These variables interact with each other and jointly affect the overall effect of

distance education. Teaching resources and teaching methods affect students'

participation, which in turn affects learning outcomes. At the same time,

technical support provides guarantee for the use of teaching resources and the

implementation of teaching methods to ensure the smooth running of the

whole teaching process.

Chapter 3
Methodology

3.1 Research Design

This study adopted a qualitative research methodology, aiming to gain insights

into the specific implementation process of distance education in teaching

watercolour painting to Chinese university students, the watercolour painting

skills acquired by the students, and the challenges they faced during the

distance education process. Qualitative research is suitable for this type of

exploratory research as it is able to capture the detailed experiences and

subjective feelings of the interviewees through direct communication with

them.

The design of this study used a semi-structured interview data collection

method. Through interviews with watercolour lecturers and learners of

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watercolour painting in Chinese colleges and universities, we flexibly and

deeply explored the interviewees' perspectives and experiences within the

framework of an established outline, collected rich qualitative data, and

instantly adapted the questions as needed to obtain more in-depth information.

The study draws on constructivist learning theory and multivariate learning

theory as its theoretical underpinnings. Constructivist learning theory

emphasises that the acquisition of knowledge and skills is achieved through an

active process of construction by the learner, and that interaction and feedback

are particularly important in distance education. The multivariate learning

theory, on the other hand, points out that learning is a multidimensional

process involving cognitive, affective, social and environmental aspects. These

two theories provide rich theoretical support for this study to help explain the

complex phenomena in teaching watercolour painting at a distance.

The whole research process consists of four phases: preparation, data

collection, data analysis and discussion of results, and each phase is

complementary to each other to ensure the systematic and in-depth nature of

the study and to provide a solid theoretical and practical foundation for the

application of distance education in art teaching.

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3.2 Location and subjects of the study

The research locations were chosen in several colleges and universities in

China with watercolour painting courses, covering different regions in the north

and south, to ensure the diversity and representativeness of the data. These

colleges and universities include well-known art colleges and universities in

the northern region of China and the southern region of China. The northern

colleges and universities are Inner Mongolia Normal University, Northeast

Normal University, and Jilin Normal University, and the southern colleges and

universities are Central South University, Jingdezhen Ceramic University, and

Yunnan Normal University, each of which has unique characteristics and

advantages in watercolour painting education.

The reason for choosing these colleges and universities is that they are

representative of the region in terms of watercolour education and can provide

rich teaching resources and practical experience. The watercolour curriculum

and teaching quality of these schools have a high degree of recognition

nationwide and can reflect the overall level of watercolour education in

mainland China.

The research subjects include the following categories of students and

teachers:

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 1. undergraduate and graduate students majoring in art: they have different

learning experiences and experiences in distance watercolour painting

courses. These students were chosen because they have a high level of

interest and grounding in watercolour painting and are able to provide valuable

feedback and insights.

2. Teachers responsible for teaching the watercolour course: they have a

deep understanding of the process and challenges of implementing distance

education. These teachers are chosen because they have extensive

experience in teaching watercolour and distance education and are able to

provide professional perspectives and advice.

3. Students who have a certain foundation in painting but are not watercolour

majors and have taught themselves watercolour through distance education:

although they are not watercolour majors, they have a certain foundation in

painting, a strong interest in watercolour, and have taught themselves

watercolour through the distance education platform. This group of students

was chosen to understand the learning effects and challenges of distance

education in a non-major context, and to explore the learning paths and

experiences of students from different backgrounds in distance education.

3.3 Sampling procedure

A purposive sampling method was used in this study. First, initial contact was

24
made with art college administrators and faculty members of the target

colleges and universities via email to introduce the background, purpose, and

content of the study, and to explain in detail the specific process of the study,

the expected outcomes, and its potential contribution to the college and art

education, and to solicit their support and assistance. Next, clear sample

selection criteria were developed based on the purpose of the study, and

college administrators and faculty were asked to recommend a list of faculty

and students who met the criteria to ensure representation and diversity of

participants. Through email, initial contact was made with the recommended

faculty and students to introduce the study and solicit their initial interest.

Finally, the initially identified faculty and students were provided with a detailed

description of the purpose, methodology, and expected course of the study to

ensure that they had a thorough understanding of the study, and a detailed

informed consent form was prepared containing all relevant information about

the study to ensure that each participant signed the informed consent form

with a full understanding of the study and voluntarily, and that they were

provided with a channel of contact at any time during the course of the study in

which they could ask questions or withdraw consent. Through systematic

purposive sampling, it was ensured that the selection of study participants was

representative and scientific, thus providing a solid foundation for the reliability

and validity of the findings.

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3.4 Interview protocol

Semi-structured interviews were used in this study in order to gain insights into

the implementation process of the distance watercolour course, the

watercolour skills acquired by the students in distance education, and the main

issues and challenges faced by distance education in teaching watercolour.

The outline of the interviews included the implementation process of the

distance watercolour course, the watercolour skills acquired by students in

distance education, and the main problems and challenges faced by distance

education in teaching watercolour.

The implementation process of the distance watercolour course: to understand

the overall design of the course, the specific teaching methods, the teaching

resources used, and the organisation and management of the course. This

section will explore the strategies and experiences of teachers in designing

and implementing distance watercolour courses, analysing their effectiveness

and innovativeness.

Watercolour skills acquired by students in distance learning: to explore

students' progress and changes in technical skills and creative thinking after

participating in distance watercolour courses. This section will focus on how

26
students mastered basic watercolour techniques, use of colour, compositional

skills and the development of creative thinking in a distance learning

environment.

Major problems and challenges in watercolour teaching and learning through

distance education: to analyse the various practical difficulties and challenges

encountered by teachers and students in teaching and learning watercolour

through distance learning, such as technical problems, insufficient interaction,

delayed feedback, and maintenance of learning motivation. This part will

provide empirical evidence and suggestions for improving distance

watercolour teaching and learning.

Each interview is controlled to last between 20 and 30 minutes, and the exact

location will be arranged according to the convenience of the interviewees. It

will be conducted via online video conferencing software and offline within the

school office, the exact arrangement will be determined in consultation with the

interviewee.

Prior to the interviews, respondents will be given a detailed description of the

purpose of the study, the content of the interviews, and matters related to

participation in the interviews. Respondents will be informed that their

participation is voluntary and that they have the right to withdraw from the

27
interview at any time without providing a reason. In order to ensure informed

consent from participants, written consent will be obtained prior to the start of

the interview. The written consent form will detail the purpose of the study, the

content of the interview, the use of the data and protection measures to ensure

the privacy of the respondents and the security of the data.

3.5 Pre-testing

Prior to the formalisation of the semi-structured interviews, a pre-test will be

conducted for this study to identify and correct any possible problems. Firstly, a

small sample group similar to the target group of the study, including three

university students and one watercolour painting teacher, was randomly

selected. Next, these pre-tested samples will be surveyed using a designed

questionnaire and interview outline to assess the clarity of the interview outline,

the relevance of the questions, and the actionability of the overall process.

During the pre-testing process, all problems encountered will be recorded and

feedback on the interview outline will be collected from the participants. Based

on this feedback, the semi-structured interview outline will be revised and

improved as necessary by modifying questions that are unclear or difficult to

understand, and adding or deleting irrelevant questions to ensure that each

question is effective in leading the respondent to an in-depth discussion of the

28
research topic.

3.6 Validity and reliability

In order to ensure that the interview outline has a high level of Content Validity,

this study will design the questions through an in-depth literature review and

expert consultation to ensure that key aspects of distance education in the

teaching and learning of watercolour painting are covered. The literature

review will help to identify and understand existing theories and research

findings, while the expert consultation will provide professional feedback and

advice to ensure comprehensiveness and relevance of the question design. In

addition, the interview outline will be further validated and adapted through a

pre-testing session to ensure that it leads the respondents to provide in-depth

and valuable responses. In order to enhance the Construct Validity, the study

will explore the same research questions using semi-structured interviews with

students and teachers using Triangulation to verify the stability and

consistency of the findings. Based on existing theories and research findings,

a clear theoretical framework is constructed to guide the research design and

data analysis to ensure that the concepts measured are theoretically sound. In

terms of External Validity, even though the purpose of qualitative research is to

gain an in-depth understanding of a specific phenomenon rather than

generalising it, this study enhances the generalisability and applicability of the

29
findings through sample diversity and detailed description of the research

context and situation.

In order to ensure the internal consistency of the interview outline, this study

will be adjusted and improved through multiple reviews and pre-test feedback

to ensure the rationality and logical coherence of the question design. In

addition, the consistency and stability of the questions will be assessed

through the Test-retest Reliability assessment, whereby some respondents will

be repeated in the pre-testing stage and the results of the two interviews will

be compared. At the same time, a detailed coding manual was developed to

clarify the coding criteria and methodology to ensure the transparency and

consistency of the coding process. Through these measures, this study will

ensure the validity and reliability of the interview outline and data analysis

process, thus enhancing the credibility and academic value of the findings.

3.7 Data collection procedure

Data collection for this study will be carried out through the following steps.

No Step Content

1 Establishing the research objectives and ① Define the research objective: to explore the implementation process of

hypotheses distance education in teaching watercolour painting to Chinese university

30
 students.

② Formulate specific hypotheses: the application of distance education in

watercolour teaching can improve students' watercolour painting skills, but it

may also face the problem of inadequate technical support.

2 Designing the research method ① Use semi-structured interviews to collect data from students and teachers.

② To design an interview outline covering the implementation process of

distance learning, the watercolour painting skills acquired by students in

distance learning, and the problems encountered.

③ Select a representative sample for interviews to ensure the diversity and

representativeness of the data.

3 Adherence to Ethical Standards ① Ensure that research participants (students, teachers, etc.) are fully

informed and agree to participate in the study.

② Maintain the confidentiality of all participants' personal information.

③ Provide an option to withdraw from the study.

4 Data collection and analysis ① Collect data on students' learning outcomes before and after the

interviews.

②Analyse the data using qualitative analysis methods.

5 Evaluation and Reporting of Results ① Interpret the results of the study.

② Prepare a research report or publish a paper.

6 Obtaining Necessary Permission and ① Obtain permission from the school and parents if minor students are

Approval involved.

② Review and approval from the relevant department within the university is

31
 required.

3.8 Data Analysis

In this study, a qualitative research method was proposed for data analysis,

aiming to gain insights into the process of implementing distance watercolour

teaching and learning, the skills acquired by the students in distance learning,

and the problems they faced.

The transcribed texts were first coded using an open coding approach. The

interview texts were read line by line, identifying and labelling key concepts

and themes related to the research theme. Primary codes were then grouped

together to form higher level themes. Finally, the major themes were integrated

to form core categories that comprehensively describe the research questions.

Thematic analysis was next used to identify and interpret key themes and

patterns in the data. Carefully read the transcribed text to gain an initial

understanding of the overall content of the data. Initial codes were generated

based on the important information in the data, labelling meaningful segments

of the text. Similar codes are then grouped together to find and summarise

major themes. Themes are checked and adjusted to ensure that each theme is

supported by sufficient data and that there is no repetition or overlap between

32
themes. Finally, an analysis report is written based on the results of the

thematic analysis, describing each theme and its associated data in detail.

Finally, data validation was carried out, where the results of the analysis were

discussed with some of the interview participants through a feedback session

after the initial analysis was completed to validate the accuracy of the data and

the soundness of the analysis. Participants can provide comments and

suggestions on the analysis results, and the researcher further adjusts and

improves the analysis results based on the feedback.

Through the above data analysis steps, a systematic understanding of the

implementation process of distance watercolour teaching, the skills acquired

by students in distance learning, and the problems they face can be obtained,

thus providing valuable references and improvement suggestions for future

distance education.

3.9 Research Ethics

The following ethical norms will be strictly adhered to in this study as data will

be collected through semi-structured interviews:

Informed Consent: Prior to data collection, the research team will provide all

participants with a detailed description of the study to ensure that they are fully

33
aware of the purpose, process and possible risks of the study. Participants will

be informed of their rights, including the right to participate voluntarily and to

withdraw at any time.

Privacy: Participants' personal information will be kept strictly confidential and

all data will be used for research purposes only. Encryption and anonymisation

measures will be taken during data collection, storage and processing to

ensure that participants' privacy is not compromised. No identifying information

about the participants will be included in the report of the results of the study.

Voluntary participation: Ensure that all participants' participation is entirely

voluntary and that they have the right to withdraw from the study at any time

without suffering any negative consequences as a result. The research team

will respect the decision of participants and ensure that they do not have to

give any reason for withdrawing.

Transparency of results: When the results of the study are published, the

research team will ensure that the results are truthful and transparent, avoiding

any form of data manipulation or misrepresentation. All research findings will

be presented truthfully and objectively based on the data collected to provide

reliable research support.

34
Through the above steps and measures, this study will ensure its scientific and

ethical validity and provide reliable research support for the application of

distance education in teaching watercolour painting to Chinese university

students. This ethical rigour will help maintain the fairness and transparency of

the study while safeguarding the rights and privacy of the participants.

35
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