I believe that pacing is essential for making steady progress in research. Once you have achieved a certain level of research results, it is very important to have opportunities to receive feedback and questions from other researchers, which helps you recognize the positioning of your own work. International conferences are perfect for exactly this purpose.
This international conference I am currently attending has a small number of participants. With only two parallel sessions, it is quite “cozy.” However, people whose names I have seen in papers and books are participating, and receiving comments from such individuals is a rare opportunity. This time, I presented research using path analysis on the relationship between Self-Regulated Learning, procrastination, and learning behaviors (assignment submission times) (I will write more about the presentation content in the future). My presentation was aimed at a system that supports the development of learners’ Self-Regulated Learning abilities (including “Active procrastination”), and I received very meaningful comments regarding perspectives required in Learning Analytics for education, which we are currently working on at Kyushu University, such as how to provide feedback on analysis results and how to utilize data in other classes.
As I mentioned earlier, the international conference I am attending is “cozy,” but if selected by the committee members, there are opportunities to submit to major journals or books. This also serves as motivation. My motivation has increased once again through this presentation. If you decide you want to present at an international conference, I recommend checking the list of committee members, how the proceedings are handled, and the quality of the journals they publish before choosing which conference to attend. Each one is expensive, after all. Since you are going, you should challenge yourself with high-quality international conferences and experience firsthand various perspectives and how your presentation and research are perceived.
By the way, I have made the manuscript of the research I presented this time available to the public, so if you are interested, please take a look.
Yamada, M., Goda, Y., Matsuda, T., Kato, H. and Miyagawa, H.(2015). The Relationship among Self-regulated Learning, Procrastination, and Learning Behaviors in Blended Learning Environments. Proceedings of the 12th Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age 2015(CELDA 2015), 67-74.
