Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Applied Research and Learning:
A Case Study
Evan Weaver
Chair, School of Information and
Communications Technology
Seneca College
Advancing Learning 2012
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Defining Applied Research in the
college context:
• Not basic research
• Novel application of whatever it is you do
• Benefit to external stakeholder
• Done primarily by students with
faculty supervision
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
The Centre for Development of
Open Technology (CDOT)
• Applied Research Centre with
between $500k and $1m annual
funding focused on open source
• Involves 5-10 faculty and 5-10
industry partners
• Involves 20-40 paid students
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
The Centre for Development of
Open Technology (CDOT)
• Started in 2002 as a loose
association of faculty with a
common interest and belief
• Has become as a research centre
as faculty interest matured into an
organization
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Academic Environment:
• 1400-1700 students
• 6-8 programs (diplomas, degrees,
grad cert)
• 52-55 full-time profs, 20-30 PT/PL
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Historical challenges for colleges:
• Research not part of base funding
• Little culture of research, applied
research (changing)
• Few accessible grants (changing)
• Collective agreement
• Professors’ interests
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
History
Pre-2004:
• Research internally funded
• Research barely funded
• Done out of professor’s interest
• E.g. install Linux lab in local HS
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
History
More recently:
• Externally funded projects with
industry partners, sourced
through central research dept
• Small, single-project grants
• Little linkage between projects
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
History
And then…
• One project unintentionally
connected us with a new industry
partner (Mozilla)
• Professor and partner hit it off,
students delivered their part
• New partner funded more…
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
History
…and then…
• Tied projects into some courses
• More partners and more faculty
got interested
• More students got involved
• More grants became available…
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
History
…and now…
• Special expertise is recognized
• More stable funding is available,
including 5-year NSERC grants
• Partners seek us out
• Industry knows us
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Were we lucky?
• Area is “open source”
• Gives students opportunity to
work on world class software
• Industry values “free” work
• Philosophy and IP licenses are
academia friendly
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Or did we make our own luck?
• Open source projects need
expertise, reject time-wasters
• Expertise is very hard to develop
• Trust takes time to develop
• Granting agencies didn’t
understand open source
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Making our luck…
• Our programs already had strong
technical component
• Our professor convinced Mozilla
to pay for his release time
• Our programs had flexibility of
“Professional Options” – no need
to change core curriculum
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Making our luck…
• Repurposed OSS (symposium for
college teachers) to FSOSS
(industry symposium)
• Chased money down many blind
alleys (on-going)
• Insinuated OS work into other
projects (e.g. MotionView)
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Making our luck…
• Leaned on professors to take part
• Rejected a lot of offers that did
not include money
• Had to manage professor burnout
• Had to manage partners’
expectations
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Benefits of Applied Research to the
program:
• External stakeholder gives
perspective
• Faculty and students are pushed
• Gaps in curriculum exposed (and
hopefully filled)
• Value of program is promoted
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Benefits of Applied Research to the
student:
• Real-world experience more
challenging than most co-op
opportunities
• Work one-on-one with prof and
stakeholder
• Chance to build a reputation
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Benefits of Applied Research to the
external stakeholder:
• Grant funding
• Inexpensive expertise
• Source of HQP after project
• Chance to influence education to
produce MHQP
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Drawbacks of Applied Research:
• Overhead
– Paperwork, events, contacts
• Not everyone can participate
• Can overshadow other studies
• Can easily overload faculty
• Can skew perspective
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Tips
• Be patient, success takes longer
than you think
• Talk to anyone, make
arrangements with few
• Pursue all leads for funding
• Align with energetic professors
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Tips
• Use central services
• Look for linkages between
research and curriculum
• Don’t work for free
• Don’t sell out
• Build expertise, build a reputation
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Tips
• Learn from failed grant
applications, failed projects
• When in doubt, consider student
perspective
• Manage burnout proactively
• Make academic limitations clear
Applied Research and Learning: A Case Study
Tips
• Leverage grants with other grants
when possible
• When spending, be careful to
meet grant requirements, often
takes juggling
• Follow your strengths to make
your own luck
evan.weaver@senecacollege.ca
cs.senecacollege.ca/~evan.weaver