Putting the RSD to Work: A Symposium before the HERGA conference, Adelaide Wednesday September 24th, 2014

Its ten years since the first version of the Research Skill Development framework (www.rsd.edu.au) was developed by Kerry O’Regan and myself.

In that time quite a few people have used it in many different contexts and universities. For example, see different disciplinary uses on the website http://www.adelaide.edu.au/rsd/examples/

We are taking the opportunity before the Higher Education Research Group of Adelaide (HERGA) conference to run a symposium for those who know a little about the RSD but are interested in working with experienced users and exploring how it could be used in their context.

Putting the RSD to Work
Wednesday September 24th, 2014

Putting the RSD to Work symposium provides you with the opportunity to learn about how educators have used the Research Skill Development framework to inform the learning of research skills in university curricula. Specific RSD Working Issues that will be addressed in the Symposium will be chosen from the following:

• Assessment and feedback
• Discovery learning in small groups
• Student ownership of learning
• Flipped Classroom design
• Student Problem Solving
• Masters course design for AQF9
• Institution-level implementations
• Optimising Problem Solving Skills
• PhD learning and supervision
• Introducing the RSD to students

The symposium will provide you with time to plan and develop ideas and resources based on the Research Skill Development (RSD) framework, with guidance from experienced users.

Location:
Napier
University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus.

Program
8.30 Registrations and coffee/tea
9.00 Introduction and purpose of the symposium
9.30 Pecha-Kucha Session 1. Four RSD Working Issues: 5 minute presentations, 5 minute Q&A.
10.15 Working Issue Session 1. Attend one of the Working Issues portrayed in Pecha Kucha Session 1.
11.15 Break
11.30 Pecha Kucha Session 2. Four more brief presentations on Working Issues.
12.30 Emerging Issues from the morning
12.45 Lunch
1.30 Working Issue Session 2.
2.30 Whole Group Interactive session based on emerging issues.
3.30 Wine and align. Ideas, possibilities and new thinking in small groups.
4.30 Report back from each group and where to from here?
5.00 Finish. Depart for drinks/ dinner.

Register for the Symposium as part of the HERGA conference

Download the flyer for the Symposium RSD_to_Work_Flyer_HERGA 2014_used

 

Visit the RSD site at http://www.rsd.edu.au to be better informed about the RSD framework in advance.

You will be sent a Survey Monkey link after you register. This is to provide information that will be used to make the Symposium work for you.

If you have queries about Putting the RSD to Work Symposium, please contact me- John Willison

john.willison@adelaide.edu.au (08) 83133219

Hope to see you there!

Optimising Problem Solving (OPS): a re-engineered version of the RSD

Tutors of a First Year Mechanical Engineering Communications course at the University of Adelaide have ‘re-engineered’ the Research Skill Development (RSD) framework with language and configuration that fits the ways that engineers work, think and speak.

The tutors are themselves students in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th Years and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.

Their framework is called Optimising Problem Solving, or OPS for short. It has several brilliant features, which the RSD current representation does not have:

1. Simple
2. Visually captures core elements of Problem Solving Processes
3. Great for direct use with students in the classroom
4. Shows how communication is an integral part of the problem solving process, not just end-on in products like reports.

You can see the full sized downloadable OPS (version 2) at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/rsd/framework/frameworks/

The tutors are looking forward to using this with First Year students in the week beginning 4 August 2014. Some of them will probably write some guest blogs on Reskidev in the weeks to come.

In the meantime, have a look at OPS and maybe comment on:

1) How effectively does OPS capture problem solving, from your perspective?
2) Under the OPS title is a byline beginning ‘when in doubt…’ that shows that the OPS process is not linear or even cyclic, but there is some direction that can be given to students. What do you think of the guidance provided by the byline?

The RSD website is www.rsd.edu.au

OPS also helps me to see how similar the skills underlying problem solving and researching really are. Great if you comment on OPS, so that the tutors get feedback on this work-in-progress