3 Delphi Study

The Delphi Study is led by Queensland researchers but undertaken across all states. The Delphi technique is a structured, iterative method for gaining consensus among experts who provide their responses independently (Clayton, 1997). An expert panel will consist of 15-30 participants representing different expertise (Clayton, 1997) from the previous studies representing all parts of the ecosystem (ITE, researchers, policy advisors, teachers, school leaders, subject areas). The Delphi study will consist of two rounds. In Round 1, the current state of the ecological framework will be disseminated to the expert panel. A questionnaire with open-ended items (5-point Likert scale of Strongly Disagree to Strong Agree) is administered preferably through individual online interviews to obtain feedback on the salient issues that are included within the current state ecological framework (as informed by Studies 1 and 2) and seek input into an ideal ecological framework. In Round 2, the experts are provided with a closed questionnaire summarising the consensus magnitude for prior responses and proposing an ideal ecological framework, seeking their level of agreement with the proposed elements of the new framework. A desired level of consensus may be specified in advance, or items may be listed in order of consensus magnitude. Two rounds are sufficient to maintain a high response rate of ideally 70% (Clayton, 1997). If selected from a homogeneous population, a panel size of 15-30 members is recommended (Clayton, 1997).