by Colin on March 10, 2010
Almost a year ago, we decided to start a second blog focused on providing relevant, useful information specifically to educators. We’ve been blown away by the response.
The web is bursting with instructors passionate about finding new ways to help their students. We’ve done our best to gather resources, interview interesting people, suggest tips for better teaching and learning, and encourage new ideas and techniques.
In case you missed it, here are some of the most popular posts from the last few months:
Read the rest of this entry »
by Colin on February 3, 2010
Data analysis software like Qualrus allows you to flexibly organize evolving observations by defining codes and links. The point is to classify and arrange your qualitative data in a way that allows you to thoroughly and accurately analyze, describe and communicate the information you’ve collected.
Primarily, structure is imposed on your data through the coding process. Qualrus’s code editor, along with its powerful Boolean searches and built-in QTools provide quick access to filtered and sorted information.
But there’s another way Qualrus assists with your data analysis that most people ignore: visualization.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Colin on January 11, 2010
I’m not a natural runner, but I’ve gotten in the habit of jogging 2-3 miles around the track three times a week. It keeps me healthy and — once I got over the initial pain — it has become addictive.
Still, I’m no Ironman (no, not the superhero).
After a mile or two, my body wants to call it quits. I start shuffling my legs instead of taking long, efficient strides. My head sags. My feet begin flailing outward. My breathing becomes irregular and my back hunches up.
No, I’m not having a stroke — I’m just tired.
When my body is exhausted, I’ve found that I need to pay special attention to my form. Too easily, my tired body becomes a clumsy body. Clumsy movements are inefficient, and only tire me out more quickly.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Colin on January 2, 2010
When you’re working on a qualitative data analysis project with a team, it’s essential to know how to import components of one project into other projects. For example, you might split up larger projects between 2 or 3 different coders, then combine your results into one master project to generate reports.
Importing project elements also allows you to reuse work you’ve completed on previous projects. A coding scheme developed for a project involving the analysis of presidential inaugural addresses might turn out to be useful for another project classifying media election coverage.
Qualrus makes it easy to import components from other projects such as codes, scripts and link types, or completely merge two projects into one.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Colin on December 22, 2009
by Colin on December 8, 2009
In the next few weeks, Idea Works will be adding a new employee to the team. As applications have been rolling in, I’ve been amazed at some of the mistakes people make which instantly decrease their chances of landing an interview.
Unfortunately, these blunders distract me from absorbing the information that matters — qualifications, experience and passion for the position.
Next time you email your resume to a prospective employer, make sure to avoid these mistakes:
Read the rest of this entry »
by Colin on December 3, 2009
Hans Rosling thoroughly impressed me in his TED talk from about two years ago aptly titled “Hans Rosling shows the best stats you’ve ever seen“.
I’ve never seen someone so excited by data. I was excited too, since Rosling does more than just slap some graphs on a slide. He tells a story with the data.
Rosling explains:
Statistics has to go together with other information and with experience. That’s when it’s useful…People are not stupid. They will understand statistics and they will use it, if it’s made available in relevant and interesting ways.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Colin on November 24, 2009
My life changed forever the day I discovered you can center click to open and close a Firefox tab. Just center click (click the mouse scroll wheel) a link on a page to open the link in a new tab, without losing focus on the current page. And when you’re done with the tab, just center click anywhere on it to close.
It’s a minor feature, but now I wonder how I lived without it.
Yesterday, I came across a few more useful Firefox features that I’ve already incorporated into my day-to-day repertoire. These tips center on getting more out of the aptly named Awesome Bar – a much-hyped feature of Firefox 3+.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Colin on November 13, 2009
You may have heard the world is made up of atoms and molecules, but it’s really made up of stories. When you sit with an individual that’s been here, you can give quantitative data a qualitative overlay.
- William Turner
by Colin on November 10, 2009
Pretty much every website administrator and marketing guru uses quantitative analytic tools to optimize their website. Apps like Clicky, Mint, and Google Analytics provide great reports on user navigation trends, popular links, visitor demographics and more.
But that’s only half the story.
It’s vital to remember that a user’s experience on your site is more than the sum of their clicks. Ideally, we’d all have the chance to sit in the same room as our users, watching their every move then interviewing them about their experience. But besides being somewhat creepy, such one-on-one assessment is rarely practical.
Read the rest of this entry »
« Previous Entries
