Category: PhD

Expected to research, but paid to publish

Jun 1, 2011

in PhD, Publication, Research, Scholarship

academia, publication

What’s more important, producing many low quality publications, or only a few high quality ones? I’m sure most people would agree that it’s the latter, and yet I’m expected to put out 3 publications in every 2 year cycle. That doesn’t give me much time to plan a very rigorous study (or studies), implement it,…
The use of innovative technology in clinical education

May 24, 2011

in PhD, Physiotherapy, Research, Social media, Students, Technology

clinical education, innovation, learning, presentation, prezi, teaching, technology

A few days ago I gave a presentation to our faculty on the use of innovative technologies in teaching practice with specific reference to clinical education. I’ve been using Prezi a bit because I wanted to explore alternative ways of doing presentations. Here it is: Innovative technology in clinical education on Prezi Note: the…
Publication and citation

May 13, 2011

in PhD, Research

citation, google scholar, impact factor, promotion, publication, research

Yesterday I had a conversation with a senior colleague where we briefly discussed the increasing importance of formal publication as it relates to promotion at our institution. Since I’m doing my PhD through publication, I’m also working on how to fit my needs as a student into the university’s need for academics to publish. There’s…
Developing cases for Problem-Based Learning

Mar 14, 2011

in Education, Health, PhD, Teaching, Workshop

case-based studies, cases, data representation, Ethel Stanley, founder, gapminder, hans rosling, Margaret Waterman, pbl, phd, problem based learning, research, statistics, student products, teacher, TED, workshop

Workshop on the development of case-based studies Facilitators: Dr. Ethel Stanley, Dr. Margaret Waterman Part of my PhD will be to look at alternative approaches to clinical education, including uses cases in problem-based learning (PBL). My specific interest is in the use of emerging technology to design and teach with those cases in small groups.…
SAFRI residential session

Mar 11, 2011

in Education, PhD, Physiotherapy, Research, Social media, Teaching

africa, ethics, medical education, palliative care physician, physiotherapy, research, saahe, safri, Worcester

I’ve recently finished the second residential session of SAFRI, a programme for the development of research in medical education in Africa. I spent a big part of 2010 working on my SAFRI project (link to project notes), which I’ll be presenting at this years SAAHE conference in Potchefstroom. One of the main assignments for this session…
Using social networks to develop reflective discourse in the context of clinical education

Mar 10, 2011

in Assignments, Conference, Education, Ethics, Health, PhD, Physiotherapy, Research, Social media, Technology

clinical reasoning, ethical reasoning, facebook, health professional education, healthcare professional students, medical education, online discussions, poster, reflection, reflective discussion, research, saahe, safri, social network, social networks, teacher

My SAFRI project for 2010 looked at the use of a social network as a platform to develop clinical and ethical reasoning skills through reflective discussion between undergraduate physiotherapy students. Part of the assignment was to prepare a poster for presentation at the SAAHE conference in Potchefstroom later this year, which I’ve included below. I…
CHAT workshop for Emerging ICT in HE research

Jan 20, 2011

in Learning, PhD, Research, Teaching

activity systems, activity theory, Change laboratory, chat, cognitive change, cultural historical activity theory, external activity systems, General, genetic law, Implement, Internalisation, joanne hardman, learning, leontiev, Lev Vygotsky, model, research, Russia, Stalin, teacher, teaching, vygotsky

Last week I attended a short workshop on Cultural Historical Activity Theory (given by Joanne Hardman) as part of an NRF-funded research project on the use of emerging ICTs in Higher Education. Here are my notes from the session (this was all very new to me and I probably got a few things wrong. Feel…
Research plan for 2011

Jan 7, 2011

in Conference, PhD, Research

AMEE, Congress South African Association, Delphi, ece, goals, heltasa, Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association, International Association, phd, ple, research, saahe, south africa

I’ve just been asked by one of my supervisors for my research goals for 2011. This will include my own work, as well as planning how our undergraduate and Masters students’ work might feed into some of the bigger projects. The first goal I have for 2011 is to submit 2 articles based on my first…
Reflections on blended learning in clinical education

Sep 22, 2010

in Learning, PhD, Physiotherapy, Research, Technology

blended learning, clinical education, Michael Rowe, phd, physiotherapy, research, sasp, south african society of physiotherapy

A few weeks ago I was invited by one of the local groups of the South African Society of Physiotherapy to present the initial results of my PhD research into the use of blended learning in clinical education. Afterwards, I was surprised by the support I received from the clinicians, and at the resistance (or…
Writing support group

Sep 19, 2010

in PhD, Research

phd, research, systematic review, writing group

I was talking to a colleague on Friday about how difficult it is to commit to spending a few hours to writing, and that even when you do, there’re always emails, phone calls, etc. that interrupt the process. I’d been thinking about this for about a week, after a friend of mine told me about…
Constructive alignment workshop

Sep 17, 2010

in Assessment, Education, Learning, PhD

constructive alignment, constructivism, Delphi, James Garraway, john biggs, lecturer, Level, structure of observed learning outcomes, teacher

Constructive alignment workshop – Dr. James Garraway I attended a workshop this morning looking at constructive alignment, with the view to relating it to the work I’ll be doing on my PhD next year. The second of my objectives is to do an analysis of our undergraduate curriculum and then do a Delphi study evaluating…
Thoughts on social networking with 3rd year physio students

Jul 30, 2010

in PhD, Research, Students

facebook, internet access, phd, physiotherapy, reflection, reflective learning, research, safri, social network, social networking, social networks, students

Earlier this week I ran a workshop with our 3rd year physio students, as part of my SAFRI project where I’m looking at how participation in a social network can impact reflective learning practices in a community. Unlike the other workshops I’ve run, I’m going to be running this assignment, which will see the students…
SAAHE conference, 2010

Jul 19, 2010

in Conference, PhD, Research

johannesburg, online tools, phd, research, saahe, safri, social networks, University of the Witwatersrand

I’m leaving on Wednesday to attend the 3rd SAAHE conference at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (link to programme). I’ll be presenting the results of a pilot study within our department to try and establish students’ access to computers and the internet, their experience with online tools and services, the learning strategies they employ…
Summary of PhD progress

Jul 15, 2010

in Conference, PhD, Research, Social media

article, Centre for Teaching and Learning, personal learning environments, phd, ple, research, saahe, safri, search rounds, social networks, Stellenbosch University, supervisor, survey, systematic review, writing, year research

I’m writing this after having read Christina’s post on her thoughts on the PhD process, and following a few of her links to other PhD students who are blogging their own progress. As I’m going through a little slump at the moment, I thought it might be useful to write a short post on where…
Systematic review workshop

Jun 30, 2010

in PhD, Research

appraisal tools, author, blended learning, clinical education, phd, research, systematic review, writing

I just spent the last 3 days at a writing workshop in Hermanus, organised so that the PhD students in our department could spend some focused time working on our systematic reviews. I prepared the proposal in the days leading up to the workshop, and had the opportunity to refine it following a presentation to…
Test-retest reliability analysis

Apr 7, 2010

in PhD, Research

questionnaire, reliability, survey, test-retest

A few thoughts on conducting test-retest reliability analysis on questionnaires, based on my own recent experiences. DO: DO NOT: