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