Australian biocrusts
This is a gallery about Australian biocrusts and contains 13 images.
This is a gallery about Australian biocrusts and contains 13 images.
As a biologist, I regard teaching and learning as innate natural abilities, so I question the value of pedagogical tinkering. Should I engage deeply with the latest teaching and learning research, or should I reject it and rely on instincts, which have been through millions of years of evolutionary testing? Forget the rules, and learn from …
Some of my school peers selected Geography A-level at least in part because of the fieldwork opportunities, and they selected university courses on the same criteria, seeking courses with the best holiday opportunities. What can be done to ensure that fieldwork is highly educational for all participants, including those lacking motivation to learn? I …
I recently gave three research presentations on a broadly similar topic, and to different audiences. As I reflected on each presentation I identified two main concerns that are intrinsically linked: How much to present Keeping to time I wanted to use my experience and the literature to improve these aspects of …
Keeping a reflective record of teaching activities can help improve practice over time (e.g. Finlay 2008). I previously found this to be of marginal value partly because I have rarely gone back to read my old reflections. One reason for this is not knowing how and where to store the notes, and not remembering how …
A case study on my use of 3D printing in environmental research: http://drelliott.net/downloads/outputs/2015-03-20%20Open%20Science%203DP%20Case%20Study.pdf Thanks to Lisa Burns for putting this together.
MMU Engage interviewed me for British Science Week to find out about the research being done at MMU by various researchers. In the video I explain how we extracted DNA from the sand of the Kalahari in Botswana, which we then used to identify the microbial communities that glue the …
For Manchester Science Festival I have been demonstrating an exploration of using 3D printing (additive manufacturing) to support environmental and ecology research and teaching. Apart from the practical benefits I think 3D printing is an important development for open research because it allows us to share hardware more easily than ever before, simply by sharing …
This is a gallery about Lavender bush and contains 4 images.
The 3D printer is already proving useful after just one week in the lab. It’s now so easy to make custom objects I am seeing lots of opportunities to use the printer in the lab instead of cobbling together random odds and ends. In the last few days I have been designing labware …