THE 3-Os WE WRITE BETTER TOGETHER E-MENTORING TO INDUCT DEVELOPING COUNTRY RESEARCHERS INTO SCIENTIFIC LITERACY PRACTICES Gurmit Singh The 3-Os Research.

THE 3-Os

WE WRITE BETTER TOGETHER

E-MENTORING TO INDUCT DEVELOPING COUNTRY RESEARCHERS INTO SCIENTIFIC LITERACY

PRACTICES

Gurmit SinghThe 3-Os Research and Consulting

LINC 2010 Conference

THE 3-Os

What I’m going to talk about:

• The problem

• The solution

• The results

• What it means for you

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The ClientInternational AIDS Society:

World’s largest independent association of HIV health professionals and researchers

14,481 members from 190 countries

International AIDS Conference:

Largest international meeting devoted to a single health issue

25,000 participants attended AIDS 2008 in Mexico

THE 3-Os

THE 3-Os

The problemWhy do scientific abstracts get rejected?

Poor scientific content

Wrong category or track selection

Poor construction/organization

Data is too preliminary

Lack of novelty, or not contributing to the field

Many submitters are from non-scientific background and not trained in scientific writing and publication processes

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Mobile technologies

Blogs and Wikis

Technology-enabled spacesPersonalised environments

Grid technologies

Adaptive technologies

Podcasting

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21st Century challenges for global higher education

• QUALITY

Improving the quality of research from developing countries, early-career and non-traditional learners

• INDUCTION & ACCESS

Inducting new & junior researchers to scientific field

• COST-EFFECTIVENESS

Finding cost-effective interventions to do so while ensuring educational capacity outcomes

• HARNESSING TECHNOLOGY

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The Solution: e-mentoring

Submit a draft

abstractonline

Mentor reviews & gives

feedback

Re-submit a final draft

for blind review

1 2 3

for writing scientific research

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Before you

submit

Via the conference

website

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Program Promotion

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RESOURCES

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SCAFFOLDING LEARNING

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Track and Title

1. Is the track chosen appropriate? Yes2. Does the title reflect the content of the abstract? Yes though on the topic sessions “health” they did not say what is included. Structure1. Does the abstract follow scientific and formal criteria? Yes2. Do the ideas cohere together? Yes3. Does each section provide relevant information? Yes though nothing has been mentioned what they do rather than skills sessions are which are held two -three days in a month.

SCIENTIFIC DESIGN:

Background1. Are the objectives clear and well-presented? Yes2. Is the research design sound? Yes

Materials/methods

1. Is the methodology used appropriate for the study? Yes but they should also involve caregivers and guardians who look after the infected and affected children.2. Is it easy to understand what methods the authors have used and why? Yes they are involving the infected & affected.3. Is the data analysis and interpretation appropriate? Not sure according with current data in India of affected children.

Results/Conclusions

1. Are the conclusions clearly explained and appropriate to the study? Yes though short (I know because of limited words).2. Is the study innovative? Does it provide new insights? Yes, more will be encouraged to attend these sessions if they see other children have increased their self esteems.3. Are the results analyzed in a broader context? Yes4. Are the future implications of this study discussed? No

Mentor feedback using template

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Did it work?

Mentors indicated that this was a positive

experience They want do it again and again and ….keep

improving

Submitted loved free tools, and

mentor feedback and want to do it

again and again…with their friends

Feedback from online survey done with submitters (n=35) & mentors (n=6) for 2009 programme

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Indicators AIDS 2008 IAS 2009

# of mentors 42 63

# of abstract authors 66 95

# of abstracts received for mentoring

80 118

# of abstracts reviewed by mentors 78 118

# of abstracts submitted for the conference programme

59 84

% submitted 75% 71%

# of reviewed/mentored abstracts finally accepted

47 46

Success rate 80% 55%

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Research Question for Impact Evaluation

Does online mentoring improve the

representation of science from developing countries?

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IMPACT:Let’s examine the monitoring data

Online mentoring:

• motivates more submission

• leads to more acceptance

• inducts newcomers into literacy practices

• is engaging for learners

• produces new knowledge networks around programmes (peer-peer & experts)

Submitted abstracts 40%

Accepted abstracts 30%

Mentored abstracts submitted 66%

Mentored abstracts accepted 60%

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So what did we learn?PROGRAM STRATEGY

• Make the program tightly focused in scope & scale

• Recruit enough volunteer mentors

• Start with a pilot around existing program

• Engage stakeholders & policy makers in change process

• Incorporate new features based on feedback

• Lower costs, higher productivity, while increasing reach globally

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So what did we learn?PEDAGOGIC STRATEGY

• Build it, market it, teach people how to use IT

• Draw on social, informal & distance learning theories

• Nurture learning ecologies

• Take ‘writing as a literacy & a social practice’ lens

• Provide meaningful learning experiences that are relevant, personalized & timely with learning technologies that extend physical classrooms

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What can it mean for you?

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Implications•Bring technology strategically into capacity building

•Can target writing practice around courses

•Online mentoring can be effective in building skills, compared to one-off short workshops

•Opportunity for leverage to drive developing country research knowledge creation online

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THE 3-Os

3-Os Learning Model for Sustained Impact

Workshops:Case-Studies

BasicsWriting Tips &

TricksGroup Work

Intro to online

Workshops:Case-Studies

BasicsWriting Tips &

TricksGroup Work

Intro to online

Online Community:

Resource Sharing,Mentoring,

Open ResourcesText, Audio, VideoReflection Blogs,

CollaborationNetworking

Online Community:

Resource Sharing,Mentoring,

Open ResourcesText, Audio, VideoReflection Blogs,

CollaborationNetworking

Ongoing Practice:Journals

UniversitiesConferences

PortfoliosAssessment

Support across time & distance

Ongoing Practice:Journals

UniversitiesConferences

PortfoliosAssessment

Support across time & distance

LIEFLONG LEARNING LIEFLONG LEARNING

INTEGRATION OF PROGRAMS INTEGRATION OF PROGRAMS

Onsite Online Ongoing

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The 3-Os learning model realises the promise of collaborative learning using the Internet by delivering impact, and extracting more value from investment in technology.

Take Home Message: SYNERGISE 2 OPTIMISE

EFFECTIVENESS

THE 3-Os

Online mentoring to induct junior researchers into scientific literacy practices, Interactive Technology & Smart Education Journal, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 19-29

Facebook: The 3-Os

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THANK YOU