I recently found an older academic paper that was published from the Uni of Illinois from 1989 reporting on an ‘innovative approach’ to teaching mechanical engineering undergrad students System Dynamics. It involved the students investigating open-ended engineering design questions in relation to bicycles for a full semester. I love how in the introduction section pointedly justifies that ‘the bicycle is not a trivial topic, as one might suppose at first glance, but it is a rather formidable subject of study’ (Klein, 1989, p 4).
Bicycles challenging engineering ‘truths’
The paper goes into detail about the learning, philosophical and pedagogical principles for using bicycles as the instruction tool and how the program, class and resources were managed and major beneficial outcomes from the program.
The students applied a number of the theoretical concepts they were learning in class to the bicycles, thus modifying bicycles to take into account engineering qualities such as ‘zero-gyroscopic’ bicycles, which are ridable and therefore refute a common held scientific misconception that it is the gyroscopic effect of a bicycles rotating wheels that keep the bicycle upright -mythbusted!
Engineering modifications
The students put the bicycles through a number of different hardware modifications (such as flyball governors, raw egg dynamics, hydraulic servomechanisms and Passive R-L-C circuits) and apply various calculations and manoeuvrer to the bikes to test an array of laws, theories and modelling dynamics. One of the most successful modifications the students applied was a rear-seated bicycles. Overall, many of the augmentations to the hardware that the students applied were evaluating outcomes of how power, stability, dynamics and functionality to see how they were effected.
So can they now answer..
Also, the engineering students were required throughout the semester to write their findings up in essays, of which included topics like:
As support to my continuing PhD bike research, this time last weekend I attended the Australian Association of Research in (AARE) Education Theory Workshop 2016. It was the first time I have participated in this event and I went because my supervisors recommended it Griffith HDR candidates who registered got free admission. I was not sure what to expect, but I went out of general interest – to get inspired, make some contacts and perhaps even get some ideas for my research.
It was a pretty impressive event for a number of reasons. It was a very challenging and stimulating environment, with lots of academic theories, conceptual frameworks and readings being thrown around. It was at times engaging and confusing – but I let it all wash over me. I took lots of notes, contributed to extending my own understanding and I got some worthwhile advice and follow ups from the sessions I attended and the conversations I had.
I got what I wanted out of the experience and would go again. Some session were more helpful than others and I am glad that I went with a clear sense of personal purpose – I felt comfortable and productive.
Lots of big words – AARE Theory Workshop 2016
There were a number of academics from all over Australia and quite a few HDRs at different stages of their research. At first, I found the theorising quite dense and overwhelming. I had to readjust my brain to the intensity and level of analysis. I made a conscious effort to relax and glean what I could. Of course, this meant that the connections and meaningfulness of some of the ideas presented became more accessible and easier to understand – hooray for relaxing and not being intimidated by big words!
It was pretty tiring making sense and engaging with such a high level of interpretive and rigorous dialogue about abstract debates, developments and applications. In many ways it was also quite refreshing as well. I found myself exploring connections and following up lines of questioning that, although not related to my topic, were good fun to explore just for the sake of applying critical thinking to derive some new understanding, reframing or link I could make to a previously unrelated idea.
A few gems
Without going into detail – here are a few gems that I’m still mulling over….
• The ideas that academics ‘read themselves away from their friends.’
• The Critique Theory perspectives of Normadology/Hautology and Critique as ‘Exile/Contrapunctal’ (Edward Said).
• The idea that research is meant to upset your conceptual framework because this is where ‘learning’ occurs.
• That research is studying ‘spaces’ in between – What ‘space’ are you studying? What part of reality are you trying to study? What is the ‘space’ you are looking at in between?
• That there are stages and phases of (raw) data in research and that you need to develop that into a cohesive ‘story’ to write up
• In Faucault’s Discipline and Power he explores the idea of ‘the soul’ (presentation of subjectivity) and the internalised affect of power and how that impacts outcomes and intersects with matrices of knowledge and power.
• That research work should include an evolution of hybrid criticality as you and the content move through different paradigms (conceptual frameworks are not set but fluid).
• Exploring the difference between anthropology and ethnography
• From the anthropology session, I was moved when Liz (an Ethnomusicologist) said that the aboriginal group she worked with belived that ‘If you don’t have music on your tongue, you are not human’.
…..all very interesting – but really, WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?? I’m not sure yet, but I’ll get back to you if I work it out.
I did find out that one of the head academics is a MTBer! He saw the biking t-shirt and came up for a chat about bikes on the second day – hooray for the community-creating bike t-shirts – I was not alone there and SOME senior academics are normal!!
Being away in Cairns for the 2016 UCI World Cup was a brilliant thing to do and I had a ball, but it meant that I have not done any work on my Lit Review for a week. I made an effort to achieve some writing goals before I left, as I wanted to be sure I had some content on paper to come back to.
I have noticed that at this early stage, often my writing time was being sabotaged. Usually, occurred when I got caught up in editing whilst I was writing, or looking for a reference, or feeling like what I was writing was too close to what I had just read, so I would scrap it and start again. This means that it takes a lot of time to produce a relatively small amount of content. It is also quite frustrating. This means that although I have been working on my Lit Review, the process thus far has been cumbersome and ineffective. So, coming back to writing again after a week’s break – I want to change my writing process and experiment with some other techniques to see if I can get more out of my writing time.ccurred
I want a designated space to brainstorm, write and express ideas that did not feel so rigid and awkward. I like the using the Pomodoro technique for writing. I know a number of other Higher Distinction by Research (HDR) students who are also wrestling with the same issues. So I wanted to form some kind of ‘study group’ where we could all contribute and benefit from a new approach.
Hosting Shut Up & Write Workshops
A Shut Up & Write workshop is a great place to start. I like the idea of having company when I write that is conducive to productivity and professionalism. I looked around to join one. Griffith University Postgrad Student Association has a Breakfast Writing Workshop on Saturday mornings, but that’s my prime bike riding time.
So I decided to host my own SU & W sessions (a series of 3 consecutive Mondays) and I opened them up to other Griffith University students and staff a to attend.
WHO CAN ATTEND:
All are welcome! Any level of students – Bachelor, Honours, Postgrad, HDR, any type of student – international or domestic, academic or support staff, people who have no experience with SU&W or Pomodoro, writers who want a designated time to produce writing or others from outside of Griffith who want to give it a go.
WHEN: 9 am- 11 am Wednesdays 2nd, 9th and 16th May, 2016 (Week 9, 10 & 11)
WHERE: N76_1.02/1.03 Nathan
WHAT TO BRING:
Your own writing materials (paper/pen or laptops)
3 topics that you want to produce some writing for
A big smile
NOTE
There will be a short introduction so participants know what to expect and how to use the session most effectively. Pomodoro timing will be provided.
We will complete at least 3 Pomodoro rounds (maybe 4).
This is a professional academic workshop, so adherence to punctuality, preparedness and silence during writing times is expected.
I found an interesting article about the development of bicycles for rehabilitation for hemiplegic patients. Sufferers of apoplexy, a percentage of which is overrepresented in mortality rate in Japan, tend to have a secondary disease, which is hemiplegic, after surgery. In order to recover from hemiplegia, rehabilitation is needed, but it usually bores patients or needs someone’s help. To solve this problem, two authors, Hiroshi Shoji and Takeshi Aoki at Chiba Institute of Technology, are trying to develop bicycles for easier and more fun rehabilitation.
How does it work?
The attraction of using bicycles as a rehabilitation tool is its sustainability, non-boringness, and refreshing feeling which comes from outside exercise. Although there is the attraction which the authors can make use of, they also need to cover some anxieties such as safety and uneasiness when pedaling. In order to guarantee safety, a foot which is not paralysed is applied a load to, so that a rider cannot pedal too fast, which results in a stable and low pedaling speed. In addition, a load is applied also to reduce patients’ uneasiness caused by a feeling of unbalanced heaviness depending on feet. The authors used an electrically-powered tricycle made by YAMAHA for an experiment and succeeded in keeping a low pedaling speed by applying a load to a healthy foot. They are going to conduct an experiment to mitigate patients’ uneasiness and to develop a smoothness when pedaling.
Significance
The article is crucial because this is an academic article which was published as a documentation of JSME (The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers) Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics and it shows a new significant way of using bicycles. Because riding on a bicycle is lots of fun and can be done without any permanent help, the authors suggested using bicycles for rehabilitation for the hemiplegic patient, which means bicycles can be used not only for town development and disarmament, which I will report on in two upcoming posts, but for medical uses. The use of bicycles as a rehabilitation tool might enhance patients’ motivation to recover from hemiplegia and contribute to a more positive future.
Additionally, in order to get the article, I paid for it, while most of the Australian articles are available for free. This made me think about freedom for students to research in Japan, which might be a little poorer than Australia.
Shoji, H., & Aoki, T. (2014). Development of rehabilitation bicycle for hemiplegic patients. Proceedings of the JSME Conference on Robotics and Mechatronics, 14(3P2-G03), 3P2-G03(1)-3P2-G03(2) Retrieved from http://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/110009967356
Sachie Togashiki is our Guest Blogger, unveiling some of Japan’s bicycle culture, from 11th April to 24th April.
This week marks the 6-month birthday for this blog. Hooray!!
To date, I have not actively publicised or promoted this blog, as I wanted to work on it for a time so that I get a sense of the amount of work ( a lot) and what issues (technical and other) I would be contending with.
As part of my 6-month review, I am also looking forward and beyond. I have some great ideas and content to share in the next 6 months that I am very excited about. On such example, which is starting next week, is where each of the four Bicycles Create Change Summer Program participants will be guest posting 5 blogs that they have researched from their home countries and in their first languages (Japanese, French, Spanish and Indian) to broaden the contexts, experiences and scope of content sourced just in English.
Perfect time for a survey
So, this is the perfect time to conduct a survey to get some information about this blog, so that I can use the results to better shape future posts.
I’m inviting people to participate in the survey below, so I can get a sense of what is working and what is not – it will only take 5 minutes (8 questions).
I would love to hear your thoughts, suggestions and ideas – so if you have a few spare minutes, I’d love to hear your ideas.
It has been a very busy start to the semester, finishing the Summer program, new teaching roles and semester 1 going back to Uni…. my timetable has only just started to settle down into a more manageable schedule. In between teaching my classes and keeping up with general class administration and preparation, I have been ticking over some ideas to get started on my own Lit Review. OS I have been reading widely and trying to see what the common themes, main ideas and major trends are within my field. My past Lit Review Intersection earlier this month had the basic idea of a Venn diagram identifying the three main areas of Gender, Education and Developing Countries as the Holy Trinity needed to set me out on my general info gathering to start with. So for the last 2-3 weeks, although very busy, I have really enjoyed reading widely and seeing what is out there.
Updated Intersection and some other details
As with any good researching, my parameters have changed as I make room to accomodate some new ideas and details I did not have a couple of weeks ago. So far (and this is bound to change again) the Venn diagram has a new additional element of ‘location/geography’ included (to locate the other factors more specifically) which I feel gives it a better compliment for the other factors. I find that trying to visually represent my data helps to clarify what exactly are my main ideas and the like – so I had a go at creating my own infographic to bring it all together (see below). The process of putting this infographic together meant I had to refine and collate sources into basic summaries of main ideas – which was very helpful in an of itself – and already I have had some new insights that I want to change as a result – which is the whole purpose of producing it! Hooray Progress!
Too many details!!
In reading these last few weeks, I have been trying to get an overall sense of the main push and pull factors in my research area – and I can feel the attraction of falling down the rabbit hole in a few of these articles – super interesting reads, but I am really trying to be mindful to stay on track and not get sucked into really interesting , but slightly off-topic content (my, it happens sooooo easily!!). So, I have clear purpose and am looking at ways to tracks and document my explorations – and I will (literally) keep you posted on that front later on. Until then – here is a general overview of the main ideas thus far – minus all the details!
It is common knowledge that cycling reduces dependancy on energy consuming products – most notably oil based fuels and petrol used in cars, trucks and other motorised transportation. However within our homes, daily consumable items and white goods use vast amounts of electricity and gas reserves – with little thought going to the cumulative impact that making breakfast, for instance, has on a global scale. Times each breakfast by the number of people in your household, in your street, in your neighbourhood.. (you get the idea…)…
When looking to analyse the energy consumption needed to produce a standard Western breakfast, each item in turn needs to be considered – and primary to most breakfasts is the humble slice of toast.
So how can bicycles be linked to our breakfasts to teach us a lesson in energy conservation?
How do you like your toast done?
If you are interested to see how much energy it takes to power a toaster so that a slice of bread can be toasted – then look no further. German Olympic track champion (and yes, those thighs ARE REAL) Robert Förstemann teamed up with Stockholm University to produce this video as an reminder and expose to demonstrate just how much energy is required to produce a slice of toast. It is definitely an effective way to stimulate discussion about breakfast, the merits of cycling and reducing carbon footprints.
The video below is under 3 mins and well worth a watch right to the end to hear what Robert says under his breath as a final private comment about the whole task – pretty much sums it up nicely!
Who said learning couldn’t be fun? Who said understanding research methodologies had to be confusing, serious and only understood by a handful of last year doctorate students and some stuffy academics with the social skills of a potato? Who said kid’s shows like The Muppets are outdated, not relevant or don’t teach the important stuff – like explaining Phenomenology?
As a lead into my Ph.D. orientation in a week – I wanted to get my head around some Research Methodologies, so that when I’m sitting in some research workshop and the presenter starts showing off how smart they are by using terms designed to impress and confound the audience, I want to have some grasp of what the hell they are talking about.Then I can decide if they are a wanker showing off or actually worth listening to.
I have a basic understanding of research approaches, so I am taking the next week to find quick and easy resources that can give me a good overview or introduction to the major research methodologies with which I will come in contact. Thus far, I have found an excellent source which I posted on last week relating to short and informative Methodology videos – and this week I turn to the Muppets for academic guidance – as all quality scholars have done before me – to understand the fundamentals of Phenomenology.
Just goes to show that every one and everything really is your teacher – and not to underestimate the mighty learning power of The Muppets, Play School and Sesame Street. Just to confirm my understanding I also watched the below, slightly less colourful, yet equally informative 6 min video. Now I feel slightly more ready to take on that stuffy professor!!
It is such a pity I won’t be using Phenomenology methodology – because now I feel like I have a much better understanding about what it is!!
I have been posting for about 6 weeks now and I am still experimenting and getting more familiar with WordPress and the ins and outs of blogging. It has certainly been a steep learning curve, but one in which I have enjoyed and gained much satisfaction. I will continue!
As I look ahead, I am glad that I have a clear outline of what it is I want to achieve from this blog. I know that much of this will change when my schedule changes next year to accommodate for work or study. Part of my learning about blogging includes many of the same ideas and concerns that other (academic) bloggers have.
I’ve been wrestling with my own ideas and choices about my blogging. How many complex aspects there are! I can see how it can easily become overwhelming and all time-consuming! I have been very happy with how I have gone about learning the WordPress skills needed and being resourceful about finding helpful advice. One interesting aspect of this has been talking to some trusted friends and colleagues about blogging – and although many of their suggestions echo information I have already encountered, or thought of myself, below are some of the more interesting ideas they have raised:
You are all excited now because the blog is new and you have many ideas – but you will soon run out of things to say.
Comments are a great way to bounce off ideas, get suggestions, look at things from a different angle and consider aspects that did not occur to you at the immediate time of writing.
You will spend more time posting than working on your dissertation.
The focus of your blog is totally different from the same old diary product and news bicycle blogs – your emphasis on biking projects and community development is so positive and engaging –it sets you apart and makes your content interesting to a much wider readership.
Warning- how regularly you blog sets a precedence and an expectation. Can you maintain it and/or are you okay when your posting timetable changes?
You can make a massive online income from your blog – you can advertise and get a passive income – that way you won’t need a scholarship to study!
Doing a blog is like hard drugs – once you start with blogging, it is a downward spiral into twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Integra – next stop social media addiction – goodbye Doctorate.
Are you writing for yourself or an audience? What if you end up with a large readership that will influence your content, approach and process?
The blogosphere is a perfect platform for your work – you can share ideas, connect with your community activities and network with an array of people who are interested in biketivism – which is precisely what your research is focused on.
It is a great way to document and record your thinking and research – very helpful for you – and you will be surprised about how interesting it will be to others.
Be clear about the time you have and will afford for the blog – otherwise, it will get out of control and before you know it you will have spent four hours on one blog post and still not be happy with it.
Your spelling is so terrible –aren’t you self-conscious about everyone seeing your mistakes?
Careful – there are academics who will read your blog and steal your ideas and publish them for themselves – be selective with what you share.
Great idea to find your voice, clarify some ideas and get into a regular writing habit.
Be careful of people’s comments – the public can say whatever they want – and they will. This has the potential to have an impact on your ideas and skew your thinking and confidence, both positively or negatively. This is a major concern in writing your thesis.
It is an excellent way to process and test ideas – you will find that you often go back to ideas to include or edit later.
People all over the world love bikes and they LURVE talking about them – your blog will be perfect!
First, my application to undertake a Doctorate with Griffith University School of Education has been accepted and I will start early 2016!! The official offer came through in writing, which means that I will be able to formalise my community development and bicycle research. It is both daunting and exciting to consider the challenges, commitment and workload that this will entail – but I have found two wonderful supervisors and I am highly motivated and ready to uncover the multitudinous ways that bicycles create positive change around the world.
The second amazing news came in the form of an email from the Australian Academy of Business and Social Sciences (AABSS) 2015 Kuala Lumpur Conference, to say that a paper I submitted, has been accepted as a Conference Paper Publication. It was a theory-building paper investigating how to better identify and communicate context-driven considerations for international development projects – see a copy of it here. This will be my first publication and I was delighted to get very positive feedback on the content and writing. I am not going over to present at the Conference, but it looks like the paper will be published as a Conference paper as well as in the Journal of Developing Areas in some form.
The third piece of news was a double header, I received two Excellence in Teaching Commendations – one from Griffith International, where I was nominated in two categories, one as an individual, and also as part of a teaching team (2 nominations) – as I work on the two teaching teams who were nominated in the team category – for the Outstanding Client Service or Initiative by an Individual or Team. It turned out that one of the teaching teams I work on took out the final gong – so I felt like I won the award anyway!! The second teaching commendation came from the Griffith University Academic Provost who congratulated me on being identified by my students for teaching excellence. Both were unexpected and humbling – and a great way to end the teaching year. It was very nice to be recognised for a long year of hard work, sacrifice and commitment.
Having these three stepping stones achieved, it is a solid move forward to getting more serious about researching, reporting and exchanging the valuable stories and experiences of how bicycles can benefit and transform lives; locally, regionally and globally. I feel very excited about the future; what opportunities may eventuate and curious to see where this all leads!
