presenting your research at the ectel doctoral consortium
DESCRIPTION
Over the last four years of reviewing for the ECTEL Doctoral Consortium board I came across pretty much the same problems every year. This presentation condenses some recommendations that Ph.D. candidates should consider when putting a submission together. I hope this also helps for submissions to other doctoral consortia.TRANSCRIPT
Presenting your Research at the ECTEL Doctoral Consortium
Dr. Christian Glahn
Why submit to a doctoral consortium?
• Get feedback on your research • Get feedback on your methodology • Get input to problems and open questions • Get a different perspective on organizing your
Ph.D. project
A doctoral consortium is not a conventional workshop or conference!
You don’t write for yourself! You always write for your readers! • Your readers/reviewers may not know you
or your project
• Be explicit • Be consistent
Always address these 6 points - All of them, actually 1. Present your research question 2. (Preliminary) answer your research question based
you’re your findings (working hypotheses) 3. Present your work and/or plan
• The plan has to be aligned with your research question 4. How is your research related to TEL?
• Relate to research done by other groups! 5. How do your research results contribute to the field? 6. What are your open questions related to this
research?
Is your research actually TEL1 research?
• TEL as a research object • SNA on referencing peers in TEL publications
• TEL research • SNA to find relative experts in a learning
network
1 field of your choice
Good research questions are really important! • One (1!) question word
• Not 2 or 3 or 4 question words • Don’t forget the question mark • Precise
• One (1!) research problem • One (1!) research subject
Good research questions are really important! • One (1!) question word
• Not 2 or 3 or 4 question words • Don’t forget the question mark • Precise
• One (1!) research problem • One (1!) research subject Your crea1vity
goes here!
What about working questions?
• Working questions are subordinate to the main research question
• They contribute to answer a part of your main research question
• They structure your project plan
Don’t forget explaining these relations! The same rules apply for these questions as for the main research question!
Types of research problems
Effec1veness Efficiency A<rac1veness
Hermeneu1c
Types of research problems
Effec1veness Efficiency A<rac1veness
Hermeneu1c
Evidence-‐based research
Types of research problems
Effec1veness Efficiency A<rac1veness
Hermeneu1c
Don’t try to invent your o
wn research problems!
It won’t work!
Types of research problems
Effec1veness Efficiency A<rac1veness
Hermeneu1c
You cannot address all these
problem types in one Ph.D. project!
Effectiveness
• Does something work as expected?
• Effect on learning • Effect on teaching • Social effects • Economical effects
Attractiveness
• What makes effective approaches more interesting or intense?
• Less drop outs • More or different target groups • Time-on-learning • Usability/Exepriences
Efficiency
• How achieve the same effects faster or cheaper?
• Performance • Costs • Time • Resources
Examples
A suitable question
What are the factors that influence the perception of peer feedback in self-directed learning? • Only one question word • “factors that influence ...” ß effectiveness • “perception of peer feedback …” ß subject
A not so suitable question
What are the applications of social software in formal education and how does it improve the student performance? • “What” and “how” ß 2 research words • “applications of …” ß effectiveness • “improve … performance” ß efficiency • “social software in formal education” ß subject • “social software and student performance” ß subject
What is better: a conference or a doctoral consortium paper? • Journal papers are always better ;-)
• Conference papers allow to present your research results
• Doctoral consortia allow to discuss your research ideas and methods
Criteria for submissions
Doctoral consortium • Research question • Preliminary answers • Ideas, plans and methods • Relation to TEL • Advancing the field • Open questions
Conferences and Journals • Research question • Results • Method • Relation to TEL/conference • Advancing the field
Dr. Christian Glahn http://www.isn.ethz.ch
@phish108 h<p://slidesha.re/phish108
h<p://lo-‐f.at/glahn