Launchr

Example: an A-grade 2025 project, shown as its team would see it. Shared with the course leader’s permission, names removed. Nothing here saves.

Log what you saw or heard

Which hypothesis does this bear on? *

What does it do to that hypothesis? *

How did you get this? *

First-hand beats second-hand. Be honest — it tells you how much weight this evidence can carry.

What did you observe or learn? *

What did you actually see or hear? Keep quotes close to their words. Do not record private details about the person beyond what the project needs.

How long did this take?

How much would you trust this?

What makes you say that?

One person saying it, or many? Did you watch it happen, or were you told?

Interview transcript optional

PDF, Word or plain text, up to 15 MB. Only your team and staff can open it.

What might you be missing?

Who did you talk to — and why them?

Three friends is an anecdote, not a sample. Who would be most likely to disagree with you, and what would they say?

First-hand beats second-hand

A behaviour you watched outweighs one that was reported to you; a report outweighs a statistic you found. Where does this entry sit on that ladder?

Keep their exact words

Readers trust quotes, not paraphrase. What sentence did they actually say — especially the one that surprised you?

Contradictions are the useful kind

If everything you log supports your hypothesis, you are probably sampling people like you. Have you met anyone who disagrees?

Evidence 6supporting

Same round. All five said they would use an anonymous feedback channel, and every one raised the same two doubts: "is it really anonymous?" and "will anything happen after I complain?" Earlier interviews gave the reason: students worry that unclear feedback makes them look like weak learners, and that pointing out problems with a course reads as disrespect.

First-hand interview

Students hold back feedback to lecturers because they fear it will make a bad impression, so they would only use a feedback channel if it were genuinely anonymous.

A team member

Evidence 5contradicting

Same round. Two of five said they usually hear about events after they have ended, so a list would not help; they want reminders. One said what they need is "a system which is less troublesome", not another website to check.

First-hand interview

Students would use one place that gathers course materials and campus activities, because the real pain is that these are scattered across Moodle, OneDrive, email and social media.

A team member

Evidence 4supporting

Week 12: one-to-one interviews with 5 HKBU undergraduates, concept described out loud. All five would use at least one of the three functions. Biggest pain named: materials scattered across Moodle and OneDrive, activity notices buried in email and social media. Three of five said "saves time" as their first reaction.

First-hand interview

Students would use one place that gathers course materials and campus activities, because the real pain is that these are scattered across Moodle, OneDrive, email and social media.

A team member

Evidence 3supporting

Mid-semester interviews with 8 students and 3 professors. "Week 6, 3 reports plus 1 exam… the communication cost within the group made me want to drop out." "Didn't understand what the teacher wanted, leading to poor assignment performance." "Felt very encouraged when the UI design professor gave very specific, encouraging personal feedback." The same three themes came up unprompted: overload, unclear requirements, isolation.

First-hand interview

Students lose motivation mid-semester because workload piles up and assignment requirements are unclear, not because they stop caring about the subject.

A team member

Evidence 2supporting

Georgetown University's engagement survey: undergraduate engagement fell from 70% to 32% across one semester. Hong Kong students' rates of stress, anxiety and depression rose after COVID to 22.2%, 50.7% and 40.0%. A study of 4,772 students across 523 courses found attendance correlates with grades.

Online research

Students lose motivation mid-semester because workload piles up and assignment requirements are unclear, not because they stop caring about the subject.

A team member

Evidence 1supporting

Survey of 25 undergraduates across years, September. 60% noticed a decline in their motivation around mid-semester. Asked why: overwhelmed by workload and pressure 72%; dry, theory-heavy content 52%; passive lecture-style teaching 48%; high-stakes assessments 40%; cannot see the value of the materials 28%; time management 12%.

Survey

Students lose motivation mid-semester because workload piles up and assignment requirements are unclear, not because they stop caring about the subject.

A team member