Trying to make academic research friendly and seen as a profession and fun Recent blog posts

Trying to make academic research friendly and seen as a profession and fun

Academic research is seen as a mysterious, incomprehensive thing that belongs to a very small smart elite. 

 

This is not true.  We need to move away from it and convey the idea that research is a contribution to knowledge of a field and to a body of knowledge in the field that is being accumulated and needs to grow.  The contribution needs to be rigorous and part of the research process is looking at what is rigorous.


For instance - look at it this way

http://learn.nmmu.ac.za/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=10585#p35014

--

Research as telling and sharing stories on the work in the field. The stories and works seek and intend to contribute significantly to the field and its body of knowledge.
by Alon Serper - Friday, 4 July 2014, 8:32 AM
 

One way of viewing research is as stories telling and Sharing on the work in the field that seeks to contribute significantly to the field and its body of knowledge.

 

Members of research community and disciplines tell each other stories (accounts) of their work, what they do, in the field and how to/they improve it and its body of knowledge.

 

The stories are published in their shared resources.  They discuss the stories, learn from them, ask about them, enquire about them, accept them as valuable, dismiss them as invaluable and/or bunch of inaccuracies. Usually, each story, that the story-telling researcher worked hard to construct - is in the middle and needs teasing and polishing.  Of course the resources - journals, books and conferences, have limited space, and they have to accept what the gate keeper -(the editors) deem the best stories.

 

The contributions, namely the stories and the stories telling and sharing, need to be rigorous and as part of the process they are  looking at and are noting/telling/sharing what is rigorous and are scrutinizing it.

 

Conferences are just telling interesting stories next to the bonfire.  The stories are then published in proceedings.

It is important to work out the most interesting stories, with the most interesting facts and evidence, that can contribute significantly to the understanding and knowledge of the field and disciplines.

 
Posted by Alon Serper on 04 July 2014 08:18:56


Current rating: 0 (0 ratings)

Bookmark this page to:Add to Live Add to Google Bookmarks Add to Delicious Add to Digg Add to Blogmarks Add to StumbleUpon Add to Yahoo Bookmarks Add to Terchnorati Add to Twitter Add to Yahoo MyWeb Add to Reddit Add to Facebook

Comments
Blog post currently doesn't have any comments.

Sign in


By signing in you accept these
Terms of Use

Latest blog comments

15/04/2018
Nic Wickens
THoughtful and interesting

14/07/2014
Alon Serper
Let us understand the other side, engage him or her, put ou...

14/07/2014
Alon Serper
Thank you Sameera, Racism is inexcusable. There canno...

14/07/2014
Sameera Patel
It is always heartening to come across a non-mainstream vie...

12/06/2013
Online Community Manager
These confessions pages are certainly a very interesting (i...

 

Telephone: 041-504 1111 | Fax: 041-504 2574 / 2731 | E-mail: info@mandela.ac.za

PO Box 77000 | Nelson Mandela University | Port Elizabeth | 6031 | South Africa