Category: Research

Time is Marching On: A 4 Q 2021 Update

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While the original intent of this blog was to catalog the first years of my PhD Distance Learning Experience, I have returned now well into my penultimate year to provide a much-needed update. If not for any other reason, I needed a break from statistical analyses and am now prepared to take stock of what’s been accomplished during the last 18 months…

  • A little more than a year ago, and following my MPhil/PhD Upgrade, I accepted two posts at UCL including a PGTA to the Digital Media Masters Students Programme and a Content Developer for the EdD Education Programme. Both were incredibly gratifying and I was able to contribute, particularly leveraging my previously honed at-distance skills that came in handy when helping others migrate to new ways of learning and instruction online. After all, no one knew in 2018 of the coming pandemic.
  • Both PGTA and CD roles enabled me to pursue and receive Associate Fellowship in the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA, Advanced HE) from February, 2021.  Since that time, I’ve been fortunate to be welcomed as a Full Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and an Impact Fellow at UCL’s Institute of Healthcare Engineering (IHE).
  • On the research front, I’ve completed the design, pilot, production and data collection for the SensorAble project. I am “well down the road” regarding data analysis and have started to author my materials, including both the Methods and Results section for both my Dissertation and Journal Articles. I’ve also presented my findings at both UCL’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience Development Diversity Lab and at the University of Cambridge Cognition Education and Emotion Lab.
  • I am motivated to begin helping shape Public Policy by contributing on both sides of the Atlantic. This includes building upon my recent appointment as Chairperson for the Center for Autistic and Related Disabilities (CARD) at Florida Atlantic University, and in authoring forthcoming POSTNotes on invisible disabilities to Parliament. I’ll be making applications for various grants (small pots of money!) to help contribute to shining a light on neurodiversity issues relating to sensory, attention and anxiety at both HEI, employment and social venues.
  • Last summer, I began shifting my focus from doctoral training to cognitive and human computer interaction (HCI) knowledge building. The latter is now begin to catch up to the former as my research was decidedly less technologically oriented in the earlier phases. I am now happily exploring Open Learner Models, artificial intelligence, machine learning, multimodal learning analytics, etc.
  • As I look to publish my first journal article, I have participated in numerous conferences and continue to increase my communication and dissemination skills. Four OSF Pre-prints are now registered and available on GoogleScholar, ResearchGate, UCL Explore, and elsewhere.  I even managed to complete a peer review for an  article on behalf of my supervisor Sarah White, and also assisted my other supervisor Joni Holmes in editing her journal article.

There’s much more planned for the remainder of the next phase of my journey (i.e., the upcoming 18 months prior to defending my dissertation). It is my fervent hope that I will include these benchmarks in coming posts. For now…stay safe, healthy and enjoy the holidays!

Happy New Year!

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It certainly seems a bit hollow using the title above given all that many of us face in our world today. Whether you’re affected by the pandemic, political, racial re-awakening, climate issue, etc., I can only hope that we are all nearing the end of troubling tunnels and heading into lighter and more positive times.

As with our lives, one chapter closes and another begins. So it is with the SensorAble project.

As 2020 came to a close, my research is nearing completion of phase one (the Public Participant Information study–PPI) and the second phase (Sensory-Attention-Anxiety experiments–SAS-II) commences.

black vintage typewriter

I am hoping to begin publishing some emerging outputs and statistical results from the PPI in the coming year. I will be identifying the lived-experience data obtained from my study participants (N=196) along with the statistical analyses and implications this has in relation to a development of a solution to address multimodal distractibility, anxiety and attentional focus.

Further, one of the labs I participate in (UCL’s Development Diversity Lab–DDL) will be extending my PPI beyond neurodiverse individuals to include neurotypical (NT) participants. Stay tuned to this space if you’d like to be considered for this upcoming study.

SAS-II is already well underway having moved into coding and pre-test mode. I intend on further testing throughout the next 90 days and launching a recruitment strategy for both autistic and NT individuals. Likewise…keep your eyes on this space if you’re inclined to help design and test the future of sensory technologies.

cup of aromatic cappuccino with thank you words on foam
Photo by wewe yang on Pexels.com

I’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has helped out thusfar with my research including my esteemed supervisors Professor Kaśka Porayska-Pomsta, Drs Sarah White and Joni Holmes. There’s not a better trio of rock-stars on the planet, and I am honored to retain your guidance and friendshop. My two research assistants (Anushay Mazhar and Oonagh Coleman) have been incredibly kind and are beyond brilliant! Of course, my lab colleagues at UCL’s Knowledge Lab (KL), the aforementioned DDL and University of Cambridge’s Cognition, Education and Emotion Lab (CEE) which is part of the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. I wish all 0f you, along with my dearest family and friends, a bright new year filled with health, happiness and prosperity.

Peace and love,

-David

Pre-Prints For Your Consideration

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Research Gate - David Ruttenberg Pre-prints
Four initial pre-prints offered for your review and comments.

Since late 2019 and through the more recent months, I have had the pleasure of finally memorializing some of my research and resultant studies in four (4) pre-print articles.

And while these articles have not yet a home in a peer-reviewed journal, I am offering links to them here for your reading pleasure. These drafts are, of course, subject to edit and modifications, so please be gentle with your comments (which are, of course, encouraged).

You can access the articles here. Please feel free either reading these online or downloading them at your leisure.

Enjoy!

-David

SensorAble Participant Public Information Studies Now Closed

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Thank you
I am pleased to report that both the SensorAble Online Focus Group and Surveys are now completed. Thanks to everyone who provided their incredible participation, guidance and kindness.
SensorAble Online Survey
Your support may lead to the development of theory and research that just might make the world a little less distracting and anxiety-producing for the neurodiverse.
SensorAble Focus Group

Stay tuned to this space as I continue to scrub the data, and provide updates on what the research yields. Baby steps initially, leading to the development of my PhD thesis and hopefully some tangible results that provide autonomy, greater participation and comfort at both school, work and other venues.

Thank you and please stay safe and well during these most unusual times.

SensorAble Online Survey Now Open!

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For those of you interested in taking part in the first phase of the SensorAble Study…

If you’re ages 15-54 and have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder or identify as Autistic, the Focus Group portion of enrollment is now completed. However…

A limited number of paid positions in the online Survey are still available by clicking here.

This project is co-produced with other individuals like you in order to understand their/your lived experiences and then create a wearable prototype. The prototype aims to limit and filter unwanted sensory-stimuli and deliver early-warning alerts of distracting and anxiety-producing events.

To join, you will need to confirm that you are:

  • 15-54 years of age and have access to the internet.
  • Able to complete an online survey.

I look forward to hearing from you!

A portion of the SensorAble Focus Group is funded through Facilitation of Participant Public Information (PPI) under the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in conjunction with a partnership between UCL, University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre and the NHS Foundation Trust (reference: BRC743/DR/104990). The remainder of the study is not associated with any external organising and/or funding association and is self-funded by the researcher.

NHS Logo UCLH and NHS Foundation Trust.   UCL Logo

MPhil to PhD Upgrade

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Nothing marks the first year of doctoral training quite like one’s preparation for The Upgrade. It actually sounds like a made-for-television special or even an independent film. Needless to say, it is more assuredly neither.

From my perspective, it has been business as usual. I have been preparing for upgrade wholeheartedly for no less than six months. Now that I am approaching my twelfth month, an having completed three years of required training last month (in one year no less!), I am fully devoting my energies to all things upgrade.

In actuality, this is not completely true. For the past two weeks, I’ve also been knee-deep in starting my  research from a data collection via multiple online focus groups, transcriptions and starting to tag text within my qualitative software application for analysis. Oh yes, literature searching continues unabated as well.

However, for the purposes of this blog post…I shall pretend that I have only those concerns relating to casting of the MPhil shackles and becoming a full-fledged PhD…all made possible by The Upgrade.

And what of these shackles, anyway? Depending upon whom you speak with, the MPhil process is shroud in much mystique and sine qua non. There are others, considerably more experienced than I who will tell you that “the Upgrade is nothing but a formality, a bunch of tick-boxes put in place to prevent the University and student from failing one another”.

Wait a minute…failure?!?!

“Not to worry!” my informant suggests. “It merely ensures essentials such as your ability to speak English, write appropriately, ascribe to a timetable, and produce research that is not underwhelming in scope or unimaginably impossible to complete. You’ll have no problem…I wouldn’t worry.”

Which, of course, sets worry in to motion.

Being the A+ type multiplied by infinity personality-type that I am (e.g. aggressive, ambitious, controlling, highly competitive, preoccupied with success, workaholic and lack of patience), I begin to sweat even more of the details of something that I have been preparing for…seemingly for…for…forever!.

It was with great desire, then, that I obtain guidance from my supervisors in order to best develop an upgrade roadmap avoiding, at all cost, a road to perdition. So with that, I await feedback regarding my Upgrade Report, so that I may carve out a compelling Google Sheets Presentation.

And yet, I am already aware that there is a good portion of my Upgrade Report (that will appear within said presentation) that will now likely never become actionable.

Why?

Owing to COVID-19, those myriad face-to-face focus groups, surveys, questionnaires and trials of pilot technologies requiring in-person activities must now all be (and some already have been) migrated online. In fact, the overall tenor of the proposed research has taken on less of a prototyping, engineering vantage point. These modifications have occurred in favour of those that are considerably more scientific and proof of concept/research.

In modulating the original plan, the idea now is that a post-doc may result in a more engineering-funded objective leading to prototype development. All of this hinges upon a PhD with substantial research that is compelling  to attract funding and sponsorship. And the road to PhD, at least today, travels through…you guessed it:

The Upgrade!

At least this is what my esteemed supervisors are suggesting. And that which I am completely trusting in as the end-game result. So with keyboard in hand, I await my monthly supervisory meeting taking place in less than one week. I’m hopeful that my Upgrade Report meets with approval, that my presentation may reflect that which is within the report, and that my Upgrade Panel, Upgrade Appointment and all associated departmental paperwork is “in the works”.

Fingers crossed. We shall see within a week’s time.

Research in the Age of COVID-19

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While the rest of the world contends with migrating from their classrooms, laboratories and offices to their residential “stand-ins”, academia in my environment has remained largely consistent.

In particular, my doctoral research has culminated into the production of four draft reports, all of which are giving way to a shift from coursework to purer research outcome. These last two weeks, for example, have been spent provisioning focus group (N=15) and questionnaire/survey (N=150) for the SensorAble project.

Face-to-Face…no longer

However, what were once intended to be a series of face-to-face appointments both in the United Kingdom and here in Florida, all data collection has now migrated fully to the ether…whereby all meetings and research occur online.

The transition has been a rather smooth one, owing in large part to my 14-month immersion as an online doctoral student. While working fully “at distance”, my familiarity with deploying and collecting information via the internet has been rather customary; moreover, I am delighted to say enjoyable.

Online, group-think

Too, and as a board of governance member, post-graduate research instructor, Student Trustee, and member of two academic laboratories at University–all have embedded the requisite know-how and confidence to carry out online, group-think and administrative sessions.

So with that, SensorAble research commenced today with Focus Groups split into smaller, manageable sessions of 2-3 participants max. The next two weeks are nearly fully booked, and if today’s session is any indication…there are many surprises, confirmations and wondrous relationships to be developed.

Participatory Co-Design In Action

Thus far, co-design, candid conversation and critical exploration of the lived-experience, thoughts and opinions of at-risk individuals autistic adolescents and adults have gone extremely well. Activities including recruitment, ethics consultations, consent, authentic involvement and post-mortem dialogue– all have yielded superlative feedback.

As these days pass, I will be scrubbing videos for pertinent and instructive moments, transcriptions and coding data that bear fruit in support of research questions and hypotheses…all in order to analyse, uncover trends and discover proper languaging and designs of the follow-on survey/questionnaires. The focus group participants have been largely responsible for providing exemplary “pearls” and I am eager to begin sharing their incredible insight with others.

The New Normal?

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This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is keep-calm-the-new-normal.jpgSince the start of COVID-19 affecting global academia, many aspects of university life have changed dramatically. Whether by university building closures, on-line classes supplanting face-to-face lectures and laboratories being shuttered in favour of scientists having to re-think their methodologies and processes, I have been wondering how much more upheaval can researchers contend with?

On one hand, and in my particular case: day-to-day functioning as a distance, PhD student hasn’t changed much. Admittedly, I wash my hands more (always a good idea!). I now retain a 1.65 litre container of hand sanitizer within reach at my desk all times. I am also less than likely to run to the grocer in favour of shelling shell more money to the benefit of local food delivery companies.

My communications with colleagues, laboratory partners, supervisors, administrators, tutors and professors has not changed one iota. I do, however, have an increased window on my colleagues home/home life. Their venues are now on display for the entire world…and it can be fun meeting their family members…both furry and otherwise. In truth, our daughter Phoebe loves to join in, particularly during online sign-offs where she enjoys spreading good cheer and show-off her latest academic conquests. Most recently, she bragged about completing Cyrano de Bergerac read-through along with her statistics, oceanography/zoology and genetics classes.

With the publishing of this post, however, we will have been in isolation (e.g. physical distancing…not social distancing) for well over one month. My university officially locked its doors on Friday the 13th of March 2020, but our family shuttered our residence long before that. When will we begin to return to a newer normal?

From the The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME, 7 April 2020) 

Well the good news (?) is this: the supposed peak of medical facilities use has moved two weeks earlier. What was once identified as 3 May has now moved to 15 April. This represents the day of maximum hospital occupancy (e.g. beds, intensive care unit and ventilator usage).

What’s unclear is that which has moved the curve forward. Is it simply resultant from efforts to distance ourselves from one another, healthcare operations releasing more recovered patients, a faster morbidity timeframe, or — perhaps — erroneous data?

It would seem that there will certainly be more suffering initially (and sooner?) given the metrics available. Too, there will be fewer of us around when/if the new normal subsides. And at least in the United States it would appear that our government’s ability to contend with the fallout (from a strategic vantage point) will likely be as coordinated as its initial and ongoing attempts to contend with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Always an optimist, I must admit that I am feeling rather pessimistic about the new normal. For all measures, antediluvian or otherwise, it would appear that the COVID-19 scenarios are not good. The whiplash effect due next Fall/Winter is likely to be as onerous, and pending elections, our ability to respond as a nation seems nefarious given our current leadership. How this affects those of us intent on making contributions to at-risk populations is even more in question.

Not that our resolutions are ill-conceived. It’s just that you cannot possibly assist others if you, they and the system are ill.

The bright side is that the world, herself, seems to be healing herself. From a carbon emission standpoint, global warming/temperature measure and from our ocean’s pollutants…there appears to be positive news. But for how long? Will the new normal bring relief to planet earth? Stay tuned…

Online questionnaire/survey time…

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Gorilla Experiment Builder ImageThis day was spent considering, conceiving, creating, piloting and launching an online questionnaire/survey in response to a Doctoral Training Research Methods Module assignment.

While not a lengthy project (in terms of questions/scope), the amount of planning and reflexivity was not trivial. This is because the activity occurs at an extremely poignant time in my research trajectory; specifically, implementing interviews for at-risk individuals that form that underpinnings of the first stage of my research.

Specifically, critical Participant Public Information studies (in the format of both focus groups and questionnaires) determine whether or research participants confirm my proposed hypotheses. Without their “buy in” and willingness to tolerate wearable devices, my PhD Project will not “have the legs” to withstand the community’s rigor regarding respect, difference and adaptation. Until this point in my academic career, I had not explicitly defined any guideposts with respect to the scope, design and implementation of a PPI questionnaire and its related guidance and adaptability to focus group input; hence, the timing could not have been better.

Once I completed and deployed the questionnaire, I prepared for additional peer review assignments and editorial posts by completing half of the modules in the academy program I mentioned I enrolled in earlier this week. My goal is to complete the remaining modules within a week’s time (including the generation of two pre-print reviews) so that I may focus only on my mentoring role my colleague. Looking further into the future, I intend on requesting my supervisors consider me as a volunteer/assistant in their peer review roles by helping alleviate their schedules.

Before the end of the day, I completed mapping out the remaining KL Seminar announcements for February 2002’s events. Even though this process hasn’t been fully automated, my intention is to do as much as I can via computer macros; such that, when it comes time to hand-off the opportunity to my successor, their job will be made that much easier.

And with that, tomorrow starts another interesting and hopefully productive week.