What is your name and job title?

My name is Adilson Rocha Ferreira and I am a researcher and teacher.

Where do you work/study?

Currently, I work at the Education Department of the State of Alagoas, in the Northeast of Brazil, a region well known for its beautiful beaches, natural beauty and a warrior and struggling people since its origins. As a PhD student in Education, I study at the Federal University of Alagoas, Postgraduate Program in Education, Education Center.

How did you get into your field?

I entered the Federal University of Alagoas in the Physical Education Degree course in 2009, finishing it in 2013, and since then I have been improving at other levels. In 2016 I concluded the Specialization Course in Media in Education and then the Master in Education. I am currently a PhD student in Education and in the Pedagogy course as well. In 2015, I obtained approval in a contest to provide places for elementary school teachers and since then I have been teaching Physical Education classes for students from 7 to 12 years old in public schools of the State Department of Education of Alagoas.

Where do you do work the best?

I believe that my best job is to develop research on digital technologies applied in the fields of education and health, with an emphasis on conventional digital games, exergames and gamification, in order to think other ways to learn, teach and exercise with the support of these technologies.

How long have you been using Mendeley?

Around the year 2016, at the beginning of the Master of Education course, I found Mendeley and since then I can’t live without it.

What were you using prior to Mendeley?

Prior to Mendeley, I had never used any other reference manager, I used to manage files in folders and elaborate citations and references manually, based on several manuals. From the experience with Mendeley, I was able to find others, but none of them captivated me as much as Mendeley!

Why did you decide to become an Advisor?

Being part of the Mendeley team was what most instigated me to become a Mendeley Advisor, as it is very gratifying to contribute to Elsevier with feedbacks and promote Mendeley demonstrations for different groups in the academic community.

What researcher would you like to work with or meet, dead or alive?

Currently I already work with researchers in whom I always dreamed of working together, such as Deise Juliana Francisco, Neiza de Lourdes Frederico Fumes, Fernando Silvio Cavalcante Pimentel, Lynn Rosalina Gama Alves, Flávio Anderson Pedrosa de Melo and César Augusto Otero Vaghetti. However, going further, I would like to meet and work with James Paul Gee, Humberto Maturana, Francisco Varela and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who are scholars on which I base my research.

What book are you reading at the moment?

Silver, C., & Lewins, A. (2014). Using software in qualitative research: a step-by-step guide. 55 City Road, London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned this week?

I am learning to play guitar. So any note or sound that I manage to make at that initial moment seems to me to be incredible achievements.

What is the best part about working in research?

For me, the best part of working as a team is to learn from the different skills that a team brings together, so that by collaborating with my skills I can learn and develop other skills.

And the most challenging part about working in research?

I continue to follow the same line of reasoning: deal with the difference! Respecting the adversary and knowing how far one can go are challenges that must be managed in group work.

What is the one thing you want people to know about Mendeley?

I would like everyone to know, especially those who are starting courses in higher education, that there is no longer a need to create countless folders and get lost in the middle of several files. With Mendeley, you can collect articles and similar items in one place, in the cloud, and carry with you wherever you go with just a Mendeley account.

Do you have any advice for young researchers?

Be organized in your readings by including Mendeley in your workflow. At first it may seem like extra work, but in the future, it will save many hours of your academic readings and writings.

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Interested in becoming a Mendeley Advisor yourself? Find out more about the Advisor Community here.