FreeSurfer is a popular open-source software used throughout the neuroimaging research community. This software specializes in analyzing as well as visualizing volumetric brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Over the past five years, I designed and taught a bi-annual four-day FreeSurfer workshop for 20+ internal and external researchers per course in-person and virtually.
Individuals who attend our FreeSurfer course have ranged from novice users inexperienced with Unix based systems, neuroanatomy, and data processing, to current users of FreeSurfer wishing to become more proficient. Our course is designed to accommodate researchers at any experience level including undergraduates, graduates, medical students, staff, and faculty.
I work with researchers to navigate quickly changing knowledge and ensure understanding so they can implement this knowledge in their own research. I do this in 3 ways:
Each individual typically has a preferred learning styles when understanding new information, whether it is visual, auditory, hand-on examples, or working in groups. To help in the learning process, I integrate these different learning styles throughout our software workshop.
I believe one of the best ways to learn a new skill is to ask questions on anything you are curious or confused about regarding the topic! With each course, my goal is to inspire questions and discussion. To this end, I make sure there is enough time during and after each workshop day for the attendees to ask questions whether for further explanation on a topic or how to incorporate these skills into their work.
To obtain certification, attendees are required to pass an in-house practice set of 25 examples. This is given on the first day of the four-day course with a couple hours scheduled each day to ask questions and work on the practice set. Personalized feedback is given to everyone who attempts the practice set (finished or not). With this teaching structure, I not only evaluate the attendee’s learning, but also my effectiveness to teach and where I could improve.
© 2021 Aylin Dincer
