life impact the university of adelaide capacity-building for quality research and publication chad...

Life Impact The University of Adelaide

Capacity-building for Quality Research and Publication

Chad Habel, University of Adelaide

Caroline Chanock, La Trobe University

Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos, University of Adelaide

Life Impact The University of AdelaideSlide 2

A preliminary word: The impostor syndrome

What is holding you back? (3 minutes of self-reflection)


Welcome and introduction

• Welcome

• Introduction – Chad– Kate– Fernando

• Overview– What is (quality) research?– Activities involved in undertaking research projects– Getting started: collaborating on ideas– Towards a community of practice


Developing a research profile

• Portfolio approach: – Documenting learning and achievements– Providing evidence of learning and achievements– A reflective tool for planning and developing a strategy

towards becoming an independent researcher– A document for job applications etc.

• Rough format:– Where have you been? What research have you achieved

in the past? What publications, conference papers, dissertations, or assignments can you be proud of? Acknowledge and celebrate your achievements!

– Where are you now? What are you currently working on? What stage are you at? What’s going well, what has stalled, and why?

– Where are you going? What are your future plans for research? Where do you want to publish/ What do you have to do to get there?


Introduction: Chad

• Past:– Undergrad & honours in English (u/g major in Politics)– PhD in English (research apprenticeship) and some

publications in my field, but little preparation for transference to new field

– SLC: need research in T & L – Foundation Course curriculum redesign and research project (success), transference to discipline-specific

• Current: – Self-efficacy in access and equity programs– Learning and technology (Votapedia, game-based

learning); (2011 annus horribilis)

• Future:– Publications in Higher Education, Studies in Higher

Education etc– Research Grants: AALL, ALTC, ARC


Introductions: Kate

• Past– BA (Anthropology); PhD African History– Academic writing and research skills– Motivational skills– Social skills– But no idea how to do research in ALL, until "theoretically-

inflected narrative“

• Present– Embedding academic skills development in disciplines– PG Thesis Writing Circles– Transition to uni: how students learn to read discipline

texts– Transition from TAFE to uni

• Future– Encouraging colleagues in collaborative research– ??


Introductions: Fernando


Capacity-building for personal and professional development

• Self-efficacy can be defined as one’s belief in one’s ability to put into place actions which lead to desired outcomes

• Very strong links to performance factors (GPA, retention etc); e.g.: driving

• Four sources of self-efficacy:

(source: jcmc.indiana.edu)

• Therefore doing something is the best way of building your self-efficacy: scaffolding and strategy

• Handout: academic self-efficacy for students


Quality research is possible; it happens all the time

• Brainstorm definitions of research

• What is “quality” in this context? – workshop– ERA – a side issue (for now) – “Rigour”, strength, defensibility– Empirical research (data collection)– Pursuit of a particular question or hypothesis– An identifiable method(ology)– Tuned in to contemporary issues and debates

• A coherent story: the research process


Activities associated with undertaking research


Pursuing curiosity

• What aspects of your practice, or of learning and teaching, are you most interested in? What do you want to know more about? What do you want to explore or say something about?– Individual reflection and writing: come up with three

examples– Share with group and find points of similarity; write down

research areas on post-it notes and bring the to the front for “sorting”

– Reassign yourselves to tables based on research interests


Beginning a collaborative research strategy


Conclusion: Towards a community of (research) practice

life impact the university of adelaide capacity-building for quality research and publication chad...

Documents