“Teddy bear debugging” has become a bit of “thing”. Apparently, it’s also known as Rubber Duck Debugging, Rubber Ducking, and Teddy Bear Pair Programming. When you have a debugging problem that you really just can’t solve, get your teddy bear (I’m serious, get your bear), bring it to the monitor and explain (in words, out…
I’m two and half minutes in and the ‘um count’ is up to 31. As the Research Week RRADO, I had the pleasure to be heavily involved in Research Week in 2014 including speaking at a few sessions. At the “Reading of the Will” session (see recording here), I was asked to present the registrar…
“Research” is probably one of the dirtiest words in the Indigenous world’s vocabulary. When mentioned in many Indigenous contexts it stirs up silences, conjures up bad memories…It is so powerful that Indigenous people even write poetry about research. The ways in which scientific research is implicated in the worst excesses of colonialism remains a powerful remembered history…
The following is a post by Anne Davis, who presented a session on educational quality during GPET Research Week, 2014. Her session can be viewed here. “Research week online – what a fabulous idea. I’m enjoying taking time out from my work day to listen to some amazing speakers, but having the flexibility to download…
I often get asked by new users of virtual classrooms how they can best prepare for a session. At Research Week, many of our presenters are using virtual classrooms for the first time, and it can be daunting. There are a few tips: Remove the cat from your office chair Always check your setup. Every…
When we talk about the research ecology, I am reminded of the importance of fig trees. I spent several years of my adolescence living in a temperate rainforest. There was a mighty fig tree there that was an important landmark, it was awe inspiring. For some young children, it was a place of fairies, for…
Observational studies are designed to predict some sort of relationship between variables. They usually start with an observation of some sort of association. Like chocolate consumption being linked with Nobel prizes. An article in the New England Journal of Medicine shows a correlation between the national consumption of chocolate and the national yield of Nobel prizes .…
I was having a conversation with GPET Aboriginal Health Training team yesterday, as we prepared our session on Thursday for research week. In our discussions about ethics, we revisited the appalling human rights violations that have occurred in the name of medical research. It reminded me of the difference between procedural research ethics and “ethics…
I’ve been thinking a lot about earthworms and medical research lately. All this discussion around the research/ education/ clinical ecosystems reminds me of the importance of earthworms. Research is everywhere. Apparently, there are over 25 000 randomized controlled trials published every year. Which, in terms of research sustainability, means I should think long and hard before…
The world of eLearning is rapidly evolving and changing. And like any changing world there is always plenty of jargon and new concepts to keep up with. In our Research Week presentation – e-learning: opportunities, pitfalls and educational strategies (click to view recording) – I attempted to demystify some of these terms with an ‘ABC of eLearning‘.…
The type of study we are most likely to recognise is the experimental study. Theses studies are designed to justify interventions. As such, they are in great demand by policy makers. How can we prove that this expensive simulator is preferable to a plastic cup and a drinking straw? The question is not just an academic one.…
When I first started my career in the production of educational content (around 1985) I was involved in producing educational videos that were copied and posted to TAFE colleges and students scattered throughout the state. To this day I don’t really know how the topics for production were chosen – but I do recall making…
