Archive for the 'Professional development' Category



Rigour in journal articles

Published on April 7, 2017

These points are taken from a talk by Sara Hennessy about assessing rigour in papers submitted to the British Journal of Educational Technology. Is the account analytical or purely descriptive? Do the authors critique the literature and present a balanced account or does the review gloss over known issues with educational technology initiatives? How do […]


Giving a conference presentation

Published on March 23, 2017

I’m just back from the LAK17 conference in Vancouver. While I was there, I talked to a professor who had given feedback to doctoral students on their presentations in previous years. In most cases, it was the first time they had ever had feedback on their presenting skills. Thinking back to some of the talks […]


A PhD is more than a thesis

Published on June 29, 2015

Inspired by a Tweet I read recently about the distinction between a thesis and a PhD, I have been thinking about the difference between the two. The university really focuses on the thesis, which must : be of good presentation and style be a significant contribution to knowledge and/or to understanding demonstrate capacity to pursue […]


Literature reviews

Published on May 19, 2015

Link to a useful article by the Thesis Whisperer, aimed at doctoral students beginning to work on their literature review. How to become a literature searching ninja


Scrum management framework

Published on December 11, 2014

With its scrums, sprints and stories, Scrum Management always sounds intriguing. I’ve been involved with several teams who have either used this system knowingly, or have employed elements from it. However, I’ve never seen the process formalised until I spotted it in the January 2015 edition of Wired magazine (where they had compressed a version […]


OpenPAD

Published on February 4, 2013

HEA accreditation is a ‘recognition of commitment  to professionalism in teaching and learning in higher education’. You can be an associate of the HEA, a Fellow, a senior fellow or a principal fellow. At the OU, this will be replacing our taught courses such as the postgraduate certificate in teaching and learning in HE and […]