voix’.
The basic idea here is inspired by The Voice: la plus belle voix. Students pitch their research project for 2 minutes; tutors cannot see the student and student cannot see the tutor. After 2 minutes, tutors who turn their chair towards the student show interest to supervise the project. If there are more than one tutor wanting to supervise a project, student gets to decide.
The aim is to rejuvenate, revitalise and transform the teaching and learning philosophy for research methods (and similar theory-centred research-based modules) that will cater to the needs of both the students and teachers, in the thesis topic and tutor selection process. We aim to promote educational wellbeing building on the principles of providing equal opportunities, inclusivity, and fairness in the Thesis tutor selection process for both tutee and tutor. TBS makes this selection process efficient by alleviating the time spent to find a tutor, writing, and responding to emails, creating appointments, and determining fit of the tutor-tutee for the thesis topic. This enables tutees to focus more on their thesis, prepare better work and for tutors to find the right fit between their interests, expertise, and the thesis topic, to better guide the students.
The idea is also to enhance student peer-learning capacity, inclusiveness, and ability to acquire diverse industry-relevant and research-based transferrable skills. In doing so, the innovation finds synergies between enhancing student learning, participation, knowledge co-creation, and motivation in research methods module, and make the thesis tutor selection process efficient and inclusive for both teachers and students.
The project demonstrates systematic, purposeful, and effective use of open-source and free digital software technologies where technology interventions will facilitate face-face discussion, rather than inhibit social interactions.
