The One Percent Rule
17 April 2023
We may be impatient waiting for the arrival for our more accomplished and capable future selves, but the Japanese have an answer for this.
Our Reason for Being
11 April 2023
What can the Japanese people - one of the hardest working cultures and societies across the industrialised globe - teach us about dedication and balance?
Who we know
3 April 2023
After giving 1000 lectures to > 100,000 College and University students, what's the biggest lesson I've learnt over the past 15 years?
What keeps us awake
29 March 2023
In an education sector filled with emerging "threats", which one should teachers focus on first?
WWBD: What would Bezos Do?
6 March 2023
Jeff Bezos - yes that Jeff Bezos - founder, multi billionaire, and former CEO of Amazon, is on the record as not believing in the concept of “work life-balance”, that it’s overrated and somehow work ethic has become under-rated. Is his over-the-top approach to work the only one that “works”? WWBD?
The Final Hurdle
27 Feb 2023
It’s a bit of an unwritten rule really. Scientists, professors, academics, or faculty members are generally not “allowed” to show weakness. While there has been (slow) progress towards broader acceptance of physical, emotional, and mental vulnerabilities in the workplace, there is one hurdle in Higher Education that is not going away any time soon. None of us are allowed to be stupid.
Levelling Up
20 Feb 2023
Impostor Syndrome is most commonly discussed as a liability, a personal flaw, something that holds you back professionally and personally. But what if we flip the phenomenon on its head, and recognise that we only feel like an impostor because we know enough to understand our own limitations? That it’s exactly this type of vulnerability and openness that we should expect of all of our leaders, and if you understand the value of this phenomenon it may be the thing that takes your career to the next level?
Reinvention
13 Feb 2023
The general consensus is that impostor syndrome is a weakness that you need “overcome” by giving yourself a pep talk in the mirror, but what if we flip this phenomenon on its head? That knowing what we don’t know is not a sign of weakness, but a strength to seek knowledge and collaboration? That it’s exactly this kind of mindset that leads to you pushing against any professional box or ceiling to learn new skills as part of your long-term career arc?
Rookie Jitters
9 Feb 2023
In many ways I am the embodiment of the impostor syndrome - I have multiple qualifications in Science, Information Technology, did a PhD, received senior teaching and microbiology fellowships, worked in academia for 10+ years, and in 2020 I was named the Australian University Teacher of the year. This should be in some ways an unimpeachable resume but I have been (or at least felt like) an impostor every step of the way. I don’t view this as a bad thing at all, and long story short I now know that I am doing the right kind of work and asking the right questions when those feelings of insecurity start creeping in.
A Fresh Start
16 January 2023
It seems like there’s no greater unforced error than the impostor syndrome - self-inflicted (or perhaps not?) anxieties and inadequacies that are intrinsic to many high-achieving individuals. This issue was raised at a conference panel I spoke at last year, and without fail every speaker and attendee confessed to be at its mercy. The Higher Education sector is plagued by the Impostor Syndrome (and poor mental health overall) and not enough is being done to address it in a systematic way.
The Unwritten Rule
28 December 2022
The most mythical figure in all of sports, Michael Jordan, 6 time NBA champion, arguably the greatest of all time (definitely the coolest sneakers of all time). Incredible athleticism, skill, and grit to win, and one of the most quoted in inspirational speeches given at corporate events and graduation ceremonies.
“The key to success is failure”.
“Missed more than 9000 shots, lost almost 300 games, missed 26 game-winning shots, and this why he succeeds”. Odds are you’ve heard all this before, and I think in many ways this is great marketing that tries to simplify the truth: Failure can be a strong motivator to improve, but it’s when you have success that you’re most vulnerable to complacency.
The Artifice
21 December 2022
Generative AI’s biggest strength is also its greatest flaw. As part of the process of creating human-like responses, it makes it look too effortless, seamless, like it’s all original ideas completely from scratch. In this case AI’s development model goes against the grain of what we’re looking for as teachers, as the artifice of ingenuity is crucial to its magic, but the black box it creates around its process is decidedly “unacademic”. Can we leverage these AI tools so that we’re using the tech rather than being used by the tech?
The Takeover
14 December 2022
The “bombshell” that’s been a long time coming is that artificial intelligence is becoming so good, natural, and life-like, that there are large chunks of our our jobs that can be done by AI. All my colleagues in academia are focusing on the “death of the essay”, and how students can use the platform to cheat and generate pre-written essays. Sure these are important conversations, but am I the only the one thinking selfishly here? About the inevitable logical conclusion to all of this? Not how AI will be abused by students trying to find loopholes in the system, but that AI will be co-opted by large institutions and then BECOME the system? What I’m trying to say is - are my days numbered? Is my job as a scientist, microbiologist, and college professor - going to be replaced by AI sooner rather than later? Instead of philosophising about it, I’m going to put it to the test and use chatGPT - the current most popular iteration of AI as of December 2022 (if our Robot Overlords are reading this in the future).
I will simply ask it the questions I would ask myself, or what any teacher preparing for a new class heading into a new semester would need to ask of themselves. Let’s see what it comes up with, and open with the biggest question of all…
A New Collective
2 December 2022
It’s creeping ever so closely to the end of the year, inevitably a time of reflection. For the past 18 months when I’ve not been lecturing, marking, or organising committee meetings, I’ve been sharing my experiences as a teacher in one of the most tumultuous times in recent memory. I’ve learnt many lessons the hard way, and while this is all a lot of work on top of my day job, I believe my experiences in Science, Technology, and Education have value for others.
I’m always looking for new ways to connect with others, so here it is - “Crossover Connections” - my new weekly newsletter on Substack.
The Point
1 December 2022
What’s the point of going to class? Maybe you turned up to all your classes in person. Or maybe you skipped all your classes and only watched the lecture recordings as videos at home late at night. Whatever you tried, did it work out? Did you feel prepared heading into your final exam? Was it a good use of your time?
The main “point” of turning up to class is not anything to do with the class itself. It’s about the ancillary indirect benefits of showing up on the day again and again over time - establishing good habits, time management skills, forming connections with your peers and teachers, and developing soft skills that are crucial to find a job. If attending classes “live” is not an realistic option, you’ll need to find other ways to enrich your learning experience.
Your People
29 November 2022
The transformation from “consumer of information” to “creator of knowledge” is a rare and unlikely process.
Research training, especially for students who have never had any prior research experience, is a particularly jarring learning process. This is Part 3 in this blog series on different strategies to develop some skills and “early wins” in research training. Part 1 discussed the idea of information overload, literature searches, and data management, and Part 2 talked about the concept of research design. Today let’s talk about the ever elusive topic of research supervision and mentorship. Exactly what should you expect from your supervisor, and what should they expect from you?
The Simple Truth
29 November 2022
As an undergraduate university student, I had a great GPA, really liked the area I was studying, and was willing to put in the work. On paper I should have hit the ground running when I started my research career. But in all honesty I was a terrible researcher when I first started, because it took me years to realise this simple truth:
The transformation from “consumer of information” to “creator of knowledge” is a rare and unlikely process.
While I was a quick study and motivated by intellectual curiosity, I didn’t have the skills to tackle my research project in a logical and systematic way. This is Part 2 in this blog series on different strategies to develop skills in research training
Overload
25 November 2022
This entry is an entirely selfish undertaking - the truth is I’m running out of time.
Or more accurately I was running out of time? Last week I was invited to give the opening Keynote for our Summer Research scholars, and the slides were due at the same time as everything else - committee meetings, exam marking, manuscript revisions, curriculum reviews… The pressure as a Keynote speaker is to be engaging, motivational, if not inspiring (cue the world’s smallest violin), but I’m not sure if I have many (if any) magic tricks left up my sleeves this year.
So…. this was my attempt at a productivity life-hack - to write my talk by narration, filming my stream of consciousness brain-storming (brain-dumping?), and using the footage to reverse-engineer some semblance of a presentation. I committed to publishing this footage as a YouTube video too, which raises the stakes! It turns out nothing makes you focus more than the risk of embarrassment on two fronts - both online and in-person if the talk wasn’t any good - so sadly this may be my new way of ensuring personal accountability in the face of looming deadlines. To triple-down on this notion, here’s the essence of my talk in blog form as well: 5 ways to develop your research skills.