Pursuing a PhD: Embracing Data-Driven Education and the power of incremental progress
Manisha Khulbe from the School of Digital Technologies defended her doctoral thesis "Data Meets Teaching: Teachers' Adoption of Data-Enriched Teaching Practices Using a Professional Development Programme and Theory-Based Learning Analytics" ("Andmete kohtumine õpetamisega: Õpetajate andmerikaste õpetamispraktikate omaksvõtt professionaalse arenguprogrammi ja teooriapõhiste õppeanalüütikate abil“) on 30th of September. In our interview Manisha talks about her research journey, the inspiration behind her thesis, and the challenges she faced while studying the integration of data into teaching practices.
Manisha, what was the tipping point in choosing to do a PhD?
Working on my masters’ thesis got me interested in educational data and Learning Analytics. The idea of using data to provide prompt, meaningful feedback to learners was one idea that was quite exciting for me, and I wanted to explore the subject further. Fortunately, things worked out well, and I got to be part of an excellent research group that had plenty of interest and experience in educational data use.
Why was it important to study further the topics you focus your thesis on?
The use of “Big Data” has now become an essential part of fields like e-commerce, media and advertising, healthcare, etc., and researchers and policy makers are convinced that data-based decision making is a good thing for education, too. Teachers are increasingly expected to use their students’ data to improve teaching and learning, but this is quite a challenging task. Most teachers have not been trained in such data use, and need to acquire new knowledge and skills to implement it in their classrooms. Many teachers are also sceptical about the usefulness of systematic data use in educational settings. My research explored how we can combine training and educational technology to support teachers in effectively using data to understand and improve their practice.
What were your tactics for consistently working on your doctoral thesis in order to successfully reach the end?
I usually enjoy writing, but writing the dissertation seemed so momentous a task that I felt paralysed and had trouble getting started with my analytical overview. Fortunately, an often-mentioned strategy worked well for me: breaking down the very large, intimidating task into smaller chunks. After building up momentum by writing just a few hundred words daily for a couple of weeks, I began to enjoy the process. When I did get stuck, sleeping on the problem usually led to my brain working out a solution, so getting enough rest was one of my tactics, too!
What is something you appreciate about your dissertation supervisor(s)?
Over the six years that we have worked together, I have come to admire many things about professor Kairit Tammets. Foremost are her passion for research, her enthusiasm about synthesising the many different topics that we work on, and her excitement about her students’ work. Her patience with me has been extraordinary! She’s also always thoughtful of the well-being of students, and encourages and models a good work-life balance.