How do I …?

Just this week I was working with some other PhD students and we were discussing ways we keep track of our research.  Because there is a lot of research – books, journal articles, blog posts, web pages, and we want to have quick access with as little effort and duplication as possible.

First of all, I have a file naming convention (a throwback from my systems engineering days) that helps me quickly identify which articles I have already collected.  I name my files with 3 pieces of information:  last name of the first author, date of publication, and article title (or an abbreviated version).  Here’s what it looks like –

APA citation of article:  Gentikow, B. (2007). The role of media in developing literacies and cultural techniques. Digital Kompetanse, 2, 78–96.

My file name for the above article: Gentikow (2007) Role of media in developing literacies & cultural techniques.pdf

This makes it very easy for me to do a quick search of my saved articles to see if I already have a copy.  I just type in the name of the author in my search box and I can tell at a glance if I have the article, even without seeing the full title.  It is rather rare that an author will have 2 articles published in the same year with the same first few words of the title.

Unless the article is buried in many layers of folders, I can have a pretty long title but I try to make it as simple as possible.  I usually leave out all the articles like ‘the’ and ‘a’, replace ‘and’ with ‘&’, and use dashes to connect title to sub-title (or leave one of them out entirely).  Plus I have a lot of shorthand acronyms like OL=online, DE=distance education, and SM=social media.  [Eventually, I think I may have to create a cheat sheet of all my abbreviations & shorthand so I know what they mean, but so far it’s been working fine.]

Secondly, I have multiple copies of my research collection scattered across several computers and platforms.  At school, I use a PC and at home I have an iMac.  I also have a PC laptop that travels back & forth plus I use my iPhone & iPad for research (mainly quick searches & reading).  On all machines, I use Dropbox to synchronize my research.  This way if I add & start reading an article while I’m studying in the Library, it will already be in my collection at home when I want to finish it later that night.

During our conversation, there was a corollary to the above statement: “What would you recommend for …?” and someone asked about citation management systems.  I’ll save that answer for another post.  ~swb

Reflective vs. Reflexive

To be more in line with the purpose of this blog, I changed the tagline to read “Contemplations from a Reflexive Researcher”.  However, many may wonder, what the heck does she mean by reflexive?  Why didn’t she just use reflective?  What’s the difference and why should it matter?

My first introduction to reflexivity was when I needed to write about my positionality as a researcher in one of my research methods classes a few semesters back.  I was a new PhD student and I had no clue what to write.  These were new concepts for me: positionality and reflexivity.

In my search for answers, I came across many worthwhile journal articles and books.  A few stood out and have shaped my knowing; the rest are listed on my Resources page. From my readings, I have come to understand positionality to be the background, experiences and history plus feelings, opinions and biases that a researcher has and how it may impact their research (Pillow, 2003).

As graduate students, we are continuously encouraged to cultivate reflective practices about our learning, à la Schön (1983), and to look at how what we are learning is changing how we think.  However, reflexivity goes beyond reflection to critically evaluate our interactions with our research.  Reflection implies thinking about while reflexivity takes it one step further and produces action as a result of the reflection.

One of the ways to explore positionality is through reflexive writing.  Reflexive writing helps a researcher examine their positionality, define/refine their lenses, and establish their identity.  I realized I should know more about reflexive writing before I could actually apply it.

The most influential and useful article on reflexive writing I found was Ann L. Cunliffe’s On Becoming a Critically Reflexive Practitioner (2004).  Cunliffe (2004) identifies three recursive phases a researcher should go through to become more critically reflexive: reflex interaction, reflective analysis, and critically reflexive questioning (p. 413).

• Reflex interaction is characterized by in-the-moment reactions governed by our prior experiences and habits.
• Reflective analysis includes “creating order and making connections, often using theory to help us see our practice in different ways” (pp. 412-413).
• Critically reflexive questioning is the most intensive phase, gathering input from the previous phases that allows us to “surface differing interpretations, underlying assumptions, and taken-for-granted actions” (p. 417).

In the final phase phase, researchers can shed light on and explore their positionality and engage in conversations with the theories and theorists that are critical to their research.

It is my goal, as a researcher, to be as critically reflexive as possible.  Cunliffe (2004) has created a set of questions to help guide the reflexive process.  I use these questions as guideposts for my reflexive research journal.  In this way, my writings will encourage my growth as a novice researcher and cultivate this essential skill necessary to becoming an effective researcher.

References

Cunliffe, A. L. (2004). On becoming a critically reflexive practitioner. Journal of Management Education, 28(4), 407-426.

Pillow, W. S. (2003). Confession, catharsis, or cure? Rethinking the uses of reflexivity as methodological power in qualitative research. Qualitative Studies in Education, 16(2), 175-196.

Schön, D. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Another year gone by …

My how time seems to fly.  It seems that I wrote that last posting just a few months instead of over a year ago.   I’m still in school, plugging away.  But the “Big D” is much closer now.  I take my last required class this fall and then, it’s Comps, Proposal & Proposal Defense — boom, boom, boom!

But I haven’t forgotten about this virtual space and how I can best use it to help me move towards my goal of authentic and useful research in the field of educational technology. My dad’s a PhD and he keeps telling me — KISS!  Choose a simple topic, make sure you know your boundaries, don’t get lost in the research maze, collect your data & write it up.  Sounds pretty straight-forward, huh?  However, my dad got his PhD almost 40 years ago and, although a lot is the same in academia, a lot has changed, too.  I do value his advice and he has my best interests at heart, but … sometimes I think we aren’t speaking the same language, or at least the terminology means something entirely different in my world.

So what to do with this space??  I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and since it’s summer (and supposedly, I have more ‘free’ time), I thought it might be a good place to write and reflect on what I have been reading (articles and books) related to my research interests. Along the way, I wanted to document some of the tools & tricks (hacks) I’ve discovered that are making this journey a little easier for me.  Who knows, my discoveries and reflections might be useful to another fellow traveler.

In conjunction with this focus, I thought to change the name of my blog to The Reflexive Researcher.  However, this is not an easy thing to do.  Living on the Steppes is the name of my WordPress website and I’ve printed it on my business card, therefore, the name change can only be internal.  But that’s ok — I really don’t want to muddy the waters and I like the original name I chose for my blog.

Look for more postings soon … not a year from now!

Two years later ….

I actually had forgotten all about this blog, with the changes in my life and my profession.  However, I have recently been thinking about how I would like to keep a chronicle/log/record of my journey towards PhD-hood.  Since I am on the extended learning plan (more than the expected 5-6 year from start to dissertation completion), then I thought it would be great to be able to look back and see how I have evolved.

I went to WordPress to start up a blog site & there was my “Living on the Steppes” site, patiently waiting for new input.  So … rather than create a whole new virtual place, I will just morph this one to reflect my current life.  Because, like I said in an earlier post, I still want to eventually go back to traveling and learning about new countries and cultures.

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For those inquiring minds, what has happened since December 2013?  A whole damn lot, to say the least.  Chronologically speaking:

• May-2014 – I got accepted into NMSU’s PhD program!
• May-2014 – My son, Stephen, graduated from UNM with a degree in Architecture.
• June-2014 – My mother ended up in the hospital again with pneumonia (so staying in NM was a good call).
• July-2014 – I moved jobs within the NMSU Library from Technical Services (behind the scenes) to Reference & Research Services, specifically overseeing the Information Desk and the students who work as Reference Aides.
• August-2014 – I started the PhD program AND moved into my own apartment, not far from my parent’s new downsized townhouse.
• August-2014 – Stephen moved to Berlin, Germany in hopes of pursuing his passion for creating interactive computational experiences to enhance musical, theatrical and artistic events.
• February-2015 – I went on a 7-day Bead Cruise to the West Indies with a fabulous group of very talented ladies.
• July-2015 – My dad had unexpected open heart surgery in Houston, TX, and I was able to take the month off to go there to stay with my mother while he recovered.  So, again, being in NM is where I am supposed to be.

Six months later, Stephen is still in Berlin and will be starting a new job soon; my dad was just told he is recovering much better/sooner than expected and given a clean bill of health; and I have successfully completed 7 classes, which is about 1/3 of the way through my coursework before I start researching and writing my dissertation.

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The focus of this blog is now changing and evolving to showcase my new interests, especially as a PhD student.  The areas I will be concentrating on are:

• the nature of research, especially in today’s digital age
• learning design and technology
• critical digital pedagogy
• creating community in higher education classrooms, specifically in virtual & hybrid environments
• personal learning networks

This blog is mainly for me to document my voyage and record what I have learned along the way, but you are welcome to join me.  Until next time … (and not 2 years hence, I promise)!

What started out as a slight delay …

has now become a new detour along the path of my life.  As the saying goes, when one door closes, another opens.  Well, … the door to Kazakhstan, and international teaching/traveling, has been shut (temporarily, I hope).  However, the door to more education in the form of a PhD program has been flung wide open!

As most of you know, I had to have gallbladder surgery in August, on the day I was supposed to arrive at my new job in Astana, Kazakhstan.  I expected to be delayed an additional 5-6 weeks as the original procedure was day surgery with a quick recovery.  Unfortunately, the surgery was much more complicated than planned and I ended up in the hospital for 5 days along with a nine week recuperation time.  NISA was very understanding about this and I made plans to go directly to Kazakhstan at the end of October.

All was well and moving along smoothly, when life threw me (and my family) another curve ball!  My 75-year old mother, who has a variety of health issues she is dealing with, ended up in the hospital at the beginning of October with pneumonia.  Even with the excellent care she received, seeing her there was an eye-opening experience for me, who had really never been in or around a hospital much – twice in the space of two months was rather overwhelming.  The prognosis was good but her recovery time would probably take until mid-Spring plus her lung doctor is pretty sure she is in the preliminary stages of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).  This means a couple of things:  (1) she will probably be dependent on supplemental oxygen for the rest of her life, and (2) she is at higher risk of having breathing problems, including additional bouts of pneumonia and/or bronchitis.

After consulting with my mother’s doctor as well as my sisters, everyone decided that it would be a good idea for me to stick around until late Spring or early Summer and lend a hand with her care.  My two sisters still have kids at home and I was already living (albeit temporarily) in my parent’s front bedroom.  NISA graciously let me out of my contract and implied that I should contact them again once my mother was fully recovered.  I found a place for my belongings that I had left in Istanbul and eventually, found a home for my two kitties, but not without the generous support of two wonderful Turkish friends (thanks Ibrahim & Esra!).  Life was looking ok, my mother was working on getting stronger each day, and I was helping with the shopping, cooking, and taking care of the house.  But all this free time was not so good for me, especially with bills to pay and no income.

So once I made the decision to stay, I started looking around for a flexible job that allowed me time to help out my family – nothing too fancy or with much responsibility at this point.  I put in my application at a couple of places, including as a substitute teacher with the public schools.  Las Cruces also has one of the two major universities in the state of New Mexico, NMSU.  As providence would have it, their library was looking to hire a metadata cataloguer, which I quickly applied for.  All the planets (and that loving Higher Power who oversees my life’s journey – thank  you God!) must have been in alignment, because I was hired.  I started my new job on 18 November.

What exactly is a metadata cataloguer, you might ask?  Well, I catalogue locally digitized information, like newsletters, photographs, news releases, and other informational products.  It’s a relatively new field in librarianship, and recently to NMSU.  The metadata unit has just expanded from one to three people, so we have a lot of cataloguing to do.  Right now, I am working on University news releases from the 1960s as well as monthly newsletters from the Extension Office (NMSU is a land-grant university focusing on agriculture), dating from the late 1920s.  The job is all computer based, so I spend each day in my cubicle.

One of the best things about this new job, however, is the great benefits.  I can continue to add to my already existing NM Educator’s Retirement account plus they have a tuition reimbursement plan.  For some time now, I have been thinking about either getting a second Master’s or additional education to be more marketable.  Many of the US jobs I looked at last Spring required an advanced degree, preferably in Library or Information Science.  NMSU has several advanced degree (MA, EdD & PhD) programs in their College of Education and I have decided to take the plunge and go for a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction, with an emphasis in Educational Learning Technologies.  The program is approximately four years and starts in the Fall of 2014.  I’m knee deep in the application process, gathering transcripts, letters of reference, and writing samples along with documenting my fitness to be a successful PhD candidate.  Wish me luck!

So it looks like I’ll be here in New Mexico for at least the next few years.  I’m still in the front bedroom of my parent’s house so I can be close at hand when they need me.  They had kept an extra car for me to use over the summer while I was visiting and they decided to hold on to it and let me continue using it, which is a big bonus that I’m extra grateful for.  Life is settling down into a routine now and we just enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, prepared by moi, low fat to accommodate my new dietary requirements but still delicious.

As my journey continues, I will make periodic updates to keep everyone up to date.  Happy holidays and early warm wishes for a healthy and prosperous New Year.

Getting from here to there, with a stopover in the US

I guess this would be my first ‘official’ blog post.  Things have started out slow, but now are picking up to approaching the speed-of-light phase.  As school winds down (only 3 more weeks left!!), my To Do list is growing and it seems that I’m adding more than I’m crossing off.

One of my biggest challenges has been when to leave Istanbul and when to arrive in Kazakhstan.  So many factors are influencing this decision and so many other decisions are resting on this one factor.  Going back to the States has never been a question, but I wanted to make sure I had time to say a proper goodbye to Istanbul (and Istanbulites), spend time with family and friends in the US, and arrive in Astana with time to settle in before tackling a new job.

A recent email from NISA has settled many of these issues and so I have begun to finalize my summer plans.  I will be leaving Istanbul on 24 June, to stay in New Mexico with my family until 13 August, when I return to Istanbul to pick up the kitties.  I cannot arrive in Kazakhstan until after 19 August, so that gives me almost a week to see friends and visit places before I leave.  Work at NISA begins on 26 August, so I will have a few days to set up my new flat and familiarize myself with my new host country.

I’ve already made a new friend, Mel, who is another expat teacher in Astana.  She was there last year and has decided to stay on for this coming year.  She has graciously spent her precious time speaking to me over Skype and answering my endless questions about the ins-and-outs of daily life.  This alone has helped ease the transition as well as to cross several things off my endless To Do list.  Kudos to you, Mel!  I’m looking forward to meeting you in person.

 This is a conceptual drawing of what the new NISA campus should look like.  It is being built right next to the Nazarbayev University campus.  Here is the floor plan of the Library.  I am not sure which curved side faces out, but it is going to be quite spacious and inviting.

Finally, for those of you who are still trying to figure out where in the world Kazakhstan and Astana are, here are two maps.  As you can see, Kazakhstan is a very big country.

    

Welcome!

Please take a moment to read the About page and, if you have time, check out some of the links to Kazakhstan, Astana, and Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Astana (NISA) on the Links page.

I’m not sure how often I will be updating this blog, but I hope to publish something every other week at minimum.  Before I get there, I will include interesting articles and information I come across relating to my new job and country.  Then I hope to keep you entertained with my new adventures as I explore my job, the culture and people of Kazakhstan, and all that is wonderful about living in a new country.

Until next time … Susan