BMC 2016 Conference

1st Business and Management Conference (BMC 2016)
Managing Uncertainties
Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia (8-9 Dec 2016)
https://www.newera.edu.my/bmc/

Title of My Talk. Design Thinking: Managing Uncertainties Through Design (8 Dec 2016)

Abstract. In addition to planning and problem solving, designing can also be a general approach to coping with uncertainty and complexity. Alternative implementations can include imagining and designing ideal-seeking systems (e.g., new types of telephone system), readjusting constraints to enhance actorship (e.g., urban shared space), and bringing forth smart collectives to translate individual capacities into a collective resource (e.g., a web-based social resource such as Wikipedia). Likewise, a design thinking perspective can also be applied to the task of developing educators and researchers, which is an aim of the newly formed scholarly society (MABMS) that initiated the BMC conference series.

Here is a recent news item on a similar theme:
"Design thinking methods to enhance innovation, creativity,"
The Borneo Post | 12 Dec 2016

BREC 2016 Conference

4th Borneo Research Education Conference (BREC 2016)
Developing as a researcher by building research skills
Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (17-18 Aug 2016)
http://www.sarawak.uitm.edu.my/brec2016/index.html

"Borneo higher learning institutions come together to strengthen research culture,"

The Borneo Post | 19 Aug 2016

BREC 2016 report | Developing as a Researcher by Building Research Skills

BREC 2015 report | Developing as a Researcher by Playing Scholarly Roles

BREC 2014 report | Developing as a Researcher by Doing Meaningful Research

BREC 2013 report | Developing as a Researcher Through the Culture of Sharing

Dear Students

I'm not your favourite friend,
Nor am I your foe;
I just question all your limits,
Because, I am your teacher. [1]

It's not for me to please you,
Nor cause you pain;
Only spur you to excel yourself,
Because, I am your teacher.

Your fame doesn't impress me,
Failings despair me not;
I just seek your steady unfolding,
Because, I am your teacher.

Rise and fall are Nature's strokes,
Upon the canvas of life;
If you need to widen the canvas,
Find me by your side.

Of no use are maps and compass,
Facing the unknown sea;
An explorer's nerve in you I seek,
The heart of a teacher in me. [2]

Notes.

[1] Inspired by the Native American wisdom, "I have no friends; I have no enemies; I have only teachers," cited by Dharm P. S. Bhawuk in his 2010 article, "Humiliation and Human Rights in Diverse Societies: Forgiveness and Other Solutions from Cross-Cultural Research," published in Psychological Studies, 55(1), pp. 35-45.

Interestingly, Rob Jenkins at Georgia State University Perimeter College also expressed a similar idea in an article written around the same time as this poem. In his words, "I’m not your BFF" and "I’m not your adversary." His article is published in the Vitae blog, a service of The Chronicle of Higher Education, on August 19, 2016: Defining the Relationship.

[2] Inspired by the title of a talk, "The Heart of a Teacher," delivered by Snigdha Pattnaik at Xavier University, Bhubaneswar, India on 14 June 2016.

Government Funding for Postgraduate Studies

Policy of provisionism:

Borneo Post Online | 25 Feb 2016

The Star Online | 25 Feb 2016

Notes. I first learnt about the concept of provisionism from Boud and Lee (2005). I referred to it in my article reviewing my research education initiatives in India and Malaysia (Dash, 2015).

1. Boud, D., & Lee, A. (2005). ‘Peer learning’ as pedagogic discourse for research education. Studies in Higher Education, 30(5), 501-516.
2. Dash, D. P. (2015). Enacting a developmental niche for researchers: Lessons from research education initiatives in India and Malaysia. International Journal for Researcher Development, 6(2), 144-164.