Episódios
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David sits down with Sue Johnson, one of IDEMS’ non-executive directors (NEDs). They discuss Sue's transition from the corporate world to her role at IDEMS, motivated by the organisation's focus on social impact, and their recent in-person team meeting. Considering R-Instat in particular, Sue provides some insights into the challenges of effectively communicating IDEMS’ projects to external stakeholders, emphasizing the importance of balancing technical depth with a broader business perspective to achieve the company's goals.
For more information on R-Instat, search the podcast backlog or visit r-instat.org. -
At the 100th episode milestone, directors David Stern, Kate Fleming, and Danny Parsons meet to celebrate their journey and discuss the evolution of The IDEMS Podcast.
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Do you feel like using generative AI is affecting your cognitive abilities? In this episode, Lily expresses that she believes that using such tools for some tasks has had a negative impact on her ability to perform those tasks herself. David has an interesting perspective on why this needn’t necessarily be seen as a problem – at least not a new one.
Lily’s closing thoughts:
“As we wrap up, I think it's clear that generative AI, like many advancements before it, may shift the way we think and operate. However, the key point is that we have choices: Technology doesn’t strip us of our abilities unless we allow it to. We can choose how to engage with these tools in ways that preserve or even enhance our skills. It's about finding the balance: embracing what's new, while staying mindful of the skills we value. Thank you for joining David, and we look forward to continuing these conversations.” -
In this episode, David and Abib discuss their decade-long friendship and Abib’s journey from being part of the inaugural cohort at AIMS Ghana to making impactful contributions in data analysis and university policies. Their conversation covers the evolution of AIMS programs, Abib’s diverse career across Africa, and a significant project showing sports admissions do not affect academic standards. They reflect on the role of sports in mental health, the maturity of Ghanaian institutions, the increasing relevance of mathematics and technology, and potential IDEMS collaborations.
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The Agroecology (AE) Hub, a community of NGOs working with smallholder farmers in Kenya that IDEMS has been supporting for the last 5 years, is entering a new phase. David and Lucie review some of the outcomes of the AE Hub’s activities following a symposium that brought together all of the members to identify potential plans for the coming years.
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In this follow-up episode, Lucie and David discuss data literacy from a more qualitative perspective, building on discussions between David and Lily in previous episodes. They explore themes like variability, uncertainty, and the value of different data types, highlighting the deep analysis of specific contexts versus the current rich data world. The conversation imagines a future where data literacy is as integral to society as traditional literacy.
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In this episode David and Kate discuss the difficulties they faced telling The IDEMS Story and how Kate has helped in doing so. They discuss the challenges of telling any story of tech interventions for social issues, touching on the objective of not doing harm and producing impactful, thoughtful interventions. They consider the complexities within IDEMS and how its diverse projects converge through commonalities, and different mechanisms explored, including The IDEMS Podcast.
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Lily and David consider the complex and often contentious topic of whether data and statistics can be considered a subset of mathematics. David proposes the radical idea that the current mathematics curriculum, heavily centred on calculation, should pivot to emphasise data interpretation, advocating for a future where data literacy is foundational in education.
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David discusses his experiences of working in communities of practice. With Lucie, they discuss what brings a community together, and how it can be maintained. The discussion covers communities such as mathematics educators, agroecology researchers, and IDEMS.
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Continuing their ongoing discussions on data, Lily and David consider data literacy, its importance, and the different skills required to interpret and work with data effectively. They explore the challenges of demystifying data science when teaching it to non-specialists. They consider the example of New Zealand's innovative approach to embedding data literacy in school curriculums.
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David Stern introduces Dr. James Kaleli Musyoka, a Postdoctoral Impact Activation Fellow at IDEMS from Kenya, now based in Finland. They reminisce about their first meeting in 2008 at Maseno University, where David's involvement transformed James' experience with applied statistics. They discuss James' decision to pursue a local PhD, his teaching innovations, and his current work supporting African met services with historical climatic data analyses to improve forecasts for agriculture.
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David is joined by George Simmons, an impact activation postdoctoral fellow at IDEMS. In collaboration with CASAS Global, George has spent a year working on their Physiologically Based Demographic Modelling (PBDM) system, a style of modelling used to account for the ecosystem level dynamics that happen in a farm field. They elaborate on the project's integration with more modern mathematical techniques, the influence of the TOPOS Institute’s collaborative approach, and the broader implications of the work.
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David and Kate discuss David's recent trip to Kuwait, focusing on the development of digital technologies for the Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) programme. They explore the contrasts and similarities between high-resource environments like Kuwait and low-resource contexts where PLH typically operates. The conversation highlights the integration of app technologies in Kuwait's Ministry of Health initiatives, cultural tolerance, women's empowerment, and the unique challenges and opportunities of adapting tech-based parenting support systems across different socio-economic landscapes.
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As Santiago prepares to return to teaching, he and David discuss the evolving role of technology in shaping the future of education. They consider the integration of educational technologies for formative assessment, such as STACK, in secondary maths education, focusing on personalised feedback and the challenges of balancing varied student abilities. They also explore the potential of AI in the classroom, the implications of integrating AI in the context of centralised exams, and the role of innovative teaching methods that could lead to higher order skills, aligned with Bloom’s Taxonomy.
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AI chatbots are seemingly everywhere right now, but are they safe and reliable? In this episode, Lily and David compare traditional deterministic chatbots and modern AI-based chatbots. They explore the limitations and frustrations of traditional chatbots, like those used in online banking and other services, and highlight the potential of generative AI technologies, like ChatGPT, to enhance the user experience. They discuss how AI could be used responsibly to improve deterministic chatbots by making them more comprehensive and interactive while maintaining their reliability.
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Lily and David discuss the evolution of R-Instat, an open-source front-end statistical software for R. They explore the development of the back-end calculation system, which aims to simplify complex data analysis and enhance reproducible research. David explains how R-Instat addresses the challenges of multi-level data and automates calculations, making it accessible to users who may not have coding expertise.
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Lucie and David discuss what IDEMS’ “service mentality” is and how it differs from providing services. They explore what this means for the company, in its external partnerships and its internal management.
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The idea of “Community Tech” is central to many of IDEMS’ initiatives, and in this episode Lucie and Kate explore its meaning. They contrast the exciting possibilities of developing community tech with the challenges of effectively managing the communities and technologies involved.
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Lucie and David reflect on the last 2 years of the organisation mentoring scheme and how it might continue to evolve to suit the needs and interests of employees. The scheme is shared between the 3 sister companies: IDEMS, INNODEMS and most recently, GHAIDEMS, and brings together colleagues from different continents and countries to support personal development and growth.
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IDEMS creates internships and workshops with a flexibility that is unusual. Lucie and David discuss this collaborative approach which aims to respond to and provide opportunities to participants. For example, by splitting a group of interns into two teams with different start dates, according to their experience levels. This approach presents opportunities and risks.
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