Navigating Gendered Relational Spaces in Talanoa: Centring Gender in Talanoa Research Methodology

Talanoa is a research methodology that foregrounds Pacific cultural values and acknowledges the importance of the positioning of researchers and participants in the research space. Researchers are encouraged to consider how their social characteristics, such as their gendered social positioning, shape their interactions with participants. Scholarship that carefully examines the significance of positionality, and approaches research with Pacific people from a Pacific epistemological stance, provides critical conceptual and practical guidance. In this paper, as a married Samoan mother and early career researcher in the social sciences, I reflect on gendered relational spaces in one-on-one talanoa with Pacific mothers and fathers.

Citation analysis of Ph.D. theses with data from Scopus and Google Books

This study investigates the potential of citation analysis of Ph.D. theses to obtain valid and useful early career performance indicators at the level of university departments. For German theses from 1996 to 2018 the suitability of citation data from Scopus and Google Books is studied and found to be sufficient to obtain quantitative estimates of early career researchers’ performance at departmental level in terms of scientific recognition and use of their dissertations as reflected in citations. Scopus and Google Books citations complement each other and have little overlap. Individual theses’ citation counts are much higher for those awarded a dissertation award than others. Departmental level estimates of citation impact agree reasonably well with panel committee peer review ratings of early career researcher support.

Education focused pracademics on twitter: building democratic fora

PurposeThis paper explores the features of pracademic practice within online spaces where pracademics, academics and teachers interact.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses autoethnographic case studies to showcase the boundary-spanning thinking of two pracademics, one a practicing teacher, the other an early career researcher, to provide an overview of how pracademics are engaging with research and the profession online in Australia, in 2021.FindingsThe paper describes five key features that are central to the development of pracademic practice. They are rigour and depth, discussion beyond immediate cultural context, accessibility, knowledge creation and collaboration.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is focused on the teacher and early career researcher perspectives on pracademia, due to the extant literature focusing on the well-established academic perspective primarily. It focuses on fora within the Twitter social media platform and the #edureading group specifically. The authors propose that the use of Twitter fora, as those outlined, provides a legitimate form of professional development, and does contribute to the development of pracademics.Originality/valueThis piece itself is an output of pracademia; through the writing of this paper, the authors show that pracademia is possible through teacher and researcher collaboration. The focus on online spaces, pracademic teachers and a coverage of what's occurring provide a new agenda for further research and consideration.

Intelligent and Learning Agents: Four Investigations

My research is driven by my curiosity about the nature of intelligence. Of the several aspects that characterise the behaviour of intelligent agents, I primarily study sequential decision making, learning, and exploration. My interests also extend to broader questions on the effects of AI on life and society. In this paper, I present four distinct investigations drawn from my recent work, which range from theoretical to applied, and which involve both analysis and design. I also share my outlook as an early-career researcher.