D. A. Flores

Academic Writing - Thesis Structure (RSSP W15R)

2017-05-10T14:02:00.001-07:00

Date and Time: 10 May 2017, 13:00 - 15:00

THE THESIS STRUCTURE IS THE JOURNEY YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR READER TO TAKE!

A proper thesis structure is what makes the PhD journey come to a successful end. Structuring the thesis is designed to engage the reader by presenting the body of research in a convincing manner, considering stability and relationship of its components (chapters/subchapters).

Stability is very important as the table of contents give an idea of how the thesis os considering the following 7 categories of knowledge:

THESIS OUTLINE

Exploration: Demonstrates that you have the knowledge and the capacity to investigate:

INTRODUCTION/SIGNIFICANCE: WHY am I doing this? Reasons? - your PhD thesis needs to explain this
REVIEW OF RESEARCH AND GAP IDENTIFICATION: WHAT is known and UNKNOWN? - your examiners need to learn from you, coming from a place that is already there (known) to new contributions (unknown). The unknown needs a structure to make it coherent and understandable.
AIM: WHAT is my intention to DISCOVER/INVESTIGATE? - this is very important because authors sometimes fail to engage the reader. If the reader does not understand what the research is about they will get BORED.
METHODOLOGY: Once the reader understood what you do, they need to understand WHAT are your METHODS? - you have to provide an idea of HOW you are planning to achieve your AIM. I have to explain HOW we do things. It may be a good idea to place some results in between methods, as you engage the reader using expectation on what comes next.

Results: Demostrates that you have the capacity to deliver outcomes.

RESULTS: WHAT have I FOUND? - you need to build up expectations that must be delivered in your findings. COHERENCE in between the body of knowledge and hypothesis with the IMPLEMENTATION and RESULTS.
DISCUSSION: WHAT does it MEAN? - you need to tell the reader the meaning of findings so that the reader believe what you say.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: So WHAT? Possible applications/recommendations? What contribution does it make to knowledge? What next? - What gaps have you discovered? What to do from here? Answering the questions can be done but providing more questions. It gives a GOOD contribution to knowledge because you gave a question to start with and others where drawn from them.

THINGS TO CONSIDER:

A model can change. Your examiners do not expect you to be a robot, so NAME your chapters, give them a TITLE.
Make sure you outline (synopsis) a chapter layout that considers these 7 categories of Knowledge.
Check with the Faculty for specific details or recommended outline. The reason is that if you have an understanding of what your thesis would look like, then your advisors will know that you have an idea of what you need to achieve for delivering that content.
In the end, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE of what you submit as a dissertation, so even though your department may have a fixed way of doing certain things, how you design your thesis structure in a way that is engaging, meaningful and coherent, is your responsibility.

Poster Design and Creation (RSSP A8R)

2017-05-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

Date and Time: 10 May 2017, 10:00 - 12:00

This workshop helped me to understand the key aspects to design, create and also present posters in an effective way so that the audience can engage with your research and get a good impression about yourself.

First of all, it is important to realise that, beyond explaining what you are doing, a poster is a means of engagement which provides an introduction to research, which thereafter will be used as a platform for not only receiving questions and feedback, but also establishing a conversation, a personal interaction, with people interested in your research.

Some special considerations about posters are:

The type of audience: a poster designed for a general audience is not the same for computer scientists. An audience can be specialist, general discipline, general non-specialist. Try to always have in mind a non-specialist audience because interdisciplinary research is becoming more common, and amongst experts in the field, you may be able to engage with a sponsor which, although not familiar with your research, can be engaged and inspired by it.
The importance/impact of your research: This has to be explained very clearly and as visual as possible within the poster. Remember that you will be present, so any clarification can be given during questions.
The type of event: Large/small - formal/relaxed - many delegates - is there time for discussion - what are the rules.

In order to evaluate the quality of a poster, these are some aspects that judges look for in a poster:

Simple to read:

Readable in 5 to 10 min - aim 5 mins.
Well structured
Title
Introduction
An overview of methods
Results
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Contact details and Photo

Attractive, eye-catching:

Clear, concise and legible.
Minimal use of text.
Be consistent with spacing, fonts (avoid Sans-Serif and max. 3 font sizes) and colours (max. 3 colours).

Clear:

Effective presentation of information: not too much, not too little, not too crowded.
A poster must be informative, not complicated or overwhelming.
Easily interpreted

Finally, presentation tips:

Print it in a A4 paper sheet.
Read it out loud - it will help to spot spelling mistakes and coherence.
Print a few (10) small A4 posters to give them away in the conference

CH933 - Academic Scientific Writing: Writing extended scientific articles and reports

2017-01-20T04:03:00.000-08:00

Reflections on Module CH933 - Writing Extended Scientific Articles and Reports from Denys A. Flores

Academic Writing- Reporting using critical resources: paraphrase, summary and synthesis - RSSP (W8R)

2016-12-08T20:00:00.000-08:00

Date and Time: 8 December 2016, 14:00 - 16:00

Writing reports may be difficult as they require you to be critical and at the same time avoid plagiarism. In order to do write academic reports properly, this workshop covered two reporting techniques paraphrasing and summarising.

Paraphrasing requires communicating in your own words exactly the same idea attributed to the source you are citing, without adding or taking any aspect of it. It is important to understand properly the source text because otherwise, it may be easy to attribute ideas that were never said by the author you are citing. Paraphrasing is a good way to attribute a source in your text without using direct quotation.

On the other hand, writing a summary gives you a lot more flexibility as it requires you to communicate the most relevant aspects of a source text that you are citing. Although your own words must be used, you are not compelled to communicate exactly the whole text. Because of this, summarising is the most preferred reporting technique.

In summary, writing reports may be a difficult task because relying on direct quotations is not the best way to avoid plagiarism and be critical. Whilst paraphrasing allows you to avoid direct quotation, summarising gives you flexibility to highlight the most important aspects of the source text without being compelled to keep the same meaning of the whole original text. I think that with keeping this in mind, I may be able to produce better academic reports and avoid plagiarism without over relying on direct quotations.

Essential Leadership Skills RSSP (L3R)

2016-11-29T20:00:00.000-08:00

Date and Time: 29 November 2016, 13:00 - 17:0

This workshop was really good. I was able to understand the difference of being a good leader and a good manager. For example, a manager relies on directive skills to achive goals, but a leader relies on motivational skills to build up results based on team work.

Through the whole workshop, the need to develop emotional intelligence was emphasized because by doing so, self awareness and social communication can be developed in order to ease the relationships inside a team. Also, identifying your personality and leadership style was very interesting, as it helped me to understand the differences and contributions that other team members can make.

Overall, this workshop was very useful as it had a practical approach. I had the chance to assess myself to discover my leadership style, and also I was able to learn that a style does not define you as a leader, but instead, help you to be more aware of how your personal traits and knowledge can help to build a stronger team.

Making progress in the 2nd year of your PhD (RSSP ER2)

2016-11-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

Date and Time: 18 November 2016, 10:00 - 16:30

This workshop was very useful as it helped me to understand the importance of setting manageable objectives from a very clear and bounded research thesis. Your thesis is the core of the dissertation and has to be properly defined to avoid extending the project and including other requirements.

In the workshop a lot of practical elements were covered, from identifying ourselves thorough a self-representation of our PhD journey so far, and discussing with others what we need to achieve to be back on track in case we find ourselves lost. Also, having the change to talk to other PhD students and share strategies to manage the communication with our supervisor was very useful.

Another excellent addition to this workshop was the chance to discuss the assessment criteria after your dissertation submission and what to expect from teh internal and external examiners. This particularly was not very clear for me, but after having attended this workshop, I now have a very good idea of what is expected from me and how I should address this expectations.

Organising conferences and small events (RSSP A5R)

2016-11-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

Date and Time: 17 November 2016, 10:00 - 13:00

This workshop was very useful to me as I may have to organise academic events in the future, either during my PhD studies or later in my career.

Actually, one point that was very interesting for me was the need of doing some preliminary research depending on the type of event you are hosting. It involves knowing the need of the potential participants from many perspectives, including logistics (parking, location, accommodation), catering (dietary needs, cultural backgrounds) and general information (immigration requirements, transportation, among others).

Another good point was taking the aim of the event and translate it into SMART objectives which can be measurable, manageable and timed. Having clear and manageable objectives can help us to track them and assess the event success. Also, knowing the objectives can help us to allocate budget in a more realistic way so that under budgeting can be avoided.

In general this workshop was very useful and interesting. A lot of elements of project management and budget allocation were covered which are very useful. Also, knowing the places and potential sources of funding and supply inside the University is definitely a plus. I found it very informative and applicable.

Defeating Self-Sabotage (RSSP P3R)

2016-11-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

Date and Time: 10 November 2016, 10:00 - 13:00

Self-sabotaging is one or more patterns of behaviour that may hinder your way to achieve your full potential and life goals. This is a common problem in PG students that may lead to excesive procrastination, anxiety and fear of developing your research and in general, to a poor academic performance.

One interesting aspect of identifying self-sabotaging behaviour is that it may be camouflaged with 'positive' actions such as reading a book, cleaning the house, or any other good action that one may choose to do over academic responsibilities as a deviation. Thus, self-sabotaging has a root in our own choices, which, although positive, may be used to justify procrastination.

A good strategy to defeat self-sabotage is planning your actions and goals in small achievable activities that can make you feel productive. Being productive sometimes involves making small or big adjustments that you have to identify and work on them every day. For example, setting a good sleep routine and working habits, identifying the right study environment and avoiding distractors that can trigger your self-sabotaging habits.

Diversity in the Workplace Training

2016-11-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Date: 04 November 2016 - Online

This workshop, in my opinion was one of the best I've ever done because it helped me to understand that discrimination against other people can happen even if you are not aware of it. Understanding how to avoid discrimination isn't a simple task, and it begins with acknowledging diversity, as being different and having different personal traits is what makes human beings unique and special.

First of all, I understood that bullying and harrassment can actually happen on a daily basis without being aware of it. For example, being sarcastic or making jokes about sexual orientation/identity may affect people around you. You never know if the person sitting next to you may be gay and hasn't had the chance to be open about it, so making a joke about it can be very offensive and upsetting. The same can happen if assumptions are made regarding cultural backgrounds or religion. Not everybody is Christian or Atheist or Muslim, as not every American is racist just for supporting Mr. Trump... All these are points of view and personal opinions that can't be generalised into the assumption that everybody thinks or must behave in the way you do..so one must be carefull and behave in a respectful way.

Second, understanding that disabled people have the right of having the same opportunities than everybody else, is not just a nice thought. Actually, you have to make sure that these opportunities are properly given in a friendly environment, particularly in the workplace. Otherwise, you and your company/institution may be liable for causing discrimation against your disabled peers.

Knowing and being aware of diversity is key for establishing a fulfilling relationship with your students, co-workers and superiors... everybody is a person with a private life that we must respect, so acknowledging diversity is the first step for a rewarding and respectful experience with other people.

Preparing to Teach in Higher Education

2016-10-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Date and Time: 19 October 2016, 11:45 - 15:30

PGR Teaching Training Workshop - A teaching skills development course co-delivered by the Teaching and Learning Unit of the Learning and Development Centre (LDC) and the Department of Computer Science.

As an international student, I found this course very interesting in order to become familiar with the standards of learning and teaching in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK. However, I have also become aware that the approaches to teaching and learning in the UK may impact not only in the ways individuals ‘build’ knowledge, but also in their interactions with new learning spaces and teaching techniques which may be in some extend culturally new and socially challenging; in particular, for internationals students.

First of all, at the beginning of this course, understanding how students learn made me realise that teaching is not a fixed way of approaching to a student, but an opportunity to engage a person into his/her own way to generate or ‘build’ knowledge. This constructivist approach to teaching is based on an experienced-based process called deep learning which focuses on the student and his/her own experiences in order to encourage them to abstract meaningful information and transform it into knowledge. This approach is commonly used in HEIs in the UK, and has been proven successful when the student becomes an active participant of the learning sessions. However, from an international student point of view, constructivism may be very new to students from different backgrounds. Since some of them may be used to be passive listeners, usually having the lecturer speaking through the whole session, being encouraged to actively participate in class might feel a bit uncomfortable and challenging.

Another social and cultural challenge to some students may be the interactions with different learning spaces and teaching techniques. Although these are useful to keep student groups engaged in learning activities through their active participation, attending sessions in different room layouts may be confusing for people who do not know the layout meaning and expectations. For example, students attending seminars in a board-distributed room (space) are expected to discuss and participate (technique). Nonetheless, this may feel a bit awkward for an international student who is used to formal-lecture style rooms where listening is expected rather than participating.

To conclude, this course was very interesting as it covered the practicalities of teaching and learning in HEIs in the UK. Different types of learning were discussed and an in-depth explanation about teaching techniques and learning spaces was given. Even though diversity was covered briefly in the inclusivity section of the course, I suggest that more attention should be given to the particularities of international students and their transition to learning in HEIs in the UK. As previously discussed, there may be some cultural and social challenges related to transitioning to new learning/teaching spaces and techniques that may be daunting for them. Perhaps, briefly talking to them about the teaching and learning standards in the UK during their induction sessions will be very helpful to ease this transition. Also, making sure that expectations are properly communicated during teaching sessions may be very useful for establishing effective communication channels and encouraging student active participation in class.