focus on process

Now that we are existing in a time where generative AI can produce finished and resolved outcomes with ‘ease’^[1]. I think that the process of what we do becomes much more important.

A current frustration in teaching at the moment is working out the best ways to accurately assess learning, when students can so easily offset thinking work to Generative AI systems. Thinking about the creative process and new ways to capture it, and how it can perhaps sit alongside a considered and responsible AI usage has been in my mind a lot.

I hope to confront this teaching and learning/research challenge as both a student and also as a lecturer as a central part of my PhD.

Capturing Process

Two concepts that I have come across in my research so far are, that seem to do a good job of capturing evolving thinking and process are:

1. digital-gardens

a digital garden is a publicly accessible, evolving space for personal knowledge - not a polished blog nor a stream of social posts. It emphasises continuous growth and learning in public, where links between ideas matter more than linear build up of posts over time. Notes are draft-like, imperfect, interconnected, and self-owned rather than locked into social platforms. (appleton-2020-brief-history-of-digital-gardens)

2. zettelkasten

The Zettelkasten Method is a system of note-taking and thinking in which each note (‘Zettel’) has a unique address, contains a single idea or concept, and links (or references) other notes. This means the collection isn’t just a linear archive, but a web of thoughts, where each note connects to others via addresses and references, enabling non-linear navigation and emergent insight. (sascha-2020-intro-to-zettelkasten)

Additionally, as part of my-practice, I am a live-coder. Live coding as a practice is very much about the practice of sharing your process as it is forming, as it’s developing. This led me to think about the idea - what if I could ‘live code my PhD’? How and what would that look like?

Developing a platform

I have started to develop a platform (based directly off of my obsidian notes) called ‘PhD-Live’ (ongoing developing ideation can be found here: project-phd-live-platform and more details of how the site is structure here: About PhD-Live).

This will act as a central hub tracking my work and progress, showcasing the journey and process of my learning throughout the PhD. As many commercial generative AI systems allow shortcuts to learning and in the creation of works, I feel that the painstaking nature of process - of making and building knowledge - becomes more important and valuable to witness. Showing your process is a way to demonstrate your journey and showcase learning in ‘real-time’.

Additionally, this platform represents a deliberate effort to demystify the PhD process - by sharing my journey openly and sharing the often opaque nature of PhD research.

Historically, PhDs have been primarily accessible to a privileged few. This fact also motivates in my attempts to open up my research process, with the hope that my insights gained within academia, are relevant to a wider audience - I hope this space will be a place for anyone curious about the research process.