also: that when you open the front page, you can see which topics have had replies since the last time you were here, or since the last 24 hours.

currently, when i go through the forum i start at the top of "latest messages" and work myself down until i reach contributions that sound familiar. it's a bit of a waste of time - i need to open and read through the first thread that does not have any new contributions. with this improvement that would not be necessary.

on another forum i know, i feature which i also find nice (but not essential) is that those threads in which i have previously posted appear in a different colour. that way i can keep up with replies to my contributions easily.

i don't quite agree with the feeling of being "only" a student and that we are not really doing research but only learning how to do research. although that is definitely the feeling that gets relayed at my uni. but where i studied for my masters, i learned "how to do research" - and PhD students are expected to have this experience. PhD students are there, in my country, to "do research" which is seen as "work" and gets paid, too.
obviously there is also an element of learning. but calling it "just studying" distracts from the element of work, and the element of applying previously acquired knowledge and skills, and in my opinion thus devalues what we do. my friends back home would never call themselves "students" and find it strange that i do (i drifted into that).
for these reasons i like to call myself "doctoral researcher". but admittedly i often do call myself "student".

What I would find very helpful: The possibility to jump straight to the last page of a thread, rather than having to click on the thread first, then click on "last page". Or, even better, the possibility to jump straight to the first new message in a thread (new as in, not yet read - or new since last visit)

what i'm saying is: we originally started planning that holiday because we really needed it. now it is a very stressful year later. imagine how we need it now. i firmly believe that we would both have achieved more in that year if we had taken that vacation then.

yes, do follow your urges, when you feel like writing, write! but sometimes, for your own sake, you need to force yourself to take time off. it will be good for your PhD.
that is - do create "her-times". they will not just be beneficial to your relationship. they will also be beneficial to your PhD. and - don't postpone them. if you start postponing relaxation time, you'll never get it.

it's a bit like PC-Geek said with me. partner is writing up. about a year ago we talked about taking a week off for vacation. we said we'd do it sometime in summer. well a little later on in the year my partner was getting really stressed because he wanted to submit by a deadline. i saw that insisting on a holiday now would be pointless, and he would not enjoy it. so we agreed that we would go somewhere right after he submits. well, in summer he applied for a job and got it, starting january. there were many other projects that had to be finished before he left his current uni, so he worked hard on them instead of on his PhD. then it was january and he worked hard on his new job. now term and teaching is over he is finally working on his PhD again. he's aiming for the submission deadline a year after the original plan. i'm still saying - after submission, we'll go on holiday!

i've had that- mental exhaustion when trying to read my own work. the thing is, it IS harder to read your own stuff than to read someone elses. because you have to try to read it without knowing all the other things you know/think but didn't write. you have to pretend to be dumb to read cleverly. hard!

options:
-put it aside for a while. continue writing another chapter and get back to this one later. the exhaustion is probably due to some sort of overload.
-put it aside for ever. it's probably good enough for your first draft anyway!
-have someone else read it for you and incorporate their comments without questioning. if you're not sure - save this as a separate version. then put it aside and come back to it just before submitting, deciding on which version sounds better!

hey olivia, sounds good!

i was once talking to my supervisor about an author who i really liked - i think she wrote some marvellous stuff and wanted to base my whole PhD on her work. my supervisor agreed that it was good stuff and said it's a pity she isn't in research anymore. i asked if she knew why not? did she not find a job? (previously, my supervisor had been complaining that no-one she knew who was working on my sort of topic had ever found a job - very comforting...) no, said my supervisor. she had just been fed up with academia. she was now breeding horses on her own farm somewhere out in the nowhere instead.

well if those are the prospects i'm facing with my PhD - i'm not too concerned!

oh, arachne, sure, it sounds weird given the small amount of jobs available over here in Britain. but hey, all is relative. in switzerland for example, there are NO permanent jobs in academia between PhD and full professor. i think it's the same in germany and many other countries. so, yes: it is definitely easier to get a permanent job in Britain! no matter how funny it seems to you.

often you only start to appreciate the advantages of your own country when you've experienced what it is like elsewhere. the small number of available jobs in Britain - heck, it's a small number more than everywhere else!

olivia, i hear you. i was thinking as i read the posts - wasn't it you who once said in this forum, that doing a PhD successfully really means that you keep going even when you are not motivated, when the subject is boring you to death, when you see no point and no end, when the work is horrible and a drag and totally uninspiring? in other words: you can't rely on motivation and interest alone to get you through. every PhD will have a time when there is no motivation and no interest - when it is just "work". pointless, boring, work.
if you'd follow your dream and work in a bookshop, work your garden and walk your dogs - i'm sure a time would come when this, too, would seem pointless, boring, hard work.
sometimes i think that if i put all the time i put into worrying about if doing a PhD is the right thing for me into my PhD instead, i'd be just about finished by now...

pineapple, have you decided on a recorder yet? i would be interested in knowing which one and why!

i'm starting with interviews soon so have been looking into recording devices. i found
http://www.audiotranskription.de/english/
to provide a good overview and comparison. i don't have any experience with focus groups but am thinking about maybe getting a device that is not just good enough for interviews but would also be up to later projects involving focusgroups. it seems to me that the zoom H2 looks promising for this purpose. olympus ds series could also work. olympus ws series is cheaper and probably not quite up to focus groups.

joyce, i think there are two issues here. one is: can these people produce decent m-level research? and the other is: will this attempt at doing research make them better teachers (or make their learning experience more interesting)?
as to the first, i would say it's not impossible but would depend on many factors and as such could not be expected; because, as you say, normally before we do research or something, to find out something new, we study what is known already first.
as to the second, well, what better way to learn about the strength and weaknesses of different teaching methods than by trying them out, experimenting with them? if someone tells me: you've got to teach like THIS. i can learn that by rote, but i won't really have understood it. but if i try to improve that (and perhaps spectacularly fail) then i will have truly understood why this is how it is done!

some people say: do as many as possible in one go, to get it over with. but that totally doesn't work for me. after 3, maximum 4 essays my brain turns mushy. i'm physically not able to continue marking (and other thinking work is hard, too) - i need to turn to something that takes little or no thinking, such as filing or cleaning the house or doing the laundry... so for me it is: spread them out! one to start the day, two at lunch, one in the evening, that would be 4 per day - keep that going and it will eventually be finished without cutting too much into your other work.

well both teams really mucked up on the technical side of things. what i was wondering all the time was: obviously things were not working out - why was nobody (apart from the team leaders maybe) trying the "solve the problems"? it seemed to me that many were kind of gloating at their own misfortunes (because they knew that if they failed it would be the team leader who gets fired). instead of trying to come up with improvements. weird...

yes, cycling can be addictive!

i store mine in the shed or in our living room - as it is so small, it doesn't really get in the way. the living room is more convenient as i don't need to lock/unlock anything. at university, it comes inside with me to my office - i figured that one advantage of a folding bike would be that it is less likely to be stolen, as you can take it with you just about anywhere you go.

hope you had a good time in the forest yesterday, jouri!