Year: 2012

The Dissertation Journey – Part I

So is November… Time is going by way too fast… It has been a fairly productive year when I think of my dissertation research project. I successfully defended my dissertation proposal in May and had my IRB approved in August. This past summer, I started working with the development team to complete the motion, facial expression, and voice capture for the animated agents that will be use in the simulation environment. I’m currently working on a small validation study of the simulation scenario and I’m actively editing my document.

I don’t think there is anything that can truly prepared you for this journey. The dissertation journey comes with a lot of self-commitment, organization, responsibility and self-encouragement. It is very emotional and is also physical. It helps to have a good support team. Some days you will feel like you have these larger than life task that seems impossible to accomplish. Having a good support system with family and friends that encourage you to give it your all will comes in handy. Other more practical words of advise will be to set a daily schedule, set specific times for reading, writing, editing, emailing, meetings, etc. I also like to keep a to-do list with short-term and long-term tasks. I would also suggest that you organize your files with a naming convention that works for you. My dissertation folder has a large number of files (900+)… Is like my personal resource library. Last but not least, stay motivated! Remember the best dissertation is one that’s finished. This is my first post about my dissertation journey, I hope to post an update in a few months. I will also have additional words of advise and recommendations. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The AECT 2012 International Convention

This year the AECT International Convention was another great success! I was scheduled to attend the Early Career Symposium on Tuesday and Wednesday but due to Hurricane Sandy I attended the symposium on Tuesday via a Google+ hangout. I did make a late (really late) flight into Louisville Tuesday night and was “in person” for the Wednesday morning session. I was very happy with my  AECT/ICEM Graduate Student Panel in Emerging Technologies presentation and was very impressed by the projects of my colleagues. I will definitely follow up with them in the future. I was double booked for the Thursday morning session so I was unable to present the concurrent session on “design heuristics for instructional simulations” but my co-author (Dr. Ginger Watson) was kind enough to present the proposal. My last session, a poster presentation on the FaceReader, was also well received my the AECT members. I had several professors from the ESU ID&T program asked me about my work with the FaceReader. There were also a few students from other universities that seemed very interested in developing or using a similar tool.

I think for the most part I focused my attention on sessions that focus on advice for early career and the job hunt. Since this is were I am now in my professional life. I also sat in a wonderful session on “physiological measures in instructional design research” organized by the Research & Theory division. The presenters were Dr. Roger Acevedo and Dr. Ginger Watson. I know it might sound bias since this is a topic that I suggested for the session but it was really one of the best sessions. Not only was the topic interesting but the presenters were tremendously knowledgeable, there was a really good discussion and good questions.

Overall, the conference was great! I had the opportunity to interact with my colleagues and to catch up with good friends. I’m very much looking forward to the AECT 2013 International Convention.