Category: Research

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…
Innovative practices in education (colloquium)

Aug 22, 2010

in Conference, Research

Alwyn Louw, Amanda Morris, author, clickers, colloquium, creative solutions, Daniela Gachago, Edwine Simon, Engineering, feedback tool, Frontline, genre, granger bay, Ian Barbour, Ian Scott, Ingrid Mostert, innovation, Judith Jurgens, knowledge, knowledge construction tool, learning model, learning tool, lecturer, lecturer and teaching assistant, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Marie-Anne Ogle, Mark Herbert, Martjie van Heusden, Mbiya Baudouin, pedagogical practices using technology, personal learning environment, ple, poster and presentation Lecturer, Professor, scholarship, SMS, Somikazi Deyi, Suzanne Short, Taryn Bernard, teaching and learning, Vera Frith, Western Cape

Last week I attended a teaching and learning colloquium at Granger Bay, near the Waterfront. It was organised to showcase some of the teaching practices being used at the 4 teaching institutions in the Western Cape. I was fortunate to be invited to present one of the keynotes on Friday morning and since I’ve been…
Curriculum development and PhD

Aug 20, 2010

in Research

concept mapping tool, curriculum alignment, curriculum development, document analysis, document mapping, module descriptors, phd, research, versioning

Earlier this week we had our second curriculum development meeting in our department. It’s something we’ve recently implemented after realising that we need to pay more attention to teaching and learning, especially now that the university’s released it’s implementation plan for the next 5 years. After going through one of the modules, we quickly realised…
Students’ languages and their associations

Aug 19, 2010

in Learning, Research, Students, Teaching

Brenda Leibowitz, code switching, Directorate of Teaching and Learning, genre, language, learning, seminar, teaching

Our Directorate of Teaching and Learning has organised a series of seminars over the next few months, with invited speakers from a variety of institutions across the country. They’ll be presenting on a range of topics, including academic literacy, integrating technology into teaching, working with large classes, teaching practices, and educational theory. I’ll also be…
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…
Reflections on SAAHE 2010

Jul 28, 2010

in Conference, Research

dedicated wireless access, health education, internet access, medical education, reflection, research, saahe, south africa, wireless access

The SAAHE conference has come and gone for the 3rd year running. It’s been an interesting and engaging 3 days, and since I’ve already posted all my notes, these are just a few thoughts on what it’s like having a conference in South Africa. And it’s the last post, I promise. To get the negative…
SAAHE – Social networks and reflective practice in clinical education

Jul 24, 2010

in Conference, Education, Health, Research

clinical education, clinical practice, Michael Rowe, practice knowledge, presentation, reflection, reflective practice, research, saahe, social networks

Here is my presentation from the SAAHE conference. Social networks and reflective learning View more presentations from Michael Rowe.
SAAHE workshop – Curricular alignment. What does it mean?

Jul 23, 2010

in Conference, Education, Health, Research

curricular alignment, Debbie Murdoch-Eaton, Miller’s pyramid, pence, Professor, saahe, workshop

Presented by Professor Debbie Murdoch-Eaton. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re probably not going to get there. A clear vision of the intended outcomes should drive every aspect of teaching, learning and assessment Outcomes must be clear because they will determine your teaching methods, and will also direct assessment Preparing students for their…
SAAHE – short oral presentations

Jul 23, 2010

in Conference, Education, Health, Research

assessment, Botswana, cognitive processing strategies, deeper cognitive processing, oral presentations, portfolio management, portfolios, saahe, teacher

Assessment challenges in UG medical education (GG Mokane) Medical school in Botswana is spiral, integrated, community based and problem-based, but the rest of the university is didactic Format, content, timing and feedback are important components of assessment Assessment in this course has an emphasis on 3 types of MCQ’s Matching Single best answer True/false (multiple…
SAAHE keynote – How to construct a medical curriculum that matters

Jul 23, 2010

in Conference, Education, Health, Research

clinical education, clinical settings, healthcare environment, healthcare learning environment, healthcare setting, herman von rossum, Professor, saahe, suitable healthcare events

Presentation by Professor Herman von Rossum. In preclinical years, you insert learning stimuli from the context of application (i.e. a clinical environment) into the educational learning environment. In clinical years, you insert education moments into the healthcare environment In constructing a curriculum, you must first determine the health needs of a society, then determine the…
SAAHE keynote – What generic skills do students bring with them?

Jul 23, 2010

in Conference, Education, Health, Research

Debbie Murdoch-Eaton, generic skills, graduate attributes, murdoch-eaton, No, Professor, saahe, stress management, teacher, time management, United Kingdom

This is the presentation from Professor Debbie Murdoch-Eaton. What impacts do we have on students life ambitions? Workers with general / transferable skills are better placed to succeed in a global knowledge economy. The skills need not be specific to the discipline The attributes are not only about economic drivers i.e. getting a job…they are…
SAAHE keynote – Improving health professions education to improve health (Bill Burdick)

Jul 23, 2010

in Conference, Education, Health, Research

bill burdick, hans rosling, health education, health outcomes, healthcare, Professor, public policy makers, Ruth Levine, saahe

I’m going to split my blog posts up according to the different sessions, just for ease of reference i.e. a few posts, rather than one very long one. Here are my notes from the first keynote of the day, from Professor Bill Burdick. If you don’t continue the momentum for change, you’re going to be…
SAAHE conference, 2010 – day 1

Jul 22, 2010

in Conference, Research

health education, medical education, research, researcher, saahe

I had made notes for the presentations I attended during the first half of the day using the Scribefire plugin for Chromium, when it crashed and I lost all my notes 🙁 I knew that there wasn’t a save button in the plugin (I didn’t have an internet connection so couldn’t publish as a draft)…
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…
Sharing my article for open peer review

Jun 14, 2010

in Open access, Research

academic writing, author, collaborative learning, Google, open, peer review, physiotherapy, research, south africa, south african society of physiotherapy, wikis, yeats

I’m interested in how changes in the internet are forcing changes onto institutions that haven’t traditionally responded well to change. One group that’s finding the transition especially hard are the publishers, especially the academic publishers. A little while ago I wrote an open letter to the South African Society of Physiotherapy, asking them to move…
Discussion on research supervision

Apr 14, 2010

in Research, Students

feedback, phd, postgraduate, project management tool, research, research supervisor, supervision, supervisor, undergraduate

In my department we have bi-monthly research meetings, where we report back on our research activities (we get dedicated research time and so need to account for how we’ve used that time). We’ve recently changed the format of the meeting to include a topical discussion or presentation, rather than simply reporting progress back to the…
“Objectivity” in educational research

Apr 13, 2010

in Research

distance, engagement, involvement, objectivity, participatory action research, phd, research, researcher, supervisor

Earlier today I had a productive meeting with one of my supervisors where, in addition to updating her on my progress, we discussed my reluctance to get “too involved” in my research projects. This is something I’ve touched on before and will probably continue returning to it during the course of my research. I come…
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: