The IDEMS Podcast

George and David discuss the next phase of work on Physiologically Based Demographic Modelling (PBDM), focusing on efforts to scale its application in agroecological systems in West Africa. They explore the challenges of building and deploying complex ecosystem models, the interdisciplinary collaboration required, and the long-term vision of integrating deterministic models with responsible AI to support decision-making, from policy to smallholder farmers.

Santiago and Kate explore the thinking behind organising the IDEMS podcast as it grows into a substantial body of work. They discuss the development of a microsite, including tagging and filtering systems to help listeners navigate diverse topics, as well as ideas like curated collections and favourite episodes. The conversation reflects on how to balance structure and openness, making the podcast more accessible while preserving its exploratory nature.

Santiago and David explore the gap in open GCSE and iGCSE textbooks, and the opportunity to build curriculum-aligned resources from existing open content. They discuss how tools like PreTeXt can enable “same content, different variants” across exam boards, with interactive technologies like STACK adding further value, and reflect on how current work is putting the structures in place for scalable, adaptable textbooks.

Lily and David continue their discussions on converting open textbooks into PreTeXt. They focus on the “Learning Statistics with …” ecosystem, where an original open book has spawned variants for R, JASP, Jamovi, CogStat, French, and potential new versions such as R-Instat. They explore how PreTeXt could better manage multiple independently maintained variants by identifying what differs, easing updates from a base text, and supporting responsible human ownership.

Lucie and David discuss the tension between two of IDEMS’ principles: being “collaborative by nature” and “enabling opportunity” for individuals. They contrast rising Western individualism with more community-focused African contexts where personal sacrifice can support collective coherence. They argue collaboration and individual success aren’t contradictory, citing Italian cooperatives, worker-owned factories, and the importance of compromise and recognising different needs to avoid extractive relationships. Can the same thinking be applied to technologies like AI?

Michele and David discuss humanoid robots, and argue the real question isn’t when they arrive, but how different societies will accept and use them. They push back on framing humanoids mainly as worker replacements, suggesting their biggest impact may be social—especially in contexts like Italy’s aging population and shrinking workforce, where care needs are growing. They explore whether “humanoid” matters at all versus simply being multipurpose and designed to complement human carers rather than replace them.

When does measuring the “wrong” thing produce better results than measuring the “right” one? Lily and David continue the mini-series on Research Methods Support for Climate Resilient Food Systems with a story about proxy variables from West African farmer trials: measuring millet head weight at harvest proved a more reliable proxy for grain yield than weighing separated grain later.

Learning doesn’t come through passive consumption of information, but through doing. In this episode, Lily and David discuss the integration of STACK exercises into the PreTeXt textbooks that Lily has been working on – take a look at some previous episodes for more details. What if open textbooks could share the same bank of deep, automated-feedback assessments across multiple versions and courses?

What if educational resources could be available in a limitless variety of variants, each adapted to the tools students actually use? In this episode, David talks to Lily about a project she has been working on to convert open statistics and data science textbooks into the PreTeXt format. The discussion highlights why PreTeXt’s semantic structure and separation of authoring from publishing enable systematic changes across a book, supporting making software-specific and software-agnostic variants to tailor the books to various contexts where different approaches are more valuable.

Following previous episodes on Kenyan maths textbooks, Santiago and David reflect on the project from IDEMS’ perspective. They discuss the rapid push to complete open Grade 10 mathematics resources, driven by urgent teacher needs under the new curriculum and growing interest from the Kenyan Ministry of Education and CEMASTEA. They outline the core tools: a PreTeXt textbook designed for multiple variants, minimal STACK integration for mastery-focused interactive questions and feedback, and Moodle courses that combine short teacher training with learning-objective-based topic courses and forums for peer exchange and certification.

How do textbooks function differently across educational systems, and what happens when those systems operate in low-resource environments? Following on from previous episodes on the CBC open textbooks project in Kenya, Lucie Hazelgrove-Planel and David Stern discuss textbooks more generally. They discuss the different roles textbooks play in different educational contexts, and how a lack of contextualisation can block learning. They consider how an open textbook model, where they can be adapted into different variants without requiring an entirely new publication, could revolutionise the way textbooks are produced and used globally.

Students are increasingly turning to LLMs (Large Language Models) to solve maths exercises and get feedback. In light of this, is there still a place for deterministic online assessment tools like STACK? In this episode, Michele and David argue that this problem is an opportunity for educators and developers to build better alternatives, potentially embedding generative AI features in STACK to provide a more interactive, conversational experience. They consider more generally how LLMs affect exams, curriculum decisions, and student motivation, noting uncertainty about future skills and warning against reactive curriculum changes while encouraging experimentation.

David interviews Michael Obiero on the challenges of implementing Kenya's new Grade 10 Competency-Based Curriculum, such as resource shortages and unprepared teachers. To address these issues, they are developing digital resources, online courses, and a teacher support platform. Their grassroots initiative aims to create community-driven, context-sensitive solutions with the help of volunteers and limited funding. By fostering peer-to-peer learning and collaboration among teachers, they seek to build a sustainable model for adapting educational resources to various contexts and improving math education outcomes.

Lily and David discuss the significant influence of data collectors on survey variability and data quality, using examples from West Africa. They highlight the importance of thorough enumerator training to address issues like inconsistent definitions of household size.

In this episode Lily and David delve into the ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) tables, focusing on the sum of squares. They discuss how it helps account for data variability, and the difference between sum of squares and mean squares. The episode also touches on the limitations of p-values and emphasizes the ANOVA table's value as a descriptive tool, particularly in enhancing research methods in West Africa.

Lily and David discuss the application of ANOVA in agroecology research, focusing on its historical roots and its use as a descriptive tool. They emphasize the importance of understanding the degrees of freedom in the ANOVA table, highlighting its impact on effective data analysis and model fitting. This episode is part of the celebration of 20 years of research support in the region, showcasing the value of statistical methods in enhancing research outcomes.

Lily talks with Roger about an agricultural experiment in West Africa that revealed the impact of termite mounds on crop yield data. The discussion focuses on handling unexplained variability and the importance of recognizing outliers. Roger explains the necessity of removing certain plots to reduce data variability and achieve clearer results.