After much deliberation I have decided to move part of this blog - the Helen's reflections part - to another site and I am pleased to introduce Curious Reflexions: http://curiousreflexions.wordpress.com/. I have registered Curious Reflexions as my business name and eventually will be offering consultancy and other services, but for now my focus is on finishing my PhD. I have selected a wordpress blog because I am looking for a blog template that does a bit more than the blogger one, and the wordpress one looks like it will do the job. If you are still interested in following me, please pop over to the wordpress site and check it out. It's still shiny and new, so let me know if there are any bits that are broken.
Hooroo
Helen
Showing posts with label PhD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PhD. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Does having a PhD help you at a Trivia night?
I went to a Trivia night last night with some colleagues at the University. I used to love Trivia nights but I haven’t been to one for a long time. They are different these days, with powerpoint slide shows and projectors, and last night I realised that I am different too. There were six rounds of questions and we did well for the first two rounds – the general knowledge questions. We knew the chemical symbol for gold (it’s au in case you were wondering), the two highest grossing movies of all time (Titanic and Avatar) and we knew the names of all of the characters marooned on Gilligan’s Island. We did particularly well in the third round when we had to identify international architecture, and as a table we chatted about the conferences that we had attended all over the world.
But then things got harder and I realised that while I have focussed all of my attention on my PhD research topic the rest of the world has gone on without me. We were stumped in the sports section. We couldn’t remember who won the 2010 Women’s Singles Title at the Australian Open (has it really been eight months since Kim Clijsters took home the trophy), or the name of the person who won the Australian Ironman Championship six times (I will save you the trouble of Googling it – it’s Trevor Hendy). We stumbled in the section where we had to identify cartoon characters – who has time to watch TV when you are busy writing a PhD? There are cartoons on TV that I haven’t heard of and some of them have been on TV for several years. But the section where we failed in the most spectacular fashion was the flags section – we couldn’t remember if the stripes on the French flag were horizontal or vertical, and which country had the red stripe over white and which one has the white stripe over red. Actually, I still don’t think I can explain the answers to that one.
As I drove home and contemplated our performance at the trivia night it occurred to me that as much as I have loved reading in the past, I don’t have time for it anymore. Pre-Phd, I had one or two novels on the go at all times. I loved to read all kinds of books or to curl up on the couch with the newspaper on a rainy Saturday afternoon. But today, I can’t even remember a time when I did more than glance at the front page and the employment section of the newspaper. I think I am craving a trashy novel. It’s hard as a PhD student to contemplate using precious and valuable time to read something other than a journal article or text book, but I think that is exactly what I need to do. Maybe, I will even watch TV!
While I am absorbed in PhD research I am immersed in a place that is privileged and sheltered from the realities of what is happening in the rest of the world. And maybe, from time to time, we should come up for air and check out what is happening in the rest of the world. Read a trashy novel, see a tacky movie at the cinema or watch a re-run of a long-forgotten comedy on TV. Because while I have spent months reading, thinking and writing about qualitative research methodological approaches that have epistemological credibility, it is unlikely that there will be any questions about that at your nearest trivia night.
But then things got harder and I realised that while I have focussed all of my attention on my PhD research topic the rest of the world has gone on without me. We were stumped in the sports section. We couldn’t remember who won the 2010 Women’s Singles Title at the Australian Open (has it really been eight months since Kim Clijsters took home the trophy), or the name of the person who won the Australian Ironman Championship six times (I will save you the trouble of Googling it – it’s Trevor Hendy). We stumbled in the section where we had to identify cartoon characters – who has time to watch TV when you are busy writing a PhD? There are cartoons on TV that I haven’t heard of and some of them have been on TV for several years. But the section where we failed in the most spectacular fashion was the flags section – we couldn’t remember if the stripes on the French flag were horizontal or vertical, and which country had the red stripe over white and which one has the white stripe over red. Actually, I still don’t think I can explain the answers to that one.
As I drove home and contemplated our performance at the trivia night it occurred to me that as much as I have loved reading in the past, I don’t have time for it anymore. Pre-Phd, I had one or two novels on the go at all times. I loved to read all kinds of books or to curl up on the couch with the newspaper on a rainy Saturday afternoon. But today, I can’t even remember a time when I did more than glance at the front page and the employment section of the newspaper. I think I am craving a trashy novel. It’s hard as a PhD student to contemplate using precious and valuable time to read something other than a journal article or text book, but I think that is exactly what I need to do. Maybe, I will even watch TV!
While I am absorbed in PhD research I am immersed in a place that is privileged and sheltered from the realities of what is happening in the rest of the world. And maybe, from time to time, we should come up for air and check out what is happening in the rest of the world. Read a trashy novel, see a tacky movie at the cinema or watch a re-run of a long-forgotten comedy on TV. Because while I have spent months reading, thinking and writing about qualitative research methodological approaches that have epistemological credibility, it is unlikely that there will be any questions about that at your nearest trivia night.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
I'm back...
Well it has been a long time since my last post, but it is time to get this blog going again. Plenty has been happening, but I haven't felt inclined to write much about it - especially in a way that I am prepared to share with other people. Anyway, I have felt inspired by two blog posts recently and I am keen to explore them a bit more.
Firstly, I have opened a twitter account, and you can find me @HelenHickson pretty easy huh! I have had the twitter account for a while and enjoyed the chatter of people I know and people I don't. I saw it as a fun thing to do while I was procrastinating about something else. Then I found this regular weekly chat called #phdchat and each week PhD students and graduate from around the world chat about different topics. The timing is not good for me and I need to get up at around 5 am if I want to participate in real time, but I enjoy reading through the resources, hints and tools that are shared by other students at different stages of their research. It's an amazing resource for PhD students.
But back to the two blog posts. Of course, now I have made friends with people on twitter and they share the coolest of stuff. Dr Inger Mewburn is The Thesis Whisperer and she writes and collates stories about the experiences of doing a PhD. I have only noticed the twitter feeds before, but they are witty, clever and always so very relevant. Yesterday she posted a story called, 'Is the University a bad boyfriend'. What a catchy title! I loved the story and I loved the metaphor and it got me thinking - why did I enrol in a PhD and what are my expectations about University work. Am I on track to have my dreams shattered and is there anything that I can do about it?
Then, today I saw this story in The Age: Lonely PhD student? Just log in. It is a great story about how the PhD journey does tend to be a lonely and sometimes boring experience, but social media does provide inspiration and food for thought, and the opportunity to connect with other people, anywhere in the world, who understand just what it is like. And that has got to be a good thing.
I promise to write more often!
Firstly, I have opened a twitter account, and you can find me @HelenHickson pretty easy huh! I have had the twitter account for a while and enjoyed the chatter of people I know and people I don't. I saw it as a fun thing to do while I was procrastinating about something else. Then I found this regular weekly chat called #phdchat and each week PhD students and graduate from around the world chat about different topics. The timing is not good for me and I need to get up at around 5 am if I want to participate in real time, but I enjoy reading through the resources, hints and tools that are shared by other students at different stages of their research. It's an amazing resource for PhD students.
But back to the two blog posts. Of course, now I have made friends with people on twitter and they share the coolest of stuff. Dr Inger Mewburn is The Thesis Whisperer and she writes and collates stories about the experiences of doing a PhD. I have only noticed the twitter feeds before, but they are witty, clever and always so very relevant. Yesterday she posted a story called, 'Is the University a bad boyfriend'. What a catchy title! I loved the story and I loved the metaphor and it got me thinking - why did I enrol in a PhD and what are my expectations about University work. Am I on track to have my dreams shattered and is there anything that I can do about it?
Then, today I saw this story in The Age: Lonely PhD student? Just log in. It is a great story about how the PhD journey does tend to be a lonely and sometimes boring experience, but social media does provide inspiration and food for thought, and the opportunity to connect with other people, anywhere in the world, who understand just what it is like. And that has got to be a good thing.
I promise to write more often!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Elevator conversation
How do you explain your research in simple language in just a few minutes. Some people call it the 'elevator conversation' and other people call it the ' three minute thesis'. I am often asked about my research and as I start explaining it, I sometimes notice people's eyes glaze over. I wonder why. Are they not really interested, or am I not making sense?
Here is my three minute thesis - does this make sense in just a few sentences? I'd really appreciate any feedback.
My research is about reflective practice. I'm interested in exploring how people learn to be reflective, why they become interested in reflective practice and how they use reflective practice. My early observations are that I see reflective practice taught in most University programs, and students seem to engage in reflective practice. Then they graduate and join the workforce and being reflective seems to be one of those things that is in the gap between university and the real world. Some time later, people are drawn back to reflective practice and I am interested in exploring how this happens and whether there are any events that trigger people to look for reflective activities.
Here is my three minute thesis - does this make sense in just a few sentences? I'd really appreciate any feedback.
My research is about reflective practice. I'm interested in exploring how people learn to be reflective, why they become interested in reflective practice and how they use reflective practice. My early observations are that I see reflective practice taught in most University programs, and students seem to engage in reflective practice. Then they graduate and join the workforce and being reflective seems to be one of those things that is in the gap between university and the real world. Some time later, people are drawn back to reflective practice and I am interested in exploring how this happens and whether there are any events that trigger people to look for reflective activities.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
PhD progress
I have been plodding along with my PhD and I feel like I am starting to build some momentum. I have had a few weeks off work and been able to work on it full time and I can see the shape beginning to emerge. I'm not sure if this is how it will look in the end, but it does feel helpful to start to build some structure around my reading and writing.
I had a bit of a panic this week when I realised how much more there is to do. I have written around 10,000 words, and my final thesis will be around 100,000 words, so there is a long way to go. Of course, I haven't started data collection yet, and this will form the main part of my thesis. The bit that I am up to is finalise my research proposal and make decisions about all of the details. Things like which methodology I will use, how do I design the right method, how do I write a literature review that incorporates all of the literature that I have accumulated. Then I will present to a University panel for Confirmation that I can proceed with the research, and the I need to apply for Ethics approval.
The literature review is the bit where I felt really stuck - I was surrounded by papers and it was all starting to feel like it's all too hard. But then I thought, I have been doing this for two years already, and I am not going to throw all of that away. I need to break it down into smaller chunks, and work on each bit, one at a time. And later, I will make sure that all the pieces go together properly.
Has anyone else been in this situation before? Do you have any suggestions that might help me?
I had a bit of a panic this week when I realised how much more there is to do. I have written around 10,000 words, and my final thesis will be around 100,000 words, so there is a long way to go. Of course, I haven't started data collection yet, and this will form the main part of my thesis. The bit that I am up to is finalise my research proposal and make decisions about all of the details. Things like which methodology I will use, how do I design the right method, how do I write a literature review that incorporates all of the literature that I have accumulated. Then I will present to a University panel for Confirmation that I can proceed with the research, and the I need to apply for Ethics approval.
The literature review is the bit where I felt really stuck - I was surrounded by papers and it was all starting to feel like it's all too hard. But then I thought, I have been doing this for two years already, and I am not going to throw all of that away. I need to break it down into smaller chunks, and work on each bit, one at a time. And later, I will make sure that all the pieces go together properly.
Has anyone else been in this situation before? Do you have any suggestions that might help me?
Monday, December 21, 2009
My PhD - Wordle Cloud
I am nearing the end of my second year of my PhD studies and I thought it was time to check out where I am up to. I have been studying part time and plodding along, and this year I took 4 months off after my mum died. I have enjoyed taking a break, but now I am starting to feel impatient to get going again. I've had a few weeks off work and been able to study full time and this has been really enjoyable.
I thought it was a good time to do another wordle cloud to display and distill my PhD writing. Wordle is a tool for generating “word clouds” from text. I have copied the text from my PhD writing over the past two years - I am up to around 10,000 words. The wordle clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. It is pretty cool and you can make your clouds look different with funky fonts, layouts, and color schemes.
It's interesting to see the themes that are emerging from my thinking, reading and writing. Do you have any feedback or comments about my wordle word cloud?
Saturday, June 6, 2009
15th International Reflective Practice Conference: Comhrá
Welcome to the people who are visiting my blog for the first time after the 15th International Reflective Practice Conference: Comhrá at Limerick University, Ireland.
I'm writing this post early because I am taking some time off for leisurely travel to Ireland in the hope that I will have adjusted to the time zone and shaken off my jet lag before I need to stand up and present at the conference. If you are reading this it also means that someone was interested enough to come along to my session, listen to me and follow up - and that is all good news. I hope to hear from you and I would love you to post a message and tell me what you thought of the conference and my presentation.
For those of you that are new here I want to tell you about my five main reasons for keeping a blog. For those of you who are experienced bloggers - please respond with your reasons and we can share the joy amongst us all.
1. I like to get these thoughts, ideas and feelings out of my head and written down somewhere. Preferably, somewhere I can find it again, so a chronological blog is perfect.
2. I like to have a separate personal and a professional blog. I can let my family and friends know what I have been doing and load up the photos, and I can also keep in contact with other blogging contacts who might (or might not) be interested in what I get up to on the weekends.
3. I like the stimulation and ideas from other people who respond to my comments. There are very interesting people out there that I would never have met if it wasn't for this blog.
4. I live in a regional town and it can be hard to talk with other people about what I am thinking and feeling. I enjoy connecting with people and discussing the issues, without worrying if they might be related to someone who knows someone.
5. It's fun. It's new and it is the future. As a PhD student I want to have contemporary research in 3 or 4 years time and I am certain that we will be doing more and more online. So, I might as well learn how to do it now.
If you are new to blogging, here are some of my favourite blogs that I recommend you visit. Sarah's blog is an experienced blogger and her blog is fantastic - she has great information for new people about how to get started, and ideas and examples about technology, tools and techniques. Pam is a midwife and I enjoy reading her posts about the different aspects of her life. David's blog is fun and I enjoy reading his thoughts about daily life, through the eyes of a 20-something US bachelor. Mary-Helen is doing a PhD about doing a PhD and she describes her blog as a place to dump her thoughts - it's an interesting journal and I enjoy reading about her latest PhD adventure. Dave has a blog about using a blog for reflective practice and he has some great ideas about using technology. Do you have any favourite blogs to recommend to us?
I'm writing this post early because I am taking some time off for leisurely travel to Ireland in the hope that I will have adjusted to the time zone and shaken off my jet lag before I need to stand up and present at the conference. If you are reading this it also means that someone was interested enough to come along to my session, listen to me and follow up - and that is all good news. I hope to hear from you and I would love you to post a message and tell me what you thought of the conference and my presentation.
For those of you that are new here I want to tell you about my five main reasons for keeping a blog. For those of you who are experienced bloggers - please respond with your reasons and we can share the joy amongst us all.
1. I like to get these thoughts, ideas and feelings out of my head and written down somewhere. Preferably, somewhere I can find it again, so a chronological blog is perfect.
2. I like to have a separate personal and a professional blog. I can let my family and friends know what I have been doing and load up the photos, and I can also keep in contact with other blogging contacts who might (or might not) be interested in what I get up to on the weekends.
3. I like the stimulation and ideas from other people who respond to my comments. There are very interesting people out there that I would never have met if it wasn't for this blog.
4. I live in a regional town and it can be hard to talk with other people about what I am thinking and feeling. I enjoy connecting with people and discussing the issues, without worrying if they might be related to someone who knows someone.
5. It's fun. It's new and it is the future. As a PhD student I want to have contemporary research in 3 or 4 years time and I am certain that we will be doing more and more online. So, I might as well learn how to do it now.
If you are new to blogging, here are some of my favourite blogs that I recommend you visit. Sarah's blog is an experienced blogger and her blog is fantastic - she has great information for new people about how to get started, and ideas and examples about technology, tools and techniques. Pam is a midwife and I enjoy reading her posts about the different aspects of her life. David's blog is fun and I enjoy reading his thoughts about daily life, through the eyes of a 20-something US bachelor. Mary-Helen is doing a PhD about doing a PhD and she describes her blog as a place to dump her thoughts - it's an interesting journal and I enjoy reading about her latest PhD adventure. Dave has a blog about using a blog for reflective practice and he has some great ideas about using technology. Do you have any favourite blogs to recommend to us?
Saturday, January 31, 2009
One door closes... then what?
I was having lunch with a friend recently (great lunch Nadine) and I was talking about how I was feeling confused about some choices that I have recently made in my work, and some choices that I need to make in the future. Over the past year, I have experienced having one door close - a career path that I had worked hard towards was destroyed by a vindictive bully. I won't go through all of the gory details, but it was a difficult time. I found, that soon after another door opened, and I decided to step into the adventure of PhD candidature. This is something that I have always wanted to do. I really love being a PhD student - I love reading, and finding out about other people's research, planning my research and writing and presenting my research. I am glad to be a part time student because it will go for longer and it is a wonderful time.
But back to the door thing - I find myself in a position now where I'm not sure what to do next. I was talking with my friend about this and she commented that it can be hard when there are lots of doors open. It made me stop and think - she is right and there are lots of doors open for me at the moment. It is nice to be in a position where there are lots of good options to consider, but it does make it hard to know what is the right thing, or the best thing to do.
How do you decide which is the best career move next? What kind of jobs should I be looking for or thinking about as a PhD graduate? Has anyone else been in this situation before? What did you do? Does anyone have any tips or suggestions to help me out?
Helen
But back to the door thing - I find myself in a position now where I'm not sure what to do next. I was talking with my friend about this and she commented that it can be hard when there are lots of doors open. It made me stop and think - she is right and there are lots of doors open for me at the moment. It is nice to be in a position where there are lots of good options to consider, but it does make it hard to know what is the right thing, or the best thing to do.
How do you decide which is the best career move next? What kind of jobs should I be looking for or thinking about as a PhD graduate? Has anyone else been in this situation before? What did you do? Does anyone have any tips or suggestions to help me out?
Helen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
