Author Archives: Bronwyn Swartz

Reset, Ready?….Go!

30 Thursday Apr 2015

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hello Heya peeps, So that was a long unexpected break. 8 months, in which time I got married and got knocked up. Just kidding. No such luck. Even though loads has happened in the time, I honestly just don’t feel like retelling the past, so I’m going to go on from today:) And today I’m going to share one fact only – My proposal is officially due on the 25th May. That’s about a month from now Let’s do this!

Land Ahoy!!

20 Saturday Sep 2014

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Almost almost, just not quite there yet. I saw an interesting post on FB earlier. It said “When you are dead, you don’t know that you are dead. It is only difficult for the others. It is the same for when you are Stupid” This nothing to do with my blog, or what I’m writing about today, but it had me in stitches so I’m sharing that first.

So “Land Ahoy!!” in my case means I feel like I’ve almost reached a little pit-stop on my journey. I submitted my CHEC proposal on Wednesday. I am making a pledge to myself that it’s not ending there.

I will either do the PG Dip at CPUT if my contract at Cipla is not extended, and then for my D. Tech do research in Educational Technologies, or if my contract is extended then I’ll start with the D. Tech or PhD as of next year and conduct my research on Resistance (Non-adoption) of Quality Culture. It feels good to have a plan.

But for now, I’m winding down, catching up with my marking. I still owe Jan-Hendrik an editing assignment, but I tick that box by Tuesday for the latest and then will also just keep going with my administration for the CPUT related work so I don’t fall behind there. blah dee blah blah blah Boring!

The exciting news is Din-Din Club has decided to go Sky Diving for Roberto’s birthday! Super excited about that. I’ve been speaking wanting to go Sky Diving for two years now it’s time to just do it!

Then other really cool news is I met an ex-Springbok captain. Like seriously, SERIOUSLY, how cool is that. He works with me at Cipla. And he was Not just a player, the Captain baby! I am completely loving this moment, delighting in a small pleasure, and why not. It’s mine. 2014-09-19 16.54.26Yes I will admit, I had absolutely no idea of who he was before he told me, but I can respect awesomeness when I come across it. And his achievements are way up there on the awesome gauge. In addition I must add as well, he is a really nice guy too….well the whole 15 minutes I chatted to him he seemed nice so I’m going with that. Divan Serfontein just won himself another great fan.

Oops I did it again….

08 Monday Sep 2014

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Except I don’t really mean oops.  I won’t apologise.  It’s a few hours to deadline and I must submit something before tomorrow.  And I’ve only just started reading on Data Analysis, Validity, Ethics and Budget and Timeline.  In fact a few minutes ago I would not have been able to give you those subheadings because I didn’t know what I was supposed to write about.

The past week has been so busy.  I truthfully had no time to read up on them, so I won’t feel guilty.

I’m on the final contact session of my editing course too – and I believe we’re writing a test tomorrow.  But I’m also just not gonna study.  I guess it’s about priorities and then it’s also about what is practically possible.  The extra editing course was very expensive – R5000, but I’m shooting in the dark trying to study for that test anyway.  I’m not a language undergrad.

The CHEC course was less expensive, but the value and my interest level is more…..personal priority.  At the same time, there are certain things (information) that I just don’t have access to at this stage, so even finishing the CHEC proposal seems to be uncertain but I forge ahead anyway.

Travelling home today I reflected a bit about the goals I’ve inadvertently set.  It mirrors real life. My feeling is in real life we keep chasing that first high – that first time we experienced happiness for whatever reason.  However I’m starting to suspect you never ever really hit that high again – instead you just keep challenging yourself to greater feats. Because you’ve already accomplished something, so you set your goal posts higher without even thinking that what you now aiming for is even beyond what you first thought was impossible.  That’s what I did.  A few years ago I was ‘nothing more that a mother’ – that in itself is something to be so grateful for.  Then things happened and I felt the need to start studying again.  At the time, I thought it was impossible to be a mother (single mother mind you) and a student.  But I nailed it.  Then I took on a second job……and now I’m trying to balance being a single working mom, with a second job and being a student.  It’s crazy.  Seeing my words in black and white makes me realise it’s crazy.  In addition I’m running an odd half marathon here and there too.  I’m going to need to take stock sometime……just not now.  Because now I need to finish what I started.  Oh blow it, and bring it.  Life is beautiful.  I think I’ll have a spin while I work.

A Refreshing Change

03 Wednesday Sep 2014

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A tumultuous week is the best word that I can think of to describe this week so far.  Started at the new company on Monday, and what a remarkably different perspective of the corporate industry compared to my last experience!  It is still early days, but the “road signs” seem different at this company, the attitude is less ominous.  The people seem more real.  Perhaps just my imagination, or as I pointed out, just early days, but an example of a vast difference between the attitude at this new organisation and the one at my previous employer is on the first day, when on training, at lunch time the trainer and myself and fellow trainee left the room in which we were getting training.  Instinctively I asked where I could put my laptop for safe keeping.  Without thinking he replied, “Leave it here in the boardroom, it will be perfectly safe”.  A refreshing change.  At worst, I looking forward to enjoying the next four months, working in a non-threatening environment.

Students also wrote on Monday night, minor hitches but predominantly went off ok.  Stayed at campus till 22:30 and the marking will begin tonight. .  Another day half day of training followed yesterday, and then I rushed off to make a 2hr biking lesson.  I then also went to see a good old friend perform at the Artscape last night.  This morning started with proposal class again.  Proposal class went well this morning, I’m feeling more comfortable with the idea of attempting to analyse my own qualitative data.  We had a lesson in coding and talks on data validity and ethics.  I believe I know what to do, but in between all the other priorities I honestly dont know when I’m going to do it… bearing in mind I still have to finish my modified literature review/conceptual framework based on the renewed focal point of my research.

Then still, Bike licence test tomorrow

Team building and Bespoke meeting on Friday

SJMC big walk on Saturday and 

Satori trail run on Sunday……

Oh well, and on and on and on we go…

The Ah Ha moment

29 Friday Aug 2014

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So I realised that I was trying to marry two projects that just shouldn’t and can’t be merged.  There’s a common thread that runs through both of them, namely “resistance”.  The first project is in the field of Educational Technologies (specifically Blackboard e-Learning – something I’m very passionate about) and the second project is in the field of Quality Culture (Also passionate about).

Look the truth is I’m using this CHEC proposal course to get me started on the PhD in Quality, but the focus of CHEC is on Higher Education.  At the moment, being a higher educator is my primary job.  In this job I stumbled upon a wonderful tool called Blackboard.  Blackboard is an e-Learning platform CPUT uses or CPUT staff “can” use if they want to.  And that is at the heart of my one problem.  Blackboard is an amazing bit of educational technology.  It has opened a world of opportunities for me and my students in terms of their learning.  I engage with them in a way that firmly supports them and it feels personal.  I’m not the type of lecturer who stands in front of the class in isolation from them.  Besides some obvious benefits on my side, namely the less marking for me, Blackboard allows me to give each of my students personal attention, while at the same time the group as a whole benefits from that personal attention e.g. in Discussion groups.  This is an opportunity that time just would never allow in the traditional teaching and learning system that I came through.  My students are thriving and so am I.  Yet I have found in my department I am the only lecturer of about 30 odd others who bother with Blackboard.  The rest of the lecturers pretty much ignore it, or just use it as a one direction communication tool with students.  This is indeed puzzling.  I have a suspicion that this is representative of the whole institution.  There are only small pockets of lecturers that make use of Blackboard.  It is highly functional, yet the resistance seems to be significant.

I tried to merge that idea with Quality Improvement so that I could use the same work for the PhD. Unsuccessfully.  It just wasn’t making sense no matter what angle I approached it from. I had the Ah Ha moment yesterday when I realised I need to distinguish between the two projects because they just don’t fit together neatly.  If I try to force them, the wheels will come off and I’ll come across as an idiot.  

The second idea that I had is resistance to quality improvement – ultimately Resistance to Quality Culture.  A very real concept.  I worked in two laboratories in my life and both of these labs had “quality systems” – but the implementation and the way quality was perceived in them was not what I was taught about quality as a quality student.  Makes one question if the concept of a quality culture really exists, and if it is not just the carrot and the stick that exists.  But I still truly I believe it’s truly out there.  Deming, Crosby and the other guys….they were real weren’t they.  I believe you need to change people’s hearts and minds first.  I suspect organisations are forgetting this.  Organisations introduce a quality system, either because it regulatory or because it’s like a brand name apparel that will make them look good – but they forgetting something. That something has to do with the staff that must adopt quality (like the lecturers that must adopt Blackboard.)  This is also a topic that’s close to my heart and interests me.  I was a staff member who resisted quality as it was applied in those labs, and even I do not understand why.  So the common thread is “Resistance” or “Non-adoption” (better academic term for resistance).

And if they are similar, why did I adopt Blackboard, but I did not adopt quality.  The answer to that question is I only adopted Blackboard when I was forced to mark exam scripts of 260 stats students.  It was an impossible task.  I had no choice but to look for a smarter way to do things because I just couldn’t work harder than what I already was.  Once I started using Blackboard, the system itself impressed me.  I started seeing how it made life easier not more difficult.  Therein lies the key to my research.

So I was initially thinking the CHEC course proposal would be the first draft of the PhD proposal, but I know accept that it wont be.  And that is fine.  I’ve decided I want to now do both research projects.  But let’s start with this Blackboard research first.  The comforting fact is hopefully my research design will be similar if not the same, because the nature of research will be the same.  Design based research…….., here I come.

The Game Changer

27 Wednesday Aug 2014

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Today was a iffy weirdio shoop-dedoop snap crackle and pop kinda day.  It felt as crazy as the weather Cape Town’s currently experiencing.  First I didn’t sleep well, but I didn’t feel tired when I got out of bed and started writing a section on Pareto Analysis for the blog/stats text book.

Then I went to proposal class.  I got so-so feedback from my facilitator.  I’m so pleased with myself at how well I deal with feedback.  I remember feeling more sensitive when I started writing my Masters.  To see “red lines” and “comments” scrawled all over one’s work isn’t exactly the same as getting a surprise bunch of flowers from a friend, however you get used to it.  I have thicker skin now.  Not that Arona does the “red lines” or “the comments with 50 exclamation marks” proceeding them.  She’s really very sweet and very tactful.  I appreciate that.  

Research Design Day

Research Design Day

Back on the Game Changer – I need to finalise a topic.  It’s not even funny.  I have to remind myself that it most probably will change anyway.  I need to find something that is good enough, even if it’s not great.  Today the focus of the course was on research design and I felt lost.  I really would like to do qualitative research, purely because I’ve never done it before.  It’s just critical I start forcing myself to commit.

So my plan is read up about Design Based Research.  It’s the buzz word in my course…that latest fad I believe, along with educational technologies.  Everyone it seems, just about everyone in my course want to do research related to educational technologies.  It appears I’m not such a trendsetter after all.  Oh well never mind that.  I will live.  My focus is sort of just wanting to get on with the job now – this time round I’m not aiming for a Cum Laude.

Then I managed to get my exam prep sorted (exam prep for my Stat 3 and Stats 4 students not my own exam!)  The question papers have been submitted and that’s one thing that’s nice to be able to tick off my to-do list.  Also much to my surprise I had a good stats lesson with my most difficult class this evening.  This particular class has a reputation among all the campus staff as a ‘difficult bunch’.  Every now and then – not often, but sometimes, I have a good class with them anyway.  That’s always just sublime.

Finally very happy news, I signed a four month contract today to work for a international pharmaceutical company as a….Drum roll….”Quality Assurance Consultant!  Oh my word, Shjoe.  It’s just a contract, but that’s what I studied all those years for.  Finally.  I’m having moment.  Bitter sweet.  Missing Robin.

Yep… a ffy weirdio shoop-dedoop snap crackle and pop kinda day.