In early 2020, just before the covid pandemic hit, I applied to the Masters of Philosophy degree at QUT. Probably not the ideal time to begin a new challenge, but how was I to know that within the next few months, while completing mandatory research skills courses, I’d also have my two kids at home doing year three and four classes online, and welcoming an 8 week old puppy into our family as well! Somehow, we all got through that time and I began to craft my research project. I knew generally, the topic needed to be associated with education and design and the access I had to my students at ACU helped to make the rest of my project clear.
‘Enhancing the capabilities and self-efficacy of pre-service primary school teachers with design thinking’ became my working title and I developed a case study around my pre-service teachers. In early 2021, I got ethics approval (quite a process!) and collected the data I required; pre and post-course surveys, focus groups and assessment tasks all aimed at understanding the impact, understanding and value future teachers place on design-led pedagogy. Becoming a researcher has been a steep learning curve. I have joined a couple of research groups at QUT including the QUT Design Lab, the Centre for Inclusive Education (C4IE) and Digital Learning for Change (DL4C). I’ve participated in writing workshops, retreats and meet ups and I even entered the 3 minute thesis competition. As I have continued working on my thesis, I’ve also been employed as a research assistant and intern with the Design Lab. What all of these experiences have afforded me, the most impactful has been the experience of meeting and working alongside some absolutely brilliant people. Hearing about their research experiences, their academic careers and their areas of interest has been really enriching.
In early 2022, I realised I had quite a bit of data and I was confident that I had found a significant gap in the current literature. I decided to apply to become part of the PhD program, in a process called ‘articulation’. As I was preparing for the seminar I needed to give, to be accepted, I was invited to be a speaker at the QUT Digital Learning for Change monthly forum, the first student member invited to speak. I had recently entered a HDR poster competition for the Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA) online conference. For the poster, I developed a visual that essentially mapped my research journey to the design process. Creating this visual summary proved to be really helpful in clarifying my own thoughts and I used it to structure my presentation. I did this again for my articulation seminar and it was so well received the panel even suggested I use the graphics to frame my entire thesis.
Seeing your research in ‘real life’ is always exciting!
As I write this blog, I’ve just been formally accepted into the PhD program. It’s official! So now I just keep going, writing and editing, seeking feedback, writing some more and generally trying to maintain focus. It’s not easy but I keep telling myself ‘they don’t give away PhD’s’. I’m nothing, if not determined so I know that I can keep working to meet this new challenge I’ve set myself. Hopefully in one of my next posts I’ll be wearing a jaunty hat and holding that precious degree. Until then, I better get back to writing the actual thesis!