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Research Methods in CSAI

Second time round and the Research Methods in CSAI course I lead for incoming DPhil students in Informatics is now over.  As ever the students in this class were a pleasure to work with - I don't think I shall ever miss working with those behavioural-problem teenagers that kicked-off my teaching.

We just managed to squeeze in a class in the CETL (probably my last, as the space is now booked up for teaching right through to January 2009) and had lovely talks from Blay Whitby (on research ethics) and Mike Herd the director of the Innovation Centre.

If I do this again next year I need to remember not to presume knowledge in advance.  I was astounded to discover that I had made the mistake of presuming that everyone knew the distinction between qualitative and quantitative research.  It presumed a lot of underlying philosophical knowledge that CS students might never have been exposed to.  My shock when I realised was tangible, and resulted in some restructuring of the course.

Now all I need to do is face the marking (and possibly spend some time designing clear lesson plans, based on my experiences, to follow for next time).

Agile SkillSwap

I had the sheer pleasure of giving a SkillSwap talk on agile with Tom entitled 'Agile: Iterating the Reasons' on 21st November.  As it occurred the day after XPDay, although shattered, there were a lot of arguments fresh in our heads.

I did the dry conceptual basics and Tom countered with the enthused practicalities.  It was the first time I had ever co-presented and it turned out to be a complete joy, together we could look at a subject from more than one angle and bounce ideas off each other.  I think it also gave a nicer pace.

I'd be curious to see whether much study has been done on co-presenting for teaching - I think there may be a strong parallel to pair programming.  Quality was improved, interest (at least on our side!) was maintained, and - as this type of presenting is much less draining - may be more efficient.  Teaching is exhausting, but much less so under these conditions.  Theoretically it may be possible to teach more classes under this model where the work is shared.

I loved doing this, and just hope that the people attending gained something from it as well.  Our slides are available on request.

Survival Skills for the Graduate Student

I'll love any talk that opens with quoted music (Making it up as I go along) and some really astounding figures, this held very true for this session.

Shannon Duvall (Elon University) and Michele Pagnotta (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) ran a really interesting session on 'Survival Skills for the Graduate Student' aiming to give hints and tips to help improve mental well-being during graduate school.

The statistics are impressive.  From the 2004 Berkeley Graduate Student Mental Health Survey:

• 50% of graduate* students suffer from emotional or stress-related issues
• 10% seriously considered suicide
• 1 in 20 considered it

I plan to delve into those figures later (might be interesting for stimulating discussion with the first year PhD class I lead), but that is an amazing and worrying finding.

They started by talking through Michele's Top Tips:

• Wise Mind (make decisions you are really happy with, by keeping a balance in your mind between emotion and reason)
• Acting Effectively (do things that will work, most effective.  Don't use SHOULD.)
• Don't Worry, be happy (worrying is not problem solving)

And then Shannon's Top Tips:

• Focus on the Facts (don't worry about Imposter Syndrome, not provable, not a fact)
• Advisor Relations (ever-evolving, professional, vital to your happiness and success)
• Be Professional (it's ok to have worries and doubts, but don't forget to keep your academic relationships professional)

Further advice:

• Set Your Goals and document your activities and meetings
• How to Ask for things (Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce)
• Communication with advisors (ask directly for positive feedback)
• (Everyone was told to write down) MAKE NO ASSUMPTIONS (ask, ask, ask)
• Act Confident (you don't need to be confident, you just need to 'act' confident)
• Getting Motivated (remember that progress comes in waves, intentionally take breaks)
• Get Going Again (clarify goals, prioritise and break down)
• Review your Work Schedule
• Gaining Motivation (develop small, medium and large rewards, guild-free breaks and cheerleading statements)

They gave an interesting introduction to the five areas involved in keeping your vital life balance (in order of importance):

• Personal Growth / Care
• Relational Growth
• Community Growth
• Spiritual Growth
• Professional Growth

You don't have time not to take these things not into account - they are critical to your mental health.  Keep yourself physically healthy and relax to reduce stress.  Make sure to attend to current relationships, it is a priority goal.

All in all, sensible and useful advice.  It is really worth visiting the Mental Makeover website, where they have a downloadable handout related to the session.

A lot of people rushed to queue to ask questions when they opened the floor, with more eagerness than I had seen in any other session so far.  What they spoke about had related in some way to everyone in the audience.

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* The term graduate is equivalent to post-graduate in the UK - an interesting difference and a grammatical mystery worth pondering at another time.

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Johanna Hunt
Official GHC 2007 Blogger
You may comment on this blog by visiting the GHC Forum

We Invent the Future of Interdisciplinary Research

I was annoyed with myself for being late to this session, as it was one I had been anticipating for a while. 

As my research is (rather wildly) interdisciplinary, and I lead a graduate class in interdisciplinary and group processes, it was certainly set to be of value to me.  Sadly the second half of the talk, the bit I made it to, didn't solve my problems with my research not being “computer science-y” enough, but then I think that is something I need to resolve through my own hard work. 

There were several interesting points that I leapt on however.

• You need to be stubborn.  To push a new field forward you need to be willing to go against the grain and not take things, or others opinions, as given truths.  Be willing to push for what you believe in.
• Fields move from 'out there' to interdisciplinary to accepted; cognitive science, HCI, AI, Gaming, Ubiquitous Computing, Bio-Informatics.
• It will always be hard to keep up with two fields at the same time.  This is never an easy path.
• Consider what your field is - how do the disciplines you work in contribute to this field?  How do they change perspective on the field?
• Read broadly, and remember to cultivate a network of people who can support you.

Some useful places to start:

• Design Research by Brenda Laurel
• Work on Ethnographic Interviewing by George Marcus
• ACM Digital Library and Citeseer
• Spinning in the library
• Anthro-design mailing list

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Johanna Hunt
Official GHC 2007 Blogger
You may comment on this blog by visiting the GHC Forum

Pausing for Term End

So I find myself relieved to reach the end of another term at Sussex.  No more HCT seminars for a month (after some very interesting talks and a lot of lovely cake), and no more classes to lead* until the autumn at soonest.

If I didn’t have a lot of data collection for my PhD to do then I would have some rest next week.  Hoping that will come the week after.

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* Although I do still have plenty of marking to shift.

Group Process

So today I am setting myself up for the spring term MSc course that I lead. 

The course is Interdisciplinary and Group Processes (previously Integrated Studies II) and aims to expose students to the practical difficulties involved in group interaction for software development.  As ever it has thrilling possibilities as I cannot predict how it will end up.  So much is dependant on the cohort that come in and how they work together. 

I am hoping all goes well.

Presentation Blind

Following from discussions I've been involved with around powerpoint karaoke, I've realised that a brilliant way to teach students about the perils of powerpoint would be to have them:
a) Write slides
b) Give the presentation (for which they had written the slides) blind and
c) Get the audience to design/summarise the slides that they think should have accompanied the talk.

Hmm.  Could be fun as an exercise in presentation skills, but perhaps a bit mean for undergraduates.

Research Methods Ends

Last day of term comes on Friday, but thankfully it was my last day of teaching yesterday, so I am looking forward to a nice month of reading, writing and marking.

We marked the end of the Research Methods in CSAI class with a very interesting talk from Alan Montgomery of InferMed on his experiences moving from research into business (via neural nets, data mining, knowledge-based systems and chip production optimisation).

I think that class went well, and hopefully will be of value to the people on the course down the road.

Compendium

Using compendium to modify the interactive presentation on technology through time for the CETL visit was not as easy as people made out.  My Research Methods in CSAI class forgave me thankfully.

I know other people rave about it, but I can't help thinking... Perhaps mind-mapping software is just not for me? 

Newly Integrated Readings

Over the weekend I finally managed to finish up a project which has been looming over my head for some time now - redesigning the old IS2 course. 

Now, done, and I am not just relieved but actively looking forward to leading this course next term.

There is nothing like being paid to redesign a course into something interesting.

It will be nice to have readings for the group which do not refer to the problems involved in getting people to use DOS in companies...

Here is the new course outline [pdf].

Time and the Value of No

ResMeth week three completed fine, despite flu and general incoherence.

I think it is going well for everyone.

I'm glad I decided to do this, despite not really having the time.  A fact that was brought home today as I realised I was trying to teach time-management and the value of 'saying no' while I was:

• Doing my full-time DPhil
• Co-Organising the Coding Dojo
• Co-Organising the HCT Seminars
• Working as part of my CASE Studentship
• Carrying out research for Agile Narratives
• Work 15 hours a week for Hertfordshire
• Teaching at postgraduate level
• Finishing off a distance-learning PGCert in Narrative Research
• Trying to learn Java
• Some paper reviewing for the Agile Alliance
• Other stuff, like trying to retain a life

Who am I to teach the value of keeping your weekends free?

Research Methods

This graduate course aims to help students understand science and the scientific method, and looks at research in academic and industrial contexts. It also aims to provide practical skills in finding and using sources of research information, research management, and basic data analysis techniques.

I've decided that I really like teaching DPhil Students.  I suspect taking over the Research Methods Course this term falls under the category of a good plan.

Strategy Association

Finally submitted my extra piece of coursework for the Associate Tutor course at Sussex.  Presuming it goes through this means that I will be Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) and Higher Education Academy (HEA) accredited (Registered Associate Practitioner status for the latter).

In order to pass I needed to display in my portfolio that I had met the following criteria:

SEDA Values:
V1  An understanding of how people learn
V2  Scholarship, professionalism and ethical practice,
V3  Working in and developing learning communities,
V4  Working effectively with diversity and promoting inclusivity,
V5  Continued reflection on professional practice,
V6  The development of both people and of educational processes and systems

SEDA outcomes:
O1  Identified your own professional development goals, directions or priorities
O2  Planned for your initial and/or continuing professional development
O3  Undertaken appropriate development activities
O4  Reviewed your development and your practice, and the relations between them.
O5  Enabled learning O6  Used a variety of appropriate learning approaches
O7  Used a variety of methods for evaluating your teaching role
O8  Informed your professional role with relevant strategy, policy and quality considerations

I managed on all but the final point (O8), so yesterday submitted a final additional document about the HEFCE Widening Participation Strategy, the Sussex Learning and  Teaching Policy [pdf] and the Associate Tutor Policy.

Fun.

At least it is now done.