There is a lot going on right now as we are still in the middle of Term 3. I have workshops with the Academic Learning Centre next week and the week after which I will need to prepare. I’m also trying to wrap up multiple projects including the interviews I’ve been doing for a co-worker, focus group invitations for the TAFE project and some peer-reviews.

I did the pilot focus group for my PhD on Tuesday night. There were many good things and I certainly have some really useful data in the interview. There were some questions I will need to add and some things I will need to improve for the next ones. It was a good learning experience though.

I thought I would quickly share a couple of photos from the AARE conference. This was my second time attending and I was delighted that many of the contacts I had made last year recognised me and approached me for a quick chat. The food was strange but the presentations were excellent. Stewart Riddle was extrordinary as usual and Ellen Larsen was warm and welcoming. One day I hope to be on the executive committee – but not yet! PhD first! I must finish that darn PhD first!

Anyway I did 2 presentations – one on behalf of the Social Innovation working party and one from the book chapter that Trixie and I have submitted on self-efficacy using pre-existing interview data from enabling students. Both presentations had 10 or less people attending but it was still fun and really good practice.