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30,044 |
<p>I've given many talks at my home institution, at the undergraduate and graduate colloquiums, and in a few seminars. The list is getting quite long. </p>
<p><strong>Is it appropriate to list many talks given at my home institution? Does it reflect badly on me?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30059,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First of all, it's great that this list is becoming long! It's good to be taking every opportunity you can as a student to practice presentations, and many students try to avoid this rather than embrace it.</p>\n\n<p>Now, as for what to include in the C.V.: while in principle you can include anything, in practice you want the C.V. to convey \"here are all of the things I've done that I think are significant\". Thus, it's not the question of home institution per se, but the significance of the talk venue that matters. For example: if you were invited to give a talk in a seminar series where most of the other speakers come from other institutions, that's nearly as significant as giving a talk elsewhere. Giving a required talk in the internal graduate colloquium matters much less.</p>\n\n<p>I would recommend keeping some evidence of the fact that you are giving many presentations on your C.V. To keep it from feeling like filler, however, you can compress the \"unimportant\" talks into a single bullet point, like \"NN presentations in internal meetings, seminars, and colloquiums.\" That conveys the information without feeling spammy. Once you've built up a significant record of giving talks at external venues like conferences and other institutions, then you can drop that bullet point as being assumed.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30068,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Internal talks generally carry no prestige since there usually is little to no competition to get a a talk. In fact, it is no unusual for the organizer of internal seminar series to have to resort to begging. Internal talks demonstrate three things. The first is that you are a good departmental citizen and are willing to participate in something the department deems important. The second is that it shows you are actively conducting research. The third is that it shows a willingness to present your research and receive feedback on it.</p>\n\n<p>When to list internal talks on your CV depends on what the CV is for. For an annual review, listing internal talks from the past year is critical. For a promotion review it is generally useful to demonstrate all of your departmental citizenship activities. For a grant application it is probably not useful since funders do not really care if you are a good citizen. For job applications, it is a mixed bag and somewhat depends on your personality and other activities. There are often better activities to demonstrate departmental citizenship, but many of these activities are more painful than giving an internal seminar.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30044",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22503/"
] |
30,054 |
<p>I have a paper submitted to a journal of Elsevier.</p>
<p>From "Manuscript Submitted" to "with editor" took one day; then it was "with editor" for five days, and then "under review". One and a half months later, the status of the paper was still "under review", but the date of status has changed.</p>
<p>What can cause the date in the submission system to change in the absence of a change in status?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30150,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>When a paper is assigned to a reviewer, the reviewer may decline or fail to review the paper. In this case the editor will assign the paper to a new reviewer. The status date will change at the day the new review was assigned, but the status will remain the same.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 64336,
"author": "Adam",
"author_id": 21266,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21266",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There could me multiple reasions for the status date to change:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Reviewer comments are added to the database</li>\n<li>The reviewer changes</li>\n<li>Editor checks the database</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>See this question: <a href=\"http://www.editage.com/insights/why-does-the-status-date-of-a-submission-change-periodically-though-the-status-remains-unchanged\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.editage.com/insights/why-does-the-status-date-of-a-submission-change-periodically-though-the-status-remains-unchanged</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 77192,
"author": "Rajesh Mahindru",
"author_id": 62199,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62199",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For that you need to know how the journal system works. When status is \"with editor\" it doesn't always implies that the paper is not send for reviews. Because in journals the configuration of online submission system is such that if at least 2 or 3 reviewers have accepted the review request only then status will change to \"under review\". Also when status is \"under review\" and status date is changing then it means the reviewers have submitted his/her report in the system (which have led to change in status date). When at least 2 or 3 reviewers reports (this count is configured by the journal) are not come till then status won't change. If they come then status may change to \"with editor\" or \"under editor evaluation\" or \"required reviews completed\". Under these status also the status date may change which implies remaining reviewer(s) have also submitted their reports.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30054",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18107/"
] |
30,074 |
<p>I've run into this issue in many fields in which I'm interested in learning about. For the purposes of this question let's assume electricity/circuits/power systems. I find myself starting at the basics and as I try to understand each concept, I start thinking of more of how this concept really works instead of accepting it at face value. In addition to this I also start to ask more complicated questions which I'm assuming I could answer if I would read on. The problem I end up running into is I won't let myself continue until I understand the concept completely. For example: I start learning about how current is always consistent in a single circuit which makes me start thinking about how total current/draw is measured in a household. Then this leads me to think that if everything is connected by wires, then shouldn't this be one large circuit with the same current.</p>
<p>As you see I start diving too deep. This seems like an inefficient way of learning and it usually causes me more stress than understanding.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30075,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A good way to force yourself to focus is to try to actually <em>do</em> something with the knowledge that you are trying to acquire. To paraphrase one of my former advisors who I much admire as a teacher, there are three levels at which you can understand a subject:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Familiarity with the concepts: able to recognize and talk meaningfully about them.</li>\n<li>Ability to employ the concepts effectively in solving problems</li>\n<li>Ability to teach the concepts to another person well enough to get them to level 2.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>It's easy to get stuck at mere familiarity if you aren't attempting to actually use the things you're learning in order to do things. From a pedagogical standpoint, this is actually the main value of homework exercises. </p>\n\n<p>Now, what about doing it in the absence of an external forcing function (i.e., grades)? If you can't motivate yourself to do homework-style exercises, why not pick a project that you actually think would be cool and fun, and let that be what forces you to put the learning to work. For example, taking the electricity/circuits example, a nice classic example is to try to build your own FM or AM radio receiver from basic components (transistors, resistors, etc.). It's low enough power to be physically safe and complex enough that you'll probably have to deal with a lot of interesting problems even if you start from schematics found online. Then try to make it better... before long, you'll understand not just the basic concepts but <em>why</em> you need to know them and how they fit together.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30087,
"author": "sevensevens",
"author_id": 14754,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14754",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'd suggest enrolling in night classes at a community college. I've taken several night classes in subjects I'm interested in, and found that having a prof guide the learning either allowed me to ask my question immediately (they are usually quite happy to have enthusiastic students in class), or guided me to the answer quickly.</p>\n\n<p>I have yet to have a bad experience as either everyone in the class is taking it \"for fun\" or I have been one of the best students since I'm genuinely interested in the topic. Community colleges also tend to have faculty that is extremely student focused, which was a refreshing change from getting my \"day-job\" degrees.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 40354,
"author": "Martin G",
"author_id": 30753,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/30753",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This helps me a lot:</p>\n\n<p>Dont think about the subject matter too much from the very beginning. Read a lot of literature and as you gather more and more knowledge, many questions will eventually be answered, whitout you even realizing it. </p>\n\n<p>Then, when your knowledge of the topic is more profound (it could be after 1 week of reading, 2 months of projects or 1 whole semester of classes) -> depends on topic, how difficult it is and what sources of information you have (dont set any hard deadlines, just let yourself get into it and take as much time as needed).</p>\n\n<p>In my case, many things clear up just after the end of semester, when I am done with exams and I have free time to rethink the things I have studied during semester.</p>\n\n<p>BTW, I am an engineering student (Mechatronics).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30074",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22999/"
] |
30,077 |
<p>While it's clear that having a sterling CV with lots of high profile papers will be beneficial to getting hired, I often hear from other faculty that, when hiring, they are looking for someone who "fits in", "could be a friend", and overall is "nice". These, to me, are ways of saying the person is charismatic, or at least quite pleasant to be around. It is unclear to me how much this is actually true, or said in retrospect to talk up the newly hired person. Here are my questions: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Have you ever been part of a hiring committee (or just hiring a postdoc for your group) when you and/or the committee chose someone who was "friendlier" over someone who had a better CV and/or gave a better talk?</p></li>
<li><p>Why did you ultimately make this choice?</p></li>
<li><p>In hindsight, do you feel it was the correct choice to make?</p></li>
<li><p>Alternatively, if the most credentialed (but possibly less friendly/charismatic) candidate was chosen, what was the discussion about this? Did the relative charisma of the candidates come up when making the decision? </p></li>
</ol>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30085,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The final pre-offer stage of most academic hiring processes is the \"on-campus interview\". This is when the candidates come, one at a time, spend a day on campus, give talks, speak with faculty, etc.</p>\n\n<p><strong>By and large, every candidate who receives an on-campus interview is qualified for the job.</strong> Therefore, at this point of the process, it is no longer useful to try to sort candidates by the strength of their CV alone. That has already been done at earlier stages of the process, and the candidates who received an on-campus interview already made it through that process. </p>\n\n<p>Therefore, it should not be surprising that, from time to time, someone with at \"worse\" CV gets an offer before someone with a \"better\" CV. There are so many factors that the department takes into account, and the CV is just one. That does not mean that having a better CV is irrelevant at the end - it is very relevant! But it is just one piece of evidence among many at the end of the process. </p>\n\n<p>There is a lot of controversy about \"fit\". In the worst case, it can be a way to act on hidden biases, which is a valid cause for concern. You can read about all sides of this debate on in the Chronicle of Higher Education or Inside Higher Ed. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30086,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's not so much about \"niceness\" as it is about the interpersonal skills necessary for a well-functioning group. Every research organization, whether of an individual professor or an entire department, has a lot of things that need to be accomplished that can't be done by individuals in isolation. Not only is there all of the administration, but people typically want to be able to effectively collaborate with others in their group, write joint grant proposals, help one another in battles with the administration, etc. </p>\n\n<p>If you have a candidate who is excellent in isolation but lacks the interpersonal skills necessary to interact effectively, they may be more burden than they are worth. If they are actively problematic in their interactions, that can poison an organization for years.\nFor a tenure-track position, I have even heard people compare hiring a new professor to getting married since you potentially are committing to live with that person as a close collaborator for decades (though I think that analogy is a little overly intimate myself).</p>\n\n<p>Of course, it's hard to judge long-term compatibility in the short period of an interview. But given all of these long-term considerations, it is no surprise that people will give a lot of weight to their impressions of the feelings they have when interacting with a candidate.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30094,
"author": "abathur",
"author_id": 5668,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5668",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have rewritten this a few times trying to find the right approach to this; forgive me if something ends up mangled in the process (and the length, of course). As non-faculty holder of a recent terminal degree, I wanted to weigh in from the student side of things.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>there are a lot of intersections between things we perceive to be part of a person's \"personality\" (charismatic, nice, frank, honest, mean, personable, distant, etc.) and their ability to work effectively with students</li>\n<li>it's a big concern to me if a hiring committee is picking someone they'd like to have a drink or a dinner-party with over someone who would make, you know, a good member of the faculty; I want to have faith that these decisions are being made with the theoretical student's best-interests in mind, because we the theoretical students may need you to have our backs.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I'll do this backwards and start with the second point: as students, we don't have a lot of leverage regarding who is and isn't faculty, and if serious concerns with another faculty membercome up, it's important that, as students, we know these concerns won't be dismissed because everyone pals around with them and can't see their flaws. This is a balance, of course; I enjoy faculty who get along, and I've learned a lot by being mentored by more than one faculty who are good friends.</p>\n\n<p>To the first point: While I was a graduate student we were asked to attend talks by the three candidates given on-campus interviews and give feedback on the candidates. We debated the tradeoffs between which candidate we felt produced the best work and which candidate did the best job of actually talking about that work in a way that (we hoped) would make them better in the classroom and as mentors.</p>\n\n<p>I recused myself when car trouble popped up and kept me from attending the third talk, but of the two I did see, the more charismatic candidate won the position over a candidate who appeared more insightful, kind and levelheaded but had trouble communicating the excitement and importance of his own work. This was a problem when going up against someone well-known in his field. How much faith can I put in a professor who is uninteresting even with the agency to choose topics and incentive to shine (compare to: when he is teaching something he doesn't want to teach to students he doesn't think he has time for)? At the time, this decision satisfied me, though there were certainly others in the program who thought the decision was terrible.</p>\n\n<p>In retrospect, the candidate hired is a charismatic person who is very successful in his field and isn't afraid to give feedback that we as students may need to hear, but which most professors are too nice to give. He can also be a boor, sexist, bully, and drunk. He clearly played favorites with attractive female students, gave unattractive female students a hard time, while being much more even-handed with the male students (with a notable exception regarding a student interested in the same female student he was...). I won't be surprised if I hear certain kinds of news about him in the future.</p>\n\n<p>I've had nice, friendly charismatic professors who are good at guiding students, mediating conflict, treating everyone fairly and encouraging us to succeed. I've had harsh but charismatic professors who never run out of brutal honesty drive us all the harder to succeed. I never had a professor wow me into being a better student by the weight of their accomplishments. I've also discussed a charismatic professor whose extracurriculars were a distraction to our ability to learn what he's capable of teaching. None of these factors will generally stand out on a CV, and some of them will obviously prove elusive even after a thorough campus interview. </p>\n\n<p>From my distance, I can only hope our faculty and administrators weren't picking a friend, and will be capable of sober reflection and thoughtful advocacy for student interests should a student come to them in need.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30113,
"author": "BrenBarn",
"author_id": 9041,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9041",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Just a few thoughts. One, you mention \"charisma\" and \"giving a better talk\" as different alternatives, but in fact charisma is part of giving a good talk. When people evaluate a candidate's \"job talk\", they are inevitably evaluating the presentation as well as the content, and the presentation will benefit if the person is charismatic.</p>\n\n<p>More generally charisma goes beyond just being \"nice\". There are many ways in which a person may or may not \"fit in\" with a department. A person may be perfectly nice and even fun to hang out with, but still somehow have a personality that doesn't jibe with a department.</p>\n\n<p>I have been on a hiring committee where various sorts of interpersonal factors played a role in the decision. It wasn't a matter of a \"nicer\" person was chosen over someone with better research chops, though (nor vice versa). However, there was one candidate who, during a meeting with graduate students, made some remarks which stunned them, and made it seem as if he held fringe positions on basic moral/ethical issues. (Imagine someone unjokingly saying something like \"Armed robbery, you know, it's not as bad as some people think.\" That wasn't what he said, but it had a similar effect.) This candidate did not get the job, although this incident was of course only one factor in the decision.</p>\n\n<p>I mention this just to note that, aside from charisma or research credentials, it's possible for someone to raise a giant red flag simply by their interpersonal behavior. What's especially important is that doing something like this can make it so that faculty and students in the department would actually feel uncomfortable being around you. That's an important way that \"charisma\", loosely defined, can matter. If a candidate behaves in a way that makes people in the department uncomfortable or not trust him, he may not have a productive career in that department (even if he could have one somewhere else), simply because that social tension will prevent him from working well in that environment.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30148,
"author": "IAmNaN",
"author_id": 23047,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23047",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As part of a hiring panel at a Fortune 500 company where I once worked, we were trained in what to look for in applicants. (The company was acquired so I no longer work there.)</p>\n\n<p>A sobering fact is the average adult American spends two to three times the amount of waking hours with coworkers than they do with immediate family.</p>\n\n<p>We held the motto \"Hire for character; train for skill.\" Simply put, CV qualifications are much easier and more likely to change over time than someone's abilities to work well with, mentor, inspire, and support others.</p>\n\n<p>In general, the abilities of communicating effectively and being charismatic are intrinsic to one's effectiveness. All other things being equal, someone that won't fit into a and organization well can be a disruptive influence that lowers the efficiency and moral of an entire organization, including their peers, subordinates, and especially their superiors who wind up refereeing disputes.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30077",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21704/"
] |
30,080 |
<p>I am an ABD (all- But-Dissertation) student. I have done all my work, completed my credits, passed my qualifying exams, I passed my oral exams, but I am having trouble finishing my thesis (advisor problems) , and
I was wondering if there may be some variant of the standard post-doctorate for
people in an ABD status. </p>
<p>EDIT: Basically, are there post-doc programs that will accept someone who did all the work but did not finish their thesis? Or are there programs similar to a post-doc for people who have</p>
<p>SECOND EDIT: I am in a Mathematics Program. Does anyone know of schools that will
allow me to transfer with relatively few requirements, i.e., not needing to take years worth of classes?</p>
<p>Thanks. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30084,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Simple answer: you can't be a post-doc until you're a doc.</p>\n\n<p>If you want your Ph.D., what you should probably instead be looking do to is to change advisors, within your institution if possible. I know a number of people who have done that, sometimes rather late in the thesis process. You'll likely need to change your research and take more years to complete, but there's nothing shameful about that. Think of it as no different than finding out that your first research project simply wasn't possible to complete.</p>\n\n<p>Alternately, many institutions will allow you to take a Masters and leave, at which point there are still lots of research jobs available in industry, government, and even non-traditional posts in academia such as project research staff.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30088,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The fundamental misconception is that there can be \"someone who did all the work but did not finish their thesis\". The thesis is the focus of a Ph.D. program, while coursework and other requirements are nothing but preparation for the thesis and are of negligible importance in comparison. Postdoctoral positions are meant to give people a chance to deepen their research experience beyond what they achieved while writing a thesis. If they haven't written a thesis, then they haven't completed graduate school and do not yet need to move beyond it.</p>\n\n<p>Occasionally people do begin a postdoctoral position without yet having received a Ph.D. This happens when they have completed their doctoral research but have not yet graduated, for example because their institution awards degrees at only a couple of times each year. I've never heard of someone starting a postdoc if their thesis wasn't at least nearing completion, and I think it's so unlikely that it's not even worth looking into (although I can't conclusively rule it out).</p>\n\n<p>Although postdocs per se are not the right program for this, one could reasonably ask whether there is anything else. There are plenty of postdocs intended to help recent Ph.D. graduates gain additional experience, but are there any programs aimed at helping students who are struggling to finish their degrees (perhaps for reasons beyond their control) become successful and productive researchers?</p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, I don't know of any. The general feeling is that this is the responsibility of the department you are studying in. They know better than anyone else what you have accomplished so far and what your future potential is. If they have faith in you, then they can help you try to find additional funding, transition to another advisor, or whatever might be appropriate. If they don't have faith in you, then it will be difficult to convince outsiders to take up your case. It could happen in theory (if, say, a faculty member somewhere else is impressed with you and helps you transfer), but I don't think it's likely. Looking outside your current department/university will be seen as a sign that they have given up on you, and unfortunately that will tend to put other institutions off.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30105,
"author": "user2379888",
"author_id": 9365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9365",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can certainly get hired as teaching faculty at a lot of places with those qualifications. But you're not going to get hired into a research oriented postdoctoral position without the PhD. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30110,
"author": "BrenBarn",
"author_id": 9041,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9041",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I know of at least one person who was hired for a postdoc and began work before his dissertation was officially filed. I also know of someone who applied for and was interviewed for a tenure-track job; she didn't get the job, but if she had, she would have begun work before receiving her PhD (and the people offering the job were aware of this).</p>\n\n<p>However, these were both cases in which the people were clearly on track to complete their PhD and simply needed more time to see it through (e.g., more rounds of revisions). In other words, they were not people who hadn't finished their thesis, but people who hadn't finished their thesis <em>yet</em> --- the people hiring them were confident that they were obviously going to finish. Indeed, they basically <em>were</em> finished with the actual writing, but were just making some revisions in response to committee comments.</p>\n\n<p>You don't say exactly why you haven't finished, but the phrase \"advisor problems\" suggests it is not just a matter of needing more time to do another round of revisions. No one will accept you if the reason you haven't completed your thesis because you are locked in some sort of stalemate with your advisor. However, they may accept you if you are clearly on track to finish, even if you may not actually officially receive the degree by the official deadline. I would imagine that in most cases the letter of recommendation from your advisor would be a major factor here. If you haven't received the degree yet, but your advisor says your research is coming along nicely and the end is in sight, hirers may be satisfied. If your advisor mentions that the two of you are at an impasse over substantive issues (i.e., he wants you to do something with the thesis that you haven't agreed to do) that will raise a red flag.</p>\n\n<p>As a side note, my impression is that many hirers would not see a problem if you have not officially received the degree yet due to purely procedural problems (e.g., it has been approved by your committee but not yet officially filed because your margins were the wrong size). I gather that is not the nature of your situation though.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30143,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are pre-docs for people who are in their final year. They are usually called dissertation writing fellowships and are more common in the humanities and social sciences.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, they always require a functioning committee in your home university and a strong sense that you will be able to finish and submit your dissertation (at your home university). The fellowship supplements but does not replace your home committee.</p>\n\n<p>My advice is to scrounge and beg together a new committee at your university.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30144,
"author": "P.Windridge",
"author_id": 21527,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21527",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the UK it is possible to be hired as a research assistant on EPSRC grants. You receive a lower salary until your corrections (if any) are accepted, at which point you're upgraded. It can be a tough grind though if you discover e.g. a gap in your PhD which needs plugging. Your new boss may not be happy either.</p>\n\n<p>In all cases I know of, there is a expectation that you will complete quickly. I certainly don't think anyone would hire you into such a position if you told them you weren't going to finish the PhD. A postdoc is partly for training future faculty.</p>\n\n<p>I have lots of sympathy for advisor problems but really encourage you to persevere with finishing the PhD. It might take another year, possibly living on baked beans, not talking to your advisor much. [Are there other grad students in your area to chat to?]</p>\n\n<p>Without a PhD, you might get one (or exceptionally two) assistant positions.. but, realistically, long term you'll be scrabbling for teaching jobs assuming you stay in academia. Not sure about industry jobs.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30080",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23003/"
] |
30,081 |
<p>Is it common practice within colleges/universities to allow all faculty within a division access to all student records within that same division? (i.e., all Health Science faculty having access to all Health Science student records)<br>
Wouldn't this violate FERPA? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30082,
"author": "Compass",
"author_id": 22013,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22013",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Reading <a href=\"http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">FERPA</a>, this clause states that it is appropriate given certain circumstances.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<ul>\n<li>School officials with <em>legitimate educational interest</em>;</li>\n<li>Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes; </li>\n<li>Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student; </li>\n<li>Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>These would be closest to those that matched what you asked.</p>\n\n<p>So if, for example, your HS faculty wanted to average everyone's GPA individually, he could potentially do that, as long as he doesn't post all the names in public.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30083,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>FERPA allows for \"school officials\" to access confidential records when they have a \"legitimate educational interest\". From the U.S> Deprtment of Education <a href=\"http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">web site</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>One of the exceptions to the prior written consent requirement in FERPA allows \"school officials,\" including teachers, within a school to obtain access to personally identifiable information contained in education records provided the school has determined that they have \"legitimate educational interest\" in the information. Although the term \"school official\" is not defined in the statute or regulations, this Office generally interprets the term to include parties such as: professors; instructors; administrators; health staff; counselors; attorneys; clerical staff; trustees; members of committees and disciplinary boards; and a contractor, volunteer or other party to whom the school has outsourced institutional services or functions.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So it is not <em>on its face</em> a violation of FERPA for professors to have access to student records.</p>\n\n<p>In practice, many schools impose their own restrictions <em>tighter than FERPA</em>. Sometimes the school describes these restrictions as \"FERPA requirements\", when they are actually just the (conservative) advice of the school's own lawyers, rather than literal mandates from FERPA. </p>\n\n<p>Due to these local policies, at a particular school, other faculty may not have unrestricted access to a student's grades. You'd have to inquire with a particular institution to find out their internal policies about such things. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30081",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23001/"
] |
30,090 |
<p>I've heard a few authors whose native language wasn't English complain that they are put at a disadvantage with respect to authors who are English native speakers, when it comes to publication acceptance in English-speaking venues.</p>
<p>Is there any research/study/survey that looked at the impact of the author's native language on the likelihood of having his publication accepted in an English-speaking venue?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30092,
"author": "Penguin_Knight",
"author_id": 6450,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6450",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's probably more a commentary than an answer. I look forward to others' input on this issue as well.</p>\n\n<p>As an ESL myself, I joined the English academic community knowing that language will be an extra barrier. I wrote (or perhaps still write) many awkward sentences that are grammatically sensible but funny to read from the angle of general English usage. To compensate this shortcoming, I read papers and study their styles, I read books on scientific writing, and I coauthor with native speakers. My English has improved somewhat and now I can even throw a couple trivia about academic writing in front of my native speaker colleagues. But deep down, I know it's a never-ending project, and chance is I will not be as fluent as a native speaker, and should perhaps settle for \"good enough.\"</p>\n\n<p>If I were to talk to your author friends, I'd probably ask if those submissions were anonymous. And if they are anonymous, and in multiple occasions comments like \"English needs improvement\" were given, I would suggest them to spend some time to work on their English rather than complain about unfairness. Non-native speakers having more difficulty to publish in English speaking channels is logical; to expect a fair ground that would totally ignore linguistic difference is unrealistic.</p>\n\n<p>To formally answer the question, I have not come across with any study similar to what you described. And even there is one, I will study the results very cautiously. Native language cannot be randomized, so it's impossible to have a randomized controlled trial. This means what we will likely to see are observational studies, which are prone to missing important confounding variables: Native language intertwines with too many factors (education system, country of origin, culture, socioeconomic status, writing style and syntax construction, quality of English education, existence of equivalent concepts in English, etc.) that probably cannot be fully adjusted for in the analysis. At the end, we will likely see that non-native speakers are at a disadvantage, but the true cause of such disadvantage may be lurking elsewhere, and the true effect contributed by the linguistic difference alone is next to impossible to be parsed out.</p>\n\n<p>Truth be told, I believe discrimination exists. If a reviewer reads that the data were collected in a non-English-speaking country, he/she may pay more attention to the grammar, or be more likely to suggest comments like \"Please consult an editor or a native speaker in order to polish the English.\" I am fortunate enough to be working in the biomedical field in which most writings tend to follow a framework of being succinct, direct, and optimally simple. Most of the time I could easily parse out the ideas from the writing quality and give comments separately to both. Researchers in other fields may feel differently.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30114,
"author": "Ondřej Černotík",
"author_id": 8164,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8164",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Writing a paper is, of course, more difficult for non-native speakers. They have to learn a second language and master it well enough to convey compplex ideas to their audience. And that is no easy task.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, I don't believe there is much of a bias against non-native speakers. I myself have published several papers (authored with other non-native speakers) and never did we encounter any problems with the language. Bear in mind that English is not always the native language of the referees themselves so they usually have some understanding for your struggles (and don't necessarily see all grammar errors you did anyway).</p>\n\n<p>The main catch for non-native speakers lies, in my opinion, more in effectively and clearly explaining their ideas which is, naturally, more difficult if you struggle with the language. This issue can be solved, at least to some extent, by reading other papers and books and studying their style as Penguin_Knight suggests.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 35137,
"author": "David M W Powers",
"author_id": 6390,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6390",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not being a native speaker of English does of course affect your ability to publish in English speaking journals, but it cuts both ways.</p>\n\n<p>Many journals and conferences these days are dominated by non-English speakers, while the majority have a degree of balance. The transactions style journals in engineering and computing publish shorter papers with a more mathematical flavour and a conventional format, and often have editors and reviewers with an Asian background. In round numbers less than a quarter of the world's population speak/write English with native level efficiency, the major languages/grouping being English, Spanish, Chinese and Indian - and their dialects and relatives.</p>\n\n<p>As a native speaker of English and a linguist, I have sometimes been told by reviewers that I need to improve my English, include more display equations and more references to their journals, and get my paper checked by a native speaker! I can quite easily see their linguistic background from the idiosyncrasies and errors in their review. Although this may sound laughable, there is a message here for both of us, the native speaker and the non-native speaker of English.</p>\n\n<p>As a native speaker and an academic used to using English in a sophisticated interdisciplinary way, I need to learn to write in a simpler way to be comprehensible to readers who do not share this background - whether native English speakers or not. For the non-native speakers, they need to do exactly the same thing. In fact, computers also need simpler language, so for natural language processing, optical character recognition, speech recognition and machine translation systems, the same simplifications will also help. </p>\n\n<p>This simplification includes</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>reducing sentence length and complexity</li>\n<li>reducing vocabulary size and complexity</li>\n<li>reducing the use of jargon and idioms</li>\n<li>reducing the use of informal models</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Let's explain this a bit more, and I'll draw on some Computational Linguistics background to help here... Parsers can't handle long sentences and shortly before the turn of the century people started to scrap sentences longer than 40 words before publishing statistics about their systems - because they just couldn't handle the complexity and ambiguity. English is very rich, and individual words and phrases can have many meanings and alternative apparent synonyms can have very different nuances. This creates a lattice of possibilities. In English every second word tends to be a simple one, one of the 150 most frequent words, and to have a grammatical function, but often overloaded with different possible meanings (at least two on average). These more grammatical words are called functional closed class words (there is a fixed number), and the others that have more meaning associated with them are called contentive open class words (there are always new words and usages being invented). Many words have a dozen or more meanings (but again assume at least two).</p>\n\n<p>So a 40 word sentence can have a million (2^20) legal grammatical parses and a million (2^20) semantic combinations expressed as a network or lattice of possibilities to choose from. We choose the intended grammar and meaning based on the salience of the concepts in our physical or linguistic context - in the real world, that includes things we know and see and hear in our society/environment, but in a paper it includes the things an expert in the field should know and the ideas expressed in the sentences or paragraphs before. When speaking, we see when someone isn't following, we hear when something is ambiguous, and we adjust accordingly. We might stop a sentence half way through and go back to basics. We might pause and repair with a parenthetic 'that is'. We might simply say 'pun not intended' because we've recognized that there is another meaning that jumps out. </p>\n\n<p>In text we need to anticipate how different readers will understand things, what the ambiguities are, where the complexity lies.</p>\n\n<p>In relation to length, if a sentence is more than 40 words, or 4 lines, chop it up. I tend to make use of participles (-ed and -ing) words and relational connectives (which/that) to join phrases and clauses together. I tend to put in lots of parenthetic comments, often shown with commas rather than parentheses, but these add complexity. So look particularly at the wh-, th-, -ed and -ing words (closed class functional/grammatical words or suffixes that can be used in many different ways). Break these up into separate sentences and that way the non-native reader or writer won't get confused by the subtleties of how they are used. Words like 'to' and 'through' and 'that' can be a problem, and reflect different usages between different brands of English. Sometimes the problem is that a th- word is omitted, particularly 'that' or 'the'. Adding the word in can resolve ungrammatical or ambiguous sentences.</p>\n\n<p>If a paragraph is more than about 10 lines, chop it up. People scan papers quickly with their eyes being drawn to the headings and the first sentence and last few words of each paragraph. Make sure paragraphing is clear and the formatting compact (modern journals don't require double spacing which is designed to slow the proof reader down, and should not be supplied to people are meant to be understanding the content, and inline use of equations or superscripts should not cause line spacing to open and close like an accordion - select fixed mode and make sure everything fits). The first sentence of a paragraph should introduce the idea explained or developed. The last should provide a bridge from that idea to the next. A punchy paragraph may have a single line, particularly the conclusion at the end of a section. A long paragraph may consist of three or four sentences. </p>\n\n<p>Note. Things you have in brackets that make a sentence or paragraph too long can be moved to a note. If you are using (hyperlinked) footnotes or endnotes, yes it can be that sort of a note, but endnotes are archaic and don't really help due to the need to flip back and forth. The comment can simply be moved to a following paragraph.</p>\n\n<p>In relation to content word usage, make sure technical terms and acronyms are defined at first use in the body of the paper, and acronyms are refreshed at the beginning of each section. Definitions of mathematical variables may also need refreshing, particularly around equations or in table or figure captions. That is people forget these things, or skipped over them without taking them on board. They should be able to look at a table or a figure or a section on their own, and make sense of them without (re)reading the preceeding text. Avoid informal speech forms and idioms (phrases that have special meaning to people of particular nationalities rather than following from the standard meanings of the words used). Language teachers like to teach idiomatic phrases to their students to make them think they sound more natural, but it has the opposite effect because they invariably use them inappropriately. Use the appropriate technical terms, but explain them in simple language if your whole audience can't be expected to be familiar with them. Be sure you are using a word of phrase correctly before you use it. Don't just copy things other people have said, particularly authors who are clearly not native English speakers. </p>\n\n<p>In relation to functional word usage, be careful of words like 'this/that', 'the/a'. English normally requires an article or a conjunction or relative pronoun, and while the native speaker knows when to omit them, it is normally grammatical to include one. Also be careful of words with negative connotations, the word 'not' and hedges like 'hardly' or 'quite' - it is easy to miss such a word when scanning quickly, and get the wrong impression, and non-native speakers tend to use the hedges incorrectly. This again is something computers are bad at, and information retrieval, recommender and ranking systems can't currently deal with such words correctly.</p>\n\n<p>It is also important to talk about equations, particular from papers by non-native authors, or in papers sent to non-native editors/reviewers. Don't just copy equations from paper to paper. Always go back to the original source, the originator of the idea, to understand equations, models and assumptions. Always explain the equations and the insights that lie behind them. Many authors/journals use models and equations in a way that obscures their meaning and makes it hard to understand. The non-native speaker is particularly tempted to avoid trying to explain something in English by expressing it in Mathematics. Many students (and all too many academics who should know better) copy equations into their papers that they don't understand (which are thus often wrong, incorrectly applied, or simply inappropriate to the paper). Mathematics should be used to clarify not to obscure. Explanations should always be provided. Don't describe what going on in operation-by-operation words, but explain the insights and the effect of the equations. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30090",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
30,096 |
<p>I have been accepted to present a paper at a conference in a recognised university. </p>
<p>There is no doubt about the 'legitimacy' or public standing of this university as it is recognised worldwide. In addition, it is the management department within the university that is organising the conference. The keynote speakers are recognised and leaders in their fields.</p>
<p>The conference has two streams: peer review and non-peer review. The non-peer review is more like practical / application of theories in practice.</p>
<p>I am located in the non-peer review section and was asked to pay my own registration of $500. There is no assistance for travel etc.</p>
<p><strong>Is this normal for an international conference?</strong> (I always thought at least the speaker's registration was stand expense that was borne by the conference organisers).</p>
<p><strong>What are the pros and cons of attending and presenting at such conferences?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30097,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Most international conferences are paid for by the registration fees of the attendees. The higher the ratio of attendees to speakers, the more registrations the conference can afford to comp (give for free). When a large fraction of the attendees are also speakers, as is the case with a lot of peer-review-centric conferences, then it's often the case that only the keynote speakers have compensated registration and/or travel. If the conference is close on its budget, even the organizers are expected to pay their own way and their own registration fees. The smaller the conference, the more likely this is to be the case, but even very big ones often expect everybody but the keynote speakers to pay their own way.</p>\n\n<p>In short: yes, this isn't unusual at all.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30111,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>(I always thought at least the speaker's registration was stand expense that was borne by the conference organisers).</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Absolutely not. Typically, only <em>invited</em> speakers do not have to pay registration fees and, sometimes, they get their travelling expenses refunded by the organizers. Conferences may also have reduced registration fees for students and young researchers. All others have to pay full registration fees and travelling expenses.</p>\n\n<p>And these days, probably, not many people attend conferences without being speakers too. Some institutions don't even allow you to attend expensive conferences if you're not a speaker. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30096",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4475/"
] |
30,098 |
<p>I find it very difficult to make strong research proposals, where I am trying to convince the audience that my proposal is important (possibly <em>more important</em> than the other applicants'). I write "grant applications" in quotes, because that is the most straightforward example: In these, it is typically expected that you not only describe your idea in a way that the reviewer will easily understand and comprehend, but also convince them that the research is important and worth funding (especially with grants where the majority of applications are rejected). This feature is not limited to only grants: I think fellowship applications, PhD applications (whether they require a research proposal explicitly, or implicitly through statements of purpose with concrete research plans embedded in them being more effective), postdoc job applications and perhaps even junior faculty member applications are very similar in that one must propose a research project, and make it sound important besides merely communicating clearly.</p>
<p>Whenever I need to write such a proposal, I inevitably feel stuck. I immediately become anxious that my research is not all that interesting, I'm not really all that great a scientist, and feel that I must work very hard to make my proposal sound like it is more important than it is if I am to have a fighting chance. This is scary, and I end up procrastinating for many days on the writing. I tell myself that I am "waiting to be in the right sort of creative, inventive, intellectual, scientific mental state", but I secretly know this is nonsense. There are 3 very strong antitheses:</p>
<ol>
<li>All the creative persons across the spectrum of fields (from artists to writers to inventors and engineers to mathematicians and scientists) appear in unanimous agreement that it is "1% inspiration and 99% perspiration". I have never heard anyone worth mention claim that "waiting for inspiration to come" is an effective strategy.</li>
<li>The inspiration that I supposedly await has an uncanny habit of materializing exactly on the night before the proposal deadline, at 3 AM in the morning, such that if it came just a little later I would not have been able to make it to the deadline.</li>
<li>When I do finish the proposal, I am almost universally satisfied that the result doesn't sound unimportant, and could have been brilliant if only I had started a bit earlier and made more rewrites.</li>
</ol>
<p>I think the more realistic explanation is that at some point the fear of missing the deadline becomes so great that it overpowers my anxiety. However, I think it would be better if I could do away with the anxiety, so I could start work way before the deadline, and have time to make many revisions and avoid having to pull all-nighters.</p>
<p>How can I get over this anxiety? By way of showing <em>what I have tried</em>:</p>
<ul>
<li>Gaming antithesis #2 above: Setting an early deadline, so that it forces me to get started, then obtaining an extension on the deadline in which time I can make revisions, now that I have gotten over the most difficult initial step. Unfortunately, the moment I obtain the extension, the anxiety comes back and saps my motivation. This happens even if the extension happens as a surprise.</li>
<li>"Just start by writing <em>anything</em>, and rewrite later" - this is very hard to force myself to do, because I feel like my ideas are hopelessly irrelevant and there's no point in even trying. Even if I do force myself to jot down a very rough outline, it is just as hard to motivate myself to keep refining it, because I feel that no matter how much I refine it, it will still be irrelevant.</li>
<li>Ask friends and colleagues for feedback - very effective for making a mediocre proposal good, but useless for starting out: I get even more anxious because I worry about embarrassing myself to other people.</li>
<li>Build up tolerance by repeated attempts - I have gone through the proposal writing process quite a few times, but the experience doesn't appear to have made it any easier. I feel like even if I had been awarded a thousand grants, I would still say to myself, "Man, you may have had a good run in your day, but this time you've lost it - this is the stupidest idea you've ever had".</li>
<li><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/3242/244">How do I overcome fear of rejection when writing academic papers?</a> - the suggestion to follow the example of good papers is hard to apply, because proposals are often confidential. The remark about "reaching a certain level of maturity" also seems to not apply, because surely a project that is only at the idea stage is anything but mature?</li>
<li><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/16198">What is expected when "novel" and "innovative" ideas are requested as part of a research grant application?</a> - very related, but there are many grant schemes which emphasize impact and importance (often without defining them) over innovation.</li>
</ul>
<p>Oddly enough, I <strong>don't</strong> feel insecure about other aspects of science. I don't hesitate to do research because of self-doubt, I'm not shy about telling other people about my research (so long as the only requirement is that they understand it, and it doesn't matter if they don't think it's important), I think I do a decent job of communicating my ideas clearly and I sincerely believe that given my level of competence I have a good chance of solving the problems I am working on. Obviously, I think my research is worth doing - otherwise I wouldn't be doing it.</p>
<p>It is only when convincing someone else that my research is important that I stumble. I tend to imagine a grant reviewer saying to me, "Okay, this is all very nice and good, but applicant X over there wants the same grant so he can cure cancer and end world hunger. Why should we fund you and not him?" Of course, this is like saying "why should we fund NASA when we could be feeding the poor" - these aren't mutually exclusive pursuits, and just because you aim high doesn't mean you'll go high. But still, there are millions of scientists out there, and just statistically some of them are probably much smarter and more knowledgeable than me. Honestly, it seems very likely that many of them work on more important things than me. Probably some of them apply for the same grant. So how can I sit there and write a proposal, pretending that I seriously think I should be the one to get funded instead of all these other people?</p>
<p>Sorry if this sounds like more of a request for moral support than a question. In my defense, I think that the difficulty of "selling your ideas" is a common problem for at least a non-trivial subset of scientists (captured quite well by "impostor syndrome") and discussing strategies to overcome it would be a good addition to the site.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30099,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My solution is to work with collaborators.</p>\n\n<p>If you're writing a proposal together with others then you can workshop ideas together, pick each others' spirits up when you go down, have somebody who you \"owe\" progress to as an external motivator, and make writing schedules that you have to keep. You can also aim for much more interesting and ambitious projects when you combine complementary skills and capabilities.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 43935,
"author": "erwin",
"author_id": 31805,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31805",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I suspect any answer will be highly specific to individual psychology.</p>\n\n<p>There have been four things I found useful. The first was to do a good project plan for a grant and to convince myself that <em>everything</em> needed to be done to a high standard. Once I have a list of every piece of nigh-meaningless paperwork that needs doing, panic/inspiration tends to flow several months before the due date. And, in practice, it helps cope with writers block because putting together random patient-related boilerplate and laboratory descriptions lets my mind wander while still progressing towards grant completion. Anxiety (or even consciousness) is nigh-impossible while working on a human subjects section. </p>\n\n<p>The second was to read a few granted proposals in my field. There are an awful lot of funded studies that just don't appear at all promising. And the feeling of 'well, I suck', but less than the people who put together grant XYZ is strangely empowering.</p>\n\n<p>The third was to acquire a book describing recommended formats for grant proposals and approach grant writing in a very formulaic way. Okay, a paragraph describing prior work....blah blah blah. Okay, hypothesis... For me, it reduces anxiety by transforming the writing process from promoting my research to filling in the blanks on a long and frustrating form.</p>\n\n<p>The last was to just kind of divorce myself from the whole project and gamify it a bit. Think of writing the grant as preparing a presentation to convince people that something should be done without worrying about whether or not it is actually worthwhile. And pretend you're doing it for someone else. Things also go faster if I reward myself with bathroom breaks upon section completion. Perhaps this is TMI, but it really works.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 43939,
"author": "BrianH",
"author_id": 6787,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6787",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>TLDR;</p>\n\n<p>In the end, I <a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0738211702\" rel=\"noreferrer\">highly recommend the book</a>, and the following</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Be kinder to yourself in your own head - if someone else said to you \"they do important work and you do nothing important\" you'd probably be inclined to smack them in the mouth. Yet if you say it to yourself, you probably accept it.</li>\n<li>Accept that this is a complex and real problem, and instant success is not reasonable - so don't beat yourself up when you run into the problem again.</li>\n<li>Try to shift your view of yourself to be based upon your resilience, creativity, and persistence - which are in your control - rather than factors like \"grant approved\" that are much less in your control.</li>\n<li>Realize that you can do better in the future, but only by making adjustments that address your own personal real issue and not merely distract from it.</li>\n<li>Your importance, intelligence, and abilities were established and verified a long time ago, and are not up for debate or re-interpretation. Problems you face now aren't because of any of these traits or behaviors.</li>\n<li>Like any good experiment, let results dictate whether or not a method is effective for you, not preconceived notions or rapidly changing feelings.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>There is no one easy trick that will solve your procrastination - but that doesn't mean it is an insolvable problem. I personally have found that thinking there is some trick actually made the problem worse, because it trivialized the problem. </p>\n\n<p>\"This isn't so hard, I just need to do X\", I would tell myself. When actually doing X was hard, or didn't solve the problem, then I felt even worse than before - because if I can't even do X, I must an even bigger mess than I thought! This is a terribly cruel thing to do to ourselves - please try not to punish yourself in this way.</p>\n\n<p>Procrastination is not a simple thing, nor is it a sign of stupidity, laziness, moral decline, unfitness, or any other such thing. If this is a problem for you, then I strongly recommend this book: <a href=\"http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0738211702\" rel=\"noreferrer\">Procrastination: Why You Do It, What To Do About It Now</a>. I owe much of what I have learned to this excellent tome, and to my own struggles with the practice - it is written by two PhDs who've worked specifically in the area of academic and professional procrastination, and there's a vanishingly small amount of pop-nonsense in the book (I have very little tolerance for such things).</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>You have already hit upon a very important realization, which is that the core of most procrastination activity is fear - fear we aren't good enough, smart enough, worthy enough. But this isn't the only kind of fear a person can have, such as fear of success, fear of being judged, fear of competition, etc. Everyone has their own unique sets of fears.</p>\n\n<p>It is important to understand that procrastination is a sometimes useful, and sometimes mal-adaptive strategy to get what we want. Sometimes we get what we want in the short-term, but not the-long term, and this sort of procrastination is a perfect example - and we need to understand both why it works and why it doesn't work.</p>\n\n<p>One thing that really drew my attention is this phrase: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>...could have been brilliant if only I had started a bit earlier...</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is called \"self-handicapping\", and ultimately it allows us to protect ourselves from fear. If we wait until the last minute and don't succeed, then we don't need to take that personally- if only we had started sooner, we'd have succeeded! It's not us, it's the delay. On the other hand if we succeed, then we are double great, because we practically phoned that one in and still won - we must really be something! Waiting until the last minute increases the perceived reward AND lowers the perceived risk - no wander it's such a compelling strategy!</p>\n\n<p>But ultimately both reasonings serve to do one thing: protect ourselves from a reality that is frightening. What if we do our absolute best, and still fail? </p>\n\n<p>One way of dealing with this is attacking the fear directly - what if you do your best to write a great grant app, and they still reject you? Go ahead and explain this in a way that is non-threatening - they get a lot of great grant requests, the program directors are morons, they probably just pick grants by throwing darts at a board, budget cutbacks (politicians/administrators/taxpayers are morons)...go ahead and explain the rejection now, in way you believe that doesn't include ripping yourself to shreds. </p>\n\n<p>Or you can accept responsability, but do so in a fair way - you may have failed to communicate the nature of your proposed work in a way they understood, but that doesn't mean you aren't good at your job or smart - you just need to persevere at an inherently difficult task. You can also point out to yourself that you aren't just writing one single grant request (you aren't, right?), and so while the individual chance of each one succeeding might not be great you have a far higher chance of one of your many requests being approved.</p>\n\n<p>In this way you can reduce the fear that this specific grant request is do or die, and so it isn't so bad because it's not scary and you do non-scary things all the time, right? For some people and in some cases, this works nicely, but it's not your only strategy.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Another mutually-helpful approach is hit on in your own realization:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I have never heard anyone worth mention claim that \"waiting for\n inspiration to come\" is an effective strategy</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is a great observation, and I've heard this called \"the motivation fairy\". The belief is that we just need to lie in wait for the motivation fairy, and it will appear and grant us the motivation we need to work!</p>\n\n<p>The problem is that, as you noticed, this isn't how motivation really works. It turns out that motivation is not really something that comes before the work - <strong>motivation is produced by working!</strong> This seemed crazy to me, but the more I thought about it the more it fit my experience. I never feel the most motivated before I start something, but rather it's while I'm in the middle of doing something and making progress and feeling good about the work I'm actually doing! Motivation fundamentally is not forward-looking thing like \"hope\", but rather it is like the flames of a camp fire - people gather around it to warm up, but it was created initially by working hard in the cold! First comes the work, then come the flames.</p>\n\n<p>The third and most useful tactic I've personally used is this: realize that how you feel about doing something does not particularly control the quality of output of your work, nor whether or not you should do it.</p>\n\n<p>Much like the previous issue with motivation, I thought I should feel a certain way about my work before I started. This is a version of perfectionism - the feeling that everything should be \"just so\" before you do something. I mean, I've read that brilliant people eat a balanced breakfast and take an afternoon nap, and I ate beef jerky for breakfast and had to work all afternoon - so surely I should just skip this and try to have a better day tomorrow so I can do this work, right? I mean, I don't even want to do it, and surely the work will be terrible with this attitude.</p>\n\n<p>The truth is that work is more like a game of American Football (or Rugby for everyone else in the world) or a broadway show - it doesn't really matter what the weather is or how you feel that day, the game/show must go on regardless.</p>\n\n<p>With much effort I have begun to realize that I really suck at predicting the output of my own work based upon my feelings, desires, and emotions. Sometimes I produce an A+ paper with a fever and a stomach full of Pepto-Bismal, and sometimes everything is going my way and I churn out 10 pages that had nothing to do with what I was actually supposed to be doing. Sometimes I'm super-excited about a subject and just can't \"get it\", and sometimes I breeze through material I couldn't care less about.</p>\n\n<p>I was amazed to find that some people hear such an explanation and think, \"yeah, that's how life works - how did you think it works?\" Well, I thought work was something people got all worked up and excited about, looked forward to, then jumped into and made continual progress on up until a conclusion they were terribly satisfied with.</p>\n\n<p>Apparently people laugh at such a fanciful world-view, but that's how many of us still think work is supposed to go, and we get mad at ourselves and feel doomed or like failures when the reality is all messy and we feel grumpy but we are still supposed to work on something we just don't feel like doing today (or this week, month...). </p>\n\n<p>Decoupling \"what I feel like doing\" from \"what I should do\" from \"what I am going to do now\" is really hard, but over the last decade I think I've gotten better at it. But jeeze, I put in a lot of effort and I often flounder around in my chair and say, \"gahhh, I don't wannnnaaaaa!\" for a while. Sometimes I get over it and get work done, and then I'm amazed at how quickly I forget about the whole episode and my work output seems to have little relation whatsoever to my feelings at the time.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Before wrapping up I want to hit on one more time-honored way we punish ourselves: false disadvantageous comparisons</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"Okay, this is all very nice and good, but applicant X over there\n wants the same grant so he can cure cancer and end world hunger. Why\n should we fund you and not him?\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>These sorts of comparisons are very common, and notice how incredibly unfair they are? But notice also how they are thrown out there and left unquestioned, as if they are obviously true and we should feel like failures in comparison for our puny efforts.</p>\n\n<p>But that's just it - one of our greatest enemies is unquestioned assumptions, and so we should apply our argumentative skills against these things too.</p>\n\n<p>First, of all, are you in fact competing directly with people who aim to cure cancer and/or end world hunger? If you aren't competing with these people, then that's silly - you're winning doesn't take money away from them, because the grant you want can't possibly take money away from them.</p>\n\n<p>But let's say you are competing with them. Obviously they should win, right? But wait, if a grant request that's competing with you will win, then you have nothing to fear by writing a great request because even an idiot would know they have the better request and they'd get funded anyway. And come to think of it, haven't people been trying to cure cancer and end world hunger for a long time - so why haven't they? Is it because people like me want grants for something else?</p>\n\n<p>It turns out that world hunger is a great example, because without our realizing people did already solve the problem we thought we had. We now have more food in the world than we need, but some people go without - why? Because it turns out that the world is complicated, and things like war, social justice, economic systems, and corruption mean that solving world hunger isn't so clearly solvable. It's going to take a lot of work in more fields than we ever imagined to make more progress, from psychology, sociology, economics, engineering, political science, and probably a lot of more fields than that.</p>\n\n<p>Cancer, too, it turns out is complex and is caused by many things, and we can't cure it because there is a lot about the human body and chemistry we just don't understand. If it was an easy problem, we'd have solved it already. If we spent 100% of our yearly grant money only on cancer research, it's not clear that we could cure any form of it because we might not know enough about basic processes to be able to solve the problem yet.</p>\n\n<p>This is also true of war, social justice, poverty, space exploration/colonization, and any other such major problem. They exist because they are hard problems, and it seems the webs of the world are very twisted indeed. And so we spread out our search for knowledge and advancement over many fields, in the hopes that one day the web will expand far enough to allow us to solve a previously insolvable problem - though we have no idea how long it might take or what field or what person will be responsible for the key insight.</p>\n\n<p>So, with this said, who are you actually competing with - based on successful grant requests - and based on last years winners (when this data is available) surely some will seem amazing to you, and some will seem stupid and unimportant. Grants aren't noble prizes, and some people get money for stuff you couldn't care less about. Some are important, some will turn out to be outright failures, some good things will get funded and some bad ones will too.</p>\n\n<p>And at the end of the day, this might make you feel better or not, but it might not matter because these are often just excuses we tell ourselves to rationalize our aversions to fear and our habits of waiting for the right moment. </p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>The book mentioned previously has about 200-300 pages of very useful and helpful tips and information beyond anything I could possibly summarize here, so please consider making it a part of your daily reading routine if quick-fixes prove ineffective or short-lived (they almost always are). It's a process of developing tools, retraining yourself, and building up psyche-muscles.</p>\n\n<p>Procrastination behaviors, anxiety, and fears all have their appropriate place in life, and can get out of hand and become hurtful to our well-being; they can also be put back into their rightful place, and that requires diligent effort over a significant period of time. </p>\n\n<p>Good luck, and fight the good fight!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 43954,
"author": "aparente001",
"author_id": 32436,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/32436",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Wow, great ideas here. Here's a small suggestion. It is sometimes easier for me to get a project off my desk if I use it as a way to procrastinate about some <em>other</em> project. Perhaps you could harness that idea and cook up some project that you <em>really should be doing</em>, but which does not appeal to you -- and then you might feel tempted to work on the research proposal as a way of avoiding the other thing.</p>\n\n<p>My main contribution has to do with how OCD is treated. There are two steps:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Name the fear -- preferably something that will help you laugh at it.</p></li>\n<li><p>Talk back to it.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>There is a very nice segment on a This American Life podcast that illustrates #2, done in a novel way, as a DIY project, without a therapist. If you don't want to listen to it, you can read the transcript here: <a href=\"http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/545/transcript\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/545/transcript</a>\n(Scroll down to Act Four. Mailer Demon.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 43978,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Purely personal top, from someone who had to break through a near-total writing block: Write one to throw away. If you're stuck for a first paragraph, scribble a note about what ideas belong there and move on. If you're having trouble with phrasing, just day it however it's easiest and move on. If you can't find the citation you need, leave yourself a (foot)note with a key phrase like \"to be determined\" or \"Fixme!\" and move on. Don't worry about making it elegant, just get it down on paper. </p>\n\n<p>After finishing that rough draft, srt it aside for a few days if possible.</p>\n\n<p>Then come back to it, read it through, and decide what needs to be improved. Remember, the base assumption is that the first pass was just to start organizing your thoughts... bit you may find that very little polishing is needed. On the other hand, even if it's a complete train wreck, editing it into acceptable form is often less stressful than trying to write a perfect document the first time</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30098",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/244/"
] |
30,101 |
<p>I am preparing my tenure-track faculty application materials for the current hiring cycle, and I'm thinking of replacing one of my reference writers with one of my PhD committee members (I'll call him Dr. Z). In addition to serving on my committee (I successfully defended my dissertation earlier this year), Dr. Z was a co-author on several journal/conference papers and a former instructor for several classes in which I did very well. </p>
<p>I sent an email to Dr. Z asking him if he would be willing to provide a letter of recommendation for me. His reply:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have been informed that you have <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html">FERPA</a> restrictions on your academic
records. I cannot provide reference letters for you or speak on your behalf to any potential employers with FERPA restrictions in place.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When I first enrolled at my PhD-granting institution, I placed FERPA restrictions on my academic records. Specifically, I chose to have my directory information removed from my school's online directory. I'm not a control freak, but I do tend to take advantage of mechanisms which help to prevent any of my personal information (such as home address, etc.) falling into unknown hands.</p>
<p>I have no reason not to remove the FERPA restrictions, but I <em>hate</em> the thought of removing them under these circumstances. However, I also understand, and appreciate, anyone's right to provide (or not) a reference for whatever reason(s) they choose. </p>
<p>I am left wondering, though:</p>
<p><strong>Is there a legitimate reason that someone in Dr. Z's position would have for wanting to see my academic records prior to providing a reference?</strong></p>
<hr>
<p>Edit — For what it's worth, I am seeking out reference writers, such as Dr. Z, who can speak to my <em>research capabilities,</em> not about how well I did in their class. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30106,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>David Z's comment is dead on: it is an unpleasant technicality that under FERPA regulations, one should not discuss the student's performance in any quantitatively specific way. E.g., one should not say \"Mr. X got an A in all my courses\" or even \"Mr. X was the top student in the course\". The exact rules are confusing to many faculty members, to the point where one feels like if one took FERPA too seriously one might not be able to write a suitable letter.</p>\n\n<p>In my university there is, in theory, a form that a student can fill out to <strong>waive the FERPA regulations</strong> on a letter-by-letter basis. In theory this means that if the letter is getting mailed to N institutions, one should fill out N forms. </p>\n\n<p>(The above considerations apply to <strong>all</strong> students, not just those who have asked for special protection. However, a student who places <em>further</em> restrictions on their records is precisely going on the record as being especially concerned about their privacy, so in practice it makes a lot of sense to take the FERPA restrictions much more seriously for these students.)</p>\n\n<p>It may or may not be the case that Dr. Z is himself trying to access or view any of your academic records. (I guess he must have done something to find out that your records are FERPA-restricted though.) Whether someone would look up a student's grades in courses taken by other faculty members must depend on the people and the institution. For instance, at my institution I have access to the grades of all undergraduate students -- and I have been informed of the FERPA requirement that I access them only for legitimate, educational purposes -- but I do not have access to the grades of any graduate students, even my own advisees. So in practice when I write letters for students I speak only about their performance in <em>my</em> courses -- but again, if they were FERPA-restricted and I was being suitably conscientious then I would even then have to be extremely careful about what I could say and likely be forbidden from including a certain amount of positive information about the student.</p>\n\n<p>Also:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I have no reason not to remove the FERPA restrictions, but I hate the thought of removing them under these circumstances; this tastes a little too much like blackmail to me.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Even assuming that Dr. Z wants permission to access your records and not just to talk about them, I think you are not viewing this in the right way. \"Blackmail\" seems ridiculous to me: one of the conditions for that is that the blackmailer must have something to gain! What does Dr. Z gain if you waive or even entirely remove your FERPA restrictions? The pleasure of viewing some of your academic records?? </p>\n\n<p>For my part, I am curious as to why you chose to place restrictions on your academic records at all: what are you protecting yourself from, really? It sounds like you may not completely understand what FERPA restrictions mean and may have just taken them on as a sort of free insurance. If I were you I would learn more about this. In my opinion, one could argue that \"I have FERPA restricted my records\" and \"Please write me a strong recommendation letter\" is already a bit of a mixed message.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30116,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>By \"FERPA restrictions\" I assume you mean additional restrictions on the release of directory information, since these are the only extra restrictions I'm aware of. If so, then the professor's reluctance may have little to do with your academic track record per se.</p>\n\n<p>Many professors take a fairly laid back approach to FERPA and consider that an e-mail request for a recommendation constitutes sufficient written permission to release information. However, some universities take restrictions on releasing directory information very seriously indeed. As I understand it (keep in mind that I am not a lawyer), when you invoke these restrictions the university is not even allowed to confirm to anyone that you have ever been a student there. A few students deeply care about this, such as celebrities, the ultra wealthy, or anyone trying to avoid a stalker or abuser. These students have good reason to worry about invasions of privacy, and they want universities to place absolute restrictions on even apparently innocuous information. For example, you can imagine social engineering attacks in which a private investigator, tabloid reporter, or stalker forges an e-mail to a professor asking them to serve as a reference for a job or internship, and then calls them to dig for information.</p>\n\n<p>For most other students, FERPA restrictions can be problematic. For example, if a company contacts the university to try to verify your resume, the university isn't allowed to drop any hints. They are supposed to give exactly the same response as if you had never been there, so your resume should fail to verify, and the company may not give you a chance to explain. (You'd think they should, and they might if they really want to hire you, but big companies can be pretty callous about quickly dumping applicants whose resumes fail to check out.)</p>\n\n<p>In my experience, universities differ in how vigorously they enforce these rules. For example, lawyers are more influential in some administrations than others, and some universities simply have more celebrities enrolled and thus face greater pressure to be strict.</p>\n\n<p>As for how the professor could find out you have these restrictions in place, I'd guess it was from looking at your records. However, there are other possibilities. Some universities specifically notify everyone whose class contains a student with extra FERPA restrictions, to remind them not to reveal that this student is in their class, so the professor might remember receiving these warnings.</p>\n\n<p>So my interpretation is that your university has you on a short list of students for whom everything is supposed to be completely confidential, and this professor doesn't want to risk upsetting the administration by violating these restrictions (while your other letter writers may not have been paying attention or may be more relaxed about such things).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30123,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is there a legitimate reason that someone in Dr. Z's position would have for wanting to see my academic records prior to providing a reference?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes - I usually look up the academic records of students when I write a letter for them. This is so that I have more data about their academic success when writing the letter. For example, if they did well in classes that I know are particularly difficult, I can mention that somewhere, and if they have a high GPA, I can mention that somewhere. </p>\n\n<p>In general, you should try to give your letter writers as much info as possible. This includes not just access to your academic records (which they likely have anyway) but also at least your CV. If you have them, it doesn't hurt to send your personal statement, teaching statement, research statement, etc. as well. Not every reviewer will be able to speak to all of these in their letter, of course. </p>\n\n<p>Remember you have already trusted the person to write a confidential letter about you which you are very unlikely to ever see. This requires some amount of trust in the letter writer. For that reason, if a student told me \"I would like you to write a letter of recommendation, but please don't look at my academic history\", I would find it very unusual. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30126,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here is what I tell my own students; my guess is that Dr. Z. is thinking along much the same lines:</p>\n\n<p>\"Federal law requires that I have a FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) release from you before I tell anyone other than a school to which you have applied anything about your education at this institution. For most of you, all I know about you is your performance as a student, so without that release, the most I can say is that you were my student, period. Because those asking about you are likely to interpret such a stark statement negatively, I won't provide any reference at all (except to other schools) without that FERPA release.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 84147,
"author": "einpoklum",
"author_id": 7319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7319",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From that quote, it seems like that person is not on friendly terms with you. If s/he had the good will in him/her to recommend you, s/he would write something like \"Oh, I'd gladly oblige you, but you have this FERPA restriction we would need to get past because of blah blah blah; so why don't you do XYZ to take care of it?\"... but s/he did the opposite of that basically.</p>\n\n<p>I'd seriously reconsider whether I want his/her recommendation in the first place.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30101",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11192/"
] |
30,104 |
<p>Ok so first off a bit of background. I've been working professionally three years in a software engineer position after my BSc. in Mathematics and Physics. At some point I realized I missed doing true research so I enrolled in Masters in Financial Mathematics, which seemed to me the ideal trade off between maths, programming and well finance which is quite interesting.</p>
<p>So now, here I am, first year, with full time lectures. My first reaction was to be disappointed by the amount of team work, since in my BSc days all homeworks were individually graded. For some mathematics courses it's fine, since there's a single good answer. However, there are some instances where it's definitely more research-like, almost like a lab report actually. </p>
<p>What however is unnerving is that I'm stuck with teammates with whom I don't exactly share the same work ethic. For instance, I had to insist on writing formal proofs. Anyway, I just feel that if it wasn't for me we'd keep to the bare minimum. AFAIK this is quite different from the industry where, if a team screws up, then either someone is going to get fired or at least the team is going to be split by the management. Here, the prof just won't care and will assign a global grade and go on to the next team. </p>
<p>So I'm not sure what's the right path. On one side, I really want to make sure our team performs well, this is quite a big move I made here, but on the other side, I just don't want be <em>bossy</em> with them, yet here I am writing emails where I detail clearly what I'm awaiting from each of us. Also, well, I haven't talked openly with them about this issue, I'm not certain how I can bring it.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30121,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As scaaahu commented: This happens ALL the time in industry (one could say it is the rule, not the exception). We do not always get to pick our teams and it is common for high-performers to be stuck with those who do not really care about the quality of their work. Will someone get fired in industry? Maybe...maybe not (complex issue).</p>\n\n<p>The thing you must understand is the difference between management, where someone has formal authority based on their position in the organization, and leadership, where someone's authority basically comes from the followers.</p>\n\n<p>If your team is fill with under-performers you need to figure out if you can use some leadership skills to motivate them to do better. This is the same when studying and when working. If you cannot motivate them then you must decide if someone else can (perhaps you need to encourage someone else to act as the leader). If it seems the team simply cannot be motivated, then you should do your best to find another team.</p>\n\n<p>A team can only be successful if the team feels like a team and that means, in part, that everyone believes in the same goal and are willing to sacrifice to achieve that goal.</p>\n\n<p>The solution is to develop some leadership skills and have a direct talk with the team about what they hope to achieve.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31156,
"author": "Reed -SE is a Fish on Dry Land",
"author_id": 23868,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23868",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I had the same thing happen to me during my MBA; it was heavy in group projects. </p>\n\n<p>I was trying to keep a perfect GPA and my team mates just cared about passing.\nThere is no really way to complain or rant. I just couldn’t trust them to do anything. I would take over the project, assign them a BS part and do the lion work and writing and editing and all.</p>\n\n<p>Yes it is not fair to do the work of 6 and letting others profit from your work but you do get something from it. Besides you can’t teach a donkey to fly.</p>\n\n<p>You do learn a lot more than your classmates. You get more out of your degree. You learn to handle bigger multipart projects. You learn to manage a group effort by pretending that everyone is contributing. You learn to bypass sponges by pretending they don’t exist. You learn to bite the bullet. Etc.</p>\n\n<p>Also, at the end of the day, they do know who did the real work and most likely the teacher does too.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31158,
"author": "Kristof Tak",
"author_id": 9401,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9401",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've faced the same situation in the past. And that was during a semester-long project. At the time I was stuck in a team of 4, where I ended-up doing over 70% of the work.</p>\n\n<p>The problem in such setup is that, no matter that you try to voice your concerns, the other party will only hear what is convenient to them and not more. So to say, they may nod their head as if they care about your concerns but it is hardly that something else will be done in practice. If you are lucky in your team might be another person who barely shares the same work ethic with you, and that person may show some effort to provide some help.</p>\n\n<p>My situation was different from yours in the sense that the grades were assigned individually and there were supervisors who monitored the situation actively. They could tell who has done what by the style of writing and the activity during meetings.</p>\n\n<p>I don't know if you have a supervisor, or if you have a flat hierarchy in the group. First talk to the other members of the team and make a separation of concerns by assigning tasks. In this stage do not tell explicitly that you expect each one of them to work hard, but say it implicitly that everyone is thrilled for this group-work and you are all looking for great results. Also it would be nice if you establish a hierarchy since the beginning. Assuming you are the \"best\" make yourself the head of the group.</p>\n\n<p>During the separation of tasks, do not assign tasks to the others, let them choose themselves, so they don't blame later that the task was too hard for them.</p>\n\n<p>Establish weekly meetings where everyone will tell about the progress he has done with his task.</p>\n\n<p>At some point (lets say 3-4 weeks) you will see that things aren't going as expected (assuming from the description you provided). In that case make a new emergency meeting where you will voice your concerns explicitly. Also make sure to have a mild talk with your supervisor (if you have one) about this problem.</p>\n\n<p>In 1-2 weeks if you see no improvement overall, have a serious talk with the supervisor, and consider if you should stay in such a group (for many reasons). Eventually, you will be investing much more time that you are supposed to on that group (both for organizational overhead and completing the tasks), on top of that you might be frustrated all the time and even worse have health-issues afterwards.</p>\n\n<p>Bear in mind that I have made some hard assumptions in this answer, however I believe you are smart enough to modify the suggestions to fit your situation. Also, do not forget that studies are meant to teach you scientific stuff but also intangibles, such as learning when to say \"I'm not going to do this anymore\", raise your voice nicely etc.</p>\n\n<p>If you wonder what happened with my case, well I got the top grade, but my supervisors blamed me for not raising the concerns much earlier. I learned the hard way...</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30104",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23010/"
] |
30,115 |
<p>I am applying to phd programs in the US.</p>
<p>In preparing for the statement of purpose, I consulted some native speakers. I was suggested to add some anecdotes in my statement.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, after a moment's further thought, I found anecdotes occupy the space! And, I am under the impression that, since I am NOT applying to undergraduate programs nor master's programs, simply focusing on introducing my thoughts and research is the best policy.</p>
<p>So would a statement of purpose such that it is specific but it contains no anecdotes be considered less suitable (in whatsoever sense)?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30118,
"author": "user3209815",
"author_id": 14133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is only second-hand information, since I am a PhD student in Europe, but I have friends who are now engaged in various US institutions, so I am somewhat familiar with the differences in those application matters between the US and Europe.</p>\n\n<p>The main idea when writing a statement of purpose is to be concise and to-the-point. The admissions committee gets a lot of applications and are typically not interested in anything besides the narrow scope of the document before them. So anything that is longer than a few paragraphs needs an exceptionally good reason to be that long. Since you are limited in this way, it is advisable to make these paragraphs count and stick to your research (both done and planned) and recommendations. I've been even told that it is a good idea to bold out the most important catch phrases, like the names of the professors you collaborated with or papers you may have published.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, at least in Europe, the interview is the place to show your eloquence and present your personality in the best light (among other things of course), so a few short well-placed anecdotes don't hurt. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30125,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In writing, there is a general principle of \"show and don't tell\" which applies.\nIt's not the question of to anecdote or not per se, but whether the illustration provides some insight into how you are unique. If a (short) anecdote can illustrate something important about your creativity, initiative, or problem-solving skills, then it will help you stand out and can be useful to include.</p>\n\n<p>For example, compare these two statements:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>I founded a student group that teaches underprivileged high-schoolers to program.</p></li>\n<li><p>When I was growing up, an important turning point in my education was when a friend's older brother taught me programming. I wanted other people to have the same experience, so I organized some friends and reached out to local teachers. Together, we founded a student group that teaches underprivileged high-schoolers to program.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The second is longer, but it tells a lot more about why what the writer did was significant and shows how they expressed initiative and motivation.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30115",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18107/"
] |
30,117 |
<p>I'm a PhD student in Physics with one year and a half to go. My project is at the border between physics and computer science (I am developing a new method to analyse materials). I'm fascinated by computer science and I would prefer not to work in a research center, which seems to be the natural prosecution of what I'm doing. I did research in a number of different field (biophysics, x-rays, neutrons, algorithms), finding out I'm not super talented, but I learn fast and I have some intellectual stamina. I also have some experience as a reporter/journalist.</p>
<p>I like doing research, even if sometimes I find the academic environment a bit boring and alienating. I don't have much working experience outside academia, but I don't exclude the possibility of a non-academic job. I started studying machine learning books to expand my computer skills and employability. </p>
<p>Is there anything you suggest to do to maximize my possibility to land a nice postdoc (ideally in physics/computer science, which should be a way to keep open the possibility to work in the industry, and ideally in the US) or a job as a data scientist?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30120,
"author": "user3209815",
"author_id": 14133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From what I can tell from your question, the industry seems a logical choice. For the remaining time, I'd advise you to look into branches that might interest you and then focus your development on skills required there. There is a plethora of various opportunities for your type of background, whether in the research sector or in engineering.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, if you don't plan to stay in academia, doing a post-doc seems not to be the best investment. People usually do a post-doc in order to improve their chances for a professorship (or as a kind of placeholder until they get one).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30124,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Postdocs are typically useful for two types of things:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>They build experience as a (semi)independent researcher that is now typically required before you can be considered for a faculty post</li>\n<li>They are a chance to broaden or shift focus of your research</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>For example, I know somebody working in robotics whose thesis worked was entirely in simulation due to grad school circumstances, and used the \"focus shift\" opportunity of a postdoc to get into hardware. So a postdoc is worth considering if you feel that your current work is too narrow to be noticed by the type of organizations you might like to join.</p>\n\n<p>As for where to go next: if you aren't absolutely driven to try to do a faculty job, don't try for it. There is a huge world of non-traditional scientific opportunities out there, which are often hard to be aware of from inside traditional academia. Some things to consider, with a lot of strange ecological niches that you can't even be aware of until you start talking to people in them. Do note, however, that if you aren't a US citizen or permanent resident, then many of these opportunities may be harder for you get due to visa issues.</p>\n\n<p>For pursuing all of these questions, however, the big thing you need to start doing is networking. Get to know more professors in your department than your advisor, especially any ones who have had non-traditional career paths. Go to conferences and meet people. Look for events in your field that are also attended by non-academic researchers (this will likely be more in computer science or material science than physics), and look for the more informal and discussion-oriented attached events like Ph.D. symposia and workshops. If your advisor can help you get introductions, that's the best help you can possibly get, but since you're interested in a non-standard path they might not be able to.</p>\n\n<p>As you meet people, be honest about your situation. There are always a lot of people trolling for good possible hires for non-faculty positions, both in academia and out of it, and there's a word of mouth network. If you've got good core computer science skills and don't come off as needy or desperate, there are a lot more possible matches out there than you might imagine.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30145,
"author": "A.S",
"author_id": 22447,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22447",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>With regard to: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I did research in a number of different field (...) finding out I'm not super <strong>talented</strong>, but I learn fast and I have some <strong>intellectual stamina</strong>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I will try to focus on \"talent\" and \"stamina\", two self-evaluation criteria you mention which have not been directly addressed in the comments so far. You set up a contrast between stamina (which I interpret as a combination of curiosity and persistence) and talent (which I interpret as the ability to do more original/creative work with less apparent difficulty). You also mention several specific disciplinary sub-fields of research: xrays, etc. </p>\n\n<p>I wonder if your perception of your \"talent\" might be more a consequence of the switching you have done between different areas of research, rather than your innate capacity for original research in one or more of these fields. </p>\n\n<p>Research in learning and expertise development suggests that it takes about 10 years of concentrated work in a particular discipline (whether it is chess, car racing, or an academic field) to develop expertise. Once developed, such expertise may be mistaken for talent by a less-trained eye. Your words suggest a judgment formed by comparing yourself to others. If these others happened to be more experienced in a given area of research, then the difference in \"time on task\" may partly account for your perception of lesser capacity for original research in some ways. </p>\n\n<p>A couple points seem worth making:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>You probably do want to eventually identify, develop, and apply your talent in some field. Whether it is CS or Physics or something else, it has to be something you should be willing to apply yourself to for an extended period of time. </p></li>\n<li><p>As you decide on your post-PhD path, consider the <em>disciplinary area</em> that you think could hold your intellectually engaged for a while. If your interest in research is such that CS is a means to answering questions in other fields, then CS is a means rather than an end for you. This will take you down one particular career trajectory. However, if your interest is in questions in CS proper, this might imply a different trajectory (e.g. a research scientist/programmer in a physics lab, vs. a research scientist in a research center that focuses on computational questions like algorithms, etc (sorry, CS is not my area).</p></li>\n<li><p>Finally, saying that you \"like doing research\" is a starting point for some deeper reflection. Think about <em>HOW</em> you like to do \"research\" - stated differently, what are the characteristics of a research project that make it exciting and fulfilling to you. A big part of this has to do with the level of \"agency\" you are comfortable with. Some people find satisfaction in carefully nurturing their own research agendas. They do this by working in a very specific niche for a very long time, spearheading (as a PI) their own grants and building partnerships and communities around a specific theory and/or methodology. Others are less comfortable leading, and prefer following -- rather than agonize over what grant to apply for, they are happy supporting on-going work, where the decisions about the direction of inquiry have mostly been made for them. While both kinds of people may (justifiably) consider themselves \"researchers,\" the differences in approach can lead to very different career trajectories in terms of the role one is shooting for and the kind of institution (size, mission, etc.) that is compatible with each of these roles/goals. </p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30117",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14155/"
] |
30,129 |
<p>I prefer paper documents when reviewing manuscripts and grants. While these are confidential documents and generally sent to me electronically, they generally do not come with any instructions not to print them. Am I required to shred them or can I throw them out in my office or put them in the communal recycling bin?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30130,
"author": "Tommy B",
"author_id": 23029,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23029",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If it is a bulky document I have just shredded the first few pages and recycled the rest. </p>\n\n<p>Anything with any confidential information I shred or avoid printing off, especially student data. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30134,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>When if comes to reviewing grants and publications, from an ethical perspective, my understanding is that you have three duties:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>To not compromise the authors' priority in their investigation of their ideas and their ability to capitalize on investments in preliminary work.</p></li>\n<li><p>To not compromise any intellectual property claims through premature release of information.</p></li>\n<li><p>To not expose the authors to potential embarrassment due to the harsh and mocking comments scrawled all over the place in red pen.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If you personally are behaving ethically, then it really comes down to how much you trust your recycling waste stream. Is there any likelihood of a student, colleague, or other malicious agent going through the bin and pulling out the information, either intentionally or just in a search for scrap paper? Shredding is definitely safe, but a low-priority piece of information in a big communal recycling bin with a latch is also certainly exercising a reasonable standard of caution unless you have reason to believe that you or your institution are being targeted for industrial espionage (yes, it happens).</p>\n\n<p>Honestly, though, in most cases the information just isn't important enough to worry about. An incremental paper presenting the next step of a well-established program, a badly written manuscript on its way to a well-deserved reject, a grant proposal filled with \"you should totally fund us to keep doing what we're doing\"---these sorts of things just aren't of much interest to anybody except the authors and their close colleagues in any case, and are probably perfectly safe in the recycling bin. It's not ideal, but it's also very low risk.</p>\n\n<p>Beyond ethics, I believe that there are also sometimes legal requirements, particularly when it comes to being an external reviewed of grant applications for government agencies. In that case, the best thing to do is to ask the program manager involved.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30129",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/"
] |
30,135 |
<p>I am just curious, do they make the decision before the conference?</p>
<p>Or do they watch the presentation of potential candidates first and then make the decision?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30136,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on the conference, though most of them in my experience make the decision after the talks.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30138,
"author": "Austin Henley",
"author_id": 746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/746",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends.</p>\n\n<p>Some conferences, such as ACM CHI, announce them before the conference even starts. This has the advantage/disadvantage of letting people know which talks they should see. And in my experience, these sessions are packed!</p>\n\n<p>Other conferences announce them at the end of the conference. This has the advantage of keeping everyone at the conference until the very end (people might try to leave after their own presentation...) so they don't miss their own award!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30205,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Best paper awards are awarding the best <em>paper</em>, not the best presentation. They are common in <strong>archival conferences</strong> (i.e., conference that publish proceedings and that \"count\" as publications) like those that form the primary publication venues in computer science.</p>\n\n<p>Because they are geared towards papers, they are almost always decided on well in advance of the conference. Often they are decided at the program committee meetings where the final decisions are made as to which papers will be accepted! When they are announced varies from conference to conference even within fields. Sometimes awards announced at the conference with a ceremony. Often, they are announced well in advance.</p>\n\n<p>Conference that award papers earlier often do so that they can mark best papers on the conference program. In some conferences that list awarded papers in the program, best papers are not even formally announced. One year at <em>Computer Supported Cooperative Work</em>, I found out that one of my papers had received an award when I browsing the public program!</p>\n\n<p>In most non-archival conferences (e.g., social science and humanities conferences) awards for papers are given for any work that was published in the field in the previous year. These papers nominated ahead of time and are not necessarily (or even often) work that is presented at the conference.</p>\n\n<p>I've heard of best presentation awards given at the very end of conferences based on presentations given at the conference but I believe these are exceeding rare and, in my experience, have mostly been in the context of special conferences like doctoral colloquia. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30135",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23032/"
] |
30,139 |
<p>I have a part-time outside job in addition to being a full-time professor. I'm struggling with performing an analysis that I believe a graduate student would be able to help me with. I suspect the student would be happy to do so, both because of having a nice demeanour and also they enjoy interesting problems and are also applying to PhD programs, so being able to state that they helped me with my research would be to their benefit. I'm not able to easily get my outside employer to hire them as a consultant. Would it be ethical for me to ask for their help with this problem? If I did, should I offer to pay them out of my own pocket (outside salary)? Should I insist on doing so? I'm thinking it would take a few hours. FWIW, I'm not their official advisor, although my colleagues and I share that role in practice.</p>
<p>FWIW, one of the two outside organizations involved in this project is a non-profit, for which some people volunteer the time. (I'm being paid by a for-profit company to do work with a non-profit organization they support.)</p>
<p>UPDATE</p>
<p>After posting the question but before getting any replies, I emailed the student, asking them if they wanted to help, including a link to this question and cc'ing the director of the graduate program and the Provost, as a check on myself.</p>
<p>I just figured out the technical problem I was struggling with, so I no longer need help, and this question is moot. I'll leave this question up, in case it's useful to future readers.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30140,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I may sound a little strict about this, but when a guy does partly the job you are paid to do, he should get paid for it. Period. It does not matter if he is a graduate student or he thinks he must owe you a favour in exchange for a future reference letter. Slavery has been abolished (at least in civilized countries). You must pay him for his effort's worth. Where this money comes from (your pocket or your outside employer) is for you to decide. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30142,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Before anything else, you need to be certain about the legal ground on which you stand:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Is the external work that you are doing bound by any sort of non-disclosure agreement or other agreement to which your interactions with the student would be subject?</li>\n<li>Do the university's terms of employment for the student state anything that whether a student can work externally and under what conditions?</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If it's clear from both sides, then if the student will be doing a non-trivial amount of consulting work, they should get paid just like you are getting paid. Almost certainly, they should get paid by the company you are paid by, and not by you (unless you are doing your own work as an LLC or some such entity). A good litmus test is: would <strong>I</strong> be doing this work for free? Clearly, you aren't.</p>\n\n<p>If it were five minutes of work, that might be different. But if it's complex enough that you are struggling with it, it's likely to take hours, maybe many hours, and could impact your students progress in classes or other research projects. In that case, pay is clearly deserved.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30139",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/269/"
] |
30,151 |
<p><strong>Edit</strong>: I met with the prof and she agreed that it wasn't my responsibility or place to teach my group mates the foundations they were supposed to have learned. A direct quote was that "everyone has to fend for themselves."</p>
<p>There are several similar (and very helpful) questions which address some points of this question, but I feel this question is a bit different and thus merits being asked. </p>
<p>(1) <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/17865/how-to-handle-team-member-who-is-unable-unwilling-to-collaborate">How to handle team member who is unable/unwilling to collaborate</a></p>
<p>(2) <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19952/how-to-handle-a-colleague-who-hasnt-pulled-their-weight">How to handle a colleague who hasn't pulled their weight</a></p>
<p>(3) <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27154/how-to-make-group-work-work">How to make group work work?</a></p>
<p>The first two questions do not apply because each of the collaborators wishes to contribute and not just ride the wave so-to-speak. I attempted to follow some of the suggestions of the third question, but the group thought it was insulting.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>add more structure to the group project. This increases the workload
on your end but it mitigates the most common issues you'll see in
groups during group projects.</p>
<p>Use and quality based hierarchy, assign the hard-working students as
group leads.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am in a group to complete an assignment. The teammates are very willing to collaborate and work, but the problem is that they did not actually learn the course material when they were supposed to. Therefore, they cannot actually help out without a <strong>significant</strong> amount of learning. </p>
<p>The group expects me to sit down with them for many hours (whole days) to teach them and collectively complete the assignment together. I feel that this is far too much responsibility, effort, and time required on my part, since my teammates lack the skills to contribute because they were unsuccessful in keeping up with the course material. </p>
<p>How should I proceed?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30164,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You don't really have many options. As I see them:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>You can talk to the instructor, explain the situation, and ask to move to another group</li>\n<li>You can talk to the instructor, explain the situation, and ask to do the project individually</li>\n<li>You can actually sit down and teach them</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>As far as which you should do, there are too many variable for us to answer here. However, it seems the best would be start with (1). If that fails, try (2). If that also fails, do (3) and try to find the pleasure in teaching others.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 182611,
"author": "Buffy",
"author_id": 75368,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/75368",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If a professor truly relies on group work, or if it is common or necessary to a field, then it is the professor's responsibility to teach students how to do it. That doesn't help you, of course, if the prof is avoiding this responsibility.</p>\n<p>But, it is a common misconception among unskilled students that "group work" means dividing up the work equally (what ever that means) and then combining the parts into a whole. This is both inefficient and ineffective.</p>\n<p>In a group, different people can have different "roles". One can be a researcher, another a writer, another a manager. Roles can be shared and can overlap. More than one writer is good if they work together, not independently, sharing ideas. People should have a say in what their role should be, or at least their principle role. But not all jobs are glamorous and still need to get done.</p>\n<p>In your case, you might consider taking on the role of manager and calling a lot of meetings and giving a lot of assignments. Assign someone to a task (What does Aristotle mean here, really?) and give someone else a role of assisting. Have a lot of all hands meetings and some subgroup meetings. Let the work <em>coalesce</em> into a whole.</p>\n<p>Imagine the opposite. Two of us want to write the next crime blockbuster novel. I'll write the odd numbered chapters and you write the evens and we'll work in parallel and then just smoosh it together. Or, I'll write the first half and you the last, working simultaneously. Yeah, that should work.</p>\n<p>Teams means teamwork. Not all members of a sports team have the same role, of course.</p>\n<p>But note that you aren't "teaching" but guiding. Teaching by example, perhaps.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30151",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21069/"
] |
30,153 |
<p>I am applying to graduate school in US for MS and Phd program. I wonder is it a good idea to ask for a letter of recommendation from someone that I took his course and I did amazing in his class and he knows me very well but he is now professor at another prestigious institute ?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30154,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It's not just a good idea, it's an excellent idea. Your professor is still in just as good a position to speak to his experience with you and his assessment your abilities as he was before. You say he has moved to another good institution, so there is no reason for his opinion to be discounted just because he moved---changing institutions is not unusual. In fact, if he is happy to write you a good letter, it will look even better than if he was at the same institution, because <em>even after changing institutions he still remembers you and cares enough to write</em>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 98773,
"author": "James Peng Liao",
"author_id": 38854,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/38854",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It doesn't matter where the professor works now, but you should state clearly that the professor once taught you at your university.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30153",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20608/"
] |
30,156 |
<p>Ok here is the situation: My advisor gave me a paper about new model X. After reading and researching in X, I became very familiar with X and had many interesting ideas to extend its capabilities. </p>
<p>One thing I noticed with my advisor is the lack of deep analysis over my ideas. By this, I mean a roadmap on how to get these ideas published, what are the things I need to polish/sharp/add to get it (most likely) accepted in top conference/journal. </p>
<p>I handed him one draft of a paper, he didn't even doubt its findings; all his concern is to get it published somewhere in ranked C conferences; all he did was praising my writing (which is poor IMHO). What makes it even worse is the fact that I have seen some papers published in top conferences/journals with the same ideas I have (actually three ideas). </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This makes me wonder: Does he really know X?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>if yes, then why he did not provide constructive ways to sharp the ideas to get it published in a top conference? or maybe I am asking for something that he can't offer!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30158,
"author": "posdef",
"author_id": 5674,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5674",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I suppose it is rather hard to give a satisfying answer to this question with the amount of information available. I mean, it's hard to estimate all the unknowns in this particular case. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>if yes, then why he did not provide constructive ways to sharp the ideas to get it published in a top conference?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>One could speculate in so many different ways; that he does not have the necessary grasp of the field to give meaningful critique is one speculation. Here's another plausible explanation; maybe he wants you to try flying on your own a bit, as a sink-or-swim approach. My supervisor did (and still does) this very often, I have almost too much freedom as to how I write, and what I write and to where I submit, then when the replies and reviews come in we sit down and improve on what I have done. Could be a similar approach</p>\n\n<p>But to come back the question of how to know whether the supervisor is knowledgeable in a particular subject, here are some things that could be useful in the general case:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>checking your supervisors publication record. Maybe the s/he has published articles on about this model before you even came to the group. Or maybe he was involved with an older but related model Y?</p></li>\n<li><p>inquire you supervisor for his interest in the subject. If s/he gives you a paper about model X, all of a sudden then there is certainly a goal with that. To-the-point, effective communication might help you figure out his/her grasp of the field.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>EDIT:</strong> In reply to the comment: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>if I have too much freedom as to how I write, and what I write and to where I submit, <strong>then whats the point of supervision!</strong></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>My supervisor often says that his job is to teach me how to do research, not provide me with knowledge or make sure I become successful/famous/rich... Your supervisor has ZERO responsibility in <strong>providing</strong> you the means to publish in <em>top venues</em>, IMHO. He merely has a responsibility to make sure you get the tools you need to be able to do the research you want to carry out, later on in life. </p>\n\n<p>As a side comment, I think your perspective to research might cause your frustration with your supervisor. Getting published in top venues is not a birth-right to all hard working grad students; and quite frankly, as a grad student where your articles get published have little to do with you or your work (at least in biomedical research). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30181,
"author": "Faheem Mitha",
"author_id": 285,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/285",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is more an extended comment, but here goes.</p>\n\n<p>My PhD advisor had me work on a topic (in applied probability) that he knew little about. I survived and got a PhD, but it was not pleasant. \nHe's seems to have thought that the area was much more interesting/useful/productive than it was, and had wildly unrealistic/inflated expectations about applying it to mathematical finance, which unsurprisingly came to nothing in the end. I suppose in part because he didn't know much about it. It is a pretty obscure branch of applied probability that enjoyed a brief wave of popularity in the 90s, and quickly went cold again because, as it turns out, the area has formidable and (thus far) largely unsurmountable technical difficulties. At any time this area has had a handful of people working on it worldwide. I think with some breakthroughs it could become a useful area, but nothing like this has happened so far.</p>\n\n<p>I learned later from other people (I was pretty naive about how academia worked) that faculty may try to use their students to try to learn about new areas. I've no idea how common a practice this is, but I have no reason to believe it is uncommon. I recall that the people I talked to seemed to think it was quite reasonable. I think it is wildly irresponsible.</p>\n\n<p>In any case, I suggest you don't let your advisor do your thinking for you. If you like the field you are working in, and think you can be productive in it, then by all means continue. However, if you think your advisor doesn't know what is going on, it is quite possible he doesn't. Researchers are only flesh and blood, they are not omnipotent. If he doesn't know what is going on, he will probably be of little help to you. It is possible for your advisor to learn about the topic alongside you, but you are the best judge of whether he is doing that. If he doesn't seem to be, he probably isn't. And frankly, it is not a good thing for a graduate student to have an advisor who views his PhD as a learning experience. Ideally a PhD topic should be well within the advisors area of expertise. If he does not seem inclined to go into details and talks about generalities, that is a bad sign, in my experience.</p>\n\n<p>Bear in mind that finding a auxiliary advisor who knows more about the topic is a possibility, but if want to go in that direction, I'd do something about it sooner rather than later.</p>\n\n<p>Other people have commented here that it is reasonable for you to end up knowing more about the topic than your advisor does. That is a fair point, but that should not be the case at the outset. Maybe that is Ok after a few\nyears of you digging into the topic. And really, it depends on you. If you are comfortable going it mostly alone in the topic, perhaps communicating occasionally with other researchers, then that is Ok. If you are not, then it could end up being a bit of a baptism of fire. We don't know what your topic is, exactly, so we can't say anything more about that. And research topics vary wildly in level of difficulty, of course.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30156",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532/"
] |
30,160 |
<p>Some journals (specifically on biology or chemistry) accept only MS Word files as manuscripts, while many journals on mathematics or physics prefer LaTeX.
Even <em>Science</em> prefers MS Word.</p>
<p>Why do they insist on proprietary MS Word, instead of accepting PDF + plain text?
I don't think they typeset papers on MS Word.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30162,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I cannot answer for all journals but can provide insights into a few. One issue concerns the authors rather than the journals themselves. If a community has little need for equations then the need for LaTeX is also perceived as small. Hence a journal would not implement something that they think has no use.</p>\n\n<p>In my own field of Earth Science, the usage of LaTeX varies between sub-disciplines. In Glaciology, being a quantitative subfield, a majority use LaTeX while in other more descriptive subfields no-one uses LaTeX. It is easy to see that this is also reflected in what formats the journals accept. Since the editors of the journals usually come from the sub-disciplines their journals cover, the editors are used to using the same authoring tools as others which further cements the existing structure.</p>\n\n<p>On top of that the individual publisher may add capacity to journals. Elsevier, for example, has a LaTeX-class that can be used for their journals, while Wiley, for example, do not. This can help journals take the step to also include LaTeX contributions even though editors may not be users themselves.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30166,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The main divide that I notice in preferred input format is between journals that routinely reformat your paper and those that do not. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Journals wanting Word generally ask the author just just send a pile of text and figures, which they will stitch together to look precisely how they want it to look, with special fancy styling, etc.</p></li>\n<li><p>Journals that want LaTeX generally ask the author to send a PDF file looking almost exactly as it will for publication, plus the LaTeX so they can recompile with the right page and issue information.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The first is essentially a leftover from the days before computer formatting, when a journal would be getting a bundle of paper, which would need to be typeset by hand in any case. These days it is most likely to be preserved in either high-end journals that can afford a significant paid staff or else in subfields that simply haven't made the cultural transition. Word is then a \"lowest common denominator\" that, unfortunately, the world has generally settled on for styled documents (though some places will also accept non-proprietary formats: for example, <a href=\"http://www.plosone.org/static/submissionInstructions\">PLoS ONE also accepts rtf</a>)</p>\n\n<p>LaTeX lets a journal run much more leanly, since it places more burden on the authors. When something goes wrong with LaTeX, however, it's likely to go much more problematically wrong because it's possible for authors to include some awfully fancy programming in LaTeX (I know a person who wrote a piece of database management software entirely in TeX). To handle that, you need a much more programming-savvy journal staff, or else a large and well-maintained automated backend like <a href=\"http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/pdfexpress.html\">IEEE's PDF eXpress</a> to help you detect and manage the problems that come with freedom.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30169,
"author": "user-2147482637",
"author_id": 12718,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Similar to jakebeal, Peter Jansson, and this <a href=\"https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1046940\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1046940</a> website. I would propose the reason for format is usually based on the end goal, which determines why someone prefers a format. Some journal or conference that uses professional graphic designers or wants the comfort/freedom of an easily formatted manuscript may want to use inDesign (one of the standards for making book layouts). </p>\n\n<p>Even if inDesign is not the end point, it could just be easier to layout a microsoft template, or could just be easier because the typesetter for a journal is accustom to those options.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32956,
"author": "Charles Stewart",
"author_id": 24914,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24914",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is much easier to find copy-editors with Word skills than Latex skills. I am aware of two journals that used to accept submissions written in Latex that switched to Word-only because they could not find editors with the skills needed for Latex, and of another that is considering this switch.</p>\n\n<p>There is a big problem with Latex as an authoring format, which is that it is a sophisticated and not terribly readable programming language, one that encourages people to hack up idiosyncratic macros for use in their articles. If you have 10 papers to be edited into an issue of a journal, life is much harder if each of the papers defines its own macros to do roughly similar things in incompatible ways, with possible and hard to deal with namespace collisions. This also means that the skills needed for editing in Latex are higher than those needed for editing articles written in Word.</p>\n\n<p>That said, journals that can handle this problem gain freedom from vendors in their publishing operations. It is no accident that Latex is more popular with smaller publishers than with the giant publishers.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30160",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
30,167 |
<p>How do you capitalize the titles of references in a math paper? Would you rather write:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Global smooth solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations</p>
</blockquote>
<p>or</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Global Smooth Solutions of the Navier-Stokes Equations</p>
</blockquote>
<p>? The latter capitalization is the usual capitalization, where every non-grammatical word, and all names, are capitalized. But the former variant seems to be common in the references. The only exception seem to books, which are usually capitalized as on their titles.</p>
<p>I have been skimming over the list of references in mathematical papers by well-regarded researches, but I have not found a definitive pattern. In fact, in many publications, neither the author nor the editor seems to actually care.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30170,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Every journal has its own preferences for this. Use a citation management package like BibTeX or EndNote, and follow the style guide of the journal you submit to. In the end, it doesn't truly matter as long as your readers can find the article, but it's best to follow the journal's instructions in the case that they do actually care.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30173,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Bill Barth is right in that this choice is typically made by the journal's style files and/or copy editor, not by the author. However, just in general, my experience is that the first form (capitalize only first word and proper nouns) is more common when referencing papers, while the second form (capitalize all but \"little\" words) is used when referencing books.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30214,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You are right: in math, neither the author nor the editor is likely to really care. Most math papers are prepared with specialized software (TeX or LaTeX, using BibTeX of AMSRefs) which formats the references automatically. So we just trust the software, and focus our attention on more important things. </p>\n\n<p>This must sound crazy to people who are used to fretting over some particular style - APA, Chicago, etc. Their concern over something so minor, which can be so easily automated, is equally mysterious to us. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30167",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6222/"
] |
30,174 |
<p>Can somebody suggest what should be the optimal font size of text like axis ticks, axis label, legend etc. ?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30177,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Your institution's thesis template may specify this - some do and some don't.\nIf not then it's really up to you. Typically, you want it to be smaller than your main text so that it doesn't stand out inappropriately much. Beyond that, it's a balance for efficacy of communication: larger sizes are more legible, but smaller sizes can help avoid visual clutter. Remember also that many of your readers may be older or have imperfect vision and have a hard time with smaller fonts.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30183,
"author": "Jukka Suomela",
"author_id": 351,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/351",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Try to use the same font as what you use for <strong>image captions</strong>. Then it should be easy to read and it does not stand out in comparison with the rest of the document.</p>\n\n<p>For example, if your text is 12pt Times and image captions are 11pt Times, then all text in your images is 11pt Times. If both text and image captions are 12pt Times, then all text in your images is also 12pt Times.</p>\n\n<p>(In exceptional cases you can try to save space by using a slightly smaller font.)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30174",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23063/"
] |
30,175 |
<p>I'm looking through a few journal articles and I notice that they have cited an article that has been retracted (based on invalid conclusions).</p>
<p>If I cite that article that cited the retracted one, would that be valid? Moreover, should I check the references of every article in that article to see if they cite any retracted articles? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30176,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ultimately, it doesn't depend on the retracted article, but on the one that you cite.\nIs the science in the article that you cite valid, despite the retraction of its reference? After all, most references are for context not critical dependencies. If it's still valid, there is no problem with the citation. If the science doesn't stand, though, then it doesn't stand and you shouldn't cite it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30189,
"author": "posdef",
"author_id": 5674,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5674",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>When you cite an article it does not mean that your work stands on the cited article in its entirety but rather it might be a particular result, an interpretation or an interesting question someone else has come up with before you. </p>\n\n<p>Let look at it like this: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>you (Y) cite a finding (<em>f1</em>) by a person/group in some paper (P1), </li>\n<li>who in turn cites another finding (<em>f2</em>) some other person/group in some paper (P2). </li>\n<li>later turns out that something in P2 does not add up and the paper gets retracted. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The interesting question is <em>whether or not the mistake or error etc in P2 is related to your work</em>. If:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>scientific grounds for <em>f2</em> is still valid despite the error that causes the retraction, or </li>\n<li>your <em>f1</em> is independent of <em>f2</em> </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>then you are essentially safe, since the reasons for retraction does not reflect on your work/findings. In other words, you have not built your work on erroneous foundation.</p>\n\n<p>That beings said, I can only assume that citing a retracted paper isn't particularly nice, and if you can avoid it (if someone else has also mentioned that same finding without going through the retracted paper) then it's probably better.</p>\n\n<p>Hope this wasn't all too convoluted.. I had to rewrite it a couple of times already :) </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30175",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4157/"
] |
30,184 |
<p>My supervisor wants us to meet 3-5 times in a week with another PhD student of his. Every meeting is on average more than couple of hours. I don't know about the other student. But I feel like we are wasting too much time in meeting; it's hurting my productivity. How can I tell my supervisor to keep the amount of meetings and duration limited? To make matter worse, he also wants us (me and other PhD student) to meet separately besides these meetings. I am spending on avg. 12-15 hours per week doing these meetings.</p>
<p>I can answer questions why I think these meetings aren't productive, but that may turn into rant and I may put them into another question. So I want to keep it short and precise; let's just assume these meetings aren't productive for me.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30186,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think this is a time to be direct and honest: just say you are spending too much time in meetings and it should be reduced. Say what you should be doing instead. A reasonable person should not be offended and should know that meetings can hurt productivity.</p>\n\n<p>I also recommend considering changing the way the meeting works to align it with your needs. When I am in a meeting, if nobody is taking charge, I will try to be a leader and give the meeting some direction. Remind participants of the agenda. Add the things you want to do to the agenda. But be tactful.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30197,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Volunteer to prepare the agenda for these meetings. The day before, send everyone email asking for agenda items. If you get none, suggest to your supervisor that the meeting be canceled as there are no items to discuss.</p>\n\n<p>If you do get items, make sure \"Adjournment\" is the last item on the agenda.</p>\n\n<p>Edited to add: There are two groups for whom time is literally money. They physicians and lawyers. I spent my first career working for one such group. I learned that meetings need not be a time sink. As I've said in a comment, the way to make meetings productive is to have an agenda and <em>stick to it.</em> Meetings run by people who know what they're doing accomplish what they are supposed to accomplish and <em>stop.</em> This is what Anonymous Physicist and Dave Clark called \"aligning the meeting with your needs.\"</p>\n\n<p>One of the things that chaps my buns about academia is waste-of-time meetings. Happily, I am low on the academic totem pole and not tenure-track, so I can blow most of them off.</p>\n\n<p>Another edit: I never had a meeting with my own dissertation chair that did <em>not</em> have an agenda. I prepared them and he seemed happy to have them. Early meetings were formal and ended when we reached the end of the agenda. Toward the end we met at a Chinese restaurant and the meeting gave way to lunch, but we never rambled.</p>\n\n<p>Last edit, I promise: What I am suggesting is the difference between telling the advisor/supervisor that the meetings do not fulfill the needs of OP and telling the advisor/supervisor that, but following up with a suggestion that my experience says will improve the meetings and may result in fewer of them.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30209,
"author": "chris",
"author_id": 4275,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4275",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Since my comments trigger such negative rating, I might as well turn this into an answer :-) </p>\n\n<p>The point I would like to make is focussed on the fact that you complain about your supervisor spending ten hours a week wanting to talk to you. I would like to say, as a former supervisee and a current supervisor, that you should consider yourself a priori lucky. Now it might be that your supervisor is also clueless, this I cannot judge. But think of this in the following way: the PhD is the last time in your life where you are being tought, in particular tought about how to do research, something books are not so good at doing. Should you consider a career in your field, you will have plenty of time to focus on being productive.</p>\n\n<p>Think of your PhD -- and of the time your supervisor is spending helping you go through it, as an investment for future productivity. Of course you will most likely be faced with endless numbers of essentially boring meetings in your life. \nYou might feel it is already the case, but a meeting with your supervisor should not be of this type. My advice would be change the nature of the meeting, not the number of hours dedicated to them.</p>\n\n<p>On the more general issue of being productive in research, personally I do not feel research is about productivity. Engineering might be, but engineering is not quite the same as research. Some people obviously think differently, which is fine by me. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30227,
"author": "Be Kind To New Users",
"author_id": 23095,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23095",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Tips on approaching your supervisor:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Offer an alternative to the meetings: Perhaps meeting once a month, or a \"lunch and learn\". This sets you up as a solution oriented person rather than a \"complainer\".</p></li>\n<li><p>Give specific instances of what is not productive. I measure the value of a meeting on whether I changed something I do because of the meeting. If I did not change, then the meeting did not have an effect on me and the value of the meeting is questionable.</p></li>\n<li><p>Ask for an agenda for the meeting. This will force the person hosting the meeting to organize what they will talk about.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 60061,
"author": "Captain Emacs",
"author_id": 45857,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/45857",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it unlikely that you will convince them to reduce the number of meetings; from my experience, people do not realise that you can do with less, until they have experienced the productivity boost themselves. In my experience, requests for fewer meetings are typically turned down by people who believe in the management model that regular meetings act as engine of progress.</p>\n\n<p>If it is a purely scientific rather than a \"waffle\" meeting, though, then I recommend, just enjoy it. That's what you are in university for, after all. </p>\n\n<p>But if the meeting is really unproductive (which means, it doesn't advance neither your direct work, nor your knowledge), then this is a classic instance for \"manage your manager\". Avoid directly criticising the number/style of meetings. Even at more advanced stages than a PhD, one will be looked at a person that is not ready to play ball. </p>\n\n<p>Rather, be proactive: By you deciding what you want out of the meeting, preparing an agenda, preparing a list of expected outcomes, and writing down a mandatory \"action list\" at the end (which is checked against at the beginning of the following meeting), you can focus the meetings and help organise the thoughts of your fellow participants. You have a certain control of the agenda, this way.</p>\n\n<p>If you push on the action list in a disciplined form, especially if you yourself act with discipline on it, but it not acted upon by the others, it may make the others in the meeting uncomfortable and lead them, in turn, to ask for fewer meetings on their own. Plus, you will be seen as manager/organizer of the meeting, and a disorganised supervisor may actually appreciate that, if it's done in a careful way. Don't castigate others for not doing theirs, just ask them if they have done their part.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30184",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/415/"
] |
30,190 |
<p>During a lecture (and a separate presentation) my instructor told us about bibliographic software, how it composes references automatically and is able to correctly cite articles in many formats. The software is freely available to everyone.</p>
<p>However, many others did not use it and were penalized on incorrect formatting when the assignment was due. Why would one not use software to compose references and citations? Is there advantage in learning how to cite articles manually?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30191,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>All bibliographic software has a learning curve. You have to invest time and energy up front to learn the system and set up your database, and only reap the benefits later in the decreased amortized cost of maintaining correct citations. </p>\n\n<p>If somebody doesn't think the tradeoff will be worth it (e.g., thinks they \"aren't good with computers\" or doesn't think they'll write many papers that the software would be useful for or is in a rush and isn't thinking about the long term), then they may manage a bibliography by hand. </p>\n\n<p>For example, I'm a devout LaTeX/BibTeX user and would never consider doing something by hand---except that I have done so on a few occasions when forced to use an incompatible format where it wasn't worth setting up a new toolchain (e.g., putting a few citations at the end of a PowerPoint deck).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30192,
"author": "Gimelist",
"author_id": 22213,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22213",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think is the type of things you need to do by hand once, in order to know the basic idea of it. After that it should be left for computers to do, just like determinants or matrix multiplication.</p>\n\n<p>Doing it by hand is extremely time consuming and prone to errors. There are too many citation styles for anyone to master them anyway, even within a specific field.</p>\n\n<p>This is just another thing better left to automated algorithms.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30196,
"author": "dionys",
"author_id": 22520,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22520",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can think of at least three real-world advantages we gain by learning how to cite articles manually: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>It compels us to become familiar with the syntax and form of citations, which makes references to articles easier to read and parse ... something that we all still have to do manually.</p></li>\n<li><p>If you only need to jot down or reference one article you can do so without troubling with software tools.</p></li>\n<li><p>By knowing how citations should be formatted, you are in a position to recognize errors and correct them (i.e. you can tell when your bib software malfunctions).</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Pocket calculators are cheap, reliable, and widely available. Why do we insist on learning addition? The answer is, there are a lot of times you might want to use addition and you don't <em>always</em> want to depend on a calculator for that.</p>\n\n<p>Of course we should take advantage of software tools for compiling references and bibliographies, but this is not always viable or always necessarily better than doing it manually unless we can assume that bibliographic software:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>correctly cites articles in the desired format.</li>\n<li>composes references with little effort (automatically).</li>\n<li>is freely available to everyone (i.e., at no cost).</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In my experience, all three of these assumptions break down much more often than one would like. For instance, it might be difficult and very frustrating to make a small change to a standard format in your bib software, which is required by the journal or funding agency you need to work with.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30190",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4157/"
] |
30,200 |
<p>Me and another PhD student, we are first two authors in a paper. We had a disagreement with our supervisor about submitting our paper to conference. We both opposed the submission as we think it's too early to submit our result and the paper will most likely be rejected. Our supervisor said, academically he has the full authority to submit the paper even if we oppose. My question is does a supervisor have the right to submit a paper from the point of view of the university?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30201,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ethically, a paper should only be published with the active consent of all the involved authors. Thus, from an ethical point of view, your supervisor should not submit without your consent. If your supervisor does so, that is a clear breach of scientific ethics and needs to be treated very seriously.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, are you sure that you are right in withholding your consent?\nYou say that you think that it is too early to submit your result to this conference. Are you sure that you have a better idea of the size of contribution expected by this conference than your advisor?</p>\n\n<p>You don't say how far along you are in your program and how much you have published before. It is common for early-career researchers to overestimate the size of a result necessary for a good paper. In my graduate program, for example, Ph.D. students were expected to produce a Masters thesis first, and a common failure mode was for students to essentially try to do a Ph.D. worth of work already.</p>\n\n<p>It is natural to want to be able to submit a paper that definitively solves the whole subject, but in some areas, particularly engineering fields, it is more common to have a sequence of conference papers that build up piece by piece, followed by a capstone journal paper that ties it all together into the complete and thorough package. Conference papers can thus be reports of a significant step toward a result, rather than the result entire. You supervisor may be seeing a step of that sort in the results that you have so far, and it would be good to ask and see <em>why</em> your supervisor thinks the work so far is significant enough to publish.</p>\n\n<p>Take a close look at your situation, compare with other papers published in the conference (not the award winners, but random papers in random sessions), and ask yourself how the size of your increment compares with theirs. You may find that it's reasonable to submit after all (the criteria is not: \"Am I certain to be accepted?\" it is: \"Will the reviewers be annoyed that I am wasting their time?\"). Or you may gather evidence that will let you make a stronger case for why you think your paper is not ready, and be able to convince your supervisor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30203,
"author": "U.S. math professor",
"author_id": 23075,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23075",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your supervisor does not have the right to submit a paper with your name as a coauthor without your consent. By making such a submission he would be making a false representation that all coauthors have agreed to the submission, thus essentially committing a form of minor fraud or certainly dishonest and unethical behavior that is considered completely unacceptable in the academic world.</p>\n\n<p>Note that you write \"from the point of view of the university\", so technically there is a chance that your university has unconventional standards in such matters and in their eyes your supervisor is correct. If that is the case (which I strongly doubt), I would suggest getting the heck out of that miserable institution and going to a real university.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, while it is absolutely possible that you generally have better judgment than your supervisor (a possibility that does not occur to many graduate students even when perhaps it should), he does have more -- probably a lot more -- experience than you in matters of publications, so I agree with jakebeal that it is worth questioning whether your objection to the submission is a good idea, and maybe consulting other experienced academics from your field.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30200",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/415/"
] |
30,206 |
<p>I received a rejection letter from an Editor after I revised and resubmitted my paper by addressing all comments from two reviewers.</p>
<p>The first reviewer has no feedback meaning that he accepted all the responses given.</p>
<p>The second reviewer say that he confirms that all his comments on the previous version of the paper have been addressed. However he still feel that the paper does not contain an adequate level of originality for it to be published in a journal like "xxxxxxxxxxxx" with a very high impact factor. He did not utter any doubts regarding the originality during the first round</p>
<p>Is it still possible to write an appeal to the Editor-in-chief against the decision?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30207,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is it still possible to write an appeal to the Editor-in-chief against the decision?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Sure, it's always possible to do that. Whether the appeal will get you anywhere is a different question. In this case, I feel like you think what you told us is grounds for an appeal <em>which has a reasonable chance of being successful</em>....but I didn't see anything in your post that would make me, if I were an editor of your journal [disclosure: I am not a journal editor; but I have dealt with journal editors regularly for some years now], reconsider the decision.</p>\n\n<p>Basically they are saying that after addressing the comments they agree that your paper is solid and publishable, but is not worthy of publication <em>in their journal</em>. More specific words like \"originality\", \"difficulty\", \"novelty\", \"value\", \"depth\" all amount to this same judgment. Does a journal have the right to reject papers that they think are perfectly sound and publishable but not good enough for them? Of course they do!! The journal's right (and even obligation) to do just that is what allows the entire system -- in which some journals are more prestigious than others, and for which publication in the most prestigious journals (e.g. <em>Nature</em> and <em>Annals of Mathematics</em>) is a career-making accomplishment -- to function. </p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately it is quite hard to <em>successfully</em> appeal this kind of verdict. In the rare case that you happen to know that the editors lacked some specific, objective, important piece of information that would have impacted their decision -- the referee's report dramatically mischaracterizes your work, say by neglecting to mention that you solved an important and well-known problem -- you can bring that to their attention. More often you suspect that they didn't properly appreciate your work, but your recourse is to resubmit to a journal of equal or greater prestige, and look forward to the (usually implicit!) \"I-told-you-so\" when your paper gets published there.</p>\n\n<p>Maybe you thought that being asked to make revisions meant that the paper would be accepted conditionally on making those revisions in a way that satisfied the referees? Well, if you were specifically told that, then: <strong>Yes, appeal. You have a strong case.</strong> Otherwise: unfortunately, no, that need not be the case. If a referee feels that even if you made the revisions she would still not recommend the paper for acceptance, then the ethical thing to do is to reject the paper and make clear that the suggested revisions are for a version of the paper to be submitted elsewhere. However, even if the referees recommend the paper, then the decision to accept rests with the editors. As a general rule, the better the journal the more likely it is that a paper which was satisfactory to all the referees will still not be published. Some of these journals presumably don't even have the space to publish all the papers that their referees recommend them to publish, so they have to make hard choices. </p>\n\n<p>There is one small word in your post which shouts to me: <strong>still</strong>. This suggests that one of the referees mentioned in her original report that your paper did not have enough originality to be published in the journal you sent it to. Is that right? If so: well, then is it really true that you addressed all the comments of the referees? In my experience, lines like this are often hints that the referee is not going to want to publish your paper even if you make some revisions which in your mind measurably improve the paper. Since \"originality\" is quite subjective, it is very hard to be confident that you are adding originality, and when you get a report like that it is often a good idea to check in with the editor to see whether s/he views that comment as a deal-breaker. (I can think of one instance where I got a comment like that, was asked to revise, and wrote back to ask the editor whether he really wanted me to revise the paper under the circumstances. He said yes and the paper was published. However the journal, while solid, was very far from the top one in my field.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30208,
"author": "Doru Constantin",
"author_id": 9221,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9221",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There may be an appeal process (the details vary from journal to journal), but it is generally a venue for complaints about the fairness of the editorial process, not a second scientific evaluation. Based on the information you give, this is not your case.</p>\n\n<p>I would suggest you use the input from this journal to improve your paper and submit it elsewhere. Choose your battles wisely.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30219,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><sup>Disclaimer: I have never been involved in a comparable situation, and thus the following is based on thought only.</sup></p>\n\n<p>In addition to the scenario depicted by Pete L. Clark, I think you have a good point if all of the following applies:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Neither the reviewers nor the editor gave any hints regarding a lack of originality in the first round.</li>\n<li>The second reviewer did not state that she or he could not evaluate the originality of the paper unless some aspect had been clarified or something similar.</li>\n<li>No new information affecting the originality of the paper came up since the paper was first submitted. For example, if one of the improvements in the revised paper was a better context embedding, this may have shed a new light on the originality of the paper. Or you might have attenuated your claims for some reason.</li>\n<li>The second reviewer did not gave a (good) reason why she or he did not raise objection regarding the originality during the first round.</li>\n<li>The paper was actually rejected due to the second reviewer’s criticism.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>If all this is true</strong> – and I strongly recommend to carefully check this as far as possible and have your assessment confirmed by a somebody else, e.g., a colleague¹ –, then I would consider the behaviour of the second reviewer questionable, as she or he</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>unnecessarily lengthened the review process;</li>\n<li>wasted the time of everybody involved: the other reviewer, the editor and you;</li>\n<li>caused your paper to be rejected on basis of a point of critique that you had no chance to respond to (though lack of originality can be an incontestable killer argument anyway due to its inherently subjective nature);</li>\n<li>can not excuse this as an honest mistake (e.g., like failing to spot a hole in a mathematical proof), because evaluating the originality of the manuscript is one the main jobs of a reviewer and should not depend on details</li>\n<li>created – by using the word <em>still</em> – the wrong impression that the lack of originality was an old and unaddressed point of critique, though it was not.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Moreover, this could actually be a malicious strategy to delay the publication of your paper (for example because the reviewer is in the process of publishing a similar paper): Delay the paper as long as possible² with strong, but not rejection-causing critique and only then raise the hammer argument (here: lack of originality).</p>\n\n<p>Thus, in this case, you would have a good point. However, this is only half the battle. The editors and the journal can still do as they wish³ and can be disgruntled as it was them who accepted the second reviewer’s critique or at least missed that lack of objectivity had not been criticised in the first round – unless the journal assignes somebody else to evaluate this situation.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><sup>\n¹ unless this is a breach of confidentiality<br>\n² which may be one round for a high-impact journal<br>\n³ unless you have such a strong case that they have to fear the loss of reputation if you make this public\n</sup></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30226,
"author": "Larry K",
"author_id": 23091,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23091",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As I learned from my good friend who is very well published:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Whenever you're planning research, plan to have publishable results no matter your research results. (Set up your experiments so both the positive and negative cases will be interesting, however it works out.)</p></li>\n<li><p>Plan and understand your field's journal hierarchy. If you don't succeed at your top journal, then go on to the next. Go for quantity and quality of your research, there's always the next paper.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Can you appeal to the editor? Of course, but it is a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_pass\" rel=\"nofollow\">\"Hail Mary\"</a> pass. You're telling the editor that he or she has a problem (the process that led to the non-acceptance of your work) and that a fix is needed. No one welcomes or appreciates that kind of request and the tendency is to dismiss the biased complainant (you), unless the problem is egregious. </p>\n\n<p>Remember that you also don't necessarily want to start your relationship with the journal's editor as a complainer. </p>\n\n<p>As an alternate course of action, why not try the next journal down on your list? You'll be bringing that editor a great paper and perhaps other research in the future will cite your work in journal #2. (Thus demonstrating over time that your paper was truly high quality.)</p>\n\n<p>With your next project, not only may you be accepted at journal #1, perhaps you'll be asked to be the guest editor someday.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30206",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23077/"
] |
30,210 |
<p>I would like to know whether to escalate the issue when my masters thesis advisor is very careless, disorganized and does not provide anything useful to me.</p>
<p>I have started with him around 9 months ago. Following <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27779/i-found-out-my-masters-thesis-topic-has-already-been-done-exactly-and-my-adv">some disappointment over his choice of research topic</a>, I have worked very hard, and now, after 9 months of my research, I am almost done.</p>
<p>However, my advisor is very unresponsive to me:</p>
<ul>
<li>I have sent him tons of emails with no responses. </li>
<li>I have requested to meet him more than 15 times and I was only able to see him 3 times. However, he has confirmed most of these appointments and I ended by wasting my time waiting him in front of his office for 30 -60 minutes before I got the same exact answer every time (I have emergency case sorry)</li>
<li>Last week I was able to meet with him, and he did not remember the topic or when I have to defend my thesis. (I have sent him more than 10 drafts of my work during the last 9 months.)</li>
<li>Now, he promised to review my work and give me his feedback by end of Saturday. today is Sunday and I still did not hear from him.</li>
</ul>
<p>Is it better to escalate the case? Or live with it for the time being and wait for my thesis result? </p>
<p>If I try to escalate later, will they ask me, why you did not speak before, it is too late now?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30239,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think you should find a new advisor. You should definitely discuss the situation with an appropriate faculty member, perhaps the one in charge of the master's program, so that nobody will think you were not proactive in solving your problems. </p>\n\n<p>The word \"escalate\" is vague and negative. Don't use it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 163960,
"author": "Hugo van den Berg",
"author_id": 136354,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/136354",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Escalation usually works out badly for the person lowest in the hierarchy.</p>\n<p>(That feels like <em>such</em> a truism but apparently it bears repeating.)</p>\n<p>Your department should have an academic tutor with whom you should consult. Some departments have a "no fault" policy where students are allowed to switch supervisors, quietly. However, there are students who do not do any work until the very last week when it finally dawns on them that it was all the supervisor's fault. To guard against this, there is often a point of no return. After x weeks, you have to make it work with the supervisor you have got.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30210",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21228/"
] |
30,211 |
<p>I see some offers on the Chronicle jobs website (such as <a href="https://chroniclevitae.com/jobs/0000852185-01">this one from UC San Diego</a>) for non-tenure-track assistant professor positions.</p>
<p>Is the work of a non-tenure-track assistant professor exactly the same as the work of a tenure-track assistant professor, e.g. in terms of teaching/research ratio?</p>
<p>Also, would taking on a position of this type be more, less or equally helpful compared to, say, taking up another postdoc, for someone that would later want to apply to a tenure-track position?</p>
<p>Forgive me if this question does not make sense to you, but I have taken the impression from some sources that whatever professional decision one takes that is slightly outside the "normal" progression of an academic career can be harmful.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30213,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The most important point is that jobs vary significantly by discipline. If you are in the field of Cognitive Science, or in a related field, you are in a better position to know what a job ad in that area is actually looking for. Unfortunately, the job ad linked in the question is written in a way to make it hard for those outside the area to know what it wants - it does not directly say whether they are looking for research or teaching. There is no way to tell without asking what the teaching/research ratio would be. </p>\n\n<p>In general, there are two common uses of non-tenure-track \"Assistant Professor\" positions in the U.S.:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Postdoctoral positions. These are not usually considered \"harmful\" to your career. In many fields they are a standard part of the academic job progression.</p></li>\n<li><p>Teaching-oriented positions for which the candidate has a PhD. These may be full-time positions (as in the linked ad) or part-time. </p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The second type of position could be helpful, or harmful, depending on what sort of tenure-track position you are looking for. You have already narrowed down the type of institution where you would like to have a tenure-track position, and started honing your CV to be a perfect fit for that type of school, right? </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>If your type of school is an elite research school, then another postdoc seems more likely to be helpful than a teaching position. This is the type of school where leaving the standard progression is most likely to be harmful to tenure-track chances. If you are a likely candidate for this type of position, you probably know it already. </p></li>\n<li><p>If you are looking at non-elite public universities, which have more of a balance between research and teaching, a single non-tenure-track teaching assistant professorship is not a mark of certain doom for your tenure track hopes. You can use the job to hone your teaching, move your research forward a little, and you can use the time to apply for tenure track jobs. </p></li>\n<li><p>If you are looking at teaching-first institutions, or at community colleges, then you need to make sure you have excellent teaching credentials. You might be able to use a teaching-oriented term position as a way to do that. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, because of the excess of candidates relative to the number of tenure-track positions in many (most?) fields, and because the number of tenure-track jobs is not increasing, many academics work multiple term positions in a row. This is especially common in the humanities, and it can be \"harmful\" for tenure track hopes, unfortunately. I was fortunate to find a tenure-track position, so I can't speak too much to how to handle the situation of multiple term teaching positions, but you can find a lot of discussion about it on the web. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30216,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Actually, in this specific case I think it may just be a mistake in the ad.</p>\n\n<p>The application page linked from the Chronicle ad just describes the position as \"Assistant Professor\" and doesn't say anything about tenure one way or the other. Certainly the default for an assistant professor position would be that it is tenure track.</p>\n\n<p>Also, I attended UC San Diego as a grad student (in a different department) and don't ever remember hearing about any non-tenure-track assistant professors. Full-time teaching-oriented faculty at UCSD have the title \"Lecturer\".</p>\n\n<p>So I think there's a good chance that these are ordinary tenure-track assistant professor positions, and that someone just clicked the wrong box when submitting the Chronicle ad. </p>\n\n<p>I would suggest getting in touch with the department for clarification.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30218,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>After reading the advertisement, my opinion is that this is most likely an error in posting the advertisement, and that these actually are tenure track positions. </p>\n\n<p>There are at least three situations in the US where I commonly see non tenure-track assistant professor positions:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Limited duration \"Visiting Assistant Professor\" positions. Here the candidate will be expected to cover the teaching load of a regular faculty member, typically because the regular faculty member is away on sabbatical leave or on an administrative appointment or unavailable due to health problems. It's not uncommon for such a position to exist for a year while a department searches for a permanent tenure track replacement. </p></li>\n<li><p>Permanent or limited duration \"Research Assistant Professor\" positions, typically funded by grants. Here the candidate will be expected to perform research and bring in the grants to support their salary but won't have a regular teaching load.</p></li>\n<li><p>Permanent \"Clinical Assistant Professor\" positions. These are full time teaching positions with no possibility of tenure. A similar title often used is \"instructor.\" </p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The advertisement linked to by the original poster doesn't seem to fit into any of these categories, which is why I believe that the \"non tenure track\" on the listing is simply in error. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30236,
"author": "Andreas Blass",
"author_id": 14506,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14506",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my department, postdoctoral appointments, usually for a 3-year, non-renewable term (and thus definitely not tenure-track), carry the title of assistant professor. Postdocs are listed on the department web page as \"Post-Doc Assistant Professor\" but in the university directory simply as \"Assistant Professor of Mathematics\" (with no indication that they are not on tenure-track).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30211",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7788/"
] |
30,228 |
<p>I have a little computer science background. In one of my statistic courses we did significant data analysis with SAS and R coding. I'm getting this professor to write a LOR for me. He wants me to draft the LOR for him.</p>
<p>How should I write this letter so I don't come across as someone who confuses computer science with coding?</p>
<p>In other words, I want to convey how this course makes me a good candidate for a computer science graduate program.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30247,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let's ask the right question first.</p>\n\n<p>Do you think this is a situation where <em>you</em> should know, and know, what the application committee at the target program wants to hear, or where your <em>professor</em> should know these things? If the latter, then you're in a very difficult situation. My personal recommendation would be to discuss the matter frankly with the professor, and try to develop a constructive understanding. If the professor says something like:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>yes you should emphasize X Y and not Z, all of which I would give you glowing praise for, and I'll make sure the committee is receptive to it. I just don't have a lot of time and want you to help out a bit, so thank you for asking since that saves me time too.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>then you are in very good shape.</p>\n\n<p>If you don't know, and they don't know, then you need to find another writer.</p>\n\n<p>Now, asking your original question is actually off topic here (although I think why it is off topic and what to do about it is very on-topic... nevermind the meta). You <em>cannot</em> answer this question without domain-specific knowledge. It would need to be answered, basically, by someone who has done admissions work at a CS graduate program. Not a physics graduate program nor a biology graduate program. Furthermore it will probably depend on the nature of your target school. Some schools are engineering focused (and programming ability may be more important if not a sign of brilliance) and some schools are theory focused (and programming is a necessary nuisance). This is why I'm emphasizing that it's more important for you to use more general resourcefulness to solve this question, as it's far more specific and situational than you may realize.</p>\n\n<p>In particular, <strong>ask this question to your rec letter writer.</strong></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31942,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let us put aside the question of you vs. your letter writer, because the same question could apply to your statement of purpose.</p>\n\n<p>The notion of \"programming ability\" per se is a bit of a red herring. The problem is: how do you actually measure what a \"good\" programmer is? The only meaningful answer that I know of is to illustrate what somebody has accomplished that required programming. Any other assertion of programming ability, I regard as a red flag. In fact, one of my litmus tests for whether somebody is a good programmer is to ask what languages they know: if they can readily and simply answer the question, they probably aren't a good programmer (the logic behind this: getting significant things done with software tends to, over time, involve being forced to deal with lots of random types of code in order to get things done).</p>\n\n<p>Thus, I would recommend you instead focus on emphasizing <em>what you have accomplished using programming.</em> This way, you will show not just \"programming ability\" but also personal organization, ability to accomplish difficult and complex tasks, ability to think in a computer science manner about problems, and other such qualities that actually matter a lot more for demonstrating your potential in a program. If you did a cool and complex project in the class, that is what you should be talking about, with SAS and R being mentioned in passing as the tools you used. If all you did was problem sets, well, I would have a hard time seeing how this could be a strong LOR in the first place.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30228",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23099/"
] |
30,230 |
<p>In my PhD studies I have <strong>slipped off my original track of research</strong>. This was also caused by the fact that I found out that my work can be generalized to a broader scope. It is not so bad, during this detour I did a lot of work.</p>
<p>But then I tried to get back to my original subject and did a lot of work there too. So now after 3 years of studying, I have several papers and a lot of data <strong>for both tracks</strong>. I don't think that the results in any one of these tracks are sufficient to graduate, but together they are.</p>
<p>Should I:</p>
<ol>
<li>try to find a <strong>unifying</strong> theme and try to make my thesis seem unified on the outside, or </li>
<li>should I transparently say that my thesis is about these <strong>two subjects</strong>?</li>
</ol>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30231,
"author": "Danny W.",
"author_id": 21704,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21704",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This really appears to be about titling your thesis (and maybe writing the introduction). The question, then, I guess, is: who is going the read your thesis and title? Do you want to have a highly descriptive title (Description of topic 1 & description of topic 2), or could you just say (Vague title that sums up both, broadly). In general, I'm not sure if one is objectively better than the other - the audience matters. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30240,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should consult with your advisor. Seriously, this should be very obvious to you.</p>\n\n<p>Your advisor is very (solely, perhaps) responsible for the development of your research into a defendable thesis topic. I'm sure that whether this is \"usual\" highly depends on the idiosyncrasies of your field, but even <em>that's</em> not relevant: from the standpoint of completing your thesis, all that matters is the idiosyncrasies of your advisor with the thesis committee.</p>\n\n<p>I really do hope that your advisor has been signing off on your research to the point of assuring you that these two research tracks together can constitute a defendable thesis, unless I'm misunderstanding and this has been a fairly recent and serendipitous development in your work, in which case \"ASAP\" would be the best time to introduce this question to your advisor, because you <em>may</em> be wasting time.</p>\n\n<p>Your question may be just about titling or packaging your research - that has been supported by your advisor to the ends of completing your Ph.D. - in which case that's a more docile problem (that I cannot answer). I would recommend posting a new question focusing solely on that or amending this question, if that is the case (IMO new question is better since amending it would change the content of this Q/A thread so much).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30241,
"author": "Tommy",
"author_id": 23107,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23107",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Option 1. At least in computer science, it happens often (but not always) that someone works on several somewhat disjoint but somewhat related problems. It's all about the glue and the story; if you can sell the cohesiveness of the thesis in the abstract and introduction, you're golden. Be upfront about the fact that there may be some disjoint problems, but try to find and highlight the unifying themes. </p>\n\n<p>Here's a quote my advisor always tells us which has relevance to this: \"all wells, when dug deep enough, lead to the same water source.\"</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30230",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14651/"
] |
30,233 |
<p>I am just finishing my computer science PhD. It has five research chapters. The first four pose many research questions and answers all of them; they are complete in this sense. </p>
<p>The fifth chapter is a bit odd. We have just launched a three-year field trial of vehicles. I was responsible for many of the field trial design parameters: Who are the participants, how do we measure and gather data, how do we transmit data, what hardware/software do we need, etc.? Most of the chapter is methodology-focused and talks about all of these design decisions and how we made them. However, I am graduating (my defense is in a few weeks), and many of the interesting research results of this trial won't be available for months/years after a significant amount of data is collected. </p>
<p>So my question is, is it odd to have a chapter of the following form? “Here are a bunch of really interesting research questions, and here is how I helped design a trial to answer them, but that said, I do not present all the answers here because they are not known yet.”</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30234,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your dissertation is not supposed to solve all the world's problems. Presumably your chair and committee have been following your work and will understand why there are unanswered questions. Your own question tells us you've described how the remaining questions will be answered as the experiment progresses.</p>\n\n<p>With that said, the best advice I can give you is <em>ask your committee chair.</em> It is your chair's job to guide you to a successful defense. Your chair can guide you on how to present research that no one expected to be complete.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30237,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The posing of \"open\" questions is quite common in doctoral dissertations, usually in the final \"conclusions and outlook\" section.</p>\n\n<p>However, your situation is a bit different, in that you have an actual project that is designed to address these questions, but the study is too long for you to wait to include the results in your PhD thesis. Given this, I would basically do what you've said: introduce the basics of the case study you've designed, what it's designed to do, and so on. You just won't be able to present the <em>actual</em> results of the experiments. If this is clearly communicated to your committee by both you and your advisor, then this shouldn't be a major problem. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30233",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23107/"
] |
30,245 |
<p>When I was a freshman in the university, I was a member of my university Olympiad team to compete on the Student Physics Olympiad. And I failed to get a single medal. Although the results weren't good, the fact that I had a chance to go to the competition is one of my competitive points. How can I write that down on my CV?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30248,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Firstly, you did not 'fail' - you were part of a team and competed - so congratulations on that.</p>\n\n<p>Secondly, it can't hurt to include an entry in you CV under a heading like 'Other Achievements', something along the lines of:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>(Year), Competed as part of (Team) for the Student Physics Olympiad.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you have space, briefly describe positive aspects of your participation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30249,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>the fact that I had a chance to go to the competition is one of my competitive points. How can I write that down on my CV?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You almost wrote down exactly what you need.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>was selected to go to SPO, [<em>...which is an accomplishment why?</em>] an extremely selective program admitting only [top X% of, Y hundred, etc.] physics students nationwide</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>And it's always fine to say \"placed in the top 1/2 of students\" if true. Just from a resume writing standpoint anything worse than top 1/2 wouldn't add value to include.</p>\n\n<p>As an aside, you are completely right that this is huge lauds. In high school I placed #8 in a similar state-wide competition. What if the top 10 were invited for an even <em>more</em> competitive competition and I came darn near in last? Don't fall for the Russian doll effect which more or less just tells you you're not #1 in the world (...but even the best undergraduate programs admit more than one physics student!) Obviously the admission would be an accomplishment.</p>\n\n<p>Quantification <em>is</em> important. Numbers are best for a corporate resume, but perhaps just establishing the prestige of SPO is sufficient. Check their website for info on how prestigious it is to participate. Perhaps they have recognition from the U.S. President or something - whatever it is they'll be sure to brag about it somewhere. If the reviewer does not know of SPO, they will have no way to tell this isn't just an email list with 30 students submitting problems and answers with a leader board.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 77255,
"author": "Ian",
"author_id": 9902,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9902",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When you go to an interview, the interviewees often read your CV beforehand looking for subjects they can talk to you about. They are often very interested in anything that will let them explore how good your are at team work etc.</p>\n\n<p>So yes you should list it, but be ready to give positive answers to questions about it, what you learned, and how you help your other team members etc. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30245",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14341/"
] |
30,252 |
<p>If someone scores quite high on the GRE, how and where would they list it? Or would they even list it at all?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30538,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A C.V. should list everything that is significant in your accomplishments at your stage of career. Before you get into grad school, a good GRE score may be significant. After you're in, not so much.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32198,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Copying my comment: </p>\n\n<p>I don't think you should. I can't recall ever seeing test scores listed on a CV. Nobody really cares about GRE scores except graduate admissions committees, and they get the scores straight from ETS anyway. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30252",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7134/"
] |
30,254 |
<p>I have a feeling this question has been posted before, but I wanted to ask as my situation is slightly different. I've recently decided to leave my PhD program in the social sciences in order to look for work. I've basically come to the conclusion after completing 3 full years, courses, and fieldwork that I don't want to be an academic but would rather put my skills to use with NGOs, non-profits, or the public sector. In many ways, the last hurdle of the PhD (i.e. writing the dissertation) seemed more like a barrier to what I wanted to do, rather than something that would bring me closer to it. I left because I wanted to go in a new direction, not because I wasn't sure that I was capable of finishing. </p>
<p>Anyways, my main concern right now is how to present this discrepancy on my resume. As I've been a TA and doing research projects since getting my MA, I've decided to list my years as a TA, and the rest under the position of "Researcher." I figure that the situation is a little too complex to really explain in a resume or cover letter, and that most employers will be able to read between the lines that I was probably in a PhD program. I've basically been marketing myself on my resumes/cover letters as a "researcher" with lots of research projects under my belt, without specifically stating under the "education" section that I have a partially finished PhD. My motivation behind the "researcher" title is that during my graduate studies I designed, proposed and carried out individual research on a number of projects. </p>
<p>I guess I should qualify this by mentioning that my PhD studies were in the social sciences, and there seems to be a bit more leeway in terms of describing what we do. All of my dissertation research was funded by a fellowship, and all of my various other research projects (where I wasn't principal investigator) were the result of competitions funded by grants. I have always designed my own research projects, which is why I didn't think it was a bad idea to go with "researcher", and my references could verify that.</p>
<p>It looks like this title would be a little confusing given the circumstances, so I think I'm going to use "Graduate Student Researcher", "PhD Researcher" or something similar in the future. I guess this seems like it gives a more accurate representation of what kinds of things I was doing.
I figure that the 4 years of MA/PhD work on research projects gives me (and any other former graduate student) skills that are valid to most employers. I just want to be able to address this discrepancy honestly and enthusiastically in an interview, rather than clumsily addressing it in a cover letter/resume. What do you guys think? Is this the right strategy to take? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30255,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it is a really bad idea to list your time as a grad student as \"Researcher\".</p>\n\n<p>As a general rule, it's usually considered unwise to make up stuff on a resume, and this includes job titles. I think the only title that really fits your status is \"PhD Student\" or \"PhD Candidate\" (or, if you want to focus on the job, \"Teaching Assistant\" or \"Graduate Research Assistant\" or the like - whatever was on your pay stub).</p>\n\n<p>The title of \"Researcher\" would normally be attached to a full-time (non-student!) staff position, generally someone who works on a research project led by a faculty member. Although the duties may be somewhat similar, the hiring process and level of responsibility could be rather different, so it is really a misrepresentation for you to claim this title.</p>\n\n<p>Suppose a prospective employer calls your university, checking references, and asks \"Was Unsure a Researcher at your institution during the following dates?\" The university is going to answer \"No, he/she was a grad student\" (or even worse, maybe just \"No\"). Then the employer tosses your application in the trash because your resume is inaccurate (or as they might say, \"falsified\"). And if they don't check and you get the job anyway, but they find out later, they could easily consider your application was fraudulent - that gets you fired for sure, and is possibly career ending.</p>\n\n<p>If you think employers are going to figure out anyway that you were in a PhD program, why not just go ahead and put \"PhD Candidate\" on the resume?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30280,
"author": "mhwombat",
"author_id": 10529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10529",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If I understand your question correctly, you've decided to look for a position where a PhD is not a requirement. In that case, there really is no reason to try to hide or \"spin\" the fact that you were a PhD student. The world is full of people who left a PhD program for one reason or another. The fact that you were in a PhD programme, even if you decided not to complete it, will probably be a \"plus\" on your resume, or at least not a negative.</p>\n\n<p>I suggest you <em>briefly</em> explain your situation in a cover letter/email. Rather than focussing on why you left the PhD, phrase it in terms of what you decided to do <em>instead</em>. For example, \"I've decided to leave my PhD because I want to put my skills to use as soon as possible with NGOs, non-profits, or the public sector\".</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30254",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
30,262 |
<p>I am enrolled in an on-line graduate course. The course is not available in the classroom format.</p>
<p>For the past few weeks, the instructor has ignored every question I sent him. I've asked for:</p>
<ul>
<li>help in understanding specific course content.</li>
<li>clarification on upcoming assignment instructions.</li>
<li>clarification on the problems in my papers.</li>
</ul>
<p>I used the recommended contact method described in the syllabus and all other tools on the course Web site, but he sent no replies to these.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30269,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The first two kinds of questions should be asked in the course's public discussion area so that the answers will benefit all students. Since you've used \"all the other tools\" in the course, perhaps you've done that.</p>\n\n<p>I suggest a concerned phone call to the department chair. If the professor is not present in the course at all, ask, \"Is Dr. X OK? He hasn't been in the course in several weeks.\" If he's around, but ignoring you, ask, \"Do you know whether I've somehow offended Dr. X? He hasn't answered any of my questions in several weeks.\"</p>\n\n<p>The point is to give the chair a chance to make corrections without having said anything like \"ignoring me.\" If it has already been several weeks, I'd suggest doing this very soon. Be as specific as possible about dates when the instructor stopped responding, how other work such as quizzes is handled, etc.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30275,
"author": "Alexander",
"author_id": 12974,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12974",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As far as I understand, your question is pointing into the completely wrong direction.</p>\n\n<p>Please reword your question to contain that:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>you didn't \"send him\" the questions, but posted them to an online board which is the official platform for that course.</li>\n<li>he didn't answer ANY question which was posted to that online board.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>This means it has nothing to do with your person, or the question content, at all. It is a more general problem.</p>\n\n<p>First, make sure that the \"instructor\" knows that there is an online forum where students can ask him questions. Maybe he doesn't. So, if you have other, more foolproof, means of contacting him: Do it. Be friendly. Ask him to have a look into that forum and answer the student's questions.</p>\n\n<p>With \"more foolproof\", I mean personal contact, telephone calls, instant messengers, publicized email addresses, or just send him a snailmail!</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30262",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
30,281 |
<p>There's a prospective graduate student visiting my adviser and I was asked if the student could come with me to an undergraduate class I'm taking at another college within the university. Is it acceptable for me to just show up to this class with the prospective student or should I email the professor and ask if the visitor can sit in? The class is lecture-based and doesn't require student discussion, relatively large (~40 students at both the undergrad and graduate level), but the professor will likely notice that the visitor isn't in the class.</p>
<p>Edit: I'm in the US and the prospective student and I are both from here, but the professor is from the Netherlands.</p>
<p>Update: I ended up emailing the professor three days in advance to make sure it was fine.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30283,
"author": "Tommy B",
"author_id": 23029,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23029",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>E-mail a few days in advance. </p>\n\n<p>Just showing up puts everyone on the spot, and could end poorly. It could also turn your visitor off. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30287,
"author": "Tuomo Lempiäinen",
"author_id": 6409,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6409",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I suspect the right answer to this question depends very much on the country you are studying in.</p>\n\n<p>To give one example, in Finland it is determined by law that all university lectures are public and free for anyone to attend. Nobody would notice an extra attendee, unless there were normally only a couple of students in the class. Emailing the professor would just seem odd.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30323,
"author": "Aaron Hall",
"author_id": 9518,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9518",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have taught a lot of small classes where I know most all of the students. </p>\n\n<p>I also host office hours for my local Python group in a conference room, where people are expected to come and go at will, and new faces show up all the time. </p>\n\n<p>In the former case, a new student showing up out of nowhere would have definitely raised my eyebrows, and an email in advance would have been sufficient warning to avoid any awkwardness. But in either situation, I would greet the new face warmly and welcome them. </p>\n\n<p>Some schools may have more restrictions on access than others, and what you mostly want to ensure is that your guest has permission to be on campus, usually registering their presence at a visitor center before going elsewhere.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30281",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21458/"
] |
30,293 |
<p>I am about to finish a PhD in computer science and am on the job market. I'm mostly interested in small liberal arts schools, and have been working on application materials directed towards SLACs for the last month or so. </p>
<p>Almost every search committee wants a teaching statement, a research statement, and a cover letter and I've found plenty of resources for writing and honing these documents. </p>
<p>However, one position wants a teaching statement, a cover letter, and a description of professional interest. What is a description of professional interest? I cannot find any information as to what this document should contain, how long it should be, etc. And I haven't seen any other positions that ask for it. Is it just my research statement? Or is it an expanded version of the cover letter?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30565,
"author": "user23312",
"author_id": 23312,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23312",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I ran into the same, I was assuming it was a research statement, but as this school is mainly focused on teaching I am not 100% confident. I feel that it is the research statement but more focused on how it can support teaching as a whole......maybe.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34760,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It's legitimate to contact the school and ask how they define that term, you know. There's nothing wrong with admitting that you haven't run into this particular phrase before, or that you're concerned that their definition might not be exactly the one you're familiar with.</p>\n\n<p>\"Better to ask and have them suspect you're a fool, than to assume and remove all doubt.\"</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30293",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20231/"
] |
30,296 |
<p>I am looking for some sort of website that shows/illustrates current research strides across several academic fields. It would be pretty cool if this existed as a interactive interface like google maps (e.g. one could click and drag into different research areas and zoom in and see which problems are getting solved). The interactive part seems unrealistic, but I would at least like to be able to see a list of topics (perhaps a word-cloud of recent research papers per academic field would be okay) per academic field.</p>
<p>Can anyone show me something similar to what I am looking for?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30300,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In principle, <a href=\"http://academic.research.microsoft.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">Microsoft academic search</a> seems to fit your question. They have a list of research fields on the start page. You can then browse these fields by for example authors, keywords, or organizations, and find articles related to specific keywords. You can even interactively browse a coauthorship graph or citation graph.</p>\n\n<p>Unfortunately, the database seems a bit outdated in parts. In my field, it seem's they didn't index any publications after 2012.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30310,
"author": "Compass",
"author_id": 22013,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22013",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would not normally say Reddit is a good tool, and may get downvoted for suggesting such a maddening thing, but <a href=\"http://www.reddit.com/r/science/\" rel=\"nofollow\">/r/science</a> aka The Reddit Journal of Science provides a surprisingly high-level view of science research that is considered interesting, while also fitting your requirement that it splits information by field (the entire right side is dedicated to individual fields).</p>\n\n<p>For example, these are some of the <a href=\"http://www.reddit.com/r/science/top/?sort=top&t=month\" rel=\"nofollow\">top articles from the past month</a>.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Environment: NASA now says vast methane cloud over US southwest is for real</li>\n<li>Social Sciences: The secret to raising well behaved teens? Maximise their sleep: While paediatricians warn sleep deprivation can stack the deck against teenagers, a new study reveals youth’s irritability and laziness aren’t down to attitude problems but lack of sleep </li>\n<li>Health: Gut microbe found in people with eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia). Experiments show it produces a human hormone mimic that affects feeling of satisfaction, energy use, and mood. The severity of eating disorder symptoms is positively correlated with immune reaction to the mimic.</li>\n<li>Neuroscience: Scientists have found “hidden” brain activity that can indicate if a vegetative patient is aware</li>\n<li>Physics: Researchers have developed a new method for harvesting the energy carried by particles known as ‘dark’ spin-triplet excitons with close to 100% efficiency, clearing the way for hybrid solar cells which could far surpass current efficiency limits.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Obviously, you'll still have to do work of digging through potential garbage or low-quality sources and fact-checking. If it holds water, then you can dive into the related literature. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30374,
"author": "just-learning",
"author_id": 10483,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10483",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While not necessarily interdisciplinary, <a href=\"http://archive.sciencewatch.com/dr/erf/\" rel=\"nofollow\">emerging research fronts</a> from Thompson Reuters (the one of the Web of Knowledge) could be helpful. E.g. <a href=\"http://sciencewatch.com/sites/sw/files/sw-article/media/research-fronts-2013.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a> is a PDF with list of 2013 research fronts. The idea is basically taht they keep track of the paper that are highly cited and keep gaining new citations faster than usual. I guess one should be able to filter (unfortunately probably by hand only) the ERFs that are multi- (or inter-) disciplinary in nature. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30296",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7450/"
] |
30,301 |
<p>I would like to share under a Creative Commons license some course material (slides) I created. However, I used (abused?) of duly cited non-cc sources such as books etc. to prepare the course material. </p>
<p>Does using copyrighted material to prepare a course prevent to distribute the slides and source under a CC license? What would be the best way to deal with such a situation, which I believe is quite common in academia? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30307,
"author": "dionys",
"author_id": 22520,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22520",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The copyrighted material must be omitted or replaced in your course material before you can <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/27557/how-to-publish-under-a-creative-commons-license\">release</a> it under a <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Creative Commons</a> license, except in cases where you have express permission to distribute the copyrighted work. In many cases, it is not especially difficult to get permission for this kind of use, just send a letter to the copyright holder. Most publisher's are willing to grant permission for limited use and distribution.</p>\n\n<p>The materials distributed for <a href=\"http://ocw.mit.edu/terms/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">MIT OpenCourseWare</a> are distributed with a CC license and are full of examples of both use cases (use with permission, and omission of copyrighted material).</p>\n\n<p>I am not certain, but it may be that your use (release under CC) of copyrighted material with permission could change the licensing status of the included material depending on how it's incorporated in your work.</p>\n\n<p>It's also worth noting that CC licenses cannot be revoked. Thus, if you release your course material under a particular CC license, others will always have the right to use your slides under that license.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30308,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I copied 1 or 2 figures verbatim (with proper citation) from statistics books. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You cannot release these figures under a CC license. Even if we assume that you have the right to use them in this case, for example under fair use, you don't have the right to authorize others to use them in potentially very different ways.</p>\n\n<p>However, you can easily get around this by excluding the figures from the CC license that applies to the rest of the slides. See, for example, <a href=\"http://blogs.library.duke.edu/scholcomm/2014/09/25/fair-use-open-access-incompatible/\">this blog post</a> for further discussion of this issue.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In some parts, I followed (and cited) the content/organisation of the class textbook quite heavily (not copied though).</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is a trickier issue. The fundamental question is whether your slides could be considered a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derivative_work\">derivative work</a> of the class textbook. If so, then they are themselves a copyright violation if done without permission. If not, then I think you're OK.</p>\n\n<p>I'm not a lawyer and do not know how to draw a clear line for what constitutes a derivative work. My understanding is that summarizing or explaining another work is not necessarily a derivative work, but for comparison an \"abridgment\" or \"condensation\" is a derivative work (under U.S. law, at least). Where your slides fall on this continuum presumably depends on exactly what you did. As a non-expert, I'd guess that you're fine unless you followed the book rather closely, but you should consult with an expert about the details of your situation if it really matters.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30301",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23157/"
] |
30,306 |
<p>I think much research would not be very successful if the subjects knew the purpose of the research. When researchers gather human subjects for a trial, can they provide the subjects with misleading information about the purpose of the trial?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30309,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><a href=\"http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx?item=11\">Standard 8: Research and Publication</a> of the \"Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct\" of the American Psychological Association pertains. Specifically:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>8.07 Deception in Research</strong></p>\n \n <p>(a) Psychologists do not conduct a study involving deception unless they have determined that the use of\n deceptive techniques is justified by the study's significant\n prospective scientific, educational or applied value and that\n effective nondeceptive alternative procedures are not feasible.</p>\n \n <p>(b) Psychologists do not deceive prospective participants about\n research that is reasonably expected to cause physical pain or severe\n emotional distress.</p>\n \n <p>(c) Psychologists explain any deception that is an integral feature of\n the design and conduct of an experiment to participants as early as is\n feasible, preferably at the conclusion of their participation, but no\n later than at the conclusion of the data collection, and permit\n participants to withdraw their data. (See also <a href=\"http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx?item=11#808\">Standard 8.08,\n Debriefing</a>.)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Whether or not a planned study satisfies these requirements is for the Institutional Review Board to decide, which must review every proposed study before it starts.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30388,
"author": "Neil Strickland",
"author_id": 23196,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23196",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I recently participated as a volunteer subject in a psychological experiment, where it turned out that the experimenter had deceived me about the main purpose. At the end of the experiment, she told me about the deception, and offered to show me the paperwork from the ethical review board that had approved it. This was in the UK, and I presume that it was all in accordance with the standard UK rules. For me the experience was quite interesting, but it could have been upsetting for people with a particular (and uncommon) set of life experiences. However, it seemed clear that that kind of issue had been carefully considered by the review board.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30306",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
30,320 |
<p>Is it OK to include a personal note telling intention of hard-work on the topic, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>e.g. I am looking forward to work on this problem</p>
</blockquote>
<p>in the Conclusion slide of a presentation related to possible research topic in the future?</p>
<p>I believe the Conclusion slide is used to collect the scientific conclusions about the work in the end of the presentation as a takeaway message, how would such a statement stand in the end?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30321,
"author": "Compass",
"author_id": 22013,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22013",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I think that writing on the presentation that you'll be looking forward to doing something is somewhat out of place.</p>\n\n<p>In addition, it appears that you may be confusing two separate definitions of <code>conclusion</code>. </p>\n\n<p>The first is the scientific conclusion, which you have defined. This is, as you've described, the takeaway message from scientific research, i.e. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>This research shows us that potatoes are actually tasty.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The second is a presentation's conclusion. This can be the scientific conclusion in a presentation about an actual study. However, you're referring to a proposal, which has no conclusion, or perhaps to a slide mentioning future possible research topics.</p>\n\n<p>In this case, your conclusion should be a summary of what you've covered during your presentation, preferably onto one slide, i.e.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Conclusion <br/>\n - This research will establish whether or not potatoes are tasty<br/>\n - Important to humanity as it helps determine whether or not further investment into discovery of potato recipes are practical<br/>\n - Funding this project will be cheap as potatoes are grown a lot already<br/></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Then, when you present your situation, you can mention <code>I look forward to performing this research with your support.</code> and it flows cleanly.</p>\n\n<p>If I've interpreted anything incorrectly regarding your situation, OP, let me know.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30325,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While it's generally OK to add a personal thought, it's important to be careful with what sort message you add at the end of a talk. What do you want the audience to get from this extra message, and will it conflict with the rest of the talk?</p>\n\n<p>Some examples I've seen that worked:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>A mention of how the science links to some sort of outreach or broader impact goals that personally motivate you.</p></li>\n<li><p>A cute / funny vaguely related image that lets you end on a light note, e.g., the speaker's child interacting with a robot at the end of a robotics talk.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Some examples I've seen that didn't work:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>A declaration that all of this work was in service of the higher glory of Christ (caused a rather awkward silence in the highly diverse and international audience)</p></li>\n<li><p>Not actually stopping, but just rambling about unrelated things until the session chair actually physically shut off the projector.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Something bland like, \"I'm looking forward to working on this project\" is so normal and unexceptional that the audience may not even notice that you said it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30320",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9401/"
] |
30,322 |
<p>I'm a CS master student in a German university currently writing my thesis. Three months ago I saw an advert from a PhD student in the group where I'm doing my thesis asking for a student assistant (HiWi) to work on a programming project. I went and said I'm interested in the job but specified I can only work 5 hours a week since I must work on my thesis. It was agreed saying "I don't care how much time you will take to finish it".</p>
<p>Since I'm writing my thesis and was about to finish when asked: "how long are you staying here" and I said that I don't know yet and asked why; the reply was "because now I'm concerned that you might leave me if you finish soon" and I mentioned that I will stay to do my PhD.</p>
<p>So I started working. After the first week I noticed that the Phd student is actually quite weird. Once I mentioned that I'm going to use framework "X" for a particular part of the project, and was told: "No I want you to use framework Y, because <strong>what if you die</strong> then I have to continue doing the project". I didn't like how it was said, but I considered it a joke. Then the weird stuff continued. I won't mention them because it will take too long.</p>
<p>Because of administrative issues they couldn't start my contract for two months, so I worked two months for free. It was said that for the coming months they will put more hours in my contract and I can skip some weeks without working so I can make up for the two months.</p>
<p>However the most annoying thing happened 4 weeks ago. I was told that we need the project done earlier than thought (never mentioned any deadline previously). Then I thought OK I will work twice the time (10 hours a week) for two weeks and then once I finish the main functionalities in the project I will ask to skip two weeks so I can make up and work on my thesis.</p>
<p>Surprisingly after those two hard weeks I was told that the project is wanted done by the end of next week! I said that I was already working overtime and was replied "I don't care I just want it to be done by the end of next week because I have a workshop and I need to present it"! </p>
<p>That was the time I made the decision to quit since it was known very well that I can't do this because I have to work on my thesis, also because of the Phd student's weird behavior. However after receiving the shock I decided that it's not professional to quit at this stage since there is a deadline for the workshop. Also I finished 60% of the project and we made the deal to finish only until 70% for the deadline.</p>
<p>However I want to quit after the deadline but I have the following concerns:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The atmosphere in our work group is very familial. I have lunch with all PhDs and postdocs and jokes and everything. I'm now concerned that quitting would make the atmosphere negative between us.</p></li>
<li><p>Whenever I think about quitting I remember when I was asked about how long I will stay because of the worry that I might leave, to somehow not to screw up things. It's the main concern since the project will be 70% done and hiring a new student would be painful since they would have to read what I did and so on and will delay the project.</p></li>
<li><p>The professor is also concerned about this project and now I'm afraid that quitting this project at this stage would make my image look bad as a quitter. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>So how do you recommend me to quit this job?</p>
<p>Edit:</p>
<p>One way I thought of quitting is to go after the deadline and say that I won't work for 2 weeks because I need to work on my thesis. Now if told that I can't do that, then I will tell say "then I'm probably not a good fit for the requirement of this project and I don't want to be an obstacle for its progress. I think it's a good idea to find someone who is a better fit". Then I will pray that the response is "Yes you are right". The issue is that we have a lack of student assistants so he might still want me to work under my conditions, but I don't want to continue working for them!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30326,
"author": "mhwombat",
"author_id": 10529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10529",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It sounds to me like you don't exactly need to <em>quit</em>. Remind him of the conditions under which you took the job, and ask him to stick to the agreement. If he can't do so because his requirements have changed, then that's his choice. You might say something like this:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>As you recall, when I accepted this job, it was under the condition\n that I would only work 5 hours per week so it wouldn't interfere with\n working on my thesis. Because of your workshop, I have been working\n far more time than we agreed. I'm concerned that you need more support\n than the 5 hours a week I am able to provide. What do you think?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Note that I said \"5 hours per week\" twice for emphasis. Give him a chance to respond. At this point, if he promises to stick to 5 hours per week in future, and allows you to take the next few weeks off to catch up on your thesis, then perhaps you might give him one more chance.</p>\n\n<p>However, if he indicates that he needs you to work more hours, or be available whenever he has deadlines, then you might say something like this:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Unfortunately, I can't work more than 5 hours per week, and it sounds\n like that just won't be enough. Perhaps the best way to solve this is\n turn the project over to someone else. I'll do what I can to ensure a\n smooth transition.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Instead of \"quitting\", you're working with him to solve <em>his</em> requirements. If it turns out that the only way to meet those requirements is for you to hand off the work to someone else, then that's his choice.</p>\n\n<p>As for the time you worked for free at the start of the contract, I think it is going to be difficult to get paid for that without burning bridges. Of course, you are entitled to be paid, and you could pursue that legally, but you may not want to. In future, remember never to work without a contract.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30342,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>German university students leave <em>HiWi</em> positions all the time; essentially all universities have forms that allow you to break a running contract (<em>Auflösung</em>) for essentially any reason that you so choose, given the requisite notice; typically this is one month before the new end date of the contract.</p>\n\n<p>Your situation is not that unusual, in that you're doing a HiWi in the same group that you're doing a master's thesis (and intend to do your PhD in). Since it's clear you aren't really don't want to do the HiWi work right now, you can mention, as you suggested, that you're worried about finishing your master's thesis on time and doing a good job with it. However, leaving this position in this manner means you won't be able to take another <em>HiWi</em> position within the group (although you might be able to accept something else in another chair).</p>\n\n<p>However, you shouldn't worry about quitting the position because of time constraints. This happens fairly frequently for lots of reasons. A good graduate student and research group will understand this and not be bothered by it. (If they <em>do</em> have a problem with it, then you should reconsider the wisdom of doing your PhD there!)</p>\n\n<p>[On a side note, though, it seems your PhD student supervisor had unreasonable expectations of the position and what you were supposed to do. Most of the issues are on his side—particularly since he agreed that you could work just five hours per week in the first place!]</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30470,
"author": "A.S",
"author_id": 22447,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22447",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Agreed with @Davidmh re: going to professor. Things to bring up: 1. Change in deadline conditions (you took the job under a condition of open deadline, which then changed to specific dates); 2. Change in hours (you took the job with a cap of 5hrs/wk, which then increased and began to interfere with your thesis work which should be your #1 priority as a student; 3. Change in project scope (e.g. frmwrk Y) If the grad student will feel that you went behind his back, let him know you felt the professor was best positioned to answer a funding-related question since he is the one ultimately paying.</p>\n\n<p>Also, be sure to mention to the professor the issue of working without pay (same as delayed pay) for 2 months. Make sure he is aware that YOU are aware of this and that you expect reimbursement in accordance with the contract. Be sure to remain calm, courteous, and overall professional in this discussion, and ground your arguments in principles (e.g. getting paid for work) and not people (e.g. the student not paying you on time). This will position you as someone who is in control of the negotiation and speaks from a more objective position of fairness rather than individual-specific nuances. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30322",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10497/"
] |
30,327 |
<p>I have contacted a professor, looking for a PhD position. He replied that my field is so near to his research field, and to consider my application; he needs to know more about my masters thesis.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I need to see your masters work.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>My thesis and most of my publications are in a non-English language. I have one English paper published in a nation-wide conference's proceedings, and this only presents no more than a quarter of my master's thesis.</p>
<p>How should I reply to this professor to better describe my master's work?</p>
<p>PS: I have a detailed CV in which I have brought all my transcripts of my BSc and MSc, translated titles of my publications and projects and all my job experience.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>UPDATE</strong>: I sent a copy of my English paper, my CV, my thesis abstract and some parts of my thesis besides to a research statement in which I wrote some research topics I am interested to work on.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30328,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think that you should send the professor your thesis, pointing out the obvious that it is not in English. Perhaps they actually know the language or have a trusted student or postdoc who does?</p>\n\n<p>You should also offer to send an English summary and/or any papers that you have written related to the subject in English.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30333,
"author": "afaust",
"author_id": 21371,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21371",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The reason he might be asking to see your thesis is to get familiar with what you did, and to evaluate the quality of your work. If all the application materials (your CV etc) have English titles, he might not realize that the thesis is in any other language. </p>\n\n<p>So, I would respond to him addressing what he needs, and not what he asked for literally. I would write an extended abstract (summary) of your thesis in English. I would send the following, the extended abstract, conference paper, and thesis. He can gain insight into all of your work from the thesis abstract you just wrote. Your conference paper evaluates your writing. And finally your thesis is sent just because maybe he understands the language. Even if he doesn't speak the language, the references, figures, tables, formulas etc. in the thesis should give him additional information about the content and quality of your work, especially in the context of your abstract.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 67133,
"author": "user330994",
"author_id": 52579,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/52579",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Don't second guess the request. You do not know his motivation. </p>\n\n<p>Do you respond promptly? Does he speak that language? Does the document actually exist? </p>\n\n<p>You obviously have command of the English language. Provide him a copy of the thesis in the original language, give him a synopsis in English. He/she will follow up as appropriate..</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30327",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723/"
] |
30,335 |
<p>After reading a comment (now deleted) saying</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My university's policies does not allow me to share my thesis PDF file completely.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I was wondering why some universities do not allow dissertations to be publicly available over the web? (by any means - free or through subscription)</p>
<p>This seems a fundamental right to the students (to share their dissertations) and to the community in general. </p>
<p>Thus, I thought I may get some inputs/examples, from different academic cultures, for possible reasons to not to have dissertations over the web (i.e. top secret?).</p>
<p><strong>Update</strong>: The user whose comment prompted this discussion mentioned in a comment on this thread:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I consulted one of the professors at my university and he told me there is no prohibition on sharing my thesis's PDF file. It was my own mis-understanding of the copyright statement on the copyright page.</p>
</blockquote>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30340,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As the one whose comment triggered this question, I figure I ought to answer: one of the foundational principles of science is that it should be freely and publicly available.</p>\n\n<p>At the same time, there are a lot of human interests that push in the opposite direction. Some examples:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>A nation may want to restrict high-technology in order to promote its own interests. For historical examples, consider the British empire's secrecy around timekeeping for navigation, or Bavarian secrecy on methods for making high quality optical glass.</p></li>\n<li><p>Information may be considered dangerous to release to the general public, such as regarding atomic weapons or the DNA sequences of deadly pathogens.</p></li>\n<li><p>Commercial companies invest in technology in order to gain advantage over their competitors.</p></li>\n<li><p>A scientist may want to avoid publishing patentable research until after the patent is filed.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>A lot of science that is done is thus never openly published, or openly published only long after it has been completed. The question then is, how should universities relate to this, particularly regarding dissertations?</p>\n\n<p>To the best of my knowledge, in all of the high-ranked U.S. universities, a Ph.D. dissertation is required to be entirely public, as a matter of scientific principle and integrity. This wasn't always the case, particularly during the convergence of scientific research and military funding around World War II. As the country became more uncomfortable with that association, however, the elite universities began to remove classified research from their campuses and require that theses be publishable. In many cases, classified research still goes on in association, but through a separate entity, such as Lincoln Lab for MIT, SRI for Stanford, and LBNL for Berkeley. Likewise, sensitivities have developed around commercial research.</p>\n\n<p>The general principle that is followed then, at least for elite U.S. universities, is that the research leading to a dissertation may involve unpublished or restricted information. The dissertation, however, must be public and substantial enough to stand on its own without depending on other non-public research that may have been done in association.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30362,
"author": "StackBuddy",
"author_id": 23187,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23187",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'ts done to protect sensitive materials. As a rule, dissertations were made openly available at the Harvard Archives. This changed a few years ago, when the deans, responding to doctoral students’ fears, allowed embargoes broadly. As a result, as a search in ProQuest reveals, an unprecedented number of dissertations (almost one in three) produced at Harvard in 2012 and 2013 are embargoed. These dissertations are now secret and the authors can decide how long to keep them so. <a href=\"http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/9/10/Harvard-dissertation-secret/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/9/10/Harvard-dissertation-secret/</a></p>\n\n<p>Just wanted to add, that many universities partner with corporate firms where the research is funded, so probably either the university hopes to apply for the patent or the firm.</p>\n\n<p>Colleges and universities own the ideas and technologies invented by the people who work for them, including professors and graduate students who are paid to do research </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/education/edlife/whoseidea-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0\" rel=\"nofollow\">Who Owns Your Great Idea?</a></p></li>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/11/22/university-patents-limit-access-to-medicine-these-students-want-to-change-that/\" rel=\"nofollow\">University patents limit access to medicine. These students want to change that.</a></p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30368,
"author": "user263485",
"author_id": 13131,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13131",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Based on most comments on the question, I know this answer may seems odd but at least it may elaborate more details on the <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30327/how-to-answer-a-professor-asking-what-your-masters-work-is-about-when-my-thes/30328#comment66482_30328\">comment</a>. As much this may be surprising, I was surprised when I saw online dissertations for the first time.</p>\n\n<p>Where I study, only the hard copy texts are available in the libraries and students can <strong>read</strong> them, but they can not make a copy of them. Students can write down some notes in a paper and only take that note out of the library. Also the time you can access the dissertations is limited.\nAs I have seen a lot, the copy right page where I live is something like this: <em>All rights reserved to the respective initiatives and innovations resulting from research studies subject of this thesis is owned by X University</em>. So the University <em>thinks</em> they are the ones who own the results not the student who generated them. </p>\n\n<p>With this in mind some reasons may be:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>You can easily copy the dissertation from another university and sell it in black market or foist it as your own work. The reason is dissertations is not available online is your adviser can't or won't bother to check every library in different universities or he/she has not enough information on your field. So, it would make it easy for the student to copy the results of others.</p></li>\n<li><p>Some dissertations may have some flaws or weak results. If they publish it online, it would compromise the fake reputation of the university. So it is in best interests to not publish it online. </p></li>\n<li><p>Sometimes, the student or adviser wants to publish the results in a journal but they have not decided when to do so. So they prefer to keep the results for themselves for the time being.</p></li>\n<li><p>Only published papers in journals and conferences would help the scientific degree of a teacher, so why bother to publish it online when it is non-English and it won't be cited by elite universities in US or Europe.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Keep this in mind that these are irrational response of some universities in order to solve their problems.</p>\n\n<p><strong>ADDED</strong>: </p>\n\n<p>Some universities have different opinion about ownership. For example:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>... I pledge not to publish the results of this thesis without permission of my adviser and I am not allowed to disclose any information regarding of my thesis with anyone without permission of my adviser.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>About the first point: I am saying it make it harder for students to plagiarize. It's like erasing the problem. If a student wants to plagiarize he/she will do it one way or another and of course as I can see, it hasn't helped both parties but it is an irrational response to this problem where I live.</p></li>\n<li><p>About the third and fourth points: Again I reference to manuscript of another university not a person.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>All the papers based on this thesis should have the name of X university.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So it is not just a decision of a person for his/her profits.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30444,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Diploma mills (fraudulent \"universities\") will refuse to disclose dissertations because the dissertations do not actually exist or are obviously inadequate.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30335",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532/"
] |
30,338 |
<p>I have finished my master's thesis and graduated from the university in which I used to study for my masters degree. Now I have two or three months free time and I am searching for a PhD position; in this period of time I want to work on research topic, I see two professors at that university, whose research fields are really interesting to me. Their research field is really near to that of my master's thesis advisor.</p>
<p>Is it considered impoliteness to my master's thesis advisor if I ask another professor in his department (with similar research field to him) to help me work on a research topic?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30344,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No. You finished your master's. Therefore it is okay to work with a new group. In most situations it is okay to ask people to help you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30350,
"author": "Tommy",
"author_id": 23107,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23107",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Not at all. You are not committed to doing your PhD with the same advisor. Even if you did want to work with the same advisor, he/she should encourage that you talk to others to hear out their ideas. I highly doubt your advisor would be offended to hear that you were interested in speaking to other professors about their research interests. After all, a PhD is a long road, and you need to be really happy with your advisor, and your work, to survive it. </p>\n\n<p>In fact, I think it looks positive, even to your advisor, knowing that you have multiple options. I once had a job interview where, upon disclosing that I was also interviewing at other places, that \"they would be worried if I wasn't\". </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30338",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723/"
] |
30,343 |
<p>I am surprised by the fact that a journal published an article that I have had in arXiv for a few months. The date of publication is after the date that I posted on arXiv. The submission date in the journal is not mentioned. What procedures I should follow?</p>
<p>Some information to clarify the situation: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>The article published in the journal is a total plagiarism. They changed only the name of the title. </p></li>
<li><p>The article is published in a journal in the name of other authors. </p></li>
<li><p>My article (that is in arXiv) is already accepted in another journal (but not yet online) and the date of acceptance is before the date of publication of that of the other authors.</p></li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30347,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I believe the first thing you need to do is to <strong>contact and email the editor in chief</strong> of that journal and give him/her a link to your arxiv paper. </p>\n\n<p>He/She a long with the editorial board have to <em>retract</em> the article (hopefully, with a big red X stating that the authors have plagiarised citing your arxiv work). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30389,
"author": "Basil Bourque",
"author_id": 23035,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23035",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h1>Copyright Status</h1>\n\n<p>Perhaps you gave away your copyright.</p>\n\n<p>Review your <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/help/license\" rel=\"nofollow\">copyright status on arXiv</a>. Copyright status can vary as described <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArXiv#Copyright\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a> including public domain.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30343",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23177/"
] |
30,345 |
<p>My undergraduate is in Biology, I'm a US native. </p>
<p>I'm thinking about going back to school to study a more quantitative discipline like statistics or computer science. </p>
<p>Does anyone know of any scholarship websites, fellowships, or other ways to pay for school expenses?</p>
<p>Right now I'm looking at taking out more loans. If I work for the government, I'll qualify for their "Public Servant Loan Forgiveness" program which will help.</p>
<p>If anyone has been in my position please let me know how you managed to retrain while not owing your soul to Sallie Mae. Already having a graduate degree really hurts when it comes to finding financial aid.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30349,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the U.S., graduate education in a STEM field at a good university is typically funded by the university, not the student. In addition to your classes, you are expected to \"work for your keep\" as a research assistant or teaching assistant. In exchange, your tuition is covered and you are paid a stipend to cover (cheap) living expenses. Pretty much every Ph.D. program in a STEM field works this way. If you are only looking for a 2nd Masters' degree, it will depend on the institution.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30351,
"author": "Tommy",
"author_id": 23107,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23107",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The only thing I can add to jakebeal's answer is that, it is generally only true for STEM <em>research</em> masters. Most coursework degrees, even in STEM, are not funded. It was unclear from your question whether you were thinking about doing a second masters with a research component, or just looking to get a coursework masters. </p>\n\n<p>That said, if you are looking for a research masters, I agree with jakebeal. However, I don't know of any school or organization that will fund a coursework masters. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30355,
"author": "Daniel Goldman",
"author_id": 23182,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23182",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Even in cases where you're not in a research college, you can sometimes find TA positions, which give you a small stipend and will comp some of your classes. Of course, you would have to show the department that you are capable of handling such classes, both in terms of workload and knowledge of the topic.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30345",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23178/"
] |
30,346 |
<p>I am in a university in the US. I need 10 subjects for a 2-hour experiment. The compensation is 100 USD. If a subject is an international grad student on an F1 visa in my university, will it go against the terms of his F1 visa, which restricts his ability to work in the US?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30348,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You need to ask the international students' office at your university, because</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>It's a delicate legal issue of the type they are trained to navigate, and</li>\n<li>The answer may depend on the particulars of how the university handles its students and how your experiment handles compensation, and</li>\n<li>The answers to these questions change frequently, as visa and immigration regulations mutate.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Even if somebody on this site could give a correct answer and take legal responsibility for it, it would not be safe for somebody else to rely on it in the future.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30387,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The safest and correct answer is to ask your international student's office, immigration attorney, or customs and immigration themselves.</p>\n\n<p>Seems like a lot of work for $20 (our standard 'enticement' at my university). Your enticement is $100 which is much nicer....</p>\n\n<p>The pragmatic answer is to inquire whether you will need to fill out a W9 before being paid. If you do, then they are reporting the enticement to the government as taxable income. In that case, GOTO LINE 1.</p>\n\n<p>If not, then the enticement is so low as to not being reportable and/or not being reported. In that case, follow your conscience and/or risk adversity.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30506,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It depends on whether the student on the F1 visa is already working 20 hours / week, which is likely to happen if he is an RA or a full-time TA (typically grad TA), but unlikely if he is on a fellowship or pays the tuition fees himself. If the student is already working 20 hours / week, then he is not allowed to work, either it is on-campus or off-campus.</p>\n\n<p>Given the amount of experiments or other small jobs I see paid either in cash, Amazon gift cards (sorry RMS), ice creams, and other kinds of compensations, the immigration law forbidding F1 visa holder from working more than 20 hours per week is broken every day.</p>\n\n<p>I am impressed so few people seem to care about this situation, given that violating the 20-hours-per-week rule can be a cause of visa termination and other troubles (e.g. green card obtention).</p>\n\n<p>(I need to check for volunteering work, but to me that's work too. Any idea?)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><a href=\"http://www.ice.gov/sevis/employment/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Are there exceptions to the limit of 20 hours a week for on-campus \n employment?</a></p>\n \n <p>The only exception is if the Secretary of DHS suspends this\n requirement, by means of a Federal Register notice, due to emergent\n circumstances. The student must demonstrate to you that the extra work\n is necessary because the emergent circumstance has affected his or her\n source of support.</p>\n \n <p>Endorse the student’s Form I-20 with a reference to the Federal\n Register notice that announced the emergency exception before allowing\n the student to work more than 20 hours a week.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30346",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
30,356 |
<p>What is the inherent idea of having a recommendation letter/ "letter of reference" requirement in academia, especially while applying to grad schools?</p>
<p>I understand that if the person giving the recommendation letter is a bigshot or even fairly well-known, people would be ready to take his word regarding the applicant's caliber. </p>
<p>However, if the person recommending is previously unknown to the university you are applying to (of course, they may use Google to dig up some information, or they may not want to), what weightage does his word carry? If I am on the other side, I won't be inclined to trust the judgement of a person whom I don't know. What I would want to do is to judge the caliber of the applicant for myself, but that's a separate issue altogether. (Judge yourself, or trust some metrics...)</p>
<p>Now, in general, if "<em>the other side</em>" is a decent enough university, it will have applications coming from all parts of the world. Then, situation no. 2 (above) is more likely than situation no. 1. So, <strong>what is the intent of having a recommendation letter requirement</strong> in the second case? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30363,
"author": "BrenBarn",
"author_id": 9041,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9041",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At a minimum, a letter of recommendation is no worse than, say, a Yelp review. The person who rated Joe's Hamburger Shack 5 stars is a total stranger to you, but knowing that that person liked it is still more data than you previously had about how good the place is.</p>\n\n<p>For a grad school application, there are few sources of concrete information. Hard data like grades, GPA, and GRE scores cover only a fraction of the relevant qualities of each applicant. It can certainly help if the admissions committee knows the recommender, but even if they don't, the mere fact that that the applicant is considered qualified by an active researcher at an accredited instituion is a significant gain over the other information available in the application.</p>\n\n<p>Also, as Nate Eldredge mentioned in a comment, a good letter will not just state the belief that the applicant is qualified, but will give reasons. These reasons, again, come from a person who is presumed qualified to evaluate them, and are therefore more valuable.</p>\n\n<p>It is true that if not only the recommender but also their institution is totally unknown to the committee (e.g., a recommendation from Prof. John Doe at East Podunk Community College), the information may not be helpful, and could even be viewed skeptically. But I don't think this is a common case. Even if no one on the faculty personally knows or has collaborated with any professors at, say, Harvard, you can bet that it means something to have a Harvard professor recommend someone. Although that's an extreme case, the same principle applies to other schools in varying degrees: even knowing that the school exists goes some way towards establishing credibility.</p>\n\n<p>How much weight these are or should be given is debatable, but there is simply no other way to get the information in recommendation letters, namely a qualified professional's judgment of the applicant's quality. It may indeed be that in some cases the committee views the letters as unhelpful because they are too vague, but if many letters are informative, then vague letters are already \"bad\" in comparison, and provide a means of winnowing the applicant pool. Even in a hypothetical case in which only a few letters were helpful, the school doesn't really stand to lose anything by having them, and stands to gain useful insight that they can't get any other way.</p>\n\n<p>Also, I would be interested to see some numbers on how often the admissions committee really does not know and has never heard of any of the people writing the letters. An important thing to consider is that in many cases one or more of the letter writers will have been consulted by the applicant to get advice on where to apply. Thus, there can be a self-selection process at work: professors know professors at other institutions, thus they advise their students to apply there, and then they write a letter of recommendation. I would guess that this significantly increases the likelihood that some of the letter writers will be known to the admissions committee. In effect, the same people are not only recommending the applicant to the school, but recommending the school to the applicant (by suggesting that they apply there).</p>\n\n<p>A little edit: Based on your comments, it seems you are also worried about situations where, e.g., the letter writer is \"biased\" towards recommending the applicant. There are two responses to this: one is that everyone knows that. The recommender wouldn't be writing the letter if he were biased <em>against</em> the applicant. The recommendation is not supposed to be \"impartial\" in the sense that it mechnically assesses some attributes of the applicant. It's just supposed to be the honest opinion of a real person who interacted with the applicant in a real academic context.</p>\n\n<p>More generally, there is simply no getting around the fact that virtually everything in academia operates on trust. When you submit an article to a journal, the editor has no way of knowing whether you plagiarized the text, falsified the data, etc. When you apply for a job and list dozens of publications on your CV, the search committee probably does not look up every single one ot make sure it really exists. For better or for worse, academic procedures are built on the notion of receiving \"credentials\" that indicate you are to be trusted. When someone receives a letter signed \"Prof. John Doe, XYZ University\", they assume that Prof. John Doe really is a professor at XYZ University. It is of course possible to fabricate such credentials, but to handle that problem would require a complete overhaul of academia. The basic reason people trust a letter-writer is because academics trust each other not to tell brazen lies about who they are, where they work, etc. They understand that the recommender may not be totally objective in his or her assessment of the candidate, but they nonetheless assume that the assessment is made in good faith by a qualified judge; that's all that matters.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30392,
"author": "David Hill",
"author_id": 11258,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11258",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I wholly agree with @BrenBarn's answer.</p>\n\n<p>From the comments it seems clear that the question is also suggesting that there is a bias for a faculty member to write a good letter in the interest of the student over the interest of the other department. I would like to argue that this is faulty reasoning (even if it happens). I think this amounts to a little bit of game theory.</p>\n\n<p>At the outset, we assume a faculty member has no relationship with the department s/he is writing the letter to. Assuming the faculty member writes a compelling letter, it may get noticed and there is some chance that that letter will lead to the acceptance of the student. </p>\n\n<p>If the student is accepted and performs well, the faculty member's word will be more valued by the department during the next round of selecting PhD students and the faculty member may receive an email saying \"Send us more students like Joe- he's done really well in our program\" as per @Brian Borchers' comments. If the student is a flake, the faculty member's word is now (what is the word?).</p>\n\n<p>This means that the next time that faculty writes a letter to that department it will be dismissed, even if it is compelling. Moreover, this may reduce the stature of the faculty member's entire department in the eyes of the other department.</p>\n\n<p>So, in the end, I guess my answer is that to some extent faculty letters can establish a relationship between different departments. To the extent that they do, such letters are valuable.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30409,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I agree with BrenBarn, but perhaps it will be useful to express things slightly differently.</p>\n\n<p>To understand the purpose of letters of recommendation, it's important to think about the context. In my experience, the default assessment for a graduate school application is \"not enough information\" or \"insufficiently compelling case.\" Most of the time, a rejection doesn't mean the committee felt there was enough evidence to prove the applicant was unworthy (although it can mean that for particularly bad applications). Instead, there just wasn't enough to justify admitting this applicant rather than the competition.</p>\n\n<p>For example, grades are not very useful. The ceiling is low, the standards are inconsistent, and in any case getting good grades is a quite different skill from doing good research. Undergraduate research can be a more useful indicator, but it's still pretty limited. Some students have much better access to high-quality research opportunities than others do, so it's hardly a fair comparison. Plus many undergraduate research papers consist of straightforward work on specialized problems, done with considerable guidance and under some time pressure. That's a little closer to professional research than classwork is, but still not so close.</p>\n\n<p>So the basic setting is that admissions committees are desperate for information. Judging research potential is really difficult, and it's at best loosely correlated with most of the hard data in graduate school applications. This is the context for letters of recommendation. If you have interacted closely with the applicant on a substantial undertaking in this field over a period of months or years, then you are in an excellent position to judge their suitability for graduate school. If you can convey this information to the admissions committee in a trustworthy and reliable way, then it can be far more valuable than anything else in the application.</p>\n\n<p>Of course not all letters are useful. A letter saying \"Joe got an A in my course\" reveals nothing beyond what the committee could have learned from the transcript. More depressingly, some letter writers say substantive things but are not in a position to do so compellingly. If you are completely unknown to the committee, with no reputation or track record of prior students, then your letter will carry less weight (and even less if you don't at least have the excuse of being young).</p>\n\n<p>This isn't as much of a problem as you might guess. Many people in the field have a reputation, even if they have never met anyone on the admissions committee, and they have an incentive not to hurt that reputation by writing foolish or biased letters. If necessary, someone on the committee can get in touch with them to ask further questions. Plus there are all sorts of opportunities for consistency checks (for example, if someone repeatedly says each year's top student is the best in years, that will be noticed).</p>\n\n<p>However, there's still a genuine problem. A small fraction of applicants just aren't in a position to get compelling letters of recommendation, no matter how talented they are. They are going to be rejected through no fault of their own.</p>\n\n<p>That's a sad outcome, but it seems to be unavoidable. If we had a more reliable way to judge research potential, we would eagerly use it. The point of letters isn't that they always help with the decision, but rather that they often help. When they don't help, the application joins the pile of rejections due to lack of information.</p>\n\n<p>For comparison, one of the comments reads:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Now, ideal case, if A=B in ability, two possibilities arise - (1) If recommendation letter matters, then A gets picked over B (which is not fair), </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Indeed, it's not fair, but it's impossible to gather enough information to make fair and reliable judgments in every case. Ultimately, the admissions committee has to accept that some wonderful applicants will be rejected because they couldn't prove how wonderful they were. (Not using letters of recommendation would reduce this type of unfairness, but at the cost of greatly reducing the information available to make good decisions in the other cases. It would amount to partially randomizing the decisions, which would not be in the department's best interests.)</p>\n\n<p>To put it rather starkly, fairness is not the admissions committee's primary goal. Instead, the primary goal is to admit as strong an incoming class as possible. Letters of recommendation greatly help on average in achieving that goal, at the cost of disadvantaging certain applicants. This is a price departments are willing to pay.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30356",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17534/"
] |
30,357 |
<p>I am preparing slides for a conference.</p>
<p>And I struggled (a bit) for what to put on the title page.</p>
<p>I know the paper title is a must, maybe the conference name, place, date.</p>
<p>How about authors and affiliation?</p>
<p>Should I put all the authors name on the title page?</p>
<p>Or only the presenter?</p>
<p>How about if they are from different institute?</p>
<p>Should I put all the institute names on the first page?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30359,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Should I put all the authors name on the title page?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, of course, unless there are tens of authors (common in particle physics: I dunno how they handle it... maybe with a group photograph). You can then highlight the speaker's name.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Should I put all the institute names on the first page?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Frequently, one puts institutes' logos instead.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30360,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I usually include:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Title of talk</p></li>\n<li><p>Name of presenter (me)</p></li>\n<li><p>Names of coauthors</p></li>\n<li><p>Date</p></li>\n<li><p>Name of conference</p></li>\n<li><p>Title of conference session (if applicable)</p></li>\n<li><p>City of conference</p></li>\n<li><p>My institution's name</p></li>\n<li><p>Maybe my institution's logo</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I don't include the coauthors' affiliations.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30382,
"author": "Flyto",
"author_id": 8394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8394",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To answer from a slightly different perspective: As somebody <em>watching</em> the presentation, I would like to see the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>A title (if possible, one that reflects what you're actually going to talk about, rather than what you thought you would be talking about a year ago when you submitted the abstract ;-))</li>\n<li>The authors' names and affiliations. Make it clear who is speaking, in case I don't know you personally.</li>\n<li>An email address for queries (put it at the end as well, but if it's at both ends there's a stronger chance that it'll remain up for long enough to note it down)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Try to resist the urge to turn it into a dense mass of extraneous information and logos. Do not include the following unless you have to:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The name or city of the conference</li>\n<li>The date</li>\n<li>Funders' logos</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If I am at a conference I <em>know</em> where I am. Unless it's been a very long and tiring conference I probably know the date as well. These things may be useful metadata for archival purposes, but it isn't needed by the audience - so put them in small grey text somewhere on the slide, invisible (or at least not attention-grabbing) from a distance.</p>\n\n<p>Similarly, if I'm watching your presentation I probably care about the research, and maybe who did it - not who funded it. Don't include funders logos on the title page unless required to do so; instead, put them on an acknowledgements slide at the end, with anybody else that you owe acknowledgements to.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30357",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23185/"
] |
30,364 |
<p>Researchers might take different paths other than staying in academia after completing their PhD, postdoc or even later. This happens for a number of reasons. The most compelling of all is that there is not enough room for everyone, but it could happen that these people lose interest in research, find a good opportunity in the private sector, or (more often than we'd like) get burnt out.</p>
<p>For a typical researcher, there is a body of work that they have done and is susceptible to be published by people who they were collaborating with after they have left. However -beyond possible personal satisfaction- they do not have the motivation or time to publish this work anymore. This leads to poor communication between the authors that stay and the person that left, usually motivated by the latter not replying (perhaps reading) emails concerning the work or taking too long to do so. These people will usually be fine with having their names on a new publication even without the need to go through the manuscript before submission (this might also be true for reckless researchers in general, but that's another story...) because they might not be concerned about their (former) career in academia anymore.</p>
<p>How should this situation be dealt with? Is it ethical to submit a paper when a coauthor that left academia has not actively taken part in the preparation/proof reading of the manuscript, considering he/she has contributed significantly to the work?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30365,
"author": "The Almighty Bob",
"author_id": 16086,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16086",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is in fact very common especially after the PhD.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>How should this situation be dealt with?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>First talk to the person. Does he want to be included? Does he want to be an author (possibly even the main author)? Or doesn't he want to have anything to do with it?</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Is it ethical to submit a paper when a coauthor that left academia has\n not actively taken part in the preparation/proof reading of the\n manuscript, considering he/she has contributed significantly to the\n work?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In my opinion it is ethical, as long as the coauthor is fine with the published work and the fact that he is a coauthor. In addition, anyone that is listed as a coauthor should have contributed in an extend that entitles him to be an author (which is very different in different fields).</p>\n\n<p>If he says: I don't care, just leave my name on it and don't bother me anymore. Than, in my opinion, it is fine to just publish it on your own.</p>\n\n<p>However, if he says: I want to be a part of it and then just vanishes it is another story.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30370,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First of all, it doesn't matter where, how, or even if a person is employed. Science can be done by anyone, anywhere, \"academia\" or not. Assuming the person has made significant contribution by the standards of your field, the only things that matter are:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Is it possible to contact them?</li>\n<li>Do they want to be an author?</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If they have contributed significantly and want to be an author, it is <strong>dishonest</strong> to not list them as an author. If they've dropped out of research entirely, you may find yourself doing the writing work without their help, but they still should be an author. If you can't contact them, err on the side of inclusion.</p>\n\n<p>In fact, this is a place where I disagree with the letter of the Vancouver Protocol, which states that somebody can only be an author if they are significantly involved with preparation of the manuscript. The spirit of the Vancouver Protocol is to prevent \"gift authorship\" and other unethical types of inclusion. Imagine, however, writing an acknowledgement that says: \"John Smith did all of the experimental work, but the long hours burned him out, so he left for a job at Netflix and we cut him out of the author list.\" To me, at least, this feels like denying credit inappropriately.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30375,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>This leads to poor communication between the authors that stay and the person that left, usually motivated by the latter not replying (perhaps reading) emails concerning the work or taking too long to do so.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Then maybe it is time to think how this communication could be improved. My main idea would be to offer a answer mechanism that basically takes no effort at all. Make sure they know that all you really need is their permission to submit (see below).</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>has not actively taken part in the preparation/proof reading of the manuscript, considering he/she has contributed significantly to the work?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>There's no need that one has to change text or something like that in order to become a coauthor, and significant contribution to the work is given here.\n(Think of a coauthor who thoroughly reads the paper with the intention to improve it but decides that the text he got is fine as it is) </p></li>\n<li><p>But: All <strong>coauthors must agree to the submission</strong>. So IMHO the minimum communication you need to get is the coauthor's OK with the submission. Whether and to what extent they (proof)read the text or not is their decision. Usually, it is in their interest to read and know what is to be published under their name.<br>\nHowever, IMHO it is perfectly OK if the coauthor gives you a blank permission (i.e. they state they implicitly trust you wrt. the submission), the same as your signature under a contract is legal even if you <em>chose</em> not to read it before signing.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I'd somehow be inclined to do a phone call that explains that </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>you need their decision whether they want to be named as coauthor,</li>\n<li>and if so, you need their permission to go ahead, </li>\n<li>but that it is up to them to decide how much further work they'll want to put in: they already delivered a substantial contribution. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Make clear that you'll email unasked the manuscript so the co-author can file it, but in the end all you need is the statement that they are fine with submitting it. </p>\n\n<p>If you're afraid of loosing contact with someone who's about to leave, discuss the procedure while they're still at hand. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30364",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14695/"
] |
30,377 |
<p>It is generally acknowledged that one should try to get recommendation letters (for grad school, jobs, etc.) from well-known experienced members of your field, if at all possible (for e.g. see some of the answers to this related question: <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1035/do-letters-of-recommendation-typically-include-a-biography-of-the-writer">Do letters of recommendation typically include a biography of the writer?</a>). Of course, sometimes this is not possible. </p>
<p>I am a first-year postdoc (in mathematics, but perhaps this is not relevant), and a masters student in the graduate-level class I am currently teaching approached me to write a letter for them when they apply for PhD programs. I am a natural person to write a letter for them since they are interested in the field that I teach (topology) and I'm teaching one of the three courses they are taking (since application deadlines are quite soon, they won't have taken any other courses here before applying). Of course, I am also a poor choice (which I mentioned to them) as a relatively unknown person with little experience. </p>
<p>While it makes sense to me that recommendation letters from senior research-focused faculty are worth more (since they have greater experience interacting with graduate/soon-to-be-graduate students), there are a fair number of students from relatively obscure 4-year universities who apply to graduate school. They might not have had any access to senior research-focused faculty. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>What are some things I should keep in mind when writing a recommendation letter for graduate admissions as a new entrant to my field, or perhaps as an instructor at a relatively obscure primarily teaching-focused school?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Statements like 'they are in the top 7 of all graduate students I've ever taught' carry little weight, since I've only ever taught 7! For what it's worth, the student in question is doing quite well, and my goal is to write a well-deserved relatively glowing letter; I would like to make sure, as much as I can, that my letter is not ignored. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30378,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>My advice is to start your letter by explaining who you are and your background. For example, you could mention where you went to graduate school and that you think the student could succeed in that graduate program. This will give the reader a sense that you have some idea of what will be expected of the student in graduate school. </p>\n\n<p>Beyond that, you should focus on the same things that more experienced letter writers do. </p>\n\n<p>You need to explain how you know the applicant and give the reader some sense that you've had enough interaction with the student to be able to judge their chances of success. Simply having had a student in a large class isn't really enough here. On the other hand, \"I was Johnny's instructor in a senior level topology class with 12 students. Johnny frequently met with me during office hours to ask questions about aspects of the subject that we were not able to cover in class.\" tells me that you have had many discussions with the student and really know the student well. </p>\n\n<p>You should comment on both the applicant's intellectual ability and their work habits. Ideally, we want applicants who are smart and work hard. An applicant who isn't very smart but smart enough and who works very hard might be a good candidate for admission to a master's program but might be a very poor choice for a PhD program. An applicant who is brilliant but lazy might start to work harder in graduate school and could turn out to be really successful. Some faculty are willing to take a chance on brilliant but lazy students. </p>\n\n<p>You should talk about the applicant's personality and how they get along with other students and faculty members. No one wants to work with a student who is not fun to be around because they're argumentative or depressed all the time. </p>\n\n<p>You should talk about the applicant's communication skills (both writing and oral presentations) and in mathematics you should comment specifically about their ability to write mathematical proofs. </p>\n\n<p>If it's relevant (and it would be for any area of applied mathematics) you should comment on the applicant's computing skills. What languages and specialized packages have they used in their work with you? Have they been able to produce programs of any substantial size? </p>\n\n<p>You should check that what you've written matches up with the student's transcript and their statement of purpose. For example, don't say that they're one of your top 5% students if their GPA is 3.0. Don't say that Johnny would be a great master's student if he's applying to a PhD program. If the \"story\" told by the applicant's application file isn't consistent, then I'll be much less likely to admit a student. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30402,
"author": "Nicholas",
"author_id": 1424,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1424",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Providing an anecdote about your interaction with the student which highlights his or her competencies will make your letter stand out, as well as making your letter more readable. </p>\n\n<p>Choose an anecdote that will resonate with the desires of the reader - in this case, finding an articulate, self-motivated and talented researcher. </p>\n\n<p>Far from being inappropriate for reasons of formality, a properly constructed and relevant anecdote about the student will speak volumes to the reader. </p>\n\n<p>\"Alex came to me with a particular problem he was facing in understanding elliptical functions. I wasn't able to help him greatly at the time - as it was grant-writing season -- but I suggested that he review Walker et al on the topic and we would discuss it more fully later. Alex returned having not only read Walker, but had downloaded the relevant open-source codes and had made a start on amending them to his problem, solving his original problem and actually identifying a serious flaw in the code which he had started to address\". </p>\n\n<p>(Completely fictional. I don't even know what an elliptical function is. Or if there is, indeed, a Walker et al. on the topic.)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30377",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/948/"
] |
30,381 |
<p>A PhD student in our school recently passed away unexpectedly, to the shock and grief of a large number of research students and academics, including me. </p>
<p>I had little to do with him on a daily basis, and he had little to nothing to do with the content of the thesis, but nonetheless it occurs to me to make a mention of his passing in the acknowledgements of my own (Honours) thesis. </p>
<p>Is this appropriate, or could it come off as disrespectful?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30385,
"author": "Doctor David Anderson",
"author_id": 19894,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19894",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The social etiquette of acknowledgments sections vary from school to school. It would never be rude or disrespectful. I thanked family and friends in mine - and made reference to an internal lab jokee. Check previous theses to get an indication of etiquette in your school, but I don't see any reason this would be inappropriate. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30386,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I certainly don't think it's \"crass\", and I have a hard time seeing who could be disrespected. In general, you can acknowledge whomever you want in a thesis and the only crass thing would be to say something negative about them.</p>\n\n<p>However, there is possibly a bit of room for misunderstanding here, because the ostensible purpose of the acknowledgments is to recognize people who helped you out in some way. Based on what you write -- you were not close, and he did not help on your thesis -- it doesn't make sense to <em>thank</em> this person in the acknowledgements.</p>\n\n<p>I might instead suggest going for a dedication or commemoration. Some ways of wording this are given <a href=\"https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/18025/whats-the-proper-way-to-dedicate-a-paper-with-a-to-the-memory-of\">here</a>. You could either end the acknowledgments with a dedication, probably in its own separate paragraph (and you can dedicate the thesis to more than one person, if you like), or you could include the dedication on its own page separately in the thesis, e.g. \"For X\", \"In memory of X (19xx - 20xx)\", etc. </p>\n\n<p>Speaking personally, I like the look of the latter, and I find it to be the opposite of crass to take time out to remember the departed, whether they had a special relationship with you or not. You are doing your part to make sure that your fellow student will not be completely forgotten for some time to come. Good for you. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 59990,
"author": "Karl",
"author_id": 45983,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/45983",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You might easily look like someone who is seeking public attention.</p>\n\n<p>Dedicating a publication is a privilege you should leave to close friends or the faculty staff.</p>\n\n<p>Consider your best friend died, you wanted to commemorate him in your thesis, and then found three others had done the same before you. Could feel strange, couldn't it?</p>\n\n<p>Or think about the mourning parents. They might spend days to find your phone number, cause nobody they know knows it, and then call you, expecting to find someone who is as sad as they are. Do you want to risk that?</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30381",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17307/"
] |
30,390 |
<p>I've asked three professors from the school I did my undergraduate studies at to write letters of recommendation for me. However, one of the schools I'm applying to is that same school.<br>
In other words, lets say I went to Harvard as an undergraduate, asked three Harvard professors for letters, and then applied to Harvard's graduate program.</p>
<p>It seems kind of weird to me that my letter writers will review the letters they wrote for me as part of the committee review of my application. And I know at least two of them are for sure on the committee, the third I'm not sure about. </p>
<p>Undoubtedly, this is something that happens all the time, but I was curious how this situation is handled by the committee.</p>
<p>Of course, there are more committee members than the three who wrote recommendation letters for me who don't know me as a student as well, so it gives them a chance to learn about me.</p>
<p>I'm just wondering how this influences their decision, or, rather, how they can prevent it from influencing them too much. I know being accepted won't be a guaranteed thing, but how can you not accept someone that you yourself have recommended?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30393,
"author": "Jim Conant",
"author_id": 9464,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9464",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I don't see that there necessarily is a conflict of interest here. As a letter writer, the faculty member's job is to describe you and your qualifications. As a committee member, they are trying to evaluate your qualifications. Why are these two in conflict? I've been on a few such committees, and if there is a committee member who knows a particular applicant through a course or some other means, we have always listened to what that member has to say in order to augment our understanding of who the candidate is. (I gather that in some situations there are stricter rules about what criteria may be used to evaluate candidates.) </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30397,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I've seen this situation. In our department all faculty vote on admission decisions (we don't have a separate committee that is delegated to make these decisions.) The faculty who have written recommendations have typically argued in favor of admitting the students they've written recommendation letters for, but it would also not be surprising if a faculty member who recommended a student felt that other candidates were better qualified when it came time to make final decisions. </p>\n\n<p>It's one thing to say \"I think student A is well qualified for our graduate program and a TA.\" This is not inconsistent with \"After reviewing all of the candidates, I feel that students B and C (with BS degrees from elsewhere) are the most deserving of the two available TA slots.\" or even \"After discussion with other faculty members, and reading all of the recommendation letters, I've agreed that student A should not be admitted to the program.\" </p>\n\n<p>It's important to understand that these are group decisions, and that faculty committees often operate by discussion and consensus rather than by simple vote counting- a lot can happen during such a discussion. </p>\n\n<p>As an applicant, there really isn't anything that you can do about this- the faculty in the department will deal with it as they choose. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30390",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22774/"
] |
30,391 |
<p>When I refer to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) I mean either the federal act or similarly implemented state laws. Clearly the validity of such requests would have to be limited to institutions which have received government aid in at least some way. In addition, there is the argument that such data could be considered a trade secret, as is the case in <a href="http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2014/04/01/324937.htm" rel="noreferrer">Mississippi</a>. </p>
<p>However, the case in Mississippi is meant to protect findings themselves rather than raw data. In addition, there are many cases in which the data itself could be considered to have been public information to begin with, as is the case in archaeological excavation.</p>
<p>Some institutions already have an open data policy, such as PLOS, which requires all data relevant to a paper to be published:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>PLOS strongly believes that, to best foster scientific progress, the underlying data from an article should be made freely available for researchers to use, wherever this is legal and ethical. Data availability allows validation, replication, reanalysis, new analysis, reinterpretation, or inclusion into meta-analyses, facilitates reproducibility of research and extends the value of the investment made in funding scientific research. Thus, PLOS believes that ensuring access to the underlying data should be an intrinsic part of the scientific publishing process. Furthermore, by getting data into the right place on publication we can reduce the burden on authors in unearthing old data, retaining old hard drives and answering email requests.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is, at least in part, a purpose of FOIA: verification of claims. So based on the letter of the law, would such a FOIA request be considered valid and assuming the institution simply rejects the request, would there be legal recourse?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30400,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, it could. \"Could\" is a very broad word. Keep in mind that FOIA applies only to executive branch government agencies and has nine exemptions. Additional laws apply in particular states and in other countries. As other commenters pointed out, this is not legal advice and you should consult a lawyer.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.foia.gov/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.foia.gov/</a> also see Wikipedia.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30411,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The original Freedom of Information Act applied only to information in the possession of government agencies. That means that the release of reports and proposals submitted to the funding agency could be compelled under the FOIA. But it did not apply to data from the research, if in possession of the PI and not the funding agency (as is typically the case).</p>\n\n<p>A later amendment (Shelby amendment) expanded the FOIA to apply to <em>some</em> federally funded research data in the possession of a non-profit institution, as follows:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The release of \"research data relating to published research findings produced under an award <em>that were used by the Federal Government in developing an agency action that has the force and effect of law</em>\" may be compelled under the FOIA, <em>if</em></li>\n<li>the data is not \"trade secrets, commercial information, materials\nnecessary to be held confidential by a researcher until they are published, or similar information which is protected under law.\"</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Also, the requestor may be charged a \"reasonable fee equaling the full\nincremental cost of the agency, the recipient, and applicable subrecipients.\"</p>\n\n<p>So the general answer to your question is that <strong>in most cases, the FOIA does not compel the release of data from federally funded research.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Regarding state law, it seems from the appendix to this report mentioned in <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/29192/11365\">another answer</a> that at least one state does have an open records statute that may apply to research data produced by employees of the state university system:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"<a href=\"http://reproducibility.cs.arizona.edu/v1/tr.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Measuring Reproducibility in Computer Systems Research</a>.\" Christian Collberg, Todd Proebsting, Gina Moraila, Akash Shankaran, Zuoming Shi, Alex M Warren. March 21, 2014.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30418,
"author": "Greg",
"author_id": 14755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14755",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>First:</strong> If you are seriously concerned about this, you should consult with a lawyer. Period. Only lawyers can give legal advice, and you shouldn't call others unhelpful if they point this out. By the way, academic institutes and universities can really kick your balls if they think you hurt their trade secrets even if you done it with good will. There are examples about people who got jailtime esp if it was something patent related. So err on the safe side if you are not sure what data you should share. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Second:</strong> \".. the underlying data from an article should be made freely available for researchers to use, wherever this is legal and ethical. Data availability allows validation, replication, reanalysis, new analysis, reinterpretation, or inclusion into meta-analyses, facilitates reproducibility of research and extends the value of the investment made in funding scientific research.\" </p>\n\n<p>or from PLOS:</p>\n\n<p>\"PLOS defines the “minimal dataset” to consist of the dataset used to reach the conclusions drawn in the manuscript with related metadata and methods, and any additional data required to replicate the reported study findings in their entirety.\"</p>\n\n<p>It sounds nice and fluffy, but technically speaking all this hold for present publications, too. Off course, no one publishes every single experimental results, but any data that needed for replication, validation etc should be part of your publication. Results without reproducibility are useless in science, even if reality is a little bitter. I guess these policies are coming to push people a little more in the direction. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30391",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23182/"
] |
30,396 |
<p>I'm all for publishing my own work of course. Since I have coursework and new projects during the semester I have temporarily put aside my manuscript and I have communicated with the former (Master's) supervisor about this. But now she kept contacting my current PhD supervisor and he in turn has written to me a few times regarding this matter. </p>
<p>I feel my former supervisor's behaviour is quite innappropriate and this is the third time she does this. There have been two very similar instances previously--her asking my PhD supervisor whether I could depart later than my planned date to start my PhD program; then about two weeks before the final thesis submission, she contacted my PhD supervisor while I hesitated to let her use my thesis for grant application--both times behind my back with me only learning what she did from my PhD supervisor. I called her the second time she did this asking her very politely not to do such a thing again and hoping to remain on good terms. She agreed. But now this happens again........</p>
<p>What can I do to stop her from doing this? While not having my relationship with the current supervisor damaged but also I guess not having to be coerced into doing what she wants? </p>
<p>Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated! </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30399,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all, good on you for taking a calm approach, particularly when you asked her stop directly. However, her persistent actions, especially after you have asked her politely and directly to stop is bordering on harassment. Not only that, she is undermining you with your present supervisor.</p>\n\n<p>A good course of action I can suggest is to firstly speak with your current supervisor about the situation, your concerns and especially the recent event. Depending on what your current supervisor and you come up with, you could consider a discrete message to your former supervisor's Dean, asking for their assistance in this matter - particularly with her going behind your back.</p>\n\n<p>However, in saying this, negotiate and stick to a timetable to have the manuscript completed - ensuring that your time constraints are also considered. It may be a good idea to have your current supervisor help with this, as it coincides with your current research.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30401,
"author": "fedja",
"author_id": 6118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6118",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One thing you should understand is that in this crazy world, she may benefit from having your thesis published more than you, especially if she is currently under considerations for reappointment or promotion, so don't be too hard on her: rather blame the entire screwed up evaluation system in academia that has made much stronger people panic and do ridiculous things.</p>\n\n<p>With all that said, the usual advice applies: be firm but polite and show some good will. Think of when you can realistically finish the job (it is in your own best interests to finish it <em>eventually</em> regardless of anything), and tell the plan to your current adviser. That should settle your scores with him and, most likely, he'll no longer bother you with that anymore. If you want, you can tell the target date to your former adviser as well.</p>\n\n<p>Don't forget to give yourself some leeway, so that you can keep your word no matter what. Remember that promising less than one expects from you won't hurt your reputation, but failing to keep your promise will.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30396",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23203/"
] |
30,398 |
<p>I am an EU citizen, and 27 years old. I completed my Bachelor's and Master's in Electrical Engineering in the UK, now finishing up my PhD (in EE as well) in the USA.</p>
<p>I am currently applying for postdoc positions everywhere (EU and USA). I have, for the most part, adapted to life in the USA over the four years that I've been here. However, I am motivated by the idea of doing a postdoc in Europe, partly because I believe the overall culture there suits my personality more, and partly because all of my family is there too. I also want to experience the European way of conducting research (since a Master's in the UK didn't really involve all that much research).</p>
<p>My question is: now that I am still in the USA, and can get a work permit for 2 or so years easily, I am thinking that it would be a good chance to stay a bit longer and experience a postdoc here instead. </p>
<p>In general, I am quite adaptable and I don't have too many set expectations. I just want to conduct interesting research and have a somewhat decent social life to keep some sort of a balance. Money is not really an issue. Also, although I do not like to plan too much into the future (because you never really know what happens), I guess being considerate of the opportunities/prospects a position can offer in the future is healthy.</p>
<p>Given this information, what do you are the pros and cons of Europe vs. USA for a postdoc? Answers to this question probably require some over-generalizing, so I apologize in advance for that.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31278,
"author": "just-learning",
"author_id": 10483,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10483",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let me list a few pros of doing postdoc in the US:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>In many EU countries a postdoc in the US is considered to be more prestigious than a postdoc in Europe (assuming that the places you do the postdoc in the US and Europe are at roughly the same level), so a postdoc in the US is in general not likely to harm your academic career should you eventually decide to return to Europe</li>\n<li>If you give staying in the US a really serious thought, the postdoc in the US allows you to initiate the application for green card; getting the latter will give you unrestricted access to the job market in the US (academic or otherwise), in addition to the EU one, which comes in handy on many occasions.</li>\n<li>Given that you have your Ph.D. (and hence the largest part of your academic network) in the US, you have somewhat better odds at succeeding in securing a postdoc in the US (e.g. because the US people you will apply to are in general more likely to know your advisor than people in Europe, and the people in the US will be less hesitant to, say, give a phone call to the authors of your recommendation letters to find out additional details if need be).</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 117082,
"author": "ming56",
"author_id": 48056,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/48056",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would also like to add some aspects of choosing between US and EU groups as a postdoc. I have obtained two postdoc offers (in experimental physics) from both a European institute and a US university. They are both well-known in our field. When I was making the decision, I considered the following aspects:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Research style:</strong>\nIn Europe, the research projects seem to be more task-driven while there might be more freedom on studying unexpected phenomena in the US. Moreover, US researchers' style might be more \"hands-on\" than EU. Especially in experimental physics, you may have to fix a broken equipment or solder a circuit by yourself in the US. However, in EU, a team of technicians will take care of all the maintenance and refinement of the equipments. You do not have to know how to build a measurement setup as long as you know how to take data. As such, you may publish faster in EU. However, if your future goal is to be a faculty that you will ultimately set up your own lab, the \"all by yourself\" experience in the US may be a plus.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Funding:</strong>\nResearch funding situation in EU may be better than the US, at least it is stably increasing but it strongly depends on fields and supervisors.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Group Culture:</strong>\nThe European groups are usually huge that you might be just one among 30+ researchers/PhD students. It may require much more effort to take more responsibility in such a huge group and get noticed by the famous PI and even a good recommendation letter from the PI. In the US, the group sizes vary a lot. In most cases, you will be one out of zero to three postdocs. You are expected to have more responsibility like mentoring students, writing grant proposals and thinking new research plans, etc.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/22
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30398",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10702/"
] |
30,405 |
<p>I am an undergraduate student being paid a (relatively speaking) hefty monthly research stipend. I need only some of this money to pay off my university fees and living costs, since I have wonderfully generous parents.</p>
<p>The research projects I work on officially revolve around applied problems in math biology. Lately, I have been interested in <a href="http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/networks/networks_1.html">Baez's work on "network theory"</a>, but because of full course load, along with the research project I am responsible for, I don't have the time to explore these ideas as I'd like to. </p>
<p>I have some ideas for pure math projects that involve extending Baez's nascent network theory ideas to problems in biology. I also have some ideas for tools that could be made in order to help a researcher formally analyze interaction systems. </p>
<p>These ideas are completely tangential to my own work (for the moment), although if I were able to set up the groundwork for them to the point where I am able to see that they do have potential, I'd love to bring it up with my professor.</p>
<p>One idea I have had recently is that I could hire my own "research assistants" out of my stipend (I am allowed to spend it as I like, right)? I could provide them with my motivations, and give them "guidance" (I don't know how capable I would be of this) through ongoing communication. This way, I would be able to explore my ideas, even if I don't personally have the energy and time to see them through right now. The alternative of course, is that I buckle up and find time from <em>somewhere</em> (e.g. by not writing this post) to work on the ideas, or put them away for a later date when I do have time.</p>
<p>So, is hiring my own research assistants at this time ethically questionable?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30406,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>All that jumps out at me is that you won't be able to find and supervise someone capable enough for the amount of money you have, which I assume is on the order of tuition or less. You know research is really, really expensive right? People like Ph.D. students - and yourself - do it for cheap out of extreme valuing of their own educational and research experience.</p>\n\n<p>You can't provide a six figure salary (what an industry researcher costs), you can't hire out your own research passions to someone; you have no play.</p>\n\n<p>This, in theory, comes up in the professional world too. As a rule you can't really hire someone better than you to solve your problems... you'll run out of budget for them as they bleed your personal checkbook, or they'll get hired and take over your work (which is probably very bad for you). There's no \"ethics\", it stops at the pragmatics.</p>\n\n<p>I think the ethics of this are kind of a moot point because there's cultural reasons this can't really come up. A more practical ethical question might be if you can hire researchers to work on parts of your project for you. That's a pretty different question, but I'm pretty sure the answer is yes, that's what a research budget is for (and your undergraduate underlings would of course appear as co-authors, which is a big part of why they took the opportunity).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30407,
"author": "Cape Code",
"author_id": 10643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10643",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>No</strong>, there are no <em>ethical</em> concerns, as long as whoever you hire is given the appropriate credit for the work she/he did. </p>\n\n<p>There are <em>economic</em> reasons why this situation is unlikely to be fruitful, but that is another question.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30410,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are doing this for course credit or if this is part of your undergraduate thesis, you should ask your academic advisor or director of undergraduate studies. <strong>The assumption is that all work that you hand is is your own.</strong> </p>\n\n<p>Many students have writing or math tutors to help them with basics or fix errors, but the underlying principle is that you did the work. </p>\n\n<p>The question is what your 'staff' will be doing for you. If it is similar to what a writing tutor or math tutor is doing (checking for errors, helping you with argumentation, etc.) then it is likely kosher. However, if it is tending towards what a paper-writing service is doing (you provide the topic and money, they provide the paper) then it is likely illegal and will get you in trouble.</p>\n\n<p>Again, if what you are doing is kosher then you should have no concerns in being open about this with your faculty advisers. It behooves you to clarify this now as you don't want to be accused of plagiarism or fraud (presenting work that is not your own as your own) later on.</p>\n\n<p>If this is for a project that has nothing to do with school, then: 1) you're posting in the wrong stackexchange; 2) you have nothing to worry about as long as you don't try to present it as connected to your school work. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30451,
"author": "Nonsingular",
"author_id": 22885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is a very good moral question. It addresses the authority of an undergraduate researcher with respect to other students. </p>\n\n<p>In my experience, as an undergraduate researcher, I found that there were times that I would have appreciated outside help that I would pay out of pocket for. Something along the lines of a consultant with regards to certain technical aspects. </p>\n\n<p>I like Bob Jarvis' comment that you put your own idea at risk and someone run with it. Also take into account that instead of focusing purely on the task, you have to manage someone which is a heftier plate to be responsible for —and it already seems you have a sizeable amount. </p>\n\n<p>Perhaps, as a compromise, if your advisor can promote you to a role that would take into account another researcher, e.g. senior undergraduate researcher, then probably this would work well. </p>\n\n<p>To reiterate: paying someone out of pocket leaves many questions to interpretation, as far as roles and responsibilities go. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30405",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14087/"
] |
30,413 |
<p>I've just been contacted by a friend's friend who decided I'd make a great adjunct professor at a community college, IT department, application development. Suddenly I heard myself agree to an "informal" job interview, and now am freaking out. What am I getting myself into?</p>
<p>I have all the hard skills necessary, in fact probably overqualified as far as the hard skills go. Soft skills, different matter. I am shy and fear public speech. Counselling one-on-one is no problem, but I do get a bit shaky in the knees thinking about standing in front of an audience. Which is why a part of me wants to do this job - to overcome my fears, to develop leadership skills, which I could then use in private sector. I also have a few interesting curriculum ideas I'd like to try. From tutoring my nephew through his university years (different school), I saw much in the Comp Sci curriculum that I think could be improved.</p>
<p>I wonder though whether this will help or hurt my career in the private sector. First of all, the very fact of being an adjunct professor at a community college (one of the weaker community colleges actually) - is it a resume builder? From looking at the faculty, it just might be.. the staff seems to have good bios.</p>
<p>Then there is the RateMyProfessor.com. As a newbie, and a pretty anxious one at that, there is a non-zero chance of me screwing up and getting a bunch of low reviews that will then haunt me for the rest of my career. The HRs do google job candidates' names.</p>
<p>My current career as a software developer has had its ups and downs: have worked for a few prestigious, big name corporates, left for a startup of my own, the startup is imploding, time to get a day job. While the bottom of my resume (where the old jobs are) looks great, I need to build up the recent part of my resume, need references. Would this be a good move or not? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30431,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Without wanting to sound harsh, this whole post is all about you and how it will benefit your further career (after leaving this job). You seem to forget that you will be teaching real, young people that need a good teacher, in order to get the education they deserve. So, unless you refocus on them first, perhaps you should reconsider getting this job for simply \"overcoming your fears, developing leadership skills, which you could then use in private sector\" and leave it to someone more passionate about it.</p>\n\n<p>To directly answer your question: Getting a job you are not sure you are going to like and risk being bad at it or prematurely leave, always looks bad on any resume. So, unless you are really passionate about this, perhaps you should stick to what you already know. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30443,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Cons: Adjunct teaching at a community college may be a poor way to get references because you will mostly be working with students, not professionals who can serve as references. I taught one class at a CC and met my department chair a total of twice.</p>\n\n<p>I would not worry about ratemyprofessor.com. Most people don't take it seriously. All students are different, so you are sure to get one occasionally that does not like your teaching. You can use a different name for teaching if you are really worried.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30445,
"author": "Jonathan Overholt",
"author_id": 23231,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23231",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a full-time I.T. employee with a CS background at a community college, I feel I may be able to chip in here. We have a lot in common -- great hard skills, shaky soft skills, a desire to overcome our limitations, and a desire to better educate the next generation of programmers.</p>\n\n<p>As Alexandros said, first you need to focus on the students. You've pointed out that their CS material could use revision, so I think you're already on the right track there. The best CS professors I've worked with have one thing in common: they all had prior or concurrent industry experience. Current, real-world experience gives you an advantage when it comes to curriculum development that can really benefit the students.</p>\n\n<p>As for the class size, I'd have a hard time imagining 100 students in a CS class at a community college. Our class sizes tend more toward 10 than 100, limited apparently by interest, not class size caps. It's still more than one-on-one, so you'll still have to get over that, but just remember why you're there.</p>\n\n<p>Don't worry about how badly you might screw up. Even the best professors get occasional low ratings and the internet is full of anonymous jerks spewing vitriol. You're not in middle school anymore, just don't worry about it.</p>\n\n<p>As for how it looks on your resume, I can't personally speak to this with any great experience, but as a hiring manager I'd look favorably on it, particularly if you teach only one or two classes per semester for awhile. It shows that your soft skills are maybe stronger than the next guy and that you're comfortable conducting training and writing documentation within your field of expertise. Those are all desirable qualities that are a little harder to find in the software industry. The only negative point I can think of for it would be if they thought you might be trying to get your foot in the door as a full-time professor, they might not want to bring you on full-time. Not a lot of places think like that, though.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, regarding benefits: I can't speak to any other school's policy, but adjuncts here are simply part-time faculty. As part-time employees, they don't get medical/dental benefits. They're hired on a per-class basis, so if you want to teach one or five classes, that's up to your desire and their needs. We're pretty flexible, I expect that's pretty standard.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30413",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23210/"
] |
30,414 |
<p>For learning new courses by one's self is it better</p>
<ul>
<li><p>to read the related text</p></li>
<li><p>to attend online courses such as from sites like Coursera</p></li>
<li><p>to combine the two</p></li>
<li><p>or use another method altogether</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In general, which is the better strategy for a motivated adult learner who is entering a new area? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30431,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Without wanting to sound harsh, this whole post is all about you and how it will benefit your further career (after leaving this job). You seem to forget that you will be teaching real, young people that need a good teacher, in order to get the education they deserve. So, unless you refocus on them first, perhaps you should reconsider getting this job for simply \"overcoming your fears, developing leadership skills, which you could then use in private sector\" and leave it to someone more passionate about it.</p>\n\n<p>To directly answer your question: Getting a job you are not sure you are going to like and risk being bad at it or prematurely leave, always looks bad on any resume. So, unless you are really passionate about this, perhaps you should stick to what you already know. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30443,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Cons: Adjunct teaching at a community college may be a poor way to get references because you will mostly be working with students, not professionals who can serve as references. I taught one class at a CC and met my department chair a total of twice.</p>\n\n<p>I would not worry about ratemyprofessor.com. Most people don't take it seriously. All students are different, so you are sure to get one occasionally that does not like your teaching. You can use a different name for teaching if you are really worried.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30445,
"author": "Jonathan Overholt",
"author_id": 23231,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23231",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a full-time I.T. employee with a CS background at a community college, I feel I may be able to chip in here. We have a lot in common -- great hard skills, shaky soft skills, a desire to overcome our limitations, and a desire to better educate the next generation of programmers.</p>\n\n<p>As Alexandros said, first you need to focus on the students. You've pointed out that their CS material could use revision, so I think you're already on the right track there. The best CS professors I've worked with have one thing in common: they all had prior or concurrent industry experience. Current, real-world experience gives you an advantage when it comes to curriculum development that can really benefit the students.</p>\n\n<p>As for the class size, I'd have a hard time imagining 100 students in a CS class at a community college. Our class sizes tend more toward 10 than 100, limited apparently by interest, not class size caps. It's still more than one-on-one, so you'll still have to get over that, but just remember why you're there.</p>\n\n<p>Don't worry about how badly you might screw up. Even the best professors get occasional low ratings and the internet is full of anonymous jerks spewing vitriol. You're not in middle school anymore, just don't worry about it.</p>\n\n<p>As for how it looks on your resume, I can't personally speak to this with any great experience, but as a hiring manager I'd look favorably on it, particularly if you teach only one or two classes per semester for awhile. It shows that your soft skills are maybe stronger than the next guy and that you're comfortable conducting training and writing documentation within your field of expertise. Those are all desirable qualities that are a little harder to find in the software industry. The only negative point I can think of for it would be if they thought you might be trying to get your foot in the door as a full-time professor, they might not want to bring you on full-time. Not a lot of places think like that, though.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, regarding benefits: I can't speak to any other school's policy, but adjuncts here are simply part-time faculty. As part-time employees, they don't get medical/dental benefits. They're hired on a per-class basis, so if you want to teach one or five classes, that's up to your desire and their needs. We're pretty flexible, I expect that's pretty standard.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30414",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23213/"
] |
30,423 |
<p>I am writing a computer science paper in which I cite several lengthy sources (text books and standard specifications). Whenever I cite such a source, I add the page numbers of the subsection to which I refer, e.g.: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Bla bla is considered very important [52, pp. 210-214].</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of the reviewers of the paper remarks the following:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Do not use references with indication of page numbers (e.g., [52, pp. 210-214]), this is very uncommon.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>Is this really true (in computer science)?</em></p>
<p><em>Am I wrong to include the page numbers in the reference?</em></p>
<p>The reference in question is a 400+ page book that broadly covers a whole subject area and I thought knowing which pages I actually refer to might help the reader. There are several other (and longer) sources, such as technical standards, which I cite in the same fashion. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30425,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Many computer science venues are fairly picky about their citation styles and also use highly abbreviated citation styles that don't give any option for including additional information like a page number.</p>\n\n<p>If page numbers are critical to your citation, then you have two options for how to include them while conforming to the required style:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>If you only use one narrow set of pages in the book, use an \"in-book\" style citation (@inbook in BibTeX) that includes the page numbers in the reference.</p></li>\n<li><p>Alternately, or if you refer to more than one set of pages, you can include the pages in the text rather than the citation:</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Bla bla is considered very important, as described on page 210--214 of [52].</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30428,
"author": "Federico Poloni",
"author_id": 958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Specifying which part of a long book or article you are referring to in your citation is a sound practice, but in general section, theorem or equation numbers are more common than page numbers for this task: [52, Section 3.5] or [52, Equation 3.23] rather than [52, Page 132-134].</p>\n\n<p>Personally I use page numbers only as a last resource where nothing else is available: that is, when the section or equation I want to refer to does not have a number of its own.</p>\n\n<p>I do not have a compelling reason for this, if not that section numbers are more robust to minor pagination changes, but this is the behaviour that I have seen more commonly.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30423",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1272/"
] |
30,424 |
<p>I have noticed in a number of papers, including those in top journals, a common dirty practice which consists of self citing your previous works and omitting other important references in the area (I admit some of them at least include the classic references). For instance Prof. John Doe writes a paper and his references look like:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[1] John Doe (1970). Paper 1.</p>
<p>[2] John Doe (1971). Paper 2.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>[200] John Doe (2014). Paper 200.</p>
<p>[201] Issac Newton (1687). Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am aware of the concept of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Publication_bias" rel="noreferrer">Publication Bias</a>, which is related to a bias with regard to what is published. I wonder if there is also something related to self-citation bias or citation bias (it might also be the case that a person only cites a group of researchers (friends?))?</p>
<p>This, of course, is not just a matter of taste, but it is a practice that complicates the literature review in a certain area.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30427,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This problem has been receiving significant attention in recent years. Among other thing, there was <a href=\"http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/journal-citation-cartels-on-the-rise/2005009.article\">a recent scandal around \"citation cartels\"</a>, in which journal editorial staff organized not only to ensure their own journals self-cited but also so that groups of conspirator journals would cite one another in order to raise impact factor while adding a layer of indirection to make it harder to track. Such journals also sometimes strong-arm authors into adding citations to other publications within the same journal.</p>\n\n<p>I don't know if anybody has tried to further tease apart the different between intentional (i.e., citation cartel) and unintentional citation bias. It would be interesting to study, but may be difficult given the amount of intentional bias that some are using the game the system.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30466,
"author": "fileunderwater",
"author_id": 7223,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7223",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would say that the use of self-citations that you describe is very common, but whether it's dirty is not clear-cut and it's probably difficult to study. I can also see several different perspectives, some more malicious than others: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Bias due to better knowledge of your own and related researches (friends) work. I find this rather benign, often unintential and natural. </li>\n<li>When providing a reference to support a specific point, everything else equal, most researchers will probably cite their own work before the work of others. This with the assumption that both papers provide equally good evidence/arguments, and that the author can only use a maximum number references for his paper (which is commonly the case). This behaviour is probably most often seen in soft/weak references of general points in e.g. introductions and discussions. I personally find this behaviour maybe not ideal, but rather human.</li>\n<li>The concious choice <strong>not</strong> to cite other researchers work that would be relevant. This can come in (at least) two forms: 1) ignoring researchers with a critical perspective on your work (~academic feud), 2) wanting to \"claim\" the field as your own. Both of these cases should ideally be spotted during the review process, but I think it is very common so still see traces of them in published papers. The problem is probably to prove bad intent, and it is also dependent on reviewers that know the litterature in the specific field extremely well and also bother to speak up about it. This form of behaviour is naturally the most problematic one.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Under point 3, the first form (ignoring criticism) has recieved most attention. However, reading between the lines, I feel that the second form is relatively common as well, where groups of researchers try to \"claim\" a specific topic (intentionally or unintentionally), so that their body of work is the go-to reference for this topic. A good way to achive this would be to preferentially cite work from within the group, especially if you are already a well established researcher. This can be particularly powerful if you are writing review papers of topics, since these can be used to define the core literature of a topic for future researchers that discover the field (probably related: <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_effect\" rel=\"nofollow\">Matthew effect</a>).</p>\n\n<p>I don't know about studies that try to quantify how common these specific behaviours are. However, the study of citation patterns and self-citations is common, and two papers that touch upon the things mentioned here are <a href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.10204/abstract\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Hyland, K. 2003. Self-citation and self-reference: Credibility and promotion in academic publication. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 54(3)\">Hyland (2003)</a> and <a href=\"http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-007-1777-2\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Fowler & Aksnes. 2007. Does self-citation pay?. Scientometrics 72(3): 427-437\">Fowler & Aksnes (2007)</a>. <a href=\"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.10204/abstract\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Hyland, K. 2003. Self-citation and self-reference: Credibility and promotion in academic publication. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 54(3)\">Hyland (2003)</a> looks at how self-citations can be used for different purposes, while <a href=\"http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11192-007-1777-2\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Fowler & Aksnes. 2007. Does self-citation pay?. Scientometrics 72(3): 427-437\">Fowler & Aksnes (2007)</a> tries to quantify the \"value\" of self-citations (which seems to be quite large).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30471,
"author": "David Ketcheson",
"author_id": 81,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/81",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For another study of this and related practices, see <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/abs/1010.0278\" rel=\"nofollow\">Nefarious Numbers, by Doug Arnold and Kristine Fowler</a>. They review how gaming citations led the <em>Internation Journal of Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation</em> to have by far the highest impact factor in its field, despite being a third-tier journal according to expert opinion.</p>\n\n<p>Another famous case involved the journal <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081126/full/456432a.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Chaos, Solitons and Fractals</a>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 41715,
"author": "Marc Brysbaert",
"author_id": 31797,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/31797",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In this article you find empirical evidence for the self-citation bias:</p>\n\n<p>Marc Brysbaert & Sinéad Smyth,\n<a href=\"http://www.psychologicabelgica.com/article/download/pb-51-2-129/49\" rel=\"nofollow\">SELF-ENHANCEMENT IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH:\nTHE SELF-CITATION BIAS</a>, Psychologica Belgica 2011, 51-2, 129-137.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30424",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23219/"
] |
30,435 |
<p>I'm currently pursuing a Master's degree in a STEM field and working on a thesis. For my master's thesis, my advisor suggested I expand the code of the group's software and add new features to it. However, is very large (some files are thousands of lines long) and hard to read. It consists of many different files and there are hardly any comments that explain what the functions do, the meaning of the variables, etc. There's no documentation that explains what the functions/classes do. It seems like whenever I am focusing on what a function does, there's multiple functions/variables in it that are defined in another file and those functions/classes themselves are hundreds of lines long</p>
<p>While my advisor has mentioned he is open to helping me with whatever questions I have, most of the problems I'm having are related to the code, since it's so gigantic and I don't even know where to begin to ask questions. But the prof doesn't know much about the code, so I have to ask the postdoc whenever I have questions about the code. However, the postdoc doesn't even know alot of the code (he knows c++, but most of the code was written by a former postdoc), and told me I should email that former postdoc to answer my questions about the code.</p>
<p>I've spoken to some people about this, and they've said this is a very bad situation. Should I leave this group and join a new one, even if it means I have to delay my graduation by an extra semester(assuming that I will graduate on-time if I continue with this current group)?</p>
<p>It's been a month since I joined this group and I hope to finish by next spring, but I don't know how realistic that goal is.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30439,
"author": "Compass",
"author_id": 22013,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22013",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Because I know some people here may not be completely familiar with computer science and "documentation", I'm including this to help people get a better grasp on the scenario.</p>\n<h3>The Context</h3>\n<p>Somewhere in life, if you work with code, regardless of whether you enter research or industry, you are likely to come across <code>magic code</code>.</p>\n<p>In most cases, the <code>magic code</code> works. No one knows how or why, and the original <s>magician</s> developer has likely moved on. So we have a product that works, but no one knows the <s>incantations</s> methodology that was used to produce the results.</p>\n<p>An example of <code>magic code</code>:</p>\n<pre><code>c=["6B8CFF","B13425","6A6B04","E39D25"];a='0155000555540ABEC02EFEFC2EBFBF2BFEA803FFF00A6A002A69A8AA55AAF9D76FFD557FF5555F0541502A00A8AA00AA';with(document)for(i=0;i<96;write('<br>')){h=('000'+parseInt(a.slice(i,i+=6),16).toString(4)).slice(-12);for(j=0;j<12;write('<rp style="padding:1 8;background:#'+c[h[j++]]+'"></rp>'))\n</code></pre>\n<p>No one, not even people with knowledge of this language, will instinctively know what this snippet of JavaScript does. <a href=\"https://codegolf.stackexchange.com/questions/39915/pixel-art-episode-1-display-super-mario\">It draws a picture of Mario</a></p>\n<p>Writing code like this, the developer will know what they're doing, but no one else will. It is a remarkably efficient time and space-saving technique if you don't have to explain to anyone what you're doing.</p>\n<p>The caveat about uncommented code is that somewhere down the line it falls apart and becomes impossible to improve or understand. Someone before you most likely took the code and coded on top of original uncommented code, and kept kicking the documentation down the line for someone else to handle, i.e. saved time now for an eventual time cost later.</p>\n<p>At this point, it sounds like the "later" has reached critical mass, where progress cannot continue unless previous progress has been documented.</p>\n<p>Leaving the project removes you from the problem, but the problem still exists, and will land in someone else's lap, and if the code is as bad as you indicate, this is application is on development death's door.</p>\n<h3>What you should do about it</h3>\n<p>You should meet with your advisor to discuss your concerns, as well as these issues:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>This code, while functional, does not follow standard coding convention, and will likely need to be brought up to standards before development can continue.</li>\n<li>Documenting of undocumented code is time-intensive, but ultimately improves future developments Documentation can easily take a fair percentage of the actual time spent coding. If this code has been developed for 4 years, I wouldn't find it unreasonable for a new person to take several months to document everything, or a few weeks to document the important stuff, while leaving the guts intact.</li>\n<li>Possible alternative projects such as retrospective analysis and improvement of the application for improvements, while corrolating your actual topic with how it is being handled by the code.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30455,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would be very wary of taking on this thesis topic. There's a huge amount of programming effort here, but you're not trying to get an MS in software engineering, so this will necessarily be a project in which you spend most of your time doing work that is actually outside of your discipline. Furthermore, there's a risk that either you'll never be able to understand various aspects of the code or that you'll misunderstand things and then make changes that break the code. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30465,
"author": "ctokelly",
"author_id": 12045,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12045",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This isn't a complete answer by any means and this is very far from being my field, but I wonder if there's a possibility of an alternative before you jump ship. Could go to the existing postdoc and ask him if there is any project related to the code base, that you could do in the time available, that would help move his work forward? Then take that idea back to the supervisor, saying that you've talked it over with the postdoc. You might get a bit of informal supervision and you could work on a portion of the code that you could be advised on...if it was technically possible, everyone was amenable etc. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30468,
"author": "Greg",
"author_id": 14755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14755",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The short answer to your question is, yes, it is realistic in the sense that it is a common scenario, and no, it is not realistic in the sense that it can seriously hurt your career and you may not want to get involved in a quagmire like this.</p>\n\n<p>The long answer: scientists are notoriously bad in developing and managing codes. As a result, you often end up like 30 years old undocumented FORTRAN codes that run only a Win95 machine. It may sound exaggeration, but I used to have an old PC because certain software could only be compiled with certain Fortran compiler which has last version running only Win95 or older systems. \nThe situation therefore common and obviously it can be very tiresome to fix all this. If you don't think it worth the effort, don't get into it. On the other hand there are cases when the code can do magic and important magic. In this case it is an opportunity to you to became a magician and an expert in a tool that needed by many, but for obvious reasons, can be used by only very few. In other word, if it is an important program, it may pay of on the long term. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30480,
"author": "KMP",
"author_id": 23258,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23258",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>sorry to hear about the difficulties. I used to be a graduate student too and most of my current friends who I interact with almost daily are graduate students. As Greg pointed out, this scenario is very common but certainly far from ideal. I understand your concerns very well since I was in this scenario not too long ago. I was debugging a code written by a earlier post-doc which was in C++ and I was only a novice at C++. My supervisor knew that I was a novice at it and he did not know much about the nitty-gritties of the code. However, I was only debugging the code so did not need enough expertise to add new features. In the end after a couple months of effort I was able to fix the code. That was my story. </p>\n\n<p>However, in your case there are 4 possibilities: </p>\n\n<p>1) Your supervisor envisions some useful features but has no idea how much effort it is to implement it or thinks it may not require much effort but in reality it does.\n- (Bad scenario)</p>\n\n<p>2) Your supervisor has somewhat of a good idea of how much effort it is and needs you to do it so that you could use these new features in your work (to follow) and write up a thesis based on it. - (Not a bad scenario unless you have your own different likings for topics you want to work on for your thesis).</p>\n\n<p>3) Your supervisor has somewhat of a good idea of how much effort it is and needs you to do it just as something useful for the group besides your thesis. -(Not a bad scenario unless it takes more than a month or two and absolutely can't go in your thesis). </p>\n\n<p>4) Your supervisor has somewhat of a good idea of how much effort it is and needs you to do it because it will be useful for the group and it is going to take several months and does not help you advance in your field or cannot go in your thesis. -(Bad scenario)</p>\n\n<p>Now, you need to figure out which scenario you fit in broadly. The way to figure out is to discuss and ask questions to the post-doc in the group as well as your supervisor. Ask for a meeting and discuss your concerns (perceived as not the best thing to do- but in reality it is indeed the best thing to do). Many students worry about their supervisors judging them negatively. This worry needs to be suspended since something greater is at stake. Proper communication will eventually lead to good results and in turn a good judgement anyway. Again, you need to discuss and understand how useful this project is for yourself. Then you need to come to a consensus wit others about how long it is expected to take and if it is worth your time to do it. Lastly you should also discuss and put some safeguards in your plan, i.e. a timeline where you expect smaller goals of the project to be completed and if it does not work out the way you want what will be plan B? </p>\n\n<p>And another important thing: If the project or other possible projects that you could take up in this research group do not interest you at all, then you should look elsewhere. </p>\n\n<p>Hope this helps. My best wishes. \nFeel free to ask more questions in response. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30435",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23230/"
] |
30,440 |
<p>There is a well known book "Scientific topic X. Philosophical reflections." It contains a collection of articles on the topic. I am writing a paper myself. To what extent is it allowed to use the same title?</p>
<p>I am not stealing or borrowing the title because it is particularly original, it just concisely summarizes the goal and content of my paper (without redundancy). I also came up with about 10 alternatives, but I like this one still more.</p>
<p>I suppose it is ok, after all - there can be only so many permutations of words for a particular topic/approach, e.g. "Introduction to philosophy of science, Basic course in Calculus, etc."</p>
<p>What are the academic standards on this issue?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30446,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are no official policies on things not being allowed to have the same name.</p>\n\n<p>It doesn't seem to be a legal problem: How many books are called <em>Algebra</em>? and how many songs are called <em>I love you?</em> How many companies have been called <em>Smith and sons</em>?)</p>\n\n<p>It is not a technical problem since <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/16615/1471\">title is not the most relevant citation information</a></p>\n\n<p>Is it an ethical problem? I don't think so.</p>\n\n<p>Still, if the other book is well known, it can lead to confusion and people can think that you are a bit bizzare to reuse the title. I wouldn't do it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 114878,
"author": "William Evans",
"author_id": 96801,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96801",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I published a book with a title that had never been used. I research every title that I want before using it. Then, 5 months later, a writer on the New York Times Best Seller List came out with his book using that same title.</p>\n\n<p>If that writer did his research, he knew that the same title was used just 5 months earlier and should have used another title for his book.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, being a Best Seller, his book always comes up when someone searches for that title. If someone searches for my book, they get his.</p>\n\n<p>I don't particularly appreciate it, but as mentioned, it is legal unless copywrites apply.</p>\n\n<p>Just felt like getting it off my chest. My book is better, by the way!</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30440",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22371/"
] |
30,449 |
<p>I hope I have found the right website for my query. Would it be possible to get a psychological experiment that you carried out published to any journal, despite the fact that you are:</p>
<ol>
<li>Only 17 (nearly 18) years old</li>
<li>Have no degree or qualification</li>
</ol>
<p>I've got some really great ideas for psychological experiments that I haven't been able to find them done yet. I really just want to do science and get recognised for it. I was thinking Google Science fair, but that has ended. I'm just doing this for self-pursuit and interest. I am hoping exposure to a scientific audience can lead me to my future career path. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30450,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You don't need any formal qualifications to get an article published. You don't have to have degrees or titles or money or anything. What you have to do is make an original, important contribution to the sum total of human knowledge.</p>\n\n<p>I don't want to offend you here, but you need to be realistic. The chances that you are going to make such a contribution at 17 or 18 is virtually nil. You haven't seen anybody else suggest such experiments, but how much literature have you actually read? How many monographs, how many research articles? The reason that it is pretty much only people with PhDs who publish research is not that there's some big conspiracy. It can take as many as 5-10 years of dedicated, carefully directed effort, involving lots of mentors and help along the way to get a person to the point that they can start making such contributions. </p>\n\n<p>Don't be discouraged in your desire to do research. But recognize that you've got a long road of learning the field, and internalizing the norms and practices of the discipline before you're realistically going to get a piece of original research published. It really is that hard, but that's also why it's so special and valuable. Stay hungry.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30454,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are two different types of \"no qualifications\":</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>A person may be \"unqualified\" because they don't have the usual pieces of paper</li>\n<li>A person may be \"unqualified\" because they are not familiar with the standards and practices of the field.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Don't worry about the first one. Worry about the second one. For example, one of the other comments raised the issue of getting human subject experiments approved. Likewise, there are lots of subtle challenges in experimental design that have to be dealt with in order to getting a valid psychological result. But high school students and undergraduates do real scientific work all the time. Consider, for example, the <a href=\"http://igem.org/\">iGEM genetic engineering competition</a>: students from around the world, both high school and undergraduate, get right out to the bleeding edge of science, and some of their work goes on to be published. Or consider the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackerspace\">Hackerspace/DIY movement</a>, which is bubbling over with innovation and certainly knows no age barriers.</p>\n\n<p>Now, what most of those folks have, and what it sounds like you don't currently, is mentors who know the ropes. A good mentor might or might not be \"qualified\" in the sense of pieces of paper, but should have a good sense of the scientific method, and at least some ideas of who else to get involved if you start thinking you've got a unique result and want to figure out how to get from <a href=\"http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/11/the-burger-lab-revisiting-the-myth-of-the-12-year-old-burger-testing-results.html\">awesome science on the internet</a> to a formal publication.</p>\n\n<p>Don't worry about the uniqueness or publication part of it too much. First, find some good peers and a mentor if you can, and <em>just start doing some science</em>. Then see if you actually enjoy the thrill of the knowledge chase enough to overcome the frustrations of experiments that don't work and people who point out the problems in the ideas you have come to love. If you fall in love, not just with the <em>idea</em> of science, but with the process, then as time goes by you can sort out which of the many science-related career paths ends up being a good one for you to pursue. </p>\n\n<p>Maybe you'll end up published before you turn 20, and maybe you won't. If that makes a big difference to you, then you're in it for the wrong reasons.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30464,
"author": "half-pass",
"author_id": 9772,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9772",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, it's possible if uncommon. I did it, learned a ton, and had a blast. The byline in the journal just unceremoniously lists my affiliation as my high school. It's actually pretty funny. But the others' answers are spot-on; you have to put in a lot of background reading in the field. This is much easier when you have a mentor in the field to guide you, but I didn't have one. If you can, talk to someone with a good brain for research and study design even if they're not in psychology, and ask for their help with the idiosyncrasies of preparing a manuscript for submission. </p>\n\n<p>Don't have wild expectations, but go for it. It's pretty damn fun to do independent research. And psychology is not a bad choice: the literature is accessible to a layperson, and if you're clever, you can do a psych study on a shoestring.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30559,
"author": "John",
"author_id": 23309,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23309",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ignore the doubters. </p>\n\n<p>Do the goddamn experiments and keep a METICULOUS log of your activity, practice, procedures etc. Videos, transcripts, audios, pictures, notes, EVERYTHING.</p>\n\n<p>Most of the greatest minds in our history all came from little to no educational background, (or completely different fields)</p>\n\n<p>People forget that science isn't about a degree, it's about curiosity.</p>\n\n<p>Go do it my man. </p>\n\n<p>It's true, it might be easier if you can have a patron or mentor but don't let that stop you from starting. You can do both at the same time. Send a respectful letter or phone the Professor and say something along the lines of:</p>\n\n<p>\"Hi, My names John, I'm doing some cool research about xyz, I thought you'd be intereted because </p>\n\n<p>I'm running my xth wave of experiments (never say it's your first or second) at the moments and it's due to finish on the xth. </p>\n\n<p>I'm telling you this because it would be great to have another perspective/opinion/insight about the results. Already there are some amazing trends beginning to show.\"</p>\n\n<p>Be confident and display certainty in your communications. </p>\n\n<p>Don't get too caught up in the pomposity of academia. Respect it, but don't aspire to it, keep things simple man. </p>\n\n<p>FYI. I read and use various reports, and papers all the time in my occupation, and most of it could be said with about 60% less verbage. It's disgraceful that the most 'educated' minds require so many words, they are nearly as bad as lawyers, (which use these massive amounts of words to sneak their own interpretation into)</p>\n\n<p>Toasting to your success my friend. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/23
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30449",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23240/"
] |
30,452 |
<p>Is it possible do to an online or distance Ph.D. program at all?</p>
<p>If so, are there ones that are cheap or free?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30456,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To a first approximation, it's not possible. There are few online or distance Ph.D. programs, and they usually have bad reputations. A Ph.D. from a university with a bad reputation will actually be worse for your career than having no Ph.D. at all, so you should be very careful. Plus these programs are as far as I know never free. You can get financial support for Ph.D. work in several ways (competitive fellowships, a faculty member's research grant, teaching classes for the department), so depending on the field you may not need to pay anything yourself and may even earn a modest stipend, but that's not because the program itself is cheap or free. Ph.D. supervision is intrinsically time-consuming and expensive.</p>\n\n<p>I'm skeptical of how serious your question is. Hoping for a free online Ph.D. isn't really reasonable; furthermore, if you have no time to attend a university, then you probably have no time to complete the years of full-time research required to write a Ph.D. dissertation.</p>\n\n<p>However, I felt it was worth answering to warn you about scams from unaccredited universities. There are plenty of diploma mills that will offer you a relatively cheap and easy Ph.D. online. Such degrees are completely worthless, so they'd basically be stealing the fees from you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30463,
"author": "Anon",
"author_id": 23246,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23246",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Peter- where are you located and what is your citizenship? </p>\n\n<p>Many countries have Higher-Degree-by-Research (HDR) for free or minimal payment but only available to local students and based on competitive entry. </p>\n\n<p>For instance, in Australia, many PhD programs are currently free for local students, but you must be citizen, secure a commonwealth 'position' (as basically the Commonwealth covers your tuition) and in around 2016- fees will be introduced. I think international students can also apply for tuition-free positions but this might depend on the university. </p>\n\n<p>Depending on your Faculty, research topic and resources required to undertake your research - it is not uncommon for a PhD to be undertaken 'remotely' in Australia. However, Australia generally does NOT have course-work related PhD - the entire 3 years is research and thesis writing (this differs from the system in the USA). </p>\n\n<p>I think also Germany and Belgium have free higher education. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30467,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A PhD requires significant time input from an advisor – several hours a week from somebody earning a decent salary. That's not something you can get for free or at a distance.</p>\n\n<p>If distance learning is an absolute requirement and you're in the UK, the <a href=\"http://www.open.ac.uk/postgraduate/research-degrees/degrees-we-offer/doctor-of-philosophy-phd\">Open University</a> might be what you're looking for. If free is an absolute requirement, you need to look into potential sources of funding: in most places, there's no such thing as a free PhD but there are organizations (including some governments) that will pay the fees for good students. But be aware that these are very competitive.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52215,
"author": "Samantha",
"author_id": 39062,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39062",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is NO free doctorate ( or degree at any other level) from any properly accredited university. BEWARE diploma mills!! I began my PhD in Australia when the exchange rates were much better and later had to drop out due to a family emergency. I've been researching less expensive degrees, but my area is nursing, so it most likely does not apply to you. Your best bets are state schools which offer online doctorates, or looking overseas at England/Scotland/Wales. As mentioned above, Germany has free tuition, but not all courses are offered in English. My concern is that you say you \"have no time\". Do not believe that because a doctorate is done via distance that you will have an easier time of it. I skyped and phoned my advisor in Cairns, Au. weekly for an hourly conference. Then there were the hours of research I did prior to those conferences. A doctorate is time-consuming. There's no way around that. You may get decent tuition at perhaps 250.00 to 350 dollars a credit in a state school (most doctoral courses are 3 to 6 credits each depending on your area of study), but you will still have to put in the time and then you will write a dissertation with multiple revisions. You don't sound ready for doctoral study, my friend. I often tell my undergrad nursing students who say they have \"no time\" to do their work that the world will not accommodate them. That's just life. Sometimes we must wait for the right time to go to school, or we have to make a great effort to ensure we set aside the time if we really want the degree.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 64673,
"author": "Bill",
"author_id": 50362,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/50362",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>MOST PHD PROGRAMS IN THE USA ARE FREE!!! YOU WORK FOR THE INSTITUTION\nAND THEY WAIVE YOUR TUITION!!!! (You BECOME a servant for a professor for 3 to 7 years) (He may or may not give you a phd after your service!!!)</p>\n\n<p>I suspect that most of the people answering this question have never\nbeen in a doctoral program!!</p>\n\n<p>1) DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY GETTING A MASTERS!!\nFor most phd programs, you only need a ba or bs to apply.</p>\n\n<p>2) Phd courses are all home made by the teacher from academic journals!\nText books are not used (you already know every thing in all the textbooks)</p>\n\n<p>3) The training program consist of reading adademic journals.(Thousands of them), then doing your research project.</p>\n\n<p>4) The goals is to train you to be able to write, research articles for \nacademic journals ( not to train you to teach in a college).</p>\n\n<p>5) If you want to be a college teacher a phd is required to get a full time\njob. Ba or Bs Or Masters is good enough for a part time college teaching jobs.</p>\n\n<p>6) College Chairmen are usually only hire people like them selF!\nif the chairman is harvard or columbia, he or she will only hire\npeople from those schools!!! </p>\n\n<p>7) REPUTATION OF THE SCHOOL IS VERY IMPORTANT, IF YOU WANT TO GET\nA COLLEGE TEACHING JOB!!</p>\n\n<p>8) London university and the university of south Africa had very\nwell respected external academic phd programs that could be done\noutside the country. I know of one person witha a south africia\nexternal phd, who worked at NYU business school.</p>\n\n<p>9) The courses are twice as difficult as a regular BA course.</p>\n\n<p>10) Most Phd students are foreign, so they audit the courses 1 or 2\ntimes, before actually enrolling.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck,\nBill</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 64678,
"author": "Peter Green",
"author_id": 42323,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/42323",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many UK universities offer a \"PhD by published works\". Basically you take a group of scientific papers you have written that demonstrate a PhD level of work and competence. You then write an introduction/summary, submit it with the collection of papers (the university will provide a supervisor to assist with this assembly process) and they examine the work, give you a viva etc. There will be fees but afaict the total fees paid will likely be much lower than a traditional student will pay as you will only be registered as part time and will not be registered for as long.</p>\n\n<p>Many Universities restrict this to their own former students or others who are in some way associated with the University, but there are some who offer it to extrnal applicants with no previous relationship to the University.</p>\n\n<p>This is NOT going to be an easy way to get a PhD, but if you have managed to be active in academic publishing without getting a PhD the traditional way (a traditional PhD program is basically a research apprenticeship) and you want to convert that work into a PhD then it may be an option for you.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30452",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23243/"
] |
30,458 |
<p>I know there are a lot of discussions about this topic in this forum and I read all of them but my situation is slightly different.
I took a class with my professor and I worked in his research lab and I know him for a while. When I asked him for a letter of recommendation he told me send you CV plus draft of your letter of recommendation. In this forum a lot of people said do not do that it is unethical. I understand this and I understand why it is unethical but what should I say to him should I say this is unethical and I cannot do that or should I forget about letter of recommendation from someone who I worked in his lab.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30456,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To a first approximation, it's not possible. There are few online or distance Ph.D. programs, and they usually have bad reputations. A Ph.D. from a university with a bad reputation will actually be worse for your career than having no Ph.D. at all, so you should be very careful. Plus these programs are as far as I know never free. You can get financial support for Ph.D. work in several ways (competitive fellowships, a faculty member's research grant, teaching classes for the department), so depending on the field you may not need to pay anything yourself and may even earn a modest stipend, but that's not because the program itself is cheap or free. Ph.D. supervision is intrinsically time-consuming and expensive.</p>\n\n<p>I'm skeptical of how serious your question is. Hoping for a free online Ph.D. isn't really reasonable; furthermore, if you have no time to attend a university, then you probably have no time to complete the years of full-time research required to write a Ph.D. dissertation.</p>\n\n<p>However, I felt it was worth answering to warn you about scams from unaccredited universities. There are plenty of diploma mills that will offer you a relatively cheap and easy Ph.D. online. Such degrees are completely worthless, so they'd basically be stealing the fees from you.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30463,
"author": "Anon",
"author_id": 23246,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23246",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Peter- where are you located and what is your citizenship? </p>\n\n<p>Many countries have Higher-Degree-by-Research (HDR) for free or minimal payment but only available to local students and based on competitive entry. </p>\n\n<p>For instance, in Australia, many PhD programs are currently free for local students, but you must be citizen, secure a commonwealth 'position' (as basically the Commonwealth covers your tuition) and in around 2016- fees will be introduced. I think international students can also apply for tuition-free positions but this might depend on the university. </p>\n\n<p>Depending on your Faculty, research topic and resources required to undertake your research - it is not uncommon for a PhD to be undertaken 'remotely' in Australia. However, Australia generally does NOT have course-work related PhD - the entire 3 years is research and thesis writing (this differs from the system in the USA). </p>\n\n<p>I think also Germany and Belgium have free higher education. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30467,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A PhD requires significant time input from an advisor – several hours a week from somebody earning a decent salary. That's not something you can get for free or at a distance.</p>\n\n<p>If distance learning is an absolute requirement and you're in the UK, the <a href=\"http://www.open.ac.uk/postgraduate/research-degrees/degrees-we-offer/doctor-of-philosophy-phd\">Open University</a> might be what you're looking for. If free is an absolute requirement, you need to look into potential sources of funding: in most places, there's no such thing as a free PhD but there are organizations (including some governments) that will pay the fees for good students. But be aware that these are very competitive.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52215,
"author": "Samantha",
"author_id": 39062,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39062",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is NO free doctorate ( or degree at any other level) from any properly accredited university. BEWARE diploma mills!! I began my PhD in Australia when the exchange rates were much better and later had to drop out due to a family emergency. I've been researching less expensive degrees, but my area is nursing, so it most likely does not apply to you. Your best bets are state schools which offer online doctorates, or looking overseas at England/Scotland/Wales. As mentioned above, Germany has free tuition, but not all courses are offered in English. My concern is that you say you \"have no time\". Do not believe that because a doctorate is done via distance that you will have an easier time of it. I skyped and phoned my advisor in Cairns, Au. weekly for an hourly conference. Then there were the hours of research I did prior to those conferences. A doctorate is time-consuming. There's no way around that. You may get decent tuition at perhaps 250.00 to 350 dollars a credit in a state school (most doctoral courses are 3 to 6 credits each depending on your area of study), but you will still have to put in the time and then you will write a dissertation with multiple revisions. You don't sound ready for doctoral study, my friend. I often tell my undergrad nursing students who say they have \"no time\" to do their work that the world will not accommodate them. That's just life. Sometimes we must wait for the right time to go to school, or we have to make a great effort to ensure we set aside the time if we really want the degree.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 64673,
"author": "Bill",
"author_id": 50362,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/50362",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>MOST PHD PROGRAMS IN THE USA ARE FREE!!! YOU WORK FOR THE INSTITUTION\nAND THEY WAIVE YOUR TUITION!!!! (You BECOME a servant for a professor for 3 to 7 years) (He may or may not give you a phd after your service!!!)</p>\n\n<p>I suspect that most of the people answering this question have never\nbeen in a doctoral program!!</p>\n\n<p>1) DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY GETTING A MASTERS!!\nFor most phd programs, you only need a ba or bs to apply.</p>\n\n<p>2) Phd courses are all home made by the teacher from academic journals!\nText books are not used (you already know every thing in all the textbooks)</p>\n\n<p>3) The training program consist of reading adademic journals.(Thousands of them), then doing your research project.</p>\n\n<p>4) The goals is to train you to be able to write, research articles for \nacademic journals ( not to train you to teach in a college).</p>\n\n<p>5) If you want to be a college teacher a phd is required to get a full time\njob. Ba or Bs Or Masters is good enough for a part time college teaching jobs.</p>\n\n<p>6) College Chairmen are usually only hire people like them selF!\nif the chairman is harvard or columbia, he or she will only hire\npeople from those schools!!! </p>\n\n<p>7) REPUTATION OF THE SCHOOL IS VERY IMPORTANT, IF YOU WANT TO GET\nA COLLEGE TEACHING JOB!!</p>\n\n<p>8) London university and the university of south Africa had very\nwell respected external academic phd programs that could be done\noutside the country. I know of one person witha a south africia\nexternal phd, who worked at NYU business school.</p>\n\n<p>9) The courses are twice as difficult as a regular BA course.</p>\n\n<p>10) Most Phd students are foreign, so they audit the courses 1 or 2\ntimes, before actually enrolling.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck,\nBill</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 64678,
"author": "Peter Green",
"author_id": 42323,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/42323",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many UK universities offer a \"PhD by published works\". Basically you take a group of scientific papers you have written that demonstrate a PhD level of work and competence. You then write an introduction/summary, submit it with the collection of papers (the university will provide a supervisor to assist with this assembly process) and they examine the work, give you a viva etc. There will be fees but afaict the total fees paid will likely be much lower than a traditional student will pay as you will only be registered as part time and will not be registered for as long.</p>\n\n<p>Many Universities restrict this to their own former students or others who are in some way associated with the University, but there are some who offer it to extrnal applicants with no previous relationship to the University.</p>\n\n<p>This is NOT going to be an easy way to get a PhD, but if you have managed to be active in academic publishing without getting a PhD the traditional way (a traditional PhD program is basically a research apprenticeship) and you want to convert that work into a PhD then it may be an option for you.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30458",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20608/"
] |
30,472 |
<p>Every once in a while you see a headline similar to "17 year old student finds a cure for cancer!". <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/video/rock-center/52207962">Here</a> <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/jack-andraka-the-teen-prodigy-of-pancreatic-cancer-135925809/">are</a> <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/15/angela-zhang-high-school-_n_1207177.html">some</a> <a href="http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/teenager-creates-new-hiv-test">examples</a> <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2419219,00.asp">too</a>.</p>
<p>What's behind this? I find it hard to believe that a teenager without any academic education (or minimal education) can solve a problem that many experienced, well-funded, scientists have been working on for years. Or make a technological breakthrough that billion dollar international tech firms could not reach by themselves.</p>
<p>Are they really teen prodigies with brilliant minds or are they working in a team of people who know what they are doing that actually do all the work?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30475,
"author": "eykanal",
"author_id": 73,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I was a judge at the <a href=\"https://student.societyforscience.org/intel-isef\">Intel Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF)</a> in 2012, and I've seen some of what happens here. For those who aren't familiar, ISEF is the \"Olympics\" of science fairs. Everyone here has already won numerous local, regional, and national awards.</p>\n\n<p>The level of science being displayed here is frankly ridiculous. Many of the students at the fair are completing work at or beyond PhD level. Many of them work with well-known and highly capable research labs or university faculty, and a good number of them perform research on their own using their ginormous brains.</p>\n\n<p>Some of the research being performed here is, in fact, things like cancer cures. To give you an idea of the level of research, browse <a href=\"https://www.societyforscience.org/content/press-room/intel-isef-2014-special-award-winners\">this award listing</a>. Some good ones to call out from the 2012 fair:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>One of the grand prize finalists developed a technique for <a href=\"https://member.societyforscience.org/document.doc?id=385\">early stage pancreatic cancer detection</a></li>\n<li>Some kid build and demoed a <a href=\"https://www.sciencenews.org/article/isef-fusion-hot\">working fusion reactor</a> (<a href=\"https://www.google.com/search?q=2012+ISEF+fusion+reactor&oq=2012+ISEF+fusion+reactor&aqs=chrome..69i57.6623j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8\">other stories on this</a>)</li>\n<li>Lots of novel approaches to addressing <a href=\"https://student.societyforscience.org/article/concussion-more-%E2%80%98getting-your-bell-rung%E2%80%99\">traumatic brain injury</a></li>\n<li>All sorts of kids doing <a href=\"https://student.societyforscience.org/article/competing-math\">wicked advanced math</a></li>\n<li>Some <a href=\"http://www.incose-la.org/news/71-community-outreach/468-intel-isef-2011-honors-high-school-science-fair-winners.html\">brain-computer interface work</a></li>\n<li>And a <a href=\"https://member.societyforscience.org/document.doc?id=386\">whole lot more</a></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>These high school students are coming from across the globe and are performing top-notch research. So yes, there are definitely some teens who build lots of stuff, and they do it the same as you and me... find a problem, research it, and solve it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30477,
"author": "Danny W.",
"author_id": 21704,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21704",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I actually disagree with <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/30475\">the answer given</a>, and having judged a fair number of high-end science fairs myself (not Intel, granted, but the all-Chicago science fair, which is essentially an Intel qualifier), took something different away from it. I am also close friends with a number of Intel finalists, and have discussed their experiences in depth. </p>\n\n<p>While most of the high schoolers at this level of science fair are extremely intelligent and will eventually become great, <strong>independent</strong> drivers of research, at this level they typically are not there yet. Their projects, for the most part, are designed by a faculty member or senior grad student/post doc, and the student is guided through the many experimental steps involved until they find <em>something</em>, at which case, because the research was done in a university lab and it is already better than 98% of other science fair projects (which are usually done at home with minimal resources), they typically do very well in science fairs. </p>\n\n<p><em>Occasionally</em>, one of the students is truly head and shoulders above everyone else, and can operate somewhat autonomously in a lab setting and can ask and answer their own questions - essentially at the level of an older graduate student. But, like a graduate student, they typically still need the oversight of a senior person who \"gets\" research. </p>\n\n<p>I realize that this response is mostly to the answer given above, and not the the main question, but I felt strongly that the answer needed to be addressed. </p>\n\n<p>As for prodigies: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>In the sciences, which require tons of background knowledge to even know what's going on (see: cancer), I have never, ever, heard of a true prodigy who could, for example, be running a 15 person cancer research lab, writing papers, etc. You don't just \"understand\" cancer the way some people \"understand\" math, innately. </p></li>\n<li><p>In math, the story is much different. There are always math prodigies, and they typically get tenure in their early twenties (see: Manjul Bhargava, Charles Fefferman, etc.)</p></li>\n<li><p>There are, of course, CS \"prodigies\" who are good at coding and creative enough to think of something that hasn't been done. But this isn't really what you are talking about. </p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>tl;dr: there are no true \"prodigies\" in science. There are in math, though. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30478,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The most important statement in your question is \"What's behind the headline...\"</p>\n\n<p>Let's split this up into two questions:</p>\n\n<p><strong>First: are teens doing cool science?</strong></p>\n\n<p>Teens, like anybody else, can do science. A lot of teens are actually in a good place to do really creative work (scientific or otherwise), because they're young, have relatively few responsibilities, and are brash enough to try things that will probably fail. Sometimes, those things don't fail.</p>\n\n<p>In some problems, it's easy to get to the edge of science: my favorite example is the <a href=\"http://igem.org\">iGEM genetic engineering contest</a>. Another great example of an \"easy\" problem is <a href=\"http://web.mit.edu/preis/www/mypapers/how_cats_lap_reis_etal_Science_2010.pdf\">how cats drink water</a>: that's a paper in Science whose key laboratory equipment was a good high-speed camera---the key innovation was how they thought to ask the question, and it could just as easily have been a teen as a bunch of folks as MIT (though the teen would have a harder time getting it published so well). Other problems, though, e.g., \"prevent cancer\", are really pretty hard to do anything about.</p>\n\n<p>A good heuristic for understanding what's going on in a particular case is to look at how much background and resources is required in order to take a particular approach to a problem. The more that's necessary, the more likely it is that any teen involved is a small (though possibly still quite smart and creative!) part of a big organization. </p>\n\n<p>They also might just be wrong. Lots of ways to be wrong in science, for teens and anybody else. You should judge the science of a teen just like you'd judge the science of any other researcher.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Second: Do the headlines have much to do with what teens are doing in science?</strong></p>\n\n<p>In a word: <a href=\"http://www.badscience.net/2009/09/how-to-read-articles-about-health-by-dr-alicia-white/\">No</a>.</p>\n\n<p>In a few more words: science reporting is often pretty dismal, and in popular sources usually has much more to do with fitting something into a societal narrative. And one of our cherished narratives is the <a href=\"http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TeenGenius\">Teen Genius</a>.\nAlso, don't forget that both teens and their mentors are just as capable of being self-promoters, self-deluded, or frauds as anybody else.</p>\n\n<p>Bottom line: if a headline sounds like one of those terrible \"One weird trick...\" internet ads, it's probably about the same level of reliability.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 73548,
"author": "Sascha",
"author_id": 53466,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53466",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience there is a wish in the press to report science as spectacular as possible:</p>\n\n<p>Instead of saying that some teenager did excellent research far beyond the level of his peers, i.e. something which may be suitable as a PhD topic, it has to be a \"working fusion reactor\". I guess that the guy knows exactly that he did not build a \"fusion reactor\" in the usual sense, which in my opinion does not make his achievement any smaller. The young woman working on the nanoparticles probably know exactly that this is not a \"cure for cancer\", but that it is a small building block of a huge technological/medical task-this does not make it less cool or amazing in my opinion, and any scientist would be happy to work with such talented and motivated people.</p>\n\n<p>But saying that somebody does something absolutely amazing, and is in the top 1% of his age class seems not spectacular enough.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 121080,
"author": "Cliff AB",
"author_id": 47192,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/47192",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In <em>some</em> cases, it really is the case that a young child came up with some truly novel contribution. </p>\n\n<p>George Bergman (now professor emeritus at UC Berkeley) published a paper about a number system with an <a href=\"https://math.berkeley.edu/~gbergman/papers/base_tau.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">irrational base</a>. He wrote this paper when he was 12; you may note that the bottom of the last page, he writes what I assume is his academic affiliation: \"Jr. High School 246, Brooklyn NY\". He was <a href=\"http://mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?threadID=384135&messageID=1185546\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">interviewed by Mike Wallace</a>, in which the introduction was very similar to what you've mentioned.</p>\n\n<p>George Bergman is my father. I asked him once how that happened and I recall that he thought this idea was somewhat clever at the time and discussed it with his math teacher. The teacher agreed that it was clever and suggested that he write it up as an article for submission to a mathematics journal. He did so and it was accepted. </p>\n\n<p>Do I think my father is smart? Of course. Do I think he's some sort of super genius who operates in a totally different manner than all of us other humans? Not really, I think he's someone who just naturally likes to mentally explore various spaces. He happened to be curious about mathematics as a kid (and still as an adult!) and happened to run into someone who encouraged him publish that idea at the right time. </p>\n\n<p>Later on in life, he has certainly achieved quite a bit in the academic world, but at the same time has jokingly referred to research as \"banging one's head against a wall until you find a soft spot\", implying you can try hard for a long time and get nowhere, and then by chance have a huge breakthrough that leads to further huge revelations. Sometimes, a relatively blank slate with a lot of curiosity thrown at a problem can find that soft spot. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30472",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22213/"
] |
30,473 |
<p>My contract requires that I maintain a certain number of office hours a week where I am available to meet with students. In practice this time is rarely entirely taken up by student meetings however. </p>
<p>Recently I have joined some relatively large university committees that (not surprisingly) have a hard time arranging meeting times. I have historically indicated that I am unavailable to meet during my office hours but I am not sure if this is the appropriate position to take.</p>
<p>The solutions that I see are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Consider this time booked and unavailable.</p></li>
<li><p>Consider this time flexible and reschedule office hours as needed (this would likely be somewhat frequent and could also just create more downstream conflicts).</p></li>
<li><p>Cancel the office hours as conflicts arise. </p></li>
</ol>
<p><strong>What is the appropriate way to deal with responsibilities that conflict with office hours?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30474,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My feeling is that it is fine to cancel or reschedule office hours when other responsibilities conflict, provided:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>You announce it to students several days in advance;</p></li>\n<li><p>You tell students that you are happy to meet them at another time, if they make an appointment.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30494,
"author": "Joe",
"author_id": 12346,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12346",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It seems to me that you need to generally be available for students a certain number of hours per week, <em>without</em> scheduling appointments. That's because scheduling an appointment is somewhat of a barrier, making it less likely students will avail themselves of your assistance. Office hours are largely intended to be for students who may have a hard time asking for help; those students may have a hard time getting help otherwise. (Of course, whether this works in practice is another question...)</p>\n\n<p>As such, if it's a rare thing, it's probably fine to just cancel the hours; but if it's as frequent as your question makes it out to be, you should keep the office hours as set. If the committees often like to use that time for meetings, I would (permanently) move your office hours, but not reschedule them frequently - that leads to confusion over what hours you hold that particular week.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30473",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/248/"
] |
30,486 |
<p>When a PhD program in the United States like <a href="http://cogsci.jhu.edu/graduate/doctorate/requirements.html#funding" rel="nofollow">this</a> states that students are expected to engage in full-time research during the summer months and the January intersession in addition to their regular coursework, should one expect that vacation time is out of the discussion, unless it is unofficially granted by the advisor?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30487,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If your advisor is providing your pay, then you should negotiate vacation with your advisor. About 2 weeks per year is considered standard in US employment.</p>\n\n<p>If your advisor is not providing you with pay, you should still discuss it with your advisor to make sure they think you are making progress and are committed to your research. However, your advisor should realize they are not in a position to dictate terms.</p>\n\n<p>Do not be surprised if nobody cares. But don't abuse it.</p>\n\n<p>I recommend planning your vacations at the same time as everyone else's. The benefits are that other people will not notice you are gone, and it can be hard to get work done anyway when the people you work with are gone so less is missed. Typically these times are late December and August.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30491,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My university is officially closed (skeleton crew only) from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day, and lot's of graduate students take this time off (and more). OTOH, there are plenty of profs that work their students to the bone and demand work over Christmas break, every other holiday when the university is closed, and every weekend, too. </p>\n\n<p>If personal time is important to you, you should discuss expectations for time spent working or in the lab with a potential advisor before your sign on to work with them. My PhD supervisor expected people to put in appearances most weekdays in the lab and to be productive, but I know others that have Friday meetings that generate Monday deadlines.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30486",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23239/"
] |
30,488 |
<p>I am in charge of the grading for an undergraduate class, and I am trying to determine the grading scheme which would best help students figure out what is a correct/incorrect answer without generating too much frustration. </p>
<p>My current position is to be demanding and give <em>very</em> little partial credit. For instance if the question asks to give a definition and the student gives an example, I would give no partial credit even if the example is a good one. </p>
<p>Strict grading is meant to make it clear when the student gives an inappropriate answer (e.g answering a different question from the one being asked, not providing enough of an argument to support an answer,...), <em>and</em> conversely when the student is answering correctly. For every graded piece, I write careful solutions and comments on how to answer properly. Strict grading is also meant to help the student figure out when she or he really needs to go look at the solutions and comments. Somehow, I fear that if students get partial credits more easily, they are more likely to believe that their answer is after all not that bad. Then they may be more likely not to check the solutions/comments, although the answer might be seriously flawed (e.g. they gave the right True/False answer but did not provide a correct justification of it).</p>
<p>In the class I am teaching, <strong>final grades</strong> <strong>are purely relative</strong> that is whether one gets an A or B solely depends on one's position in the grade distribution. So if they worry about final grades, student should not care too much about whether grading is strict, or whether partial credits are awarded, but rather whether the grading scheme is applied homogeneously between students. On this last point (making grading homogenous) I put a lot of effort (e.g. if no partial credit is awarded to a student answering "False" to a question without providing a proper counter-example, I make sure the same applies for every student answering "False" without providing a proper counter-example). I explained during class and repeated in all comments note that giving 0 to everyone or 5 to everyone was innocuous in terms of the final grade. I put the same effort in trying to make the purpose of strict grading clear. </p>
<p><strong>However</strong>, I realize that there is more to getting a zero on a question than how it affects your final grade. My impression is that some students get frustrated for not getting partial credits. Some students expect to get partial credit as soon as they write something sensible even if it does not answer the question. I want to make clear that <strong>I don't blame them for that at all</strong>. I understand that this has to do with the grading culture they have been exposed to, and that my grading might be at odd with this culture. What worries me is that such frustration may eventually have detrimental effects on their learning : instead of thinking </p>
<blockquote>
<p>" Oh, I got a zero, given what the instructor explained about his
grading scheme, that means I am probably not answering the question
right. I know that other people also got zero for the same kind of
mistakes, so I should not worry about the way it will affect my grade,
but I should definitely go check the solutions and comments to figure
out what is wrong with my answer, and eventually go to office hours if there is
still some
confusion"</p>
</blockquote>
<p>some of them react in a much different way. For many potential reasons, getting a zero makes them frustrated about the question/test/instructor, to the point that they are less likely to try to figure out what went wrong with their answer. More generally, not receiving partial credit may create discouragement on their behalf which would definitely negatively affect their learning. </p>
<p>Now, I could easily (I think?) solve the frustration problem while maintaining a fair grading procedure by uniformly giving (much?) more partial credit. However, not knowing about the average students' psychology in the class, it is hard for me to figure out which effect will dominate:</p>
<ol>
<li>Would the decrease in grading clarity overweight the decrease in frustration and eventually decrease the number of students who thoroughly compare their answer to the solutions/comments (and hopefully learn how to give better answers)?</li>
<li>Or is the frustration-effect so high that giving more partial credit will have a positive overall effect on their learning?</li>
</ol>
<p>Because this will differ from one class/university culture/topic to another, I am <strong>not primarily interested in guesses about whether 1 or 2 would hold</strong>. </p>
<p>What I would be more interested in is getting your insight on grading policies which would potential get me the best of both world, that is making it clear when a question is not answered properly and motivate the student to understand why, <em>while</em> avoiding any kind of detrimental frustration effect.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your help,</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30510,
"author": "Adrienne",
"author_id": 13729,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13729",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This recent review on grading gives evidence that when students receive both a grade and comments, they do not absorb the comments and become discouraged rather than motivated: \nSchinske, J., & Tanner, K. (2014). Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently). CBE-Life Sciences Education, 13(2), 159-166. Link: <a href=\"http://www.lifescied.org/content/13/2/159.full.pdf\">http://www.lifescied.org/content/13/2/159.full.pdf</a></p>\n\n<p>If motivating students to answer questions more carefully is your primary goal (and it is a good one), I would suggest considering a \"redo\" policy rather than stern grading. And skip the thorough comments and develop a simple system. That will make the time spent similar on your end, while motivating students to improve because they get another chance to earn all the points.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34601,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A few concerns that jump out to me:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>don't neglect the semiotics of letter grades! \"A\" means \"you put in the right amount of work to succeed in this class.\" \"B\" means \"you might get a grade you're happy with, but with a little more work you could get an A.\" I don't think it's wise (no citation, sorry!) to let students flounder in the dark wondering if the lauding comments mean \"try harder\" or \"about right,\" which of course differs based on what the students are shooting for.</li>\n<li>Be very, very careful with equitable comments. Say you expect a student to do poorly (how privilege-sensitive are you?). So your comments may say \"you've come along way\" which translates to a B- for a student for whom you had low expectations or an A+ and is ready to be a researcher with a glowing rec letter coming from you for the best.</li>\n<li>Don't let students think this is a competition. Curve grading works in large classes where the students' individualism aside, statistics applies. It works in smaller classes too, but the students may not realize if there's more than 7 or so students it's not competition-based.</li>\n<li>You have a bigger class right? If it really is fewer than 7 or so students, there's a chance\nyou'll have enough outliers to bring your planned curve into\nquestion. Or say at 7 students it's not independently, and they,\nfairly, collaborate a lot since they're really enjoying the material\nas well as each other's company.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>tl;dr: give them meaningful letter grades, about 1/3-2/3 of a grade lower than they'll probably get, assure that the grades are approximations but will be boosted by the curve, and follow through with that. Source: I had two professors do this in college in <em>very</em> different settings (small, elite math weeder v. honors lit intro) and it worked out.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34608,
"author": "Trevor Wilson",
"author_id": 8937,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8937",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the \"best of both worlds\" is the world of strict grading that you are currently in:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>My current position is to be demanding and give very little partial credit. For instance if the question asks to give a definition and the student gives an example, I would give no partial credit even if the example is a good one. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Sounds okay to me. Either the student doesn't know that such an answer is inappropriate, or knows that it is but chooses to give it anyway. This is bad in either case.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Some students expect to get partial credit as soon as they write something sensible even if it does not answer the question. I want to make clear that I don't blame them for that at all. I understand that this has to do with the grading culture they have been exposed to, and that my grading might be at odd with this culture.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's always good to understand students rather than blaming them. But this should not lead you to compromise the standards of your discipline. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>For many potential reasons, getting a zero makes them frustrated about the question/test/instructor, to the point that they are less likely to try to figure out what went wrong with their answer. More generally, not receiving partial credit may create discouragement on their behalf which would definitely negatively affect their learning. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>They'll get used to it. Trying to shield students from the experience of frustration is just passing the buck to the next instructor and ultimately making the problem worse.</p>\n\n<p>Moreover, unwarranted partial credit itself negatively affects learning by causing students to focus on tricks to get points on problems they don't understand, rather than focusing on understanding problems and writing correct solutions.</p>\n\n<p>In my opinion, the only downsides to strict grading of the kind you describe are:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>you have to make your expectations clear,</li>\n<li>you have to grade carefully, and</li>\n<li>you have to make the grading scheme clear.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>But it sounds like you understand this and are doing it already. So I think you're fine and you don't need to compromise.</p>\n\n<p>If you really want to give more partial credit, you could build it into your exam questions: for example, offer some smaller number of points for an example instead of a definition/proof. This way you don't encourage bad habits.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 119370,
"author": "user833970",
"author_id": 12363,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12363",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A professor in the math department has a really nice HW policy: there are 2 deadlines for every HW (a week apart), and everything is graded twice with the highest grade taken. The grading itself is very rigorous, and there little partial credit. Because the grading is harsh, it is very efficient and assignments are turned back in 48 hours. This subtly encourages a lot of good behavior:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>students start at least a week early</li>\n<li>students need to be clear to get better feedback on mistakes (instead of trying to get partial credit through ambiguity)</li>\n<li>it helps to have typed work</li>\n<li>there is complete transparency with the grade</li>\n<li>it promotes a healthier attitude about mistakes</li>\n<li>student correct their misunderstandings instead of mounting a legal defense for partial credit</li>\n<li>never have to deal with late HW excuses/ extension requests</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Since originally answering this question we have implemented something similar in a for a computer science class.</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Very harsh automated grading that gave very specific feedback about program mistakes, with no limit for the number of submissions</li>\n<li>25% of assignments could be "resubmitted" on the last day of class with no penalty</li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30488",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10664/"
] |
30,492 |
<p>My very best friend cheats, not just looking over her shoulder for two answers, I mean full out cheats - raising each grade from what would be a D to an A. I feel very guilty for doing something wrong, so I can not cheat. </p>
<p>I have a rank 35 in the school (I have only made 3 B's in 4 years of school). Most students above that cheat constantly. She takes mostly AP classes and I do too, but I am getting very frustrated that she and others look very intelligent when they cheat on the <strong>whole</strong> test before hand. My friend always brags about how she will be awarded a very prestigious award for her grades in Calculus, but my friend just told me she cheats on all the tests. Just recently she got a list of all the answers for a test and just bubbled each in knowing nothing. She will be awarded with many awards she does not deserve. I just don't think it is fair considering colleges look at rankings.</p>
<p>I don't want to lose my friendship with a really close friend, but I can't let this stand. I have tried warning her it was a bad idea. She wants to be a medical doctor and I feel like its important now for her to not cheat. People say that bad things will happen in the future because of what she does now, but I honestly believe she will continue to cheat without consequences.</p>
<p>Side-note: Another friend said, "Why would it matter if she cheats, that isn't affecting you." I just feel like it is affecting me when rank is what colleges look at.</p>
<p><strong>What should I do?</strong></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30501,
"author": "Bitwise",
"author_id": 6862,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6862",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You say that several students are cheating. This is actually good in the sense that you maybe can avoid specifically naming your friend.</p>\n\n<p>One option is to contact a relevant faculty member (ideally one that you know and trust) and say that you know that several of the top graders are cheating. A second option is to do this anonymously.</p>\n\n<p>The advantage of doing this anonymously is obviously that people will not know that you reported this. The disadvantage is that it may be less credible.</p>\n\n<p>BTW your friend is completely incorrect. It definitely <strong>does</strong> affect you, since the ranking and the prizes can affect your future career. If she can't understand that, then she perhaps isn't such a good friend.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30502,
"author": "A.G.",
"author_id": 10318,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10318",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I strongly recommend you take action in order to end your friend's cheating ASAP, either by convincing her (first thing, obviously) or letting the professors know. You can do that anonymously, the professor will have to catch your friend in the act anyway so the credibility issue should not be too much of a concern.</p>\n\n<p>Why? Well, just because you friend wants to be a medical doctor. Habits die hard, thus she is more than likely to cheat her way through medical school, and then real problems will arise. Patients treated by doctors who do not have the right credentials will suffer, some may die. Think about them, their loved ones. Makes sense?!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30544,
"author": "nickalh",
"author_id": 21611,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21611",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is far better for your friend and classmates to learn the consequences of cheating now before the consequences become more severe. Cheating in college often becomes part of a student's permanent academic record. Cheating on a job often results in employees getting fired with loss of income and increased difficulty finding a job.<br>Definitely report it, anonymously if you prefer. Share everything you know including methods, frequency and duration. You don't have to tell your friend that you are reporting it, but she may figure it out. Include the names of the students who you know are cheating. This will make it much easier for the teachers and administration to correct the situation. Let the teachers decide what to do. Realize as a former teacher myself, I occasionally suspected cheating but did not have enough evidence to do administer consequences.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 84568,
"author": "Pieter B",
"author_id": 15225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15225",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Do not let this get back at you.</p>\n\n<p>One of the first things to do is: protect yourself.\nIn an ideal world, you report the cheaters, they get punished and life goes on.</p>\n\n<p>I've seen that situation happen. But we don't live in an ideal world, what happened was that the cheaters didn't have any other consequences other then a: \"guys we heard that\", and the girl who reported them had a real shitty 2 years, because the cheaters weren't so forgiving to the \"rat\".</p>\n\n<p>So: I'd argue that the best thing is to look after your own interests first. If there's a way to get it of your mind without getting identified, go for that.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30492",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23267/"
] |
30,495 |
<p>In the freshman classes I teach (the class is like 30-35 students), some students would step out the class for 10-15 minutes and come back. The class time is 1 hour and 15 min. This is always interrupting.</p>
<p>I have asked the class before that this is a poor classroom etiquette, you have 15 min between classes to do whatever you want, so if you leave the class during the lecture please do not come back. Yet, they still do it.</p>
<p>Anybody is facing similar situation? and how you deal with it?</p>
<p>Clarification: I made it clear in class that if you need to leave, please inform me in advance. Or if you have a medical condition that requires you to leave regularly, please let me know. My question is not about those cases</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30497,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The statement</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>if you leave the class during the lecture please do not come back</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>is ambiguous. If they leave class are they allowed to come back or not? The best solution in my opinion is not to create rules like this since it effectively backs you into a corner. Some things, like being respectful of classmates, need firm rules and require you to enforce them. Things like bathroom breaks probably do not, but if your ability to teach really depends on students not interrupting class, then you need to do something about it. the best thing would be to change your teaching style such that interruptions are not hugely distracting. If you cannot change your teaching style and students coming and going is hurting the rest of the students, then you need to do something about it.</p>\n\n<p>I suggest at the start of the next class you clarify your original statement with:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If you choose to leave class during the lecture you will not be allowed to return.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Then the first time someone gets up to leave, interrupt the lecture and remind them they will not be allowed to return. The reason I suggest two warnings is this is a change in behaviour. If they leave and attempt to come back, stop your lecture and tell them to leave. Do not resume your lecture until they leave. Hopefully it will not come to it, but if necessary call the campus police to have them escorted from the classroom. One sacrificial student will probably be enough to regain control. The key is if you see students coming and going as a critical issue for you teaching you need to take control of the situation. Hopefully, you can modify your teaching to handle students coming and going.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30498,
"author": "Jukka Suomela",
"author_id": 351,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/351",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Have a 10-minute break in the middle of the lecture. (E.g., 35min lecture + 10min break + 30min lecture = 1h 15min in total.)</p>\n\n<p>1h 15min is far too much without any breaks. There are plenty of studies that show that students do not really pay attention to the lectures more than for maybe 20-30 minutes in the beginning of the lecture (and for a short period of time right before the lecture ends), so by telling <em>everyone</em> to take a 10-minute break you are likely to <em>improve</em> the learning outcomes (even if you have got slightly less time for teaching).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30499,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The existing answers seem to me extreme. I don't think some sort of draconian blanket \"leaving-the-room policy\" is needed here. I would suggest the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>For students leaving occasionally: <strong>Ignore it.</strong> They are adults and sometimes things in their lives may take higher priority than your class (e.g. going to the bathroom, feeling unwell, family emergencies, etc). If it's distracting to you, well, deal with it. It's a classroom, not a funeral, and you are a professional. Take a breath and get back to teaching.</p></li>\n<li><p>If you see a particular student leaving often: <strong>Have a private word with them to see if things are okay.</strong> They may have special circumstances that you don't know about (chronic illness is one distinct possibility). Once you know their situation, you may be able to offer specific suggestions that will reduce the disruption and/or get them more engaged in the class. </p></li>\n<li><p>If, after talking to them, you are convinced they are just walking out from spite, and they won't stop: <strong>Follow your institution's policy on disruptive students.</strong> Your department chair should have further guidance. It may ultimately be necessary to drop them from the class.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>A short break in the middle of a 75-minute class is a reasonable idea, but I would keep it very short: perhaps 1-2 minutes, enough to stand up and stretch, not more. It should not significantly reduce the amount of time students spend on task. (Otherwise, as mentioned above, you may encounter problems with your institution's authorities that your class does not provide as much instructional time as promised by its number of credit hours. Moreover, some students will see it as wasted time and resent it.) Better yet, break up the lecture with some other sort of productive activity (small group discussions, problem solving, etc). </p>\n\n<p>I don't think it's appropriate to publicly shame students for poor etiquette, or shut them out of class if they leave. You will unfairly punish students who legitimately need to step out for a few minutes, and anyone who is doing it from spite or boredom will just be further alienated.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30578,
"author": "pocketlizard",
"author_id": 21458,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21458",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not to offend your teaching methods or style, but perhaps you should ask yourself why the students are leaving in the first place. I would suggest talking to one of them outside of class and asking honestly if there's something you can do to help their learning experience that is non-disruptive to the other students. </p>\n\n<p>I had a professor who was brilliant but not good at teaching because he had difficulties relating to his students. Because of this, several students would leave for 10-20 minutes at a time in the middle of class because they felt they weren't getting anything out of the class. If your students need more stimulation during lecture, try switching up your teaching style once in a while. Include a little bit of interactivity with trivia or jeopardy-style extra credit in the middle of class to keep everybody participating and excited to learn.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30597,
"author": "tim",
"author_id": 23297,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23297",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>Punishment</h2>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Attendance contributes 5% of the grade, I take it at the beginning or at the end of the class. May be a possible solution is to start taking it at random times?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Others already mentioned that students can have valid reasons to leave your class for 10 minutes, among other [*]:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>health issues (anxiety issues, bladder problems, a bad back, etc.)</li>\n<li>pregnancy</li>\n<li>family emergencies (which can be quite regular in some cases)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Punishing them for these issues would not be the right thing to do, and it might very well <strong>violate your schools non-discrimination policy</strong>. </p>\n\n<p>You should also keep this in mind when talking about the issue in class (because it can - depending on the situation - easily come across as public shaming and thus 1. discourage students from taking your class and - again - 2. violate the non-discrimination policy).</p>\n\n<p><sub>\n[*] If your students are leaving in small groups, these reasons could also explain that (good friends helping with an anxiety attack for example).\n</sub></p>\n\n<h2>Suggestions on handling this</h2>\n\n<p><strong>Ignore it</strong>. There are enough valid reasons that students might step out[*], and honestly, non of them are any of your business. And <strong>the students are already punished</strong>: They missed part of the class, and possibly cannot follow the rest of the class that well because of missing information, so they have to work at home to catch up.</p>\n\n<p>If you still want to take action:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>try to apply for a room that has exits at the back</li>\n<li>analyze your material: are there parts of your class that are boring/unnecessary? students might be leaving because of this</li>\n<li>create a questionnaire asking about this, which the students can answer anonymously</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>If you want to talk with the students about it:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>do it privately and individually</li>\n<li>apologize for bringing it up in class in front of everyone, suggesting that they have poor etiquette, and asking them to not come back</li>\n<li>don't ask for their reasons, or at least accept \"private\" as a valid answer</li>\n<li>ask how you can help them (for example, provide them with a seat closest to the exit)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><sub>\n[*] This is still true if some students step out just because they want to smoke. It is not ok to punish the students with good reasons along with the students with bad reasons.\n</sub></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30657,
"author": "JonBruce",
"author_id": 23400,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23400",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At my university, there were classrooms where the outer door handle locked after class started. If you left, you couldn't return until someone let you in. To be clear, students could leave, but not return without assistance. \nThis approach worked very well for interruption deterrence.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30672,
"author": "Adam Davis",
"author_id": 11901,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11901",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>In the classes I teach some students would step out the class for 10-15 minutes and come back. This is always interrupting.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Consider the following questions:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Can you rearrange your classroom so it's less distracting (door in the back rather than front or sides)?</li>\n<li>Who is it distracting, you, or the other students?</li>\n<li>Is it the same students? </li>\n<li>Does it happen every day in every class, or is it more rare than that?</li>\n<li>Are several people leaving and entering at random times throughout the period, or is it just two interruptions per class when it does happen?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The students are adults. They are free to make decisions about their time. Honestly, 1.25 hours isn't too long to expect an adult to sit and listen to a presentation or lecture. They do it all the time at any other performance, be it a movie theater, play, or otherwise.</p>\n\n<p>You should first consider whether the interruptions are truly preventing the students from learning. If the only problem is that you are interrupted, then honestly you need to change so such interruptions don't bother you any more.</p>\n\n<p>If you can alter the layout of the classroom, then a physical change might improve the situation.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, if you truly feel that these interruptions are unacceptable and cannot be accommodated then you have the following options:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Talk to those who leave. Do it after class every time they leave. \"You understand that you are expected to attend the whole class period. If this was an emergency, then I can excuse it.\"</li>\n<li>Start giving out useful hints for upcoming tests/projects/etc. Save them for the time when people leave.</li>\n<li>Start making it an issue of attendance. \"If you leave during class I will mark you absent.\" Alternately every three times they leave they get counted absent for one day.</li>\n<li>Start making it an issue of grades. \"In-class attendance without breaks is a requirement for this course. If you do not attend, or you interrupt class to leave or exit between the start and end of class, it will impact your grade in the following ways.\"</li>\n<li>Start giving 5-10 minute pop quizzes. Keep some handy you can use at a moment's notice when people leave.</li>\n<li>Grow up. You are an adult. Your students are adults. You and your students can ignore the exit/entrance of a student and continue on without remark or change in pace. There's no need to punish those who leave. Make your presentations as informative and interesting as possible, then move forward and ignore those that leave or enter at inappropriate times.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Wasting your time and energy getting upset will only hurt you. Train your patience and ability to carry on in the face of adversity, and you'll become a more effective instructor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 130396,
"author": "Jennifer",
"author_id": 70345,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/70345",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>IMHO grading based on attendance is not optimum. If a student who is there 50% of the time can learn everything a student who is there 100% of the time can, do they really need to be punished for it?</p>\n\n<p>A compromise view might be: base the grade on various factors, like exams, attendance, participation, homework, and what not; with each student being given the option of an alternative weighing: mostly exams. If someone then does poorly on exams <em>because</em> they missed part of the class, that's their problem. But if they do well, why worry about seat time?</p>\n\n<p>One thing I definitely dislike: someone comes in late and the instructor stops speaking and waits for the latecomer to sit down and settle in. And then complain about <em>\"what the latecomer did to disrupt the class\"</em> (guilt tripping). I think the instructor should just keep talking and let the chips fall where they may. (The latecomer/break taker must not of course be so loud as to make it impossible for the instructor to be heard.)</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/24
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30495",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9547/"
] |
30,504 |
<p>I was trying to fill out the graduate school application for graduate school. However in the "recommender info" part it asks me to enter the address, city, institute and title or position but I wonder what they are? should I enter the university address? is title or position like assistant or full professor?
I would be very appreciated if anyone can help me with that. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30528,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ask the person who will write the letter of recommendation what address they want you to use. I suspect that this university will send them a return envelope to use to submit the letter, so the address must be their proper mailing address.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30530,
"author": "Anonymous",
"author_id": 11565,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11565",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Lookup the mailing address for the academic department in question. This can be easily found on the department's website. And yes, position is something like assistant or associate professor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30531,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>These days, most people who could serve as a good recommender have a professional website that will give their full contact information, including their full title, mailing address, etc. You can typically find this either by Google or by going to their organization's website, which will somewhere have a list of faculty and other significant staff.</p>\n\n<p>If this information is not publicly online (most likely to happen with a recommender from a company) then just ask your recommender to give their preferred contact information.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30504",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20608/"
] |
30,512 |
<p>I am a new student in a college, the other company in my class is so quiet! (very rare questions and answers), and I am not very good at English (my professor is English). </p>
<p>I said negative comments about things that I disagree with such as "I don't think that because..", "I think it changed, this is old statistics..". I corrected his speech: "Sir, is it weather or climate?". I laughed and spoke in my language in the class so he thought that we are talking about him, </p>
<p>I actually feel shy when I speak in my language to my friends but it's difficult sometimes to change to English. I really feel like he is saying to himself "rude girl!" </p>
<p>In addition, I ask some ridiculous questions and talked too much, I just noticed how stupid I was. But the worst thing I did is when I suggested (by email) to come the class earlier because we are late, He thought that I am not interested and I want to finish earlier. He spoke to me in front of class but I did not understand what he was talking about ( his voice was low and angry), At home I understood so I sent an email of explanation but I Still feel bad. I am really nervous and confused, what should I do? I feel like I want to leave the class.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30514,
"author": "Marc Claesen",
"author_id": 7173,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7173",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's simple: don't act childish in future lectures. If you are talking/giggling/whatever instead of following the lecture you are a nuisance to the professor but also to other students that try to pay attention.</p>\n\n<p>Disagreeing with the professor is not necessarily bad, though comments like '<em>this is old statistics</em>' are not constructive. It's better to ask questions that can help you (and your classmates) understand the material better than to remain quiet and learn nothing. Just make sure you are polite when doing so and don't openly challenge your teacher's knowledge. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30515,
"author": "seteropere",
"author_id": 532,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/532",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Don't</strong> make the language as an excuse to your behaviour. Being respectful to your professor has nothing to do with the language proficiency. If you can't learn in English then quit your English-speaking school. Most of us are not English native speakers and yet we study at English schools. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><em>What should I do to fix the problem?</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>1) Change your behaviour</strong>. There is no need to give your opinion about everything the professor says. At the same time, I bet you are very welcome to ask questions <em>related to the material</em> and the professor will be happy to answer them. </p>\n\n<p><strong>2) Tell the professor that you have changed and you regret what you did</strong>. I believe you got a very nice professor ( I know some professors who will make your day miserable if you act like this in their class). Take the class seriously or at least do not be the class trouble maker. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30525,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The existing answers are great but I would add a few things. As a note <strong>I teach classes were ALL my students are non-native English speakers but I am a native English speaker</strong>.</p>\n\n<p><strong>If you find the prof's statistics are out of date, then email him</strong> with what you believe the current data is. Making everyone in class think less of the prof is unlikely to motivate the students to put in the work to learn. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Don't pick apart the grammar or vocabulary usage unless it is important to his point</strong>. For example, if he says \"the weather is heating up over the decades because of pollution\" then the fact that he should use \"climate\" is not really critical. You are not there to teach him English and even native speakers make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes are on purpose. I regularly use incorrect vocabulary because I believe my students would not know the proper word in English. If it matters, I will focus on the word. If it does not matter, then keep everyone focused on the point.</p>\n\n<p>As far as what he is thinking when you are saying in a language other than the language of the classroom AND you are challenging him at every turn, then yes, he is likely thinking you are saying something bad about him.</p>\n\n<p>You need to be polite. <strong>Asking questions is fine (actually it is great) but if you are asking every minute you are slowing down the class</strong> which makes it harder for the prof to keep his timing. Remember that he has a job to do and you should want him to do his job well. So, find a way to support him and not harm his efforts.</p>\n\n<p>I suspect he is a professional (otherwise you would be talking about what he did to make you suffer) so just change your behavior. If you want to apologize, then do so. However, even if you do not but <strong>if you DO change your behavior, I am sure he will appreciate your enthusiasm in the classroom</strong>. Just keep it under control. Keep participating, in a reasonable way, and you may yet become his favorite.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30512",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
30,513 |
<p>I teach freshmen courses. The lessons are in the classroom, but I also use an LMS to receive homework, to communicate grades and comments, and to post additional readings and resources.</p>
<p>It is normal to encounter a few students not doing work, but this term, I found about 80% of one section doing no homework, even easy work. To investigate why so many students are not doing the work, I tried these strategies:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I sent private messages to each student informing them that they missed several assignments and that it is their responsibility to inform me of any problems. The students did not reply.</p></li>
<li><p>I posted a private survey to the LMS to all students, asking for students to describe any problem they were having with the LMS or homework. None of these students completed the survey.</p></li>
<li><p>Seeing no replies after 5 days, I set aside some of class time for a whole-class discussion on this topic, but this made students nervous. In retrospect, realize this was a poor choice.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I did learn through the discussion that some students did not know how to use the LMS and now that we've spend 20 minutes covering that (again).</p>
<p>After my discussion, more homework is coming in, but still about 50% of the class has a 0%.</p>
<ul>
<li>I do not see this problem in my other sections, nor have I had this failure rate in past years.</li>
<li>A student signed me into their account, so I could confirm that there were no anomalies in the LMS for this section.</li>
</ul>
<p>I want to identify why this section has so few students submitting work, so that I can make appropriate adjustments to the course, as necessary. How can I investigate this problem further, without making students nervous to explain?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30533,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are many aspects to this question, which amount to \"what are some good teaching techniques?\" In fact, I think getting students to do homework assignments is one of the most important parts of teaching. I recommend you look for in person training programs at your intitution's (or a nearby institution's) teaching center. Each institution in this network has such a program: <a href=\"http://www.cirtl.net/\">http://www.cirtl.net/</a>.</p>\n\n<p>When I did this, I learned how to design better assignments, lead better class discussions, create more engaging classes, and find out what determines student success. I think most senior faculty would benefit from similar training.</p>\n\n<p>In this case, I suggest creating in-class activities the students cannot do unless they did the homework.</p>\n\n<p>Also, in my experience, all LMS suck. Don't use them except when you have to (typically to keep grades confidential).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30543,
"author": "Adrienne",
"author_id": 13729,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13729",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You have been around the block a few times, so I interpret this question to be \"What is going on with THESE PARTICULAR students?\" And of course I don't know. </p>\n\n<p>I have run into some scenarios at my large public university which may be relevant:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Recent admission changes which bring in students from more low-income schools with less experience with self-regulated learning.</p></li>\n<li><p>Changes in course requirements which allow less-experienced students to take the course. </p></li>\n<li><p>Limited timing of a different required remedial class made one of my two sections also all remedial. </p></li>\n<li><p>A shift to making a class more online also allowed students to fall behind more easily. </p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Whatever the reasons, I would also want to know why this results in homework avoidance and how to help overcome this. </p>\n\n<p>Have you tried having undergraduate tutors ask the students what would help? Your students might feel safer admitting problems to peers. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 71806,
"author": "Flurpy",
"author_id": 57058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/57058",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Undergrad here,</p>\n\n<p>+Is there any chance an above-average percentage of these students are registered for a pass/fail grading option? They might think \"oh I just need a C\" and be choosing to ignore the homework, thinking they can just ace the exams. Even good students do this. Perhaps your registration system puts them in one section. </p>\n\n<p>+It could also be that your problem section was the only one left open for people who did not bother to register in a timely manner. Thus, slackers would be overrepresented :). There would also be a shortage of good students that the slackers could copy from. Was there confusion about the availability of your class this term? </p>\n\n<p>+Perhaps there was a miscommunication about class drop procedures. People just quit doing the work and think you will be the one to unregister them? Are these people coming to class? Perhaps the hypothetical hasty-registered \"slacker section\" have decided to mass quit...but slack off on the unregistering.</p>\n\n<p>Or, like the others have said, something is wrong with your LMS and they might not know which homework is due. If there is a tech issue, it might not necessarily \"look broken\" and people think you just have not given any homework YET.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30513",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
30,519 |
<p>Few days ago I found on a website that my professor's student won the "Golden Kingfisher Prize" for her presentation under his supervision in his previous university 2 years ago .. Do you think it is good to talk about it? And what is the best way for this ?.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30521,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Professors are people too, hence any acknowledgement of achievements and, as in this case, their part in an achievement is always a nice thing to do. </p>\n\n<p>It would probably not be a good idea to make too much of a big deal of it - but an email or a chat of congratulations to your professor is a polite acknowledgement and appreciation of a significant achievement.</p>\n\n<p>Most of all, know that you are working with an academic that has, in some way, facilitated a student earning a great award. Just keep that in mind in all your future interactions with the Professor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 89013,
"author": "Fillard Millmore",
"author_id": 73034,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/73034",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If I were you, I would approach them privately (this dismisses all possible concerns the Professor could reasonably have of brown-nosing/self-interest). The caveat is that you need to enter the conversation gracefully - I don't assume you would be congratulating the Professor out of anything but your own kindness and gratitude to said Professor, but a rekindling of communication after a number of years always sets up a warning flag among the weary. </p>\n\n<p>If you had a strong relationship with the Professor, I'd recommend simply talking to them about it - asking what they learned from the experience, what advice they would give to you in areas relevant to this field, how they learned to adapt to the learning styles of others, etc. Put more simply, make it clear that you're interested and still eager for their insight on things, but make sure you personalize it to them - after all, it was their achievement. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30519",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
30,539 |
<p>I got caught cheating in a two-hour engineering exam consisting of 100 multiple choice questions which was done online through the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodle" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>moodle</strong></a> e-learning software. I feel like my life is almost over.</p>
<p>Having not studied well and having no time to study, I decided to cheat. I know there are no excuses for cheating. Before the exam I dug up research about moodle exams, and it turned out you can take the exam anywhere you want to as long as you have the quiz password. Taking advantage of this, I went up to my engineering library and asked a close friend who was taking the exam to send me the quiz password before he starts.</p>
<p>What I had prepared:</p>
<ul>
<li>Calculator (was not allowed during the quiz).</li>
<li>Printed material (consisted of more than 200 pages).</li>
<li>Google search engine (on a laptop ready to help).</li>
<li>Whatsapp (to ask questions for a friend who took the quiz last year).</li>
</ul>
<p>As I sat down, I did the first 50 questions, suddenly the quiz froze and moodle told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>you are not allowed to take the exam from this location</strong>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While I was leaving, one instructor responsible for the course (there are 5) came and found me. She accused me of cheating, took my mobile and made come with her to a huge office where two instructors searched all my mobile (took the name of my friend who gave me the password), and started talking to me, asking for all details of this crime. They confiscated my phone and looked at everything: Whatsapp conversations, all my emails, and images. The instructor took the mobile from my hand without asking me and kept it with her. It seems that the instructors are going to report me as well as my friend who sent me the password for the exam.</p>
<p>The university's Student Code Conduct says that cheating will result in one of the following: a Dean's Warning, Suspension, or Expulsion. If any of that happens, my future is over. A Dean's Warning will cancel my financial aid. A suspension would be for at least two years, and coming back would require a lot of work. An expulsion will be definite.</p>
<p>I've learned the lesson about cheating, now how can I fix this? How can I prevent the five instructors from reporting me? It's obvious that I should speak to them, but what should I say? What can I do? My future is almost over, but many of you are teachers and instructors here, what can I do to fix this?</p>
<hr />
<p>EDIT: Wow, it has been almost 3 years. I would like to update on how I dealt with the situation.</p>
<p><strong>Lesson:</strong> It was obvious to never ever cheat under any circumstances, independent of whether you'd get caught or not.</p>
<p><strong>Consequences:</strong> I received a Dean's Warning but the financial aid wasn't revoked. However, I couldn't stay in the department as engineering was not for me, and I was even ashamed to stay in the university.</p>
<p><strong>What happened next:</strong> I transferred to an ABET-accredited Computer Science institution and I graduated with distinction in 2.5 years. It was extremely stressful as I took 6 major courses (18 credits) in one semester, but I had to do it.</p>
<p><strong>Future plans:</strong> I'm going for an MSc in Computer Science in St. Andrews next year.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30541,
"author": "Sverre",
"author_id": 11053,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11053",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To the comments: The OP knows he cheated - he's asking what he can do to improve his situation. Clearly, there are good and bad ways to deal with it.</p>\n\n<p>I haven't been on an AD board myself, but I have caught cheaters. From my experience, the best thing you can do is the following:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Admit everything.</p></li>\n<li><p>Apologize. Make it clear that you understand how and why cheating is wrong.</p></li>\n<li><p>Do not under any circumstances give excuses for your cheating or blame others for it - as you do in this question. You chose to cheat, no one put a gun to your head.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30542,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You were caught <em>in flagrante delicto</em>. You were accessing the exam with illicit material in an unapproved location and were caught while the exam was in progress. </p>\n\n<p>Reading what you have provided, I believe there is essentially <strong>nothing</strong> you can do to prevent the instructors from reporting you. Given the extent of your infraction of the code—after all, this was an intentional violation, not an accident like forgetting a citation in a paper—it's hard to see how they can <em>avoid</em> reporting this. Think about it this way: if <em>you</em> do not get reported, who can be reported?</p>\n\n<p>Letting you off the hook also sends the wrong message to you and to your fellow students about the importance and strictness of the honor code.</p>\n\n<p>I'm afraid you will have to live with the consequences of your actions. (Was the benefit from cheating <strong>really</strong> worth the consequences of possibly being caught?)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30547,
"author": "dionys",
"author_id": 22520,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22520",
"pm_score": 8,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, in light your question title, let me offer some encouraging words. <strong>Your life is not over.</strong> Cheating is an academic transgression; unless your situation is very unusual, you have not committed a crime. Take a breath, realize that this is a problem that you need to address as an adult, and part of that means being sober and reasonable.</p>\n\n<p>Of course this is serious, and will likely have severe consequences regarding your future as an engineering student--but it is not the end of the world. It is essential <em>for your own sake</em> that you learn from this experience. Understanding why this was a poor choice is probably more important than your engineering degree.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><strong>You should not try to fix this.</strong> The fact is, your instructors are there to help you, and they are still trying to help you. They are understandably frustrated and disappointed by this situation.</p>\n\n<p><strong>You should</strong> be honest to yourself about the choices you made. This <em>could</em> happen to anyone; it <em>doesn't</em> happen to people who think about and understand the consequences. More specifically, my advice to you is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>apologize to your friend for coercing him into helping you cheat</li>\n<li>understand that your cheating was not justified in any way; do not offer <em>any</em> excuses</li>\n<li>admit everything and be as honest as you can with your instructor </li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>Of course, that advice is predicated on you understanding that your <strong>cheating was a poor choice, and not merely unfortunate because you got caught</strong>. It's not clear from your question if you've made this distinction.</p>\n\n<p>In the stereotypical view of cheating, you struggle because you aren't willing to put in the time and effort to learn, and you misrepresent your abilities through cheating on an exam, quiz, etc. It is easy to see this is dishonest; it's a form of lying.</p>\n\n<p>Say that we take you at your word and that your description of the course as an \"unreasonable amount of work\" is completely true, accurate, and without embellishment. Let us further suppose that cheating is the <em>only</em> way that a qualified, hard-working student could earn a passing grade in this course. Cheating in this instance is not better, it is even more dishonest.</p>\n\n<p>Here, by cheating and earning a passing grade, you misrepresent the abilities of the honest students in the class, and interfere with the instructor's ability to assess learning and make necessary changes to the course.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30550,
"author": "DTK",
"author_id": 23300,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23300",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can not prevent them from reporting you, and attempting to prevent the report would only reflect worse on you and your character. This is your opportunity to demonstrate humility and integrity. </p>\n\n<p>Do not make excuses, do not lie. Own your mistake and be ready to say why it was wrong, and the impact to your instructors and to your classmates. Consider that engineers design, construct, certify and maintain critical infrastructure; they must be held to the highest standards, to protect human life, and why integrity matters. To illustrate, <a href=\"http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2007/01/remembering-the-mistakes-of-challenger/\">look back at Roger Boisjoly</a>, the engineer who tried to prevent the Challenger disaster, and the engineering manager who was cowed into making a decision against his better judgement. </p>\n\n<p>Expect disciplinary action. Whatever the disciplinary action, thank them for it, as it will be a valuable learning opportunity. </p>\n\n<p>Be sincere, be gracious, and move forward. Begging,feeling sorry for yourself or attempting to shift blame will only make you look worse in the eyes of the school, in the eyes of your peers, and eventually in your own eyes. </p>\n\n<p>You will get through this, even if it changes the trajectory of your career. \nAnd who knows? You might find your passion in something else other than engineering.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30551,
"author": "nickalh",
"author_id": 21611,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21611",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To elaborate on @Sverre's excellent response, take full responsibility for your actions. It seems you still have several things to learn. Although the consequences are potentially severe, you seem more concerned with the consequences than a genuine change of heart. The desire to not be reported is strong indication of this. Your friend is <em>not</em> innocent and chose to participate in collusion, in other contexts this is illegal. Also, a good professor will ask \"Why did you cheat?\" and not assume you have excuses with \"What are your excuses?\"<br>Engineering courses are known to be quite difficult. <em>Despite the temptation to cheat, follow through with a lifetime of being honest.</em> Finally, many even most students I have worked with have poor study skills. Since 50% of learning is forgotten with 24 hours, review frequently. Get in the habit of summarizing methods, notes, etc. Combined with other study skills, the course load should become not easy but bearable thereby reducing the temptation to cheat.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30552,
"author": "Dronz",
"author_id": 13444,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13444",
"pm_score": 9,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I've learned the lesson about cheating, now how can fix this? How can\n I prevent the 5 instructors from reporting me. It's obvious that I\n should speak to them, but what should I say? What can I do? My future\n is almost over, but many of you are teachers and instructors here,\n what can I do to fix this?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>From the way you wrote this, it seems to me that in your current mindset, you have not yet learned the full lesson. I say this because the second sentence above seems to me still in the same mindset where you are trying to control and engineer a result to essentially beat the system and get something better than your own actions have generated. That is not full understanding of learning that that whole approach is not appropriate. You're treating the system like an adversary, acting in a victim mentality, and trying to manipulate your way out of it. You have some lessons to learn about humility, honesty, surrender, and building integrity from the ground up. I would suggest accepting those.</p>\n\n<p>I would suggest it may help for you to consider you may also be wrong-minded when you think things like:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If any of those happen, my future is over. A dean's warning will\n cancel my financial aid. A suspension, will be at least for two years\n and coming back requires a lot of work. An expulsion, will be\n definite.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The \"my future is over\" fear is what led you to cheat in the first place. As your professor kindly observed, you didn't need to cheat in the first place, and it got you into far worse trouble than doing your best would have. Indeed, I think your future looks darker if you don't take full responsibility now. I would be more optimistic about your future if you lose your financial aid and have to leave that university, but actually learn your lesson and continue at some other institution.</p>\n\n<p>Your future will depend on your mindset, your integrity, and how you do your chosen field of work (including how you feel about yourself and how you relate to your work). These things are built upon each other like the bedrock, foundation, and upper levels of a building. If your mindset is full of panic, it will undermine your integrity. If your integrity is unsound, it will undermine your work. Seriously. This is practical and not empty moralizing. </p>\n\n<p>So, realize that if you really want to be an engineer, you can do this, even if you need to go to another university. Even if it takes another 2 or even 4 years. Then, restore your integrity by being completely honest about everything and taking full responsibility for everything you caused and continue to cause. Don't try to cover anything up, make anything sound good, look good, nor avoid looking bad. You will feel a lot better about it all when you let go of resisting and admit everything. Your instructors know all about it, and will notice any attempt to make this better for yourself, so even if you were going to cling to being a desperate manipulative person, it would be best to surrender and fully admit everything, and be as honest as possible in everything you do. If you can really learn these lessons, then it may actually make sense to give you some leniency. If you're still resisting, then it wouldn't be doing anyone any favors in the long run, to do anything less than suspend you.</p>\n\n<p>The good news is, this lesson is FAR more important than the engineering content you were studying.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30555,
"author": "user116498",
"author_id": 23305,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23305",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Actually I have a different take on this. There are also ethical rules that must be followed by the university just as there are ethical rules (aka laws) that must be followed by the police even if you commit a crime. I highly doubt that it is legal for them to detain you against your will, use intimidation tactics to steal your personal information from your phone, and confiscate your personal property without consent. I'm not condoning cheating but I also believe that both parties are required to use ethical conduct. The university faculty are people who are in positions of authority, and they should not be allowed to use their position to manipulate you into doing anything they want. Even if they suspect you of cheating. There are ethical ways of doing it. It's not just on the part of the student to maintain ethical conduct. In the future know your rights and know the laws. Police require warrants to take your personal property. Is it not the case that university faculty must also abide by the laws?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30557,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are two issues here that I see. The first is the punishments seem to be designed such that a Dean's Warning is relatively light. Without section 5 which outlines the punishments that can accompany a Dean's Warning, one cannot be sure. I guess is if outside factors, such as financial aid, would greatly magnify the penalty, the committee who oversees these things might be wiling to work with someone who has been caught cheating. The second issue is that the event you describe are so egregious that the committee wouldn't try and move directly to suspension or expulsion. If the committee is trying to figure out how to suspend you, then asking for a lenient application of a Dean's Warning will not go over very well.</p>\n\n<p>As with any case of academic misconduct, you need to find someone who is on your side and understands the system. A lawyer arguing from a legal perspective is generally not the best first approach. You should check with the student services office for help.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30558,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What you did was actually pretty severe as far as cheating goes. Sometimes cheating could be explained by a brief moment of weakness. For example, suppose you take an exam and discover that it is far more difficult than you expected, so you make an impulsive decision to take a look at your neighbor's answers. That's still wrong and deserving of punishment, but it could at least be viewed as a foolish choice brought on by panic, which could make it easier to forgive. On the other hand, you planned and carefully prepared in advance to cheat effectively, and you even recruited a friend (who is apparently not so honest himself but might not have done anything wrong if you hadn't brought him into your plan). It's pretty much the worst case scenario for cheating.</p>\n\n<p>I don't think there's anything you can do to keep from being reported. There may not even be much you can do to affect the punishment. However, what I hope for from students in cases like this is genuine introspection.</p>\n\n<p>By this I mean going beyond a superficial account of rules and motivations. There are a lot of standard things you can say: your fear of punishment will keep you from cheating again, you recognize that you were cheating yourself out of real learning, you understand how unfair your actions were to your honest classmates, etc. These should all be true, but they are fundamentally unsophisticated. Essentially, they are what society tells eight-year-olds who are having trouble behaving. It doesn't inspire a lot of confidence when someone announces \"Oh, now I finally understand what my elementary school teacher always told me.\"</p>\n\n<p>Instead, I hope a crisis like this will provoke some soul searching, not just repeating standard answers. What sort of person are you? Could your family or colleagues rely on you, or will you someday pull the rug out from under them when your long-term dishonesty is uncovered? Could a stranger rely on you? Are you the sort of person who acts with honor even when he could get away with cheating, or the sort who always puts himself first? Who are you, and who do you want to be?</p>\n\n<p>The point is that many cheaters have elaborate rationalizations and excuses (I see some tendency in that direction in your question). They convince themselves that they aren't actually dishonest people, just trapped in difficult or unique situations. When caught, they try to repair their self-image with as few changes as possible: they learned what not to do <em>in this situation</em>, or they view it as a one-time mistake unconnected with the rest of their life. When I see someone doing this, I worry that they are on a dangerous path in which they will blindly follow the same old habits and patterns in other cases. I'm confident that you have the potential to be an honest and trustworthy person, but what you did in this class is not a good start in that direction.</p>\n\n<p>I don't want to coach you on what to say or how to say it. It's a deeply personal matter, and in any case I don't want to help you pretend you've had a deeper learning experience than you actually have. However, I'd really recommend thinking about the big picture of your life, not just this one incident. It may help to discuss it with a relative, mentor, religious leader, etc. In the end, you need to convince the university that you've learned more than just a cost/benefit analysis of cheating, so that they have faith that you could benefit from a second chance. I don't think you will, or should, escape punishment, but it's in your own interests to try to learn and grow as much as you can from this experience, and it can't hurt your prospects if the administration sees that you are doing so.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30566,
"author": "dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten",
"author_id": 440,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/440",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>One normal engineering course at my university had an unreasonable amount of work: each week we would have like 5 quizzes (1 labview quiz, 2 class quizzes, 1 computer lab quiz, 1 graded report). The course merging with another 4 courses (Electric Circuits - Differential Equations - Statistics - Chemistry) caused a lot of pressure.</p>\n \n <p>The material of the engineering course, was overwhelming, incredibly lengthy in unreasonable amount of studying required.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Outside of the question of cheating---and you are clearly in the wrong there---this suggests that you may not have mastered the material from the previous courses to the level expected of you.</p>\n\n<p>Engineering school is <em>hard</em>, but it is not impossible.</p>\n\n<p>If you come out of this with the option to continue your studies (either at your current institution or elsewhere) you might want to consider either or both of ...</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Going back and re-doing some of the preceding material until you are deeply conversant with it and able to handle the concepts and calculation needed fluidly and without much difficulty. Just being sufficiently prepared will reduce the load from the subsequent course.</p></li>\n<li><p>Recognizing that engineering is not for everyone and it might not be for you. </p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>In any case, I'd like to remind you that the job you are studying toward is one where a mistake or a cut corner can have <em>life-threatening</em> consequences. Your instructors are right to take this very seriously and you should too. Think carefully about this. Do you want that kind of risk hovering over your work?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30570,
"author": "Scott Grimmett",
"author_id": 23319,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23319",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your life is not over. I want you to obtain professional psychological counselling but I fear that you will think this is only another kind of punishment to be \"fixed\".</p>\n\n<p>Your comment \"How can I prevent the 5 instructors from reporting me. It's obvious that I should speak to them, but what should I say?\" is massively irrational. </p>\n\n<p>It is the <em>job</em> of the 5 instructors to report you. You are thinking you can ask them not to do their job, apparently in the same way you thought you did not need to do <em>your</em> job of understanding the course material for the examination.</p>\n\n<p>It is <em>not at all</em> obvious that you should speak to the 5 instructors. Unless they have asked you for a formal response I think it would be <em>very unwise</em> to speak to them.</p>\n\n<p>There is no ethical dilemma over whether people should do their jobs. Your dilemma is whether you have chosen a job (student of engineering) that is within your capacity. There are fundamental norms of human behaviour involved here that your family should have taught you to navigate. That they haven't is why I suggest counselling. A 2-year suspension sounds like an excellent option. If you become an engineer, people's lives will depend on your knowledge of the subject matter and your honesty to say \"I do not know the answer to this question\" when you do not know the answer to a question.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30574,
"author": "user46345",
"author_id": 18004,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18004",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Every error carries potential for something good. This is quite possibly an example of being manipulated into cheating without even knowing. The school's error, quite possibly, may be that they are expecting unrealistic amount of studying to be done by a student. It takes time to absorb new knowledge; they may think \"well others have done it before...\" but no one knows how much previous knowledge others had. Usually those who are getting top marks have more than average or required knowledge about the subject. I know, I have certainly been in that situation (when I was a student, while others were struggling with math, I did not; but I used to win math competitions, and my mother and my roommate at the time were both math teachers). \nHowever, this still does not give you a reason to cheat. The lessons is: no matter how badly someone else is behaving (and I have seen that in many institutions of higher learning), you should always do things that are ethical. Integrity is one thing that makes all the difference on this planet.\nYes, I think that your school lacks in that department, but you have shown to be just the same at that moment you cheated. Once you understand that, that we are often manipulated into \"cheating\" (e.g. when doing 85 mph on a 65 mph road, where the conditions, car, and even road survey make that 85mph perfectly safe) you look at your error in better light. </p>\n\n<p>Ultimately, this is not a perfect world, and one needs to be aware of other people's errors so that we are not misled into doing more of the same.\nIn the end, if your school is one of the nation's leading institutions, they are unlikely to budge; but if it is a \"for profit\" institution with questionable record, they may be willing to back down.\nThe point you made about too much work should be mentioned in your meeting. You can tell them honestly that in all that panic of not having enough time to prepare (they should know you need to sleep, eat, go to a doctor and whatnot), you could not think clearly and this seemed like the only way out. Perhaps you were under too much stress to think clearly and make a right decision.\nYou obviously did not feel you could honestly approach them and let them know that expectations were too high. \nBut, don't focus on their error. Your part of the error is what matters. Ask yourself - what it would take you to sell your integrity. Only when the answer is a firm \"there is no way\", is it a correct one.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30576,
"author": "Paul",
"author_id": 2649,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2649",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A long-term plan is something you need to think through.</p>\n\n<p>It probably looks like this: -- maybe not exactly as that would be arrogant -- I've left out what to do about where to live, whether to stay and work in the local community or create a clean break, etc -- though obviously your personal lifestyle is going to be affected by what happened and how you handle it. Your life is not over. It is merely more difficult. Step up to the challenge. </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Accept that you deserve to be suspended or expelled. If you are instead given a second chance, great! or not. Aren't you burned out by this point? Most people would be. This incident also doesn't sound minor, at all.</li>\n<li>If you are lucky, your friend(s) who helped you cheat will get the Dean's warning level of punishment. I say \"if <strong>you</strong> are lucky\", because a normal person would feel absolutely awful, for a long time, for damaging their friends' reputation and career. Don't try to lobby for your friends. </li>\n<li>If you haven't already done so, tell your parents, and apologize to them or anyone else personally bankrolling your education. </li>\n<li>Get a job and pay your own bills -- assuming your financial aid, loans, work-study, and/or family pays your current bills. Your family, rich or poor, will see this as a sign of maturity. Now obviously the best jobs want degree holders and are concerned about grades and honesty. Don't apply for jobs like that, you'll wind up beating yourself up over and over about what you did every time they reject or worse, be tempted to lie and cover it up. Now the workplace is hardly angelic, there are obviously bad jobs working for dishonest people. Try to avoid those as well. It looks like you could do some computer freelance work. Actually marketing yourself and finding customers is harder than the programming part. Consider trying that for a while. </li>\n<li>While working for a living, hit the books and the free online course sites. There are good free online courses from top engineering schools: i.e. Caltech, MIT, Stanford, etc. Cut yourself some slack by not officially signing up - trying watching all the lectures and doing the readings. Then start doing some of the assignments. Answer forum questions or Stack Exchange questions about the material. </li>\n<li>As you gain demonstrated proficiency in the coursework you were once struggling at, build a portfolio. Like the computer program portfolio I see attached to your profile page. Stuff you are interested in and good at. </li>\n<li>By this point you should be good at something that wouldn't be obvious from your former transcripts. Find academic allies who can help you develop. Write profs of online classes where you think you are doing well. You can sometimes get a certificate, or a promise of letter of recommendation this way. </li>\n<li>Use the portfolio when writing your new university applications a few years from now. To get back into a university you should diversify the applications across schools. A few years and all these steps will make an application more acceptable. Though you may still need to address the earlier incident, by this point you will not only have an idea of what to write or say but can demonstrate your new-found passion and ability. By this point you should also have made at least one ally who can write a decent recommendation letter.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Good luck with this journey. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30584,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Do not make excuses</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>I believe this is the <em>only</em> important thing in this situation. Any student can muddle through phrases like \"this course was too much work,\" \"my life is over,\" etc., as you are right now.</p>\n\n<p>Engineering programs usually receive large funding support from corporations that plan to hire their students. They accordingly act like such corporations, so perhaps it's good to think of how this would look in a corporation. Say you're a journalist who plagiarized, a software engineer who downloaded source code on a USB stick and lost it, a mechanic who mucked up the brake line in a car, etc... what happens? you get fired!</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>\"But my wife and kids.\"</li>\n<li>\"But it was an accident I promise not to do it again.\"</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Et cetera, will fall on deaf ears. Your \"excuses\" will also fall on deaf ears.</p>\n\n<p>I earnestly do think that your punishment will be somewhere above \"light\" and below \"career-ending.\" The best thing you can do here, in my opinion, is <strong>act <em>professionally</em>.</strong> That means understand the above points. Understand that you know you are in a bad situation <em>and nothing you can do will change their view of that</em>. That will be the platform from which they may feel they are doing business with a worthy professional instead of a whiny student who doesn't understand his life \"being over\" has little to do with \"the company's bottom line\". <strong>Be someone they can do business with.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Next, of course your life isn't over! There are way too few engineers for corporations not to hire people who have never made mistakes. Even real mistakes with consequences. This is what people sometimes derisively call an \"adult\" or \"real world\" lesson but the platitudes are true that character and perspective are important in getting through them. I'm not going to call this a rosy mistake; it is a real one with consequences. Some corporations - maybe including your dream one - may see this as egregious and unexcusable. <strong>Other companies will be happy to evaluate your character in an interview and see for themselves, and this is a story you can actually interview off of</strong> quite strongly (in fact how meticulously and honestly you were able to write about this makes me quite optimistic about that). There will be far worse things that will happen to you in life and your life will, sometimes begrudgingly, go on, I suggest taking this as such.</p>\n\n<p>P.S. The lesson here? Goody-two-shoes version: Doing something wrong has completely unpredictable consequences. \nRealist version: Protocol and regulations are enforced far better than the perpetrator realizes. See: insider training.</p>\n\n<p>It is <em>not</em> surprising to me that your engineering school had the caveman-level technical resources to dismantle your plan. This should not be surprising to you. Furthermore <strong>you can prove in an interview you really understand the consequences of, say, downloading company code illicitly better than anyone else</strong> (in particular that you will get caught!) So, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and the first time someone asks you about this, breathe a sigh of relief since you know they're ready to be won over.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30607,
"author": "hunse",
"author_id": 9558,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9558",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I've learned the lesson about cheating, now how can fix this? How can I prevent the 5 instructors from reporting me.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I want to discuss why the university has such strict policies against cheating, and why this situation <em>must</em> be reported.</p>\n\n<p>The first problem with cheating is that it degrades everyone's degree. When you start working for a company on graduation, your degree represents certain skills that you are assumed to have learned in getting that degree. If the company finds out you don't have these skills, in the future they will assume that anyone who graduates from your program might not have those skills. If cheating is taken lightly, then your degree becomes meaningless, because no-one will know what skill-set it actually represents.</p>\n\n<p>This leads into my second point: getting an engineering degree sets you up to become a professional engineer, a position of great responsibility. I'm not exaggerating when I say that people's lives will be in your hands. If you misrepresent your skill-set, you will be put in situations where you don't have the knowledge to do the job properly. If you haven't learned integrity in your undergrad, when put in such a situation you may complete the project anyway (this is like cheating in the real world). If you do this, whatever system you're designing may fail, and this could get people killed. That is why integrity is of the utmost importance in engineering programs.</p>\n\n<p>If you have truly learned your lesson, and you understand these two points, then you will understand that cheating was wrong not because you got caught, but because that type of behaviour ultimately puts people's lives at risk. But as others have said, your life is not over, and it is not too late to change. If you learn your lesson now, and carry yourself with integrity from this day forward, you will make a great engineer.</p>\n\n<p>It is especially important that you show this integrity over the next few days. This means not trying to cover anything up. The instructors <em>have</em> to report you; if they don't, they are also committing an offence. If you have truly learned your lesson, and can demonstrate this, then hopefully your punishment will be lenient.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to be an engineer because it fits into some life plan (it gives you status, money, whatever), I think you've got things all wrong. Be an engineer because you want to help people. If you don't end up being an engineer, that's fine; there are lots of other ways to help people, and I'm sure you'll find one that you really enjoy.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30609,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>(I originally planned to make this just a comment, but then I realized that I have too much to say for a comment. I'll still try not to repeat what was said before and keep on topic.)</em></p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>Please, feel sorry for your friend.</strong> I know what I say, since I was more than often the one helping in cheating, but not the one trying to cheat himself. If there is a hearing with the course responsible, please try to explain this to them, because at least in my eyes, your friend is not guilty here, he's been just a friend.</p></li>\n<li><p>Side note to the previous point: When they took your phone to find out who'd helped you, they might have done so illegally, depending on your country, and on other circumstances. I need not be right and it's not something you should use to get a profit from it. But it could be helpful if your friend got into troubles too. Update: I just learned that you gave them consent to the search, which probably changes a lot. Still, I think that this aspect may be considered, but don't want to give you false hope.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Do not give up.</strong> I know it's easy to say and difficult to do, but you should perform at school at the same level as you did before. All the people that will treat your case and make any decisions are humans, not robots, and you haven't lost your credit completely, you \"just\" cheated in one course. Facing the problem in as professional manner as possible is certainly helpful.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>And to answer your original question: How can I convince the instructors not to report it? You shouldn't. (But that has been addressed by the other answers.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30688,
"author": "Patricia Shanahan",
"author_id": 10220,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10220",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In order to minimize the damage it is essential to have a different plan you will follow if you ever find yourself in a similar situation in the future. One option is to ask for help. </p>\n\n<p>If your course workload is too much for you, talk to someone - an instructor, an adviser, even fellow students etc. If the workload really is unreasonable, the more students saying so, the more likely the department would be to change it. If most students are coping, you may get advice on how to cope. Or maybe you needed to take an extra year, or move to a different, less demanding program.</p>\n\n<p>In any case, you need to have a definite plan for dealing with similar situations. Even in the short term, having that plan firmly in mind will come through in your interactions with others, and may help convince them this is the last time you will cheat.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30854,
"author": "cs_alumnus",
"author_id": 20495,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20495",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is probably a good time to transfer to another college. Your situation is likely being discussed by all of the faculty in your department as well as many of the students. You've burnt any positive references you might have at this university which depending on the job market may make it very difficult to find work even if you do complete your degree there.</p>\n\n<p>You need to transfer the work that you've completed so far and start over building up the trust and respect of a new set of faculty and peers.</p>\n\n<p>You sacrificed whatever good will you had and financial aid when you bet on not being caught. It's time to salvage what you can, learn your lesson, and move on. Lots of people transfer for all sorts of reasons and you don't need to disclose your reason to everyone you meet. The transcript might list something about your situation, but it won't convey all of the details and the severity. You may need to work extra hard to build the respect and trust of anyone who has access to your transcript however at the undergrad level that shouldn't be a big problem.</p>\n\n<p>Next time discuss the difficulty level of the classes you want to take with other student before taking them, estimate your ability to complete those classes to the quality level you want. If you can't complete 5 rigorous classes in one semester, then don't take 5 rigorous classes in one semester. If you find yourself stuck like this again, consider that getting a failing grade in a class isn't the end of your academic career. Depending on the timing and the institution you may be able to either drop the course or retake it and average the grade.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30539",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
30,545 |
<p>I'm an undergraduate student at a top CS school who is looking to apply for my Master's soon (in about a year or so). I am applying to my school's 5 year masters program as a backup, but I would prefer to switch schools just to get a different experience.</p>
<p>My first question has to do with the acceptance rates of various CS Masters degree programs. I found that it was very difficult to search for the acceptance rates for various schools that I am interested in. Some of those schools include Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, and CalTech. However, I was unable to find acceptance rates for any of these schools. Could someone point me to a resource that I could use, or just give me the acceptance rates? Also, are there any "underrated" schools that I should be aware of (and by underrated, I mean high acceptance rates and good departments)?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30554,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I suspect that most programs do not post their acceptance rates at the master's level. That's in part because they could be subject to wild fluctuations from year to year, as the number of applications change.</p>\n\n<p>In particular, one other thing to consider: most graduate programs have a <em>target</em> of incoming students they want to enroll. They will generally admit only as many students as they feel they need to reach the goal. If students are accepting offers at higher-than-expected rates, they may lower the admit rate in subsequent years to compensate. Similarly, if they are under their target, they may admit a larger than expected pool.</p>\n\n<p>Considering top-tier schools, my suspicion (although I don't have the numerical evidence) is that they get enough qualified applications that admissions now are partly a \"lottery\": if you meet the qualifications of a typical student, you may or may not get in, depending on the needs of the department in that particular year. So just do your best.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 48859,
"author": "user37261",
"author_id": 37261,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/37261",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I found <a href=\"http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-admission-statistics-for-top-schools-in-computer-science-information-science-and-electrical-engineering\" rel=\"nofollow\">this link</a> on Quora. It looks like top 30 programs all have nearly same acceptance rates hovering from 6% to 10%.</p>\n\n<p>When you mean underrated, I understand it as underrated by public and does not trigger 'wow' to public which includes Big Ten schools like Purdue, Penn State, UMichigan, UMaryland, UMadison, and other schools like UCIrvine, UCSanDiego, UTAustin, Georgia Tech etc.</p>\n\n<p>Overrated are Ivy Leagues for sure including Harvard, Columbia and revenue generator masters programs in USC, UPenn, Brown, Johns Hopkins etc. (for CS/IT)</p>\n\n<p>Level (neither underrated nor overrated) are CMU, Stanford, UIUC, MIT, Caltech, Princeton etc.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30545",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23285/"
] |
30,556 |
<p>Quite often when I read a medical research article I wonder whether other researchers tried to reproduce the experiment. I could go through the list of papers that cite the article but I find this solution a bit tedious and inefficient for this task.</p>
<p>Is there any database that lists reproduction attempts (with ideally the number of fail and successful reproductions)? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31933,
"author": "abought",
"author_id": 22693,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22693",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While not a direct answer, publishing failure to reproduce can be difficult as a standalone activity (think cost, time, and rewards), and where reproducibility information does exist, it may be field or community specific (like <a href=\"http://blog-syn.blogspot.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">blog-syn</a> for organic chemistry). </p>\n\n<p>But there are a few large and well-funded studies that aggregate information simply because their purpose was to replicate big studies- eg the <a href=\"http://validation.scienceexchange.com/#/cancer-biology\" rel=\"nofollow\">Cancer Biology Reproducibility initiative</a>, and perhaps some of these studies will grow over time.</p>\n\n<p>You may also want to check sites such as Pubmed Commons and PubPeer, which increasingly are gathering discussion of papers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 59266,
"author": "kochan",
"author_id": 45373,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/45373",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In clinical study in medicine, meta analysis, accumulating data on several different papers on the same theme, is the methodology to find the overall effect size of the intervention. Cochrane database is most famous one which gathers such systematic review.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 59268,
"author": "user11599",
"author_id": 43281,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/43281",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The quick answer is, there does not seem to be a database concerned directly with reproducing experiments in medicine. The closest seems to be what is done in just about all meta-analysis papers - they do <a href=\"http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2219937/\" rel=\"nofollow\">repeated keyword searches</a> in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Science Citation Index, Cochrane registry and similar. The Institutes of Health have a <a href=\"https://clinicaltrials.gov\" rel=\"nofollow\">clinical trial registry</a> that's worth looking into, because some trials may never end up being published.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30556",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
30,560 |
<p>I am currently writing my bachelor's thesis in Computer Science. When I have a sentence</p>
<pre><code>It was shown in [Kir10, HZK09] that ...
</code></pre>
<p>does it make a difference if I write</p>
<pre><code>It was shown in [HZK09, Kir10] that ...
</code></pre>
<p>instead?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30562,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First thing to do, is to check to see if there is a style guide for citations with your university and your supervisor.</p>\n\n<p>If there isn't one, make sure when you choose an in-text citation style - <strong>keep consistent</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>At my university, when I was a student (until last year), the rule was to use the first one in your example, the reason was to show a citation to the <em>most recent</em> works relevant to what you are citing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30563,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Some styles require multiple citations to be in alphabetical or numerical order. For example, APA style requires that citations be in the same order as they appear in the references list (that would be alphabetical order.) Other styles (e.g. the Council of Science Editors) require that they be given in chronological order. </p>\n\n<p>You need to check with the style guide for the style that you're following to see what is expected. If you're writing a journal or conference proceedings article, the instructions to authors should tell you what is required. If you're writing a thesis or dissertation, there are likely to be institutional policies that specify a particular style. </p>\n\n<p>In LaTeX there is a package called \"citesort\" that will sort your citations. There is also a \"sort\" option for the natbib package that does this job. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30580,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If the citations are sorted in the \"expected order\", nobody will notice.</p>\n\n<p>If they are in the opposite order, people may assume that they were <em>intentionally</em> put in that order as an indication that the first one is more relevant than the later one. At least some people will, like me. </p>\n\n<p>Look at the papers and books you read in your own field, and see what conventions they follow. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 47196,
"author": "O. R. Mapper",
"author_id": 14017,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14017",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As was correctly pointed out by several other answers, various styleguides require a specific ordering.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Brief rant:</strong> In my opinion, this is extremely unfortunate, and I cannot avoid the feeling that the only reason for such requirements is that editors feel that's an aspect where they can show with little effort (both alphabetical and chronological ordering can be checked automatically!) that they do provide and enforce clear styleguide rules.</p>\n\n<p><strong>What I would like to add to the other answers</strong> is the explicit statement that, if there is no fixed rule imposed by anyone, you can intentionally use the effect described in <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/30580/14017\">Oswald Veblen's answer</a>. <strong>In that case, do order your citations in a way that makes most sense with respect to their contents</strong>, for instance, by listing the most literal example of a claim first.</p>\n\n<p>After all, there is no reason to actually follow an ordering scheme by year, or by author name, unless you are required to do so. It conveys no useful information:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The earliest or the most recent publication is by no means automatically the most significant one.</li>\n<li>Ordering by author name or paper title is even more arbitrary.</li>\n<li>Ordering the same way as the bibliography has two aspects:\n\n<ul>\n<li>The bibliography might be sorted based on the order of first references to each entry. In that case, the ordering in a multi-citation is essentially irrelevant, as the bibliography will always adapt to that. This helps finding bibliography entries when reading a paper without the help of any technology that prevents manually searching for bibliography items, and also, it is only reliable for as long as each bibliography entry is referenced only once.</li>\n<li>The bibliography might be sorted based on another criterion inherent to each bibliography item, such as year, title, or author name. In this case, references in a multi-citation are probably scattered throughout the bibliography, anyway, and using the same ordering for the references still conveys no useful information, as described above.</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30560",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4092/"
] |
30,569 |
<p>I recently was returned a midterm I wrote. One question I interpreted differently than what was intended. As a result I got 0.5/3 marks, which isn't a big deal but considering the test was only out of 15, it adds up. Due to timing conflicts I'm unable to meet the prof during office hours, but have scheduled to talk to him after next class.</p>
<p>I'm getting a bit stressed out, I'm uncertain what to say and what to ask for. If I had interpreted the question he intended it to, then I'm sure I could have gotten full marks. Any suggestions? This is the second time it happened but the first was only for 0.5 mark, so I let it slide.</p>
<p>The question had to do with output of a program and asked "what are all possible outputs of the program?" and I wrote down the correct answer, but what he was getting at was if the program was rerun the output may be in a different order so he wanted the answer to have all possible permutations.</p>
<p>Does anyone have recomendations on how many marks to ask for or have a policy on when to talk to the prof when you think you deserve more marks?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30577,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the situation you described, <em>in principle</em> it seems reasonable to ask for the professor to reconsider the grading, based on what you've written. If you do, here are a few tips:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Be polite. Take the professor's personality into account. You don't have to be sycophantic, just be professional. </p></li>\n<li><p>Be clear about the situation without being verbose. Choose neutral wording - don't insult the exam or make it seem like you are trying to dodge responsibility. </p></li>\n<li><p>Don't put the professor \"on the spot\" - don't pressure them to decide immediately, especially if you are talking to them just after class. If it is at all possible, try to meet at office hours instead. Perhaps give them your exam and ask if they will look at the question and get back to you. </p></li>\n<li><p>Listen carefully to the response. You can stand up for yourself, but being aggressive is not likely to help anything, so avoid any appearance of that. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>That is my opinion about <em>asking</em>. Whether you will <em>receive</em> extra points is a separate question. Certainly, a few professors may be completely unreasonable. </p>\n\n<p>In my experience most professors <em>want</em> to be reasonable, but they may have other valid concerns about changing the grade, which you would not be aware of: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Whether changing your grade would require changing other students' grades in order to be fair. This might not be straightforward if the exams have been returned. </p></li>\n<li><p>Whether, in the professor's opinion, you had enough examples of similar problems to know what was intended. </p></li>\n<li><p>Whether the change is likely to actually affect your final class grade. It it seems unlikely to change your overall grade, and there are other concerns about making the change, this may lead the professor to say no. </p></li>\n<li><p>Whether many other students are asking for grade changes - which may be less reasonable. There is sometimes a concern that one exception to a policy will lead to many more - so a seemingly inflexible policy may be an attempt to avoid a slippery slope. </p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30585,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Does anyone have recomendations on how many marks to ask</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, one: do not, <em>absolutely</em>, ask for a specific amount of marks. Explain your interpretation, but leave to the professor to decide whether you deserve more marks or not and, in case, how many. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30586,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>From the perspective of the marker:</p>\n\n<p>At any time, even the best students might misunderstand a question, and go off the rails in answering it. That's ok, no one exam question or coursework question is a big deal in the final Masters mark. The final assessment, references, and so on, will all be based on the overall course, not one question.</p>\n\n<p>But when a student gets in touch to say they disagree with their mark, and want to negotiate a new one, and they're doing this outside of (or in the absence of) any existing appeal framework, then in my experience that's usually a sign that there are much deeper problems: that this isn't an unlucky incident, this is a problem student.</p>\n\n<p>Bear that in mind.</p>\n\n<p>Don't do any of the things you propose doing. Instead, appoach someone who taught that module <em>and</em> was involved in the marking; tell them that you know you screwed up on that question by misinterpreting what it was asking; and ask how you could have avoided it, and how you can avoid repeating that mistake in the future. Then, if the question genuinely was ambiguous, there's a good chance they'll understand the issue, and take compensatory / corrective action if appropriate. And if it wasn't ambiguous, their answer to your question will help you learn, which is - ultimately - the whole point of the exercise.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/25
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30569",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23316/"
] |
30,571 |
<p>I've found myself in a paradoxical situation. I have failed modules over and over, many modules, some modules more than once. One of the failed modules was introduction to computing. After passing it I felt an urge to write lecture notes because I though that the "official" lecture notes made by two teachers of the computer science department were too shallow and unappealing. I took some time to write it and publish in a free webhosting service. </p>
<p>Now I'm feeling like continuing that type of work, expanding it to more modules, such as physics and calculus. It seems that explaning things with plain english, doing comparisons and following a straight path is kinda easy for me. Although I did fail so many modules so many times.</p>
<p>Is the correlation between learning a subject and having high grades strong?</p>
<p>Conversely, is the correlation between not properly learning a subject and having really bad grades strong?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30572,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>There's no general answer to the question. It depends on the individual course.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>If the course is designed so that grades are earned for demonstrating achievement of a learning outcome, then there will be a strong correlation between having high grades and achieving the learning outcomes of the course.</li>\n<li>If the course is designed so that grades are earned for things that don't demonstrate achievement of a learning outcome, or so that students can achieve a learning outcome but not have an opportunity to demonstrate it to earn a grade, then the correlation will be weak.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Also, your general description of \"learning a subject\" may not necessarily be strongly correlated with the desired learning outcomes of a course. It's possible to earn a poor grade for a well-designed course even after having \"learned the subject\" if the course has specific learning outcomes (i.e., \"Students will know how to solve a certain class of problem,\" \"Students will have learned this particular skill\") and what you are learning about the subject happens to be orthogonal to those learning outcomes.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30582,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The correlation between learning facts and getting good grades at the postgraduate level isn't particularly strong, no.</p>\n\n<p>At lower levels an appearance of education can be simulated by the rote learning of facts. But that becomes less true as the education level increases. By postgraduate level, although some facts are useful, it's much more about being able to use academic tools, to be familiar with theories and their strengths and weaknesses, and being able to think things through deeply and critically.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30589,
"author": "imallett",
"author_id": 22628,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22628",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A few notes:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Are you actually <em>allowed</em> to post lecture notes online?</strong> Many schools or professors will take exception to this.</li>\n<li>I will disagree with some other answers: <strong>there isn't a correlation with learning materials and having high grades, <em>but</em>, there is a correlation between knowing enough at a given point in the class and having high grades</strong>, if the class is taught well. That is, if you know what you should know at a given point, your grade is more likely to be higher. However, just because you are learning a lot doesn't mean your grade is necessarily good.</li>\n<li>[Edit: wording improved] You mentioned you're studying computing. As CS grad student, I can tell you that studying computing is somewhat different from studying other fields: you <em>cannot</em> \"learn\" computing in the same way you learn other subjects. Memorizing facts and techniques <em>aren't enough</em>; the largest part of succeeding at computing is <em>understanding at a deep level</em> the <em>implications</em> of the facts. (This is of course important in other fields too, but you can get away with rote learning for longer. In CS, though, lack of understanding is an <em>immediate</em> path to failure.)\n<ul>\n<li>To prove this, I will mention that I <em>never took</em> notes in my CS classes. I didn't because while the lecture was proceeding, I was internalizing everything I didn't know already, and then applying it every chance I got. Guess who did better.</li>\n<li>To elaborate, <strong>practice and application are literally the most important things to do when studying computing</strong>.</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li>I agree with the commenter that <strong>you need to ensure that what you think you are learning is actually correct</strong>. For a technical field, it is easy to screw yourself up with mistaken beliefs. Computing, in particular, is a field where being a smartass is a prerequisite. You need to be <em>highly</em> attuned to very slight differences in meaning, and if you're going at it alone, you're going to miss things. Talk with the professor. Talk to your TA. We're there to help you understand these finer points and check yourself.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30675,
"author": "Myra",
"author_id": 23412,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23412",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No. I can recall many things that I learned in college 45 years ago from classes in which I received poor grades, and I have forgotten things from classes in which I received good grades.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30571",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23137/"
] |
30,588 |
<p>What to do if the average of the 1st midterm is like 35%?
Should I repeat the exam? should I ask them to redo the problems in which most of them did poorly in the exam and average the old score and the new score?
Other suggestions?</p>
<p>(The level of the exam is not different from past exams, where the average was around 60%. Same learning outcomes, same everything as past semesters. The only difference I made this semester was to break each question into sub questions, each of which will target certain concept in the main question. Students usually have the habit of asking for partial credits for writing relevant equations without knowing how to use them properly. I made that change to see how clear they understand things and to make grading scheme less ambiguous. I have already trained them on similar problems and concept questions in class, but it seems that they did not take it seriously or they are not used to that, I am not sure)</p>
<p>An Update: I regraded some papers using the same way I graded papers in past semesters (just by looking at the overall solution of each question) and the average became slightly higher (~40) </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30594,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>If you are confident that the students did not take things seriously, then I believe you only have one option: Fail them and leave it at that.</strong> If you allow the students to \"slide by\" without putting in even the minimum effort then you will see even more of that in the future (and so will other teachers, until someone allows the students to fail).</p>\n\n<p><strong>Of course, you need to be sure of this. I would interview some of the stronger students and see what they thought the problem was.</strong></p>\n\n<p>As a point of personal experience, I had one student who failed a subject I teach (he took it from another teacher whom I replaced). When he retook the class, he got me. I failed him because he put in no work. He took the class a third time (second time from me) and I failed him again because, again, he put in no work. Then he took the class a third time and I failed him again. Finally, he did put in the work. What he produced was still quite weak but it was enough to justify a minimum passing grade. I am confident that he would have never learned the need to actually put in effort if I did not take a hard stand like this.</p>\n\n<p>Now, your case is a bit different because you are talking about a whole class and not a single student. I also had a case like this where the students thought they could \"outsmart\" their teachers. I failed 50% of the class that semester. Some of those dropped out of school (not only because of their performance in my subject) and others re-took the subject. I actually thought the school would complain about me failing so many students but there was not one word (and years have passed since then).</p>\n\n<p><strong>Don't let them slack off but do make sure it is really them slacking and that the problem does not lie elsewhere. If they deserve a 35%, then give them a 35%.</strong></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30596,
"author": "Penguin_Knight",
"author_id": 6450,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6450",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Just play a bit of devil's advocate here (actually, students' advocate.)</p>\n\n<p>I feel it's unfair to say if a student just put down some relevant answers, then he/she is just trying to slide by. To lecturers all these appropriate answers are like a well organized wardrobe. We can immediately tell if the answer is spot on or is beating the surrounding bush. However, for students, their wardrobe is their whole dorm room. New information is being incorporated on a daily basis and students may not have enough time and experience in applying the information to make the organization happen before the exam date.</p>\n\n<p>Just because the concept of \"you should meticulously answer the questions\" was demonstrated and stressed in class does not mean it can be successfully applied in exam because there are a lot more stress and a lot less sleep the night before in an exam condition.</p>\n\n<p>Because the expectations are different in both entities, once you have delivered the exam back, I believe the immediate reaction from them will not be \"I should pay more attention in class,\" but more like \"this lecturer is a very unreasonable grader (or anything more profane/derogatory.)\" A 35% average is not unheard of; a 35% average plus a group of eager students who want to make their final exam right is something I've definitely never heard of. They will hate you and the atmosphere in class will deteriorate.</p>\n\n<p>All these are to say, if you're going to unleash this chaos, you must be 100% sure you don't bear any problem or fault. From all the related posts of yours, I couldn't help but wonder why this change (from granting partial credit to everything has to be right on or you'll get a zero?) To make sure there is at least some reliability, I'd suggest picking a few papers from the low, medium, and high tiers and give them to a couple colleagues with your new grading scheme and ask them to grade in their own privacy. Check with them and see if their scores are different and discuss why.</p>\n\n<p>I also love the idea of @earthling about interviewing with some students or class representatives.</p>\n\n<p>In future tests, I'd suggest instead of using the new strict marking scheme all across, use a separate system to denote questions that will be marked strictly (for instance, with a *** in front of the question or dedicate a subsection for them.) This is to allow you to phase into this new scheme slowly. The information you gain in the process will also help you refine your questions. Students will not take such a big blunt, and they will have a chance to see these questions as a challenge rather than a threat.</p>\n\n<p>To conclude, I'd like to share this inspiring quote (which I unfortunately don't know to whom I should attribute):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Teach the students that you have, not the students that you want to\n have.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>While I fully embrace the idea of teaching the students to be serious and meticulous, I'd still consider an overall positive learning environment takes priority. And if I have to relax my criteria somewhat, I will do that within reason. This 35% ordeal is an unfortunate event; I am really sorry that happens but can't help to also think that this is tainted with some overly zealous expectations, and I do hope you'll fine an optimal decision soon.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30598,
"author": "Nick S",
"author_id": 7624,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7624",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What I usually do, and this would also apply in this situation: I tell the students that if their performance improves <strong>significantly</strong> in the final exam, and if any of the remaining exams/quizes, I am willing to ignore the grade for the first midterm when I calculate their grades.</p>\n\n<p>But they have to prove that the first midterm was an accident. </p>\n\n<p>This usually motivates them to work harder for the remaining of the class, and for some students a poor first midterm is a good wake up call.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30654,
"author": "Kate Gregory",
"author_id": 12693,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12693",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You have two issues:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>how to make sure that student's final marks in this course represent their true understanding of the material</li>\n<li>how to fix whatever has caused a generally low level of understanding so far in this course.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>For the first one, I have once or twice given this speech:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Some of you feel that this year's midterm was [too hard, not enough time provided, unfairly weighted to one set of topics, held on a day you couldn't think properly] and does not represent your true knowledge in this course. If you think so too, then send me an email <strong>within the next week</strong> and I will replace your midterm mark with [your mark on the next midterm, your mark on the final exam] when calculating your overall mark in this course. You <strong>may not wait</strong> to make this decision until after you have written another test or seen your mark on another test. Tell me right now <strong>that's not me</strong> and the mark won't count.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Surprisingly, some people who failed the midterm do not take this offer. \"What if I do even worse on the final?\" they ask me. I tell them, \"then you'll fail the course no matter how I calculate your mark,\" but they hold back anyway. People who take the offer usually do extraordinarily well on the final. I think they crank their studying up dramatically.</p>\n\n<p>That stops all the \"but I am going to lose my scholarship!\" \"My parents will disown me!\" responses. They can set this mark aside if they need to. But you need to address the fact they haven't really learned the material, they are just scribbling down some equations they hope are related. This may mean extra tutorial hours, taking two or three times the length of the midterm to walk through solutions slowly and carefully, taking questions. It may mean offering practice questions so that they can see if they get it now. (Have them mark their own work with the textbook as a guide, to keep your workload manageable.) </p>\n\n<p>Once they are actually learning the material, you won't feel bad about giving them a final mark that is not pulled down by their initial difficulties. And you'll have solved the underlying problem for both yourself and for them.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31142,
"author": "Anonymous Coward",
"author_id": 20363,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20363",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience, when an entire class does that badly, it's almost always the professor's fault, although they will usually never admit it, not even when the faculty commission just gave them a rap on the knuckles for it.</p>\n\n<p>In all my years as a student I came across only one such situation where it wasn't the professor's fault: the courses were planned unreasonably close together and the contact time (lectures, lab work, and so on) was greatly reduced compared to the previous year. One day the class realised that considering we would all fail some course anyway, we would be able to help out each other a lot better if we all failed the same course.</p>\n\n<p>But most of the time an entire class does bad, the professor simply was an inept teacher. Other causes of situations like this have included: exam drawn up by a different professor than the one who taught the class, exam unreasonably hard compared to exercises, exam covered different subject matter than the lectures, lecturer tried to cram too much material in a short course, and bad comprehension due to bad study materials.</p>\n\n<p>It is possible for a student to overcome these problems by self-study (I got through some of those massive failures unscathed myself) but only to some extent and not consistently so.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30588",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9547/"
] |
30,590 |
<p>In a Ph.D. application, a statement of purpose (or more precisely, research statement) is required. I think a candidate should use this statement to showcase his/her good research qualities backed up by the research experience to the admission committee.</p>
<p>In order to make those qualities (i.e., those positive adjectives) stand out, can one emphasize those adjectives by italicizing them?</p>
<p>Specifically, I am referring to qualities such as "independent thinking ability, rigorous"...</p>
<p>In my opinion, the research interests and professors of interest should be highlighted in bold so as to facilitate the faculty reader allocation. This way, highlighting these adjectives also in bold will be pretty messy. So it may be a good idea to highlight the adjectives in another and less catchy form, i.e., the italic form. Am I right?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30602,
"author": "dionys",
"author_id": 22520,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22520",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The preferred details for typesetting your research statement are likely to be highly subjective. Different things are likely to be pleasing, striking, or off-putting, depending on the individual preferences of whoever is reading your application.</p>\n\n<p>I would agree that italics are one of the preferred methods to provide <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emphasis_(typography)\">emphasis</a> without being too flashy or distracting. Whether or not that is the appropriate choice for your research statement should probably depend to some extent on the style and content of the rest of your application as well. If you have access to a university writing center, you should try to speak with someone there to decide on the style and arrangement of your application.</p>\n\n<p>To speak to my own experience, I generally will not consider a candidate more capable or skilled in <em>independent thought</em>, <em>rigorous work</em>, or <em>attention to detail</em>, because it is typographically emphasized on their application.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30611,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The most effective way of emphasizing an attribute is not by typography, but by illustrative examples. Compare the declaration:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I am capable of great <em>attention to detail</em></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>versus a more illustrative:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I am well known for my attention to detail: other members of my lab group always ask me to review their proofs before submission.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The real meat of the statement is not the bit you might want to fiddle with typography on, but the larger sentence that demonstrates <em>how</em> you display the attribute in question. In this \"show, don't tell\" sort of presentation, messing with typography will distract from your point rather than adding to it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30618,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>I would skip the italics.</strong> There is no rule against italicizing things in your personal statement. That said, you should remember that this is a formal piece of professional writing. Bolding words comic book-style seems unprofessional and italics only seem slightly better.</p>\n\n<p>More importantly, if I wasn't convinced by the unitalicized version, I am not going to change my mind because of the slanted letters. I would focus on finding a way to let your virtues speak louder than your typography.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30590",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8079/"
] |
30,593 |
<p>I got master in Physics and now I am thinking to continue for PhD in marketing, business or Entrepreneurship and Innovation. </p>
<p>Is it possible to switch for Phd? How can I do that and how should I persuade admission committee? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30595,
"author": "Danny W.",
"author_id": 21704,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21704",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Switching fields this drastically takes some work. You probably will not be able to go directly, although many business schools are dying for more quantitative people, so that could change things. \nReally, though, you probably won't have a hard time convincing the admissions committee that you are smart enough to do a PhD. What you need to show them is that you are genuinely invested in the topic and have legitimate interest in it - that it's not just a passing \"fad\" for you, which you won't complete. Ways to do that include: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Get a second masters. </p></li>\n<li><p>Find someone who does the kind of research you do, and work with them for a year or two. </p></li>\n<li><p>Since you want to do marketing/business stuff, you really should think about working in this field in industry for a few years, first. Many business PhD programs won't even admit people who don't have \"real world\" experience. </p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Of these, the third is probably best. It will take time, but will also leave you in the best position to pursue your PhD of choice. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30599,
"author": "zewemli",
"author_id": 23353,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23353",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is very possible to switch majors. If possible, try to talk with a faculty member with whom you are interested in working. If they are willing to work with you then the admissions process is likely to be fairly simple.</p>\n\n<p>With that said, a PhD in business is meant to prepare you for teaching or a career in academia, not in actual business. If you want business skills for work outside of academia, an MBA is the way to go. Considering this, an admissions board / faculty member is probably most interested in your aptitude to publish. Your masters shows strong quantitative skills and so if you have any publications, that will likely go a long way in helping you get started.</p>\n\n<p>All of these are very general statements, if you are really serious about a PhD then you should definitely contact schools you are interested in and see if you can talk with faculty.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30593",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23338/"
] |
30,600 |
<p>We have two students in my department who handed in identical essays. As per our policy we scheduled independent meetings with both students to determine what happened. Going into these meetings our primary objective is to figure out which of the following 5 possibilities occurred:</p>
<ol>
<li>The students worked jointly and wrote one essay</li>
<li>One student wrote the essay and knowingly allowed the other student to copy the essay</li>
<li>One student wrote the essay and the other student copied their essay without the first student's knowledge</li>
<li>The students worked independently and managed to write word for word identical essays (this seems unlikely)</li>
<li>The students independently copied the same source</li>
</ol>
<p>One student is on medical leave and was therefore unable to attend the meeting. The student who attended the meeting showed us drafts of previous essays which have convinced us that neither (4) nor (5) occurred. Further, when we exclude the other student's essay, TurnItIn doesn't find anything of concern. We also are confident that the student who attended the meeting did not copy the essay from the other student. This leaves us with possibilities (1), (2), and (3).</p>
<p>Our policy states that both students would be punished for academic misconducted if either (1) or (2) occurred and only the other student would be punished if (3) occurred. It seems without talking to the other student we cannot really come to a fair conclusion. Without a decision the student who attended the meeting will have neither passed or failed the class and therefore is not eligible to retake the class nor take any class which has the class in question as a prerequisite. It is unlikely the student on medical leave will be back in time to make a timely decision. How should we proceed?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30604,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are convinced that the student who attended the meeting wrote the essay in question, then you must conclude that either the other student stole a copy or the two students collaborated. I think that almost requires grades of \"Incomplete\" for both students until the matter can be resolved.</p>\n\n<p>Edited to add: I like Nick S's comment about waiving the prerequisites for the student who attended the meeting. His is a comment to the original question, and is worth reading.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30619,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Not letting this student move forward at this point would be punishment. If there is a chance that you will find the student innocent of any wrongdoing, it seems like the injustice of punishing them for something they did not do is worse than letting them get away with something they did. </p>\n\n<p>Make it clear to the student that they will pass the class given the lack of evidence against them but that you will continue to evaluate the situation. Make sure they know that if you conclude later that they have colluded, you will update their grade to a failing one and force them to retake the class.</p>\n\n<p>The only real negative consequence of this is that the student might be able to take classes that require this class as a prerequisite before they are forced to go back and take the original class again. That's not ideal, but it doesn't really seem so bad.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30644,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my university we have a general rule: <strong>If you collude, you both fail that assignment. If you took another student's assignment and copied it (stole from a classmate) then you not only fail the assignment but you fail the subject and must retake it</strong>. Note: It is possible to fail and assignment and still pass the subject by resubmitting the failing work (as I believe most UK universities do and I believe you are in the UK).</p>\n\n<p>I do not believe there is a perfect solution but by having a rule such as this, you can mostly avoid having one student say \"It is my original work\" when really it was joint work <strong>because they would not want to save their friend at the cost of retaking the module (when they could both pass, albeit with a lower grade).</strong></p>\n\n<p>If you have the same rule and the student in front of you is very clear about that and the student in front of you says \"Yes, this is mine, all mine, he must have stolen from me\" then I would let that student pass (without any contradicting evidence from the other student).</p>\n\n<p>The challenge with such a rule in this case is that they might have colluded but the other student might simply take the fall, if only because he has nothing to lose because he's out on medical leave and cannot complete the module this term anyway. So, he might as well fall on his sword.</p>\n\n<p>In your case (where one student is unavailable) I would have the student present sign some simple declaration (\"It's my original work and the other student must have stolen it from me and I agree if the above is found to be untrue then my grade will be changed after-the-fact.\")</p>\n\n<p>I <strong>would not</strong> worry about the student taking subjects which need this subject as a pre-req. If he doesn't understand, that will be shown clearly later and will sort itself out.</p>\n\n<p>Again, it's not a perfect rule but it mostly prevents colluding students from getting away with it by imposing double punishment on one.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30647,
"author": "Dennis",
"author_id": 23392,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23392",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I know this can only apply to some of the situations, but if the student is unable to attend, yet still able to communicate I would say:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Have you considered scheduling a call?</strong></p>\n\n<p>You can just do the talk by phone, or Skype and documents can be scanned and mailed. \nPerhaps this is not as good as a face to face meeting, but I would say there is a good chance that you can clear things up this way.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30678,
"author": "Nonsingular",
"author_id": 22885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22885",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As an answer, I would like to bring up a question. Are the drafts conclusive evidence that (4) and (5) can be excluded? As far as (4) is unlikely, I find (5) highly likely. My question is extended to ask what was the time frame between finding the plagiarism, informing the students of the plagiarism, and the submission of the drafts by the student who isn't on sick leave?</p>\n\n<p>As most \"drafts\" are neither handwritten or typed on a typewriter, the ease and quickness that a draft can be made does not remove doubt that the work isn't of the student. </p>\n\n<p>If (1) and (2) are options, and this brings into suspect their collusion, then don't think that they still wouldn't be colluding in the fallout. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30722,
"author": "Myra",
"author_id": 23412,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23412",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's hard to believe that <em>both</em> students would have agreed to turn in identical papers. Most students would know that turning in a paper identical to some other student's would certainly be noticed. So, it is more likely that only <em>one</em> of them is the culprit. In this case, this student is most likely stupid as well as dishonest. The question is how do we tell who is lying? I believe King Solomon had a similar problem, when two woman claimed to be the mother of a single child. You might want to offer to give <em>half</em> credit to each. The one who cheated would likely object less. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30753,
"author": "Myra",
"author_id": 23412,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23412",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have another idea. Are the students both of the same sex? I just found something interesting that may help. </p>\n\n<p>This site analyzes text for traits statistically associated with the sex of the writer.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.hackerfactor.com/GenderGuesser.php\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.hackerfactor.com/GenderGuesser.php</a></p>\n\n<p>It seems to be fairly accurate. It correctly identified George Eliot as female (it was not fooled by her male pseudonym, LOL), and me as male. I also used it to analyze a text translated by male and female translators of a male writer (the same passage of about 600 words). The male translator's text came out 8% more 'masculine'. </p>\n\n<p>If the test text comes out 'female' and one or both of the students is male, you have reason to suspect one or both has copied it. But of course, this is only one tool and must be viewed as such. It is just a piece of evidence to add to whatever other evidence you may have. To 'calibrate' the system, you could run all the students' papers through the process to see if it correctly identifies the male and female students in the class.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, if both students are male or female, and the analysis does not show any discrepancy, it is of no help in determining which of the five possibilities occurred.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30600",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/"
] |
30,601 |
<p>I teach a practical class which is assessed by a lab report. I grade the lab reports based on a rubric. The rubric has 6 sections (abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions) with a number of items that I generally expect to see in each section. Historically, about 95% of the lab reports can be accurately graded based on the rubric while the remaining 5% of the lab reports go in unique, often very good, directions and therefore do not tick many of the boxes on the rubric. I am considering showing the students the grading rubric in advance of writing the reports this year with the hope that this will key them into what is important so that they can better demonstrate their understanding of the key issues. Is there any research that looks at the benefits and consequences of showing students a grading rubric in advance?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30603,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Sharing a good rubric with your students can be a helpful way to let them understand what is expected of them. There is a down side in that the rubric then provides a basis for students to complain that you've graded a paper unfairly. Don't release the rubric unless you're really willing to give credit according to the rubric even if a paper has obvious flaws in areas not covered by the rubric. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30610,
"author": "dionys",
"author_id": 22520,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22520",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Being open and clear about your grading policy</strong> is a large part of what makes the grades you assign meaningful. In that respect, it is generally helpful to share the rubric with your students if you work from one. At minimum, a good <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5673\">grading</a> system should meet three criteria:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>it should accurately reflect differences in student performance</li>\n<li>it should be clear to students so they can chart their own progress</li>\n<li>it should be fair</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Sharing your rubric directly enhances the second criterion, and presents a context for evaluating the other two. You might also consider using some of your lecture time to go over examples of what an excellent lab report should look like and then discuss the rubric with your students. This would give you an opportunity to point out that lab reports should cover key points, but good lab reports don't necessarily follow a rigid cookie-cutter format.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><strong>Since you asked about sources</strong> on sharing rubrics with students:</p>\n\n<p>The authors of <a href=\"http://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/holdingsInfo?searchId=8060&recCount=25&recPointer=0&bibId=17232944\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Introduction to rubrics</a>, mention discussing the grading rubric with students and even include a chapter on constructing/tailoring rubrics directly with student feedback.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>[Stevens, et al.] \"... because we discuss the rubric and thereby the grading\n criteria in class, the student has a much better idea of what these\n details mean ...\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>However, you may be interested in <a href=\"http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02602930301671\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">this paper</a> which examines the learning outcomes for different peer groups when they're given details about assessment criteria. Evidence for their conclusions is based on a very limited number of samples, so the usual cautions apply, but they found that simply sharing explicit grading criteria was not sufficient to positively influence learning, while making time for the students to work more intensively with the rubric did yield benefits.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>[Rust, et al.] \"... it is being engaged with the process of marking as well as seeing\n examples of other work that significantly contributes to the students’\n subsequent improvement in performance.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30613,
"author": "nickalh",
"author_id": 21611,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21611",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my training to be a public school teacher mostly from principals, assistant principals and other expert teachers, the expectation is we show the rubric when we give the original assignment. </p>\n\n<p>In a related example, my college tutoring student with a long test has likely spent too much time on less critical questions because the professor did not explain the weight given to each question. Even when he got his test back he and I are unsure how much weight is being given to each question. This is inappropriate on the professor's part.</p>\n\n<p>It is only fair to students that they know ahead of time what is important to the professor communicated through a rubric or advance knowledge of the grading scheme.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30617,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Write careful and comprehensive rubrics and distribute them with your assignments.</strong> What better way to tell students what you expect from the assignment than by telling them exactly how you are going to evaluate it?</p>\n\n<p>If there are unique and interesting directions that you want to allow assignments to go but that you think your current rubric precludes, rewrite your rubric so that it's flexible enough to allow these papers to be assessed highly. A great rubric is clear enough that an instructor can communicate clearly what is expected in a way that is transparent, fair, and clear, but not so overconstrained that it leads students to formulaic box-checking. It's a tricky balance but worth striving for. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30664,
"author": "abathur",
"author_id": 5668,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5668",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I wanted to continue the trend of substituting my opinion for the research you requested:</p>\n\n<p>Any impact the sharing of the rubric itself has on student outcomes is secondary to the impact the transparency of sharing the rubric will have on you, your pedagogy, and the course itself. Even a controlled study of a large standardized course taught in many sections, half of which do/don't receive rubrics, is going to be blind to the cumulative benefits of transparency:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>being forced to clarify your expectations to yourself (i.e., extract them from your intuition) well enough create a rubric you're confident leaving in the hands of your students</li>\n<li>being encouraged to evaluate how well your pedagogical practices actually prepare students to meet these explicit expectations</li>\n<li>being forced to face problems with your expectations (as the distance between the grade you intuitively want to give a student and the grade the rubric suggests they deserve)</li>\n<li>being forced to renegotiate your rubric as students challenge it</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In short, your ability to consistently apply your public rubric in ways that satisfy both you and your students is a good proxy for evaluating your own course design.</p>\n\n<p>Beyond this, I'd also like to add to the \"student benefits\" concern: one of the overarching goals of education is to teach people how to do \"good\" work on their own. Learning to self-evaluate is a big part of consistently performing good work without supervision; learning the qualities of good work is a big part of learning to self-evaluate, along with feedback mechanisms that consistently communicate the importance/validity of these qualities.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30696,
"author": "Jack Aidley",
"author_id": 5614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5614",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are disadvantages to distributing the rubric. Most importantly: it encourages sensible students to game the rubric rather than understanding and answering the question. I do not think this concentration on grading rather than learning is a good thing. Against this you must set the benefits of transparency and the ability of students to engage with their assessment.</p>\n\n<p>You seem to think that the very good unique answers are a problem to be discouraged – I disagree; I think they’re a good thing. The difficulty for you is in grading them – and it seems you are sticking to your rubric in the face of good answers. This is a mistake. The rubric should be used as a guide to help you give consistent grades, not to limit the range of answers you will accept. When faced with a high-quality answer that does not fall neatly into your pre-written rubric, your response should be to try and grade that submission without the rubric not reduce the marks you award.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30601",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929/"
] |
30,606 |
<p>Is there any research/study/survey that looked at the main reasons why academics leave academia?</p>
<p>I did read <a href="http://theprofessorisin.com/its-ok-to-quit/" rel="nofollow">a</a> <a href="https://chroniclevitae.com/news/434-leaving-academia-it-s-time-to-have-the-talk" rel="nofollow">few</a> <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/id-have-to-be-mad-to-leave-here-they-said-and-they-were-right/420932.article" rel="nofollow">articles</a> <a href="http://chronicle.com/blogs/phd/2013/08/08/the-afternoon-i-decided-to-leave-academe-and-what-happened-next/" rel="nofollow">explaining</a> <a href="https://www.quora.com/Why-did-you-leave-academia?share=1" rel="nofollow">why</a> <a href="http://anothersb.blogspot.com/2014/02/goodbye-academia.html" rel="nofollow">some</a> <a href="http://thehairpin.com/2014/03/talking-to-anne-helen-petersen-about-why-shes-leaving-academia-for-buzzfeed" rel="nofollow">particular</a> <a href="http://blog.devicerandom.org/2011/02/18/getting-a-life/" rel="nofollow">academics</a> <a href="http://lilligroup.com/tag/deciding-to-leave-academia-when-it-was-your-dream-profession/" rel="nofollow">left</a> <a href="http://crypto.junod.info/2013/09/09/an-aspiring-scientists-frustration-with-modern-day-academia-a-resignation/" rel="nofollow">academia</a>, but I would like to have some statistics to see what are the most common reasons invoked.</p>
<p>I mostly interested in the computer science field (machine learning) in the US, but curious about other fields and locations as well.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30794,
"author": "Peteris",
"author_id": 10730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No hard stats on how often each reason occurs, but from anecdotal evidence:</p>\n\n<h2>Switching fields</h2>\n\n<p>Some people simply choose other carreers - either they're disillusioned with their research topic, or with some specific people/managers, or found a much better paying job in other domain. This is pretty much the standard set of reasons for any other jobs.</p>\n\n<h2>Lack of continued funding</h2>\n\n<p>The only academic-specific reason that I have seen - it's often hard (or subjective) to say if it's \"not enough money\" or \"you and your research are not good enough to compete for the money\", but it certainly happens - some research project ends, a new one doesn't get started (yet), then people get other jobs to feed their families, and don't come back afterwards if/when new funding arrives.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30799,
"author": "Patricia Shanahan",
"author_id": 10220,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10220",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I retired immediately after completing my Ph.D., but would have switched back to industry if I had continued working.</p>\n\n<p>I am much, much happier and more effective doing technical work than teaching or managing. The computer industry has well-established technical tracks that allow career advancement without becoming a manager. The academic world, at least in the USA, seems to require teaching and administrative work from everyone, regardless of individual preferences and talents.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30802,
"author": "Marc Claesen",
"author_id": 7173,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7173",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For machine learning specifically, I think a major reason is the high demand for such skills in industry (both in existing businesses, in startups/spinoffs or as consultants), which makes leaving easier compared to some other fields. This applies to other fields that are close to the market as well (for instance engineering).</p>\n\n<p>Innovation and tech transfer is important for universities, so I am not entirely sure how to classify researchers that 'leave academia' to start a spin-off to valorise the IP generated during their research career. That said, many machine learning scientists take this 'exit', which can be unavailable to researchers in more fundamental fields.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30606",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
30,614 |
<p>I am applying for PhD and In my statement of purpose I said that I have submitted a paper for a certain conference and that I will submit another one to a top conference once I have completed doing certain measurements.</p>
<p>I also said that by the end of my degree I will have done this and that. I mention these things in my CV too which I will submit to that school.</p>
<p>Is it OK to say such things ? These are near future plans and show how I progress and what I plan to do and I believe that they will improve my chances of getting admissions. How will professors and admission committees look at such a CV ?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30794,
"author": "Peteris",
"author_id": 10730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No hard stats on how often each reason occurs, but from anecdotal evidence:</p>\n\n<h2>Switching fields</h2>\n\n<p>Some people simply choose other carreers - either they're disillusioned with their research topic, or with some specific people/managers, or found a much better paying job in other domain. This is pretty much the standard set of reasons for any other jobs.</p>\n\n<h2>Lack of continued funding</h2>\n\n<p>The only academic-specific reason that I have seen - it's often hard (or subjective) to say if it's \"not enough money\" or \"you and your research are not good enough to compete for the money\", but it certainly happens - some research project ends, a new one doesn't get started (yet), then people get other jobs to feed their families, and don't come back afterwards if/when new funding arrives.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30799,
"author": "Patricia Shanahan",
"author_id": 10220,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10220",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I retired immediately after completing my Ph.D., but would have switched back to industry if I had continued working.</p>\n\n<p>I am much, much happier and more effective doing technical work than teaching or managing. The computer industry has well-established technical tracks that allow career advancement without becoming a manager. The academic world, at least in the USA, seems to require teaching and administrative work from everyone, regardless of individual preferences and talents.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30802,
"author": "Marc Claesen",
"author_id": 7173,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7173",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For machine learning specifically, I think a major reason is the high demand for such skills in industry (both in existing businesses, in startups/spinoffs or as consultants), which makes leaving easier compared to some other fields. This applies to other fields that are close to the market as well (for instance engineering).</p>\n\n<p>Innovation and tech transfer is important for universities, so I am not entirely sure how to classify researchers that 'leave academia' to start a spin-off to valorise the IP generated during their research career. That said, many machine learning scientists take this 'exit', which can be unavailable to researchers in more fundamental fields.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/26
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30614",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18244/"
] |
30,621 |
<p>I have read the term "soft-money research position" a few times.</p>
<p>E.g. <a href="https://www.fredhutch.org/en/news/center-news/2007/09/path-of-a-postdoc.html">Path of a postdoc</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Another consideration for interviewees is whether to pursue a
"soft-money" position. A tenure-track university professor is
typically paid a nine-month salary to teach one or more courses,
conduct research and train graduate students. During the summer
months, the professor can optionally pay his or her salary from grant
money. In contrast, non-tenure-track research professors often hold
soft-money positions, which require them to cover 100 percent of their
salary from research grants, teaching and/or administrative
responsibilities. Soft-money positions offer the advantage of few
teaching responsibilities, which frees time for grant writing and
conducting research, but at the expense of job security, since winning
grants is a necessity. The Hutchinson Center and some other private
institutions offer a compromise between these systems, covering up to
half of a faculty member's salary from institutional funds, so
research grants only have to cover the remainder.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://simplystatistics.tumblr.com/post/10124797490/advice-for-stats-students-on-the-academic-job-market">Advice for stats students on the academic job market</a> gives a clear distinction between soft and hard money:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Before listing the options I should explain the concept of hard versus
soft money. Revenue in academia comes from tuition (in public schools
the state kicks in some extra $), external funding (e.g. NIH grants),
services (e.g. patient care), and philanthropy (endowment). The money
that comes from tuition, services, and philanthropy is referred to as
hard money. Every year roughly the same amount is available and the
way its split among departments rarely changes. When it does, it’s
because your chair has either lost or won a long hard-fought zero-sum
battle. Research money comes from NIH, NSF, DoD, etc.. and one has to
write grants to raise funding (which pay part or all of your salary).
These days about 10% of grant applications are funded, so it is
certainly not guaranteed. Although at the school level the law of
large numbers kicks in, at the individual level it certainly doesn’t.
Note that the break down of revenue varies widely from institution to
institution. Liberal arts colleges are almost 100% hard money while
research institutes are almost 100% soft money.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm still confused regarding the exact definition of a soft-money research position: what is the threshold soft-money : hard-money above which a position is regarded as a soft-money position?</p>
<p>Conversely, what is a hard-money research position? Is it any research position that is not a soft-money research position?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30624,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It is a soft money position if the position goes away when the soft money is not available.</p>\n\n<p>I prefer the term \"contingent\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30627,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's actually a little bit more complicated than \"soft money\" vs. \"hard money,\" but the basic idea is that any scientific position can be categorized on the basis of where the money to support it comes from.</p>\n\n<p>In general, \"soft money\" refers to positions where the funding source is based on external grants and contracts. As long as there is a sufficient supply of such money that a person can obtain or that somebody else is willing to devote to their support, they are employed. If that money dries up, however, the position dries up with it, becoming part time or disappearing entirely.</p>\n\n<p>In contrast, \"hard money\" positions are not directly project-dependent, but instead are created for a purpose by an organization. Termination from a hard money position only comes either for cause or due to the organization deciding to remove the position and not shift the person to another position. They are often more secure (thus the notion of \"hard\"), but not necessarily. Tenure-track faculty posts are typically seen as the ultimate in \"hard\" money: they are ultimately supported by tuition, and even if the students stop signing up for a department, it is typically slow enough that universities tend to prefer to allow departments to age to extinction rather than fire faculty. A corporate research post is also often \"hard money\" because it is created by fiat in a company's strategic plan, rather than being dependent on external funds. It is much less secure, however, because it can be removed by fiat as well.</p>\n\n<p>Where it gets complicated is that various different sorts of \"hard\" and \"soft\" positions have different levels of vulnerability. For example, some \"soft\" positions are effectively amortized over a large group or include bridge funding, such that they may be nearly as secure as a tenure-track position.</p>\n\n<p>It's a good first-approximation, however, in talking about the challenges of academic fundraising and career management. The basic rule of thumb is: a PI in a \"soft\" position needs to raise money to pay their own salary, while a PI in a \"hard\" position does not. Thus a \"soft\" position has a hard time surviving on small grants while a \"hard\" position merely ends up with few students for a while.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30653,
"author": "user-2147482637",
"author_id": 12718,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12718",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>jakebeal is correct but i'll try to give a shortened version of this specifically to a position as a 'researcher' opposed to a position in which research is part of the job description (such as professor).</p>\n\n<p><strong>A soft-money position as a researcher means the PI is paying through a non-permanent funding source, such as a grant, almost always for a specific project.</strong> You can think of any project-based hiring as soft-money research position. Usually in research institutes, this is how a research assistant or intern is paid. Higher level research positions can also be payed this way for large grants (as their salary is probably higher).</p>\n\n<p><strong>Hard-money position is hired as a long term employee fundamental to the institute.</strong> In a research institute, this would be someone hired directly from the staff budget of the institute. If it is a government based institute, a hard-money position is funded from the budgeted salaries, in many ways similar to operations costs or administration, i.e. something that is a planned hiring independent of a specific project.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 115782,
"author": "Nancy Kelley",
"author_id": 97352,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/97352",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A soft money position usually means that the position is being funded by a grant. In colleges and universities, this generally means that the job may be capped to end after 1 year, 5 years, etc.; however long the lifespan of the grant. If you are accepting a position that is funded by soft money, you should know up front how long the grant lasts, and if the grant has a reasonable expectation to be extended after the ending date.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30621",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
30,622 |
<p>In Academia, a soft money research position is one <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2012/04/02/essay-building-career-soft-money-position">where uncertain money comes from an external source</a>. The employee or <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/xyr">xyr</a> supervisor/boss might need to secure funding every couple of years or so, in order for the position to continue. The way out would be tenure or a government job.</p>
<p>An obvious soft money position is the post-doctoral fellowship, but many post-docs might not find a faculty position directly. For example, if the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) advertises a soft money assistant researcher position, they have <a href="https://www.apo.ucla.edu/policies/the-call/professional-research-series/professional-research-series-1">a defined path of promotion steps</a>. UCLA defines four steps of assistant researcher (2 years max), three steps of associate researcher (2 years max), and nine steps of researcher (3 years max until step IV, possibly indefinite from step V). If coming in at step I of assistant researcher, it might, theoretically, take 4*2+3*2+4*3=26 years of positions in steps of 2 years (first 14 years) and 3 years (last 12 years), until one <em>might</em> be appointed indefinately, if I'm reading things correctly. Needless to say, not ideal from an employee's point of view.</p>
<p>Although time-limited positions and soft money might not mean exactly the same thing, I suppose they often go hand in hand. That raises the question: <em>how common is it for researchers to spend a long time, say more than 10 years, in soft money positions</em>? It's one thing to "drop out" of Academia when finishing a PhD at 28 years, it's another thing to move from postdoc to assistant researcher to associate researcher, only to finally discover, at age 45, that you're not good enough for tenure, and lack the necessary skills and experience for a teaching position. Oops.</p>
<p>In Science, Technology and Engineering (STEM) fields in the USA and Canada, how common is it for researchers to spend more than 10 years in time-limited soft-money research positions?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30632,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the U.S., at least, long-term careers on various forms of \"soft money\" are a lot more common than it looks from inside the \"core\" academia of graduate school and tenure-track faculty positions. In reality, the research ecosystem is very complex, with all sorts of niches that aren't necessarily apparent from the outside. My own experience as a grad student was that I didn't even know any of these options existed until a colleague reached out and invited me into the non-traditional side of academia.</p>\n\n<p>I know of many people who have had long and fulfilling careers, all the way to retirement (if they ever really retire), entirely on soft money. Some of them have been with a single university or company for that entire time. More often, they shift around from position to position over time, between university, government, small company, large company, consultancy, foundation, non-profit, standards organization, etc., in patterns dictated by the evolution of those organizations and how the research opportunities are shifting. Unlike with postdocs, this often doesn't require moving, particularly near a high-tech hub: Boston and the Bay Area are obvious examples, but many large cities have research sectors that interact with the local universities in all sorts of non-obvious ways.</p>\n\n<p>The distinction between \"soft\" and \"hard\" money is not always as obvious as it appears, either. For example, there are organizations that pool soft-money risk, or have core positions that are effectively hard because they are pooled between many external grants. Even university professors can often have the option to \"soften\" their positions by buying out of teaching responsibilities.</p>\n\n<p>From my experience, it seems that there are three main classes of soft-money researcher, showing up in all of these environments:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Primary investigators: just like normal faculty PIs, but with a higher cost and no teaching commitments. A PI who can establish a strong research direction and funding stream can hold a position nearly as secure as tenured faculty.</li>\n<li>High-skill implementer: these are people who don't necessarily lead their own projects, but who work full-time for PIs in executing projects. Engineers, analysts, programmers, lab technicians, etc. Really good implementers are always in high demand for research, and can have a long and productive research career when teamed with the right sort of PIs.</li>\n<li>Exploited labor: these are either implementers who haven't developed/proved their skill, people trying to become PIs who haven't made it yet, or researchers who are stuck in an exploitative environment. This is the type of soft money that seems to be most common in certain parts of traditional academia and can be \"eternal postdoc limbo\" (or its fake-hard-money cousin: \"adjunct faculty limbo\"). Unfortunately, it can often be hard for a researcher to tell if they're in this category and whether it's a passing stage or a trap they need to break out of.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Life in these worlds can be very different than in the teaching-centric parts of academia, but an awful lot of interesting things happen in them, and it offers much more variety in career options for a graduating Ph.D. with an inclination to research than I think most people know about.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30639,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In central europe, things look much the same as jakebeal explains in his strong answer. In reality, I think only a <strong>small minority</strong> of academics actually follow the theoretical trajectory of \"PhD student - [short time as postdoc] - junior prof - tenured prof\" around here. A simple reason for this is that the notion of tenured-track \"junior professors\" (whatever this position is formally called differs from country to country) is in fact a new-ish invention around here, and actual positions of this type are still <strong>very, very rare</strong>. My alma mater with more than 100 CS profs. had less than 5 calls for single tenure-track CS positions <em>lifetime</em>.</p>\n\n<p>The career trajectory of an academic in central europe is generally much less standardized. The first step is always doing a PhD, but what comes in the next 10 to 15 years is different from candidate to candidate. Common career stations seem to include: (1) traditional postdoc positions, (2) working as a senior postdoc / soft-money PI (3) spending a few years in related industry, (4) founding your own startup (and, often, running it into the ground :) ), (5) working as a research scientist in a government or industry lab, or (6) going abroad (to the US or asia) for any of the options 1-5.</p>\n\n<p>Some will then, after spending 10+ years in a combination of the options above, directly re-enter the regular university system as a tenured (full) professor. The majority, of course, will at some point before that drop out of academia entirely (e.g, their startup succeeds, they find work in industry more fulfilling and better paid, or they simply decide that their research isn't good enough to have a real shot at professorship).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30643,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>The way out would be tenure or a government job.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>There seems to be a misconception here, namely that tenure is necessarily a way out from soft-money positions. Instead, it's possible to get a tenured soft-money position. This means the university provides no salary or other funding (which are supposed to come from grants), but they can't decide to eliminate your affiliation with the university. This is obviously not as secure as being paid by the university, but it still means something. Controversial research can't be held against you, and the department can no longer decide you don't meet their standards. (The latter is actually a genuine risk. Sometimes someone is allowed to hang around in a soft-money position for many years despite not being respected by some of the department, because nobody cares enough to try to get rid of them. Then one year a new chair comes in and decides to clean up the department by imposing higher standards.)</p>\n\n<p>Most soft-money positions do not lead to any sort of tenure, and it's rare to have an \"up or out\" scenario in which someone must achieve tenure or leave. In particular, the scenario described in the question, in which someone pursues a soft-money position for twenty years and is then denied tenure and forced to leave, is not standard or common.</p>\n\n<p>In particular, I don't think the UCLA positions the question links to are \"time-limited\" in any harmful way. My reading is that once you reach Researcher V or above, you can sit at that rank indefinitely. The time limits on lower levels ensure that junior researchers will get periodic raises and titles the reflect their increased experience. There is no tenure in this career track at UCLA; there is periodic review, but I'd guess that it's not particularly severe (intended to make sure people remain productive, not to weed out otherwise promising researchers). It's certainly not a career track with anything like the security or stability of a tenured position, but aside from that it looks pretty reasonable.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In Science, Technology and Engineering (STEM) fields in the USA and Canada, how common is it for researchers to spend more than 10 years in time-limited soft-money research positions?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It varies enormously between fields and departments. In medicine, soft-money positions are pretty common and they can be prestigious and relatively secure. In mathematics, very few people support themselves entirely from grants. In computer science, it's in between.</p>\n\n<p>As a rule of thumb, in the U.S. long-term soft-money positions are not a route towards a tenured hard-money position. It can happen, but this is not the typical or expected outcome. Instead, they are a parallel career track. One way to gauge how common this track is at institutions you care about is to look at departmental directories and count titles like \"researcher\", \"research associate\", \"research scientist\", etc.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30622",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1033/"
] |
30,623 |
<p>I have been working towards a degree in mathematics and in computer science for the last two and a half years. That corresponds to the following bit in my résumé:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Education</strong><br>
B.A. in Mathematics (2012 - 2016 expected)<br>
B.S. in Computer Science (2012 - 2016 expected)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, I recently found out that I can graduate next semester with a major in mathematics and a minor in computer science. If that was my plan, I would write this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Education</strong><br>
B.A. in Mathematics (2012 - 2015 expected)<br>
Minor: Computer Science</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, at the moment I am undecided about which path I plan to take. </p>
<p>Which should I include in the résumé? I am considering just writing down whichever one would seem more impressive, but I don't want to be deceitful.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30631,
"author": "rockness",
"author_id": 23371,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23371",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The best way I worded my resume was \nStating the school you when to, the city,state \nBachelors of Some Thing \nAdditional Fields of Study: Minor in Computer Science and Engineering </p>\n\n<p>In terms of your resume, I would start out stating your revelant course work in a list but make it into a table (hide the borders when your done) that you can hide in MS Word. </p>\n\n<p>After that put your volunteer and work history </p>\n\n<p>after putting that put all the skills and qualifications. </p>\n\n<p>I added something a bit extra which was I speak Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese), Spanish, Japanese, and English (my second language was English) </p>\n\n<p>Math majors are much needed in CS and in biology. That's a very good path. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30633,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Facing an uncertain graduate date is a common issue, particularly for many Ph.D. students who aren't sure exactly when they are going to defend. The thing that you want in your C.V. is to communicate as clearly as possible what are your skills <em>and time of availability</em> to the people considering taking you on for your next career stage after graduation. Thus, put your current best estimate in; if you want to indicate an option to join a position earlier, put that in as well as an option.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30623",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4510/"
] |
30,650 |
<p>I completed my MS in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and was planning to do an PhD in Operations Research. But after first few weeks in program , I decided it was not what I wanted to do in long term and dropped out.</p>
<p>There is a background to this- my untenured MS advisor refused to sponsor my PhD . Another well known professor in the department came forward and offered me a good stipend but I dropped out from his lab after couple of weeks.</p>
<p>Things had become too caustic even before I joined his lab. The PhD professor wanted me to help him with some algorithms in the final month of my MS, but my MS advisor shooed him multiple times saying that I was very busy, when in fact I was free all the time. My MS advisor wanted me to make her a co advisor and get her a piece of the tenured professor's project, it didn't work out and since then she has become pretty vengeful towards me. She rejected job offers from our research sponsors after MS saying I was doing PhD and was not interested in working for them. </p>
<p>I think at this point I have lot of ill will against me in my department mainly due to active efforts to undermine me by my MS advisor.</p>
<p>In my university ,we need to take around 30-40 credit hours of subjects and pass candidacy and continue the dissertation.</p>
<p>I am taking an completely different route to PhD. I am taking 9 credit hours every semester (full time course load is 6 credit hours) and at same time working full time as Data warehouse SW developer.</p>
<p>It's very strenuous(My long commute, job and courses and assignments occupy at least 17-18 hours of my day) but I am able to manage them and it's working pretty well as I get paid around 135K at my job.</p>
<p><em>Is this is an ideal approach until I finish my subjects and then see if any HCI lab in my department can take me in? Can I expect things to calm down in 2 years time.or what can i do right now to improve on this situation?</em></p>
<p>Or am I really hurting myself here. My concern at this point is after my candidacy, no lab will take me back because of no recent research work. By the way, I don't need to finalize an advisor for the dissertation right now, I can take candidacy exam in dept. by forming a temporary committee .</p>
<p>One advantage I may have is I will have enough money by that time to volunteer in a lab for around an year to prove my worth. But again I am afraid my MS advisor may actively sabotage any of those efforts. I have been afraid and tensed for past few days thinking about this.</p>
<p>Edit : I am from Midwest US</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30662,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I think it's better to be involved in research from the beginning of a PhD program, but I've seen plenty of programs <em>designed</em> to discourage starting research until the student has passed the qualifying exams. Both models can lead to good PhDs and good careers afterward. You appear to be in the enviable position, assuming you can sustain it, of being able to save a substantial portion of the salary from your day job so that when it comes time to start some research, you can do so with your own funding. If the project goes well, and you are good at research, you may be able to complete your dissertation more quickly than someone who has to work on a funded grant which has deliverables other than your thesis.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31163,
"author": "gdeck",
"author_id": 23829,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23829",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Where is the department Chair in this situation? Depending upon the structure of your college within the university, that is generally the individual with whom you can discuss both your questions regarding research and your situation with your MS advisor. It sounds as if you need someone who can deal with the administrative aspects of the situation - the person who signs your MS advisor's annual review.</p>\n\n<p>If that doesn't work, you can go to the Dean of your college, or perhaps the Dean of Students. In my years working in Academia, the Dean of Students was always a powerful individual within the university. You shouldn't have to deal with the petty issues that you're experiencing. You should be able to focus on your degree and its associated research.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30650",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7937/"
] |
30,656 |
<p>I am a PhD student and am thinking ahead to when I start up a psychology lab---what are some of the best data entry and management systems? To avoid the "it depends" answer, below I list what I'm looking for. If you must say "it depends", it would be helpful to know what it depends on (i.e., what the good options are for different needs). I've done some work with data management systems in SPSS and Excel, and have not been impressed.</p>
<p>Here's what I'd use it for:</p>
<ul>
<li>Entry of ~100 variables for every one of ~100 measures and ~10,000 cases. In other words, the entire (merged) data matrix could be about 100 X 100 X 10,000 cells (10,000 rows and 10,000 columns).</li>
<li>Data involve human subjects and are mostly from questionnaires</li>
</ul>
<p>Here are some things I'd like it to be able to do:</p>
<ul>
<li>Data entry can be restricted to specified, plausible values for each variable (string, number, integer, value from 0-2, etc.) in order to minimize data entry errors</li>
<li>Double data entry checking (users enter the same data twice and the system flags discrepancies to minimize data entry errors)</li>
<li>Data from different measures are entered in separate forms, but data can be easily merged by one or more matching columns (full outer join)</li>
<li>Data can be easily imported into R (ideally in base R with a .csv or .txt file)</li>
<li>Efficient (time & effort) to open and use</li>
<li>User friendly (undergrad RAs would be using it)</li>
<li>Can interface to import data from other sources so that not all data are entered manually (iPad-entered data, website-entered data, physiological data, .csv files, tab-delimited files, etc.)</li>
<li>Data can have appropriate safeguards because they involve human subjects (e.g., password protection, encryption, others?)</li>
</ul>
<p>Not necessary, but ideally it would be:</p>
<ul>
<li>Low (or no cost) and a one-time license that can be installed on an entire lab's worth of computers</li>
<li>Platform independent (can be run on Mac & PC)</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30671,
"author": "Nahkki",
"author_id": 18092,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18092",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You want to avoid 'it depends' answers but the reality of the situation is that 'it depends'.</p>\n\n<p>That's a bit of a pat answer but I'm reasonably sure that there is no such magical software or data management system that meets all of your requirements. Which means, ultimately, you'll have to pick and choose which of those requirements are hard requirements and which are soft. </p>\n\n<p>My gut tells me that (depending on your data), when you're talking about 100 x 100 x 10000 x 10000 you're starting to talk about databases rather than traditional 'data entry' systems. It's true you can(and a lot of labs do) do a lot of data in desktop spreadsheet environments but once you start getting over a couple thousand points of data opening and managing those spreadsheets becomes nearly impossible. That combined with your desire for a low-cost or no-cost solution points me towards my-SQL as a backend. For ease of DB entry(especially with undergrads) I would recommend a web based front end - this means it's available on mac or PC and does not necessarily require an install for the user. This will require some work/ramp up but the bonus of data in a true database is that all of your other requirements(exportability, flexibility, etc) are handled as long as you design it intelligently.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30720,
"author": "Penguin_Knight",
"author_id": 6450,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6450",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It really depends, but more description would be helpful. For instance, if you're getting an NIH grant running a drug trial, then the system will be entirely different as if you're on another grant checking people's quality of life using questionnaires. A data set with 10,000 rows and 10,000 columns is definitely not considered as a big data set in today's data analysts' point of view. Of course, what exactly goes into the cell matters as well: coded responses like 1=male and 0=female versus thousands of genomic data inside one cell will mean a huge difference.</p>\n\n<p>Assuming you're working on just collecting data in the level of questionnaires or clinical observation, I feel that general commercial software you mentioned (SPSS and MS products) should work.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Data entry can be restricted to specified, plausible values for each\n variable (string, number, integer, value from 0-2, etc.) in order to\n minimize data entry errors.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Excel and SPSS are the wrong tools for that purpose but their related products like <a href=\"https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Restrict-data-input-by-using-a-validation-rule-63c8f07a-6dad-4fbd-9fef-5c6616e7fbfd\" rel=\"nofollow\">Access</a> and <a href=\"http://www.spss.com.hk/software/data-collection/data-entry/\" rel=\"nofollow\">SPSS Data Collection Data Entry</a> do that. For freeware, CDC's <a href=\"http://wwwn.cdc.gov/epiinfo/\" rel=\"nofollow\">EpiInfo</a> can also do that.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Double data entry checking (users enter the same data twice and the\n system flags discrepancies to minimize data entry errors).</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The SPSS program and EpiInfo mentioned above do that. Even the <a href=\"http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/spssstat/v21r0m0/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.ibm.spss.statistics.help%2Fidh_compare_to.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">SPSS base program</a> can also do that. In fact, most statistical software have some of this capability. e.g. Stata compared file command (<a href=\"http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?cf\" rel=\"nofollow\">cf</a>) and SAS command <a href=\"http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/proc/61895/HTML/default/viewer.htm#compare-overview.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">COMPARE</a>, just to name a few.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Data from different measures are entered in separate forms, but data\n can be easily merged by one or more matching columns</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>To me, this is more of a management and planning rather than system. As long as there is a well developed ID assignment scheme, most software can pull up and merge data pretty efficiently. I agree that SQL would be nice, and most software have some of SQL incorporated into it as well: Access, SAS PROC SQL, Stata odbc, R, etc.</p>\n\n<p>I'd consider a good documentation trumps all on any day. If there is a clear linkage between data sets or tables, even Excel's VLOOKUP is an okay tool.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Data can be easily imported into R</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Packages like <code>foreign</code>, <code>sas7bdat</code>, and <code>xlsReadWrite</code> are readily available.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Efficient to open and use</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Efficient on what? Time or effort? Some of these software suggested have a steeper learning curve but eventually can be highly efficient (R, SAS) while some are more icon-based point-and-click (SPSS, Access) that are easier to pick up but eventually will become a bit slower if the users do not advance into the script-based interface (aka running SPSS and Access using scripts.)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>User friendly (undergrad RAs would be using it)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That depends on what your school is teaching the undergrads. But no matter what they know or what they claim they know, I still train everyone.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Can interface to import data from other sources (iPad-entered data, website-entered data, physiological data, etc.)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>For iPad you'd need to talk to the programmer (if you have one) to make sure the exported data can be read. For website-entered data (I'm assuming you mean something like Survey Monkey,) SPSS and Excel are still dominating. But both can be easily read by most statistical software. Physiological data are device specific, you may get comma separated, tab delimited, or even proprietary encoded data, you'll need to check with the device makers.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Low (or no cost) and a one-time license that can be installed on an\n entire lab's worth of computers</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I'd check if your institute has any site license agreement with the major software retailers and start from there. If no license agreement, then expand your search to educational discount agreement. A statistical software that is about US$2,000 can be bought at less than $200 if your institute has agreement with the retailer.</p>\n\n<p>I like R (as a free stat software) but am other totally ignorant when it comes to free database or research management platform, can't help here.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Platform independent (can be run on Mac & PC)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Then you probably want to avoid SAS unless you are willing to install Windows parallel onto your Mac. Most others mentioned in this answer can run fine on these operation systems (like Stata) or have separated versions for each system (like MS Office.)</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>If you're not sure what is a \"good system,\" I'd suggest looking for general guidelines from data repository organizations. They often have guidelines like <a href=\"http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/content/deposit/guide/\" rel=\"nofollow\">this one</a> which delineate what are good enough data sets to be hosted by them.</p>\n\n<p>Books on \"data cleaning,\" \"data management,\" and \"work flow management\" may also help you refine the system. The tools are important, but the rules of using them are a lot more crucial for a less frustrating data management experience.</p>\n\n<p>And finally just a disclaimer, I don't have financial affiliation with any product that I mentioned in this answer.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30721,
"author": "StasK",
"author_id": 739,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/739",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Too long for a comment, hence an answer:</p>\n\n<p>What kind of data are you entering? Is it psychology, biology, public policy, engineering, marketing, ..., philosophy?</p>\n\n<p>If you are dealing with human populations and recording what people tell you in response to your requests, you may want to ask it in the professional statistical circles on lists like <a href=\"http://www.aapor.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=aapornet_guidelines&Template=/Security/Login.cfm#.VE-xpPnF92E\" rel=\"nofollow\">AAPOR net</a> (American Association for Public Opinion Research), <a href=\"http://www.amstat.org/sections/srms/srms_net.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">SRMSNET</a> (Survey Research Methods Section of the American Statistical Association) or <a href=\"http://www.amstat.org/sections/sgovt/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Government Statistics Section</a> of ASA. In the company where I work, our interviewers enter may be single digit % of your estimated data daily, and we are talking about a substantial interviewer workforce in one of the largest survey organizations in the U.S. Entering the data by a human in a small assistant professor lab with three undergrads at the scale that you are thinking about is simply impossible.</p>\n\n<p>If you are coming from hard sciences, you really ought to consider automatic data entry from your instruments. It is silly to have an undergrad look at a scale and record the number down in Excel.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 94383,
"author": "itpetersen",
"author_id": 17886,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17886",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For people who come across this post in the future, I eventually decided on using <a href=\"https://projectredcap.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">REDCap</a> (Research Electronic Data Capture). REDCap meets all of the requirements noted in my above post, and is widely used by many researchers at many universities across the globe.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30656",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17886/"
] |
30,670 |
<p>I have research work that has been conducted and is at the stage where it is worth disseminating to the research community. It is somewhat cross-discipline in nature, and involves some technical contributions and is also of interest to a set of end users who are completely non-technical.</p>
<p>The problem is that, having attempted previous submissions, it has become painfully clear that neither community seems to appreciate quite the same issues as the other. Thus, a single paper aimed at addressing all the issues from both perspectives ends up being perhaps lacklustre, and apparently unappealing from both sides. This is partly due to constraints on paper length, which prevent adequate detail for all aspects of the paper, and also the fact that fundamentally large portions of the paper end up being targeted towards an audience that is not present for the given journal.</p>
<p>Therefore, I was wondering if I could adopt the approach whereby a high-level paper is written targeting the end users of the development and submitted to an appropriate journal, and a second paper which covers the technical aspects in detail without trying to cover the aspects necessary for the end-user audience. Considering that both papers will present the same results, is this an acceptable approach to publication?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30673,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is actually something my group also deals with extensively. A lot of the work we do is focused on improving existing computational methods to improve their efficiency or extend their range. A lot of the time, the actual work done is of very little interest to the end-user audience, but quite significant from a computer science perspective. So a lot of our recent work has been divided in exactly the manner you propose: we present the basics of the method and some end-user applications in papers geared toward the application community, and specialized papers for the methodology that are directed toward the CS community.</p>\n\n<p>The main thing to remember is that the publications should stand independently of one another as much as possible. Some overlap will of course be inevitable here, but you should strive to make the \"stories\" they tell as distinct as possible.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30674,
"author": "dionys",
"author_id": 22520,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22520",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it is a good decision to target your manuscript for a single audience if your experience has shown that presenting it in a broader fashion misses the mark. It is not unusual to write two different papers that advance the same prior work and present new results.</p>\n\n<p>However, this shouldn't simply be a matter of repackaging the results of the first paper, it necessarily entails analysis and additional work to produce a substantially new result.</p>\n\n<p>Another option that can work well is to divide your article into separate, directly related articles (Part I and Part II) published in the same journal. In my experience this ends up being a lot of work, but it relaxes the length constraints and allows you to section and adjust the presentation of the material in a unique way.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>On the other hand, the answer to this question <em>as it is stated</em> is, unequivically, no.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Considering that both papers will present <strong>the same results</strong>, is this an\n acceptable approach to publication?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Quality journals nearly always stipulate that they will not accept work that has previously been published elsewhere--a practice known as <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duplicate_publication\" rel=\"nofollow\">redundant</a> or duplicate publication. Unfortunately, it is not always possible for reviewers and editors to be aware of multiple simultaneous submissions and there seem to be a number examples of people abusing the system with few consequences.</p>\n\n<p>What constitutes original work may vary to some degree in different fields, but the point of any paper is to communicate something noteworthy that isn't otherwise available.\n\"Results\" need not be defined narrowly as new measurement data, but every article should be an honest attempt to contribute something original to the field.</p>\n\n<p>For instance, good review papers are very much original contributions in the sense that they synthesize results and highlight connections that might otherwise go unnoticed. But if you set out with the premise to publish <em>the same</em> results in more than one article you are creating more noise for all of us trying to keep track of the literature. You may not always be called on it, but the practice is something that <a href=\"http://publicationethics.org/case/duplicate-publication-and-now-fraud\" rel=\"nofollow\">good reviewers and editors</a> notice.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/27
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30670",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12397/"
] |
30,682 |
<p>Are there any policies on taping or recording or even streaming a professor's lecture? </p>
<p>What do professors think about students who do this? </p>
<p>Obviously, most circumstances the professor would never find out, but there was this one instance when a professor got really angry because a student was recording him without his permission. </p>
<p>I don't understand why he would be offended, most likely the student is only using it for review and not commercial purposes as the nature of the class is quite obscure, could anyone shed a light?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30683,
"author": "JRN",
"author_id": 64,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/64",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can think of some reasons why a teacher would get angry when a student videotapes the lecture without his or her permission:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Doesn't want a public, permanent record of his/her errors</li>\n<li>Believes that his/her lecture is his/her intellectual property and considers the videotaping without consent as a form of theft</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30685,
"author": "Stephen Tierney",
"author_id": 4360,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4360",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I do not believe it had anything to do with the act of being recorded by itself. Most universities are beginning a process of recording lectures for later consumption by the students anyway.</p>\n\n<p>Instead in this case it is likely because the professor was <strong><em>unaware</em></strong> they were being recorded. They may do or say something that they regret or which gets them into trouble. If however they knew beforehand that they were being recorded it would be unlikely that they would do that since they know the repercussions would be more severe. I think it was an instinctive reaction to protect themselves from others using the recording against them.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30692,
"author": "Per Alexandersson",
"author_id": 2794,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2794",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some people might have a protected identity. Publicly making pictures and movies without consent can endanger lives.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30695,
"author": "Ian",
"author_id": 22000,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22000",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Leaving aside the points already made (that it's exceptionally rude to do so without consent, etc.), I'll just (approximately) state the policy of my institution: <em>anyone</em> speaking or otherwise appearing on a recording made on university property has copyright to their \"performance\" in that recording. Thus if a lecture or seminar is being recorded, before it can be re-broadcast, <em>every</em> voice and face that appears must <em>explicitly</em> consent. </p>\n\n<p>The usual context is the lecturer recording must either get an explicit release from every student <em>or</em> edit out the appearance of any student from the recording. However, the converse also holds: if a student records the lecture, they need to get the consent of the lecturer (and also all students that might appear on the recording).</p>\n\n<p>There are no cases where I would worry about a student recording <em>me</em>. There are plenty of cases where I would worry that a student recording a session would inhibit or discourage the participation of <em>other students</em>. This is especially true if the other students found out about the recording without having been told in advance and explicitly asked if they're happy about it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30704,
"author": "fvh",
"author_id": 23457,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23457",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my mind, i think there are different aspects.</p>\n\n<p>The purpose of the recording is one of the main aspects => for personal use only, for the students of this university, for public publishing, etc</p>\n\n<p>The context of the event recorded is another important aspect. If it's a public meeting, it may be difficult to any party to restrict the recording.\nIf it's private, it's another story, even if the lecturer is a public personality i think. In some context, you only can be present because you implicitly agreed on some specific rules linked to the event.\nIf it's secret, it's another another story, ... etc </p>\n\n<p>In a university course for example, do not forget that what your record is owned by the university.</p>\n\n<p>This is not exactly public stuff, so you really should tell and ask the professor if he does agree to be recorded, and also, who will use the record later.\nThe same should be done for everyone present that could be identified on the record.</p>\n\n<p>I think that everything but \"personal use only\" may even need any kind of written agreement between all the parties (the recorder, the professor, the university, and even the students that could be identified on the record).\nThis agreement may contain some conditions, like \"you can publish it only if you hide the face of the professor, or of a students, ... \"\nSome party may also want to keep the possibility to forbid the use of the record afterward.</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, i suppose that if all the parties don't mind, it eventually can stay only a verbal agreement assuming that every party is a witness for the others. But that's pure speculation from my part.</p>\n\n<p>To answer the original question, the reasons for the refusal of one party (not just the lecturer), may be VERY variate (rational or not), and even if it may be frustrating or sounds like an injustice, i am not sure the party even has to tell you why if he don't want. \nIt is his right to refuse and you have to respect his right.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30706,
"author": "peter",
"author_id": 17246,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17246",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Speaking as a professor, given the capabilities of today's gadgets I'd say get used to it. I teach programming, and note-taking has recently turned into the entire class raising their phones and taking a picture of the screen. I step out of the way so they all get a clear view. Given the topic I really can't object - it's a technology-based course and as with all programming it's very precise - one missing comma produces a lot of frustration.</p>\n\n<p>If I speak as a student, I would also say to the professor get used to it. I paid (a lot) for the lecture, I <em>will</em> have a copy I can refer to later. It's not like hiding the camera is at all difficult. The more noise made about it, the <em>more</em> likely it will end up on YouTube. Any in-class rants on the topic will definitely make prime time.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30708,
"author": "GWinters",
"author_id": 23460,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23460",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I've been on both sides of this issue. I've been in classes where recording was encouraged and also seen syllabuses where it was expressly disallowed. The justification for the disallowing was 'intellectual property' and the distractions that recording setups might create. </p>\n\n<p>As a professor I've never had an issue with it. But I liked being asked instead of being surprised. I am not camera shy but I don't like the idea I have to 'perform' well on camera. Sort of adds a layer of anxiety to the teaching experience.</p>\n\n<p>Good point above on the re-broadcasting issue. I'd hate for some bonehead mistake to end up on Youtube and ruin my career. And I don't like the idea that people could take turns going to class and share the videos instead. That's why I do daily quizzes without makeup opportunities.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30800,
"author": "mgr",
"author_id": 23545,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23545",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In this particular case, I would think the professor didn't feel respected and therefore became angry. He didn't even get the chance to acknowledge what the student is doing, and also the student didn't give himself the chance to quickly explain why he is recording him.</p>\n\n<p>I think a small dialogue before the class would have easily clarified this and even could have had a positive impact on the professor's reaction.</p>\n\n<p>Imagine yourself being taped by the professor during a in-course presentation without being told. If he just said \"Hey, I'm recording you for feedback purposes\" or whatever, it would be a whole nother deal.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30862,
"author": "Ian",
"author_id": 9902,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9902",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At least in the UK it is likely to be illegal to stop a disabled student that is unable to take notes from recording a lecture.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30885,
"author": "Janis F",
"author_id": 19947,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19947",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am surprised this hasn't been mentioned before, but (at least in Germany) this is first and foremost a personal rights issue. Recording someone without his knowledge and explicit consensus is a violation of their rights and people react very strongly because it is a sensitive topic. Finding out in retrospect that you were recorded doing something, of questionable nature or not, is rarely something people rejoice over. (If you've ever been to an alcohol-heavy college party, you probably know.) Generally, people like to be in control over what is documented about them.</p>\n\n<p>Most lecturers I've had over the (ongoing) course of my bachelor studies made it clear that they were ok with e.g. photos of the blackboard but not with video or sound recordings. But without such clear regulations, basic decency dictates to ask.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30983,
"author": "Walker",
"author_id": 23711,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23711",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A colleague was recorded giving a single lecture at another institution without her permission- the reason given was \"we can't afford you next year\" - on that occasion she insisted that the recording be destroyed. A student recording a lecture isn't participating fully, much like the person recording a concert, the student is blocked from the experience by the device and action.\nI put all essential material online for review after a lecture has happened, as I insist on student participation, in the form of discussion / Q&A / replies to direct issues, any record would also record the students- who have not consented formally to being recorded?\nFinally, this is just plainly rude! Why not ask permission? A lecture is not a rehearsed performance, it will contain fumbles, digressions, new perceptions. You have not bought an experience, you are supposed to be a participant. Put the phone back in your pocket and join in.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31026,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I have \"solved\" this by recording my lectures myself and making the recordings available to students. That addresses the requirement of U.S. law that a performance \"fixed in a tangible medium\" and so protects my own copyright in the lecture. Students are put on notice <em>every</em> class that the session is being recorded. They're told at the beginning of the term that I <em>am</em> being recorded and they <em>may</em> be recorded. So far, no one has complained.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://bbrown.kennesaw.edu/papers/podcasting/podcasting_protects_ip.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://bbrown.kennesaw.edu/papers/podcasting/podcasting_protects_ip.html</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 56305,
"author": "Fomite",
"author_id": 118,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/118",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There <em>are</em> likely policies on taping or recording lectures, but as with many policies, they will likely vary by institution.</p>\n\n<p>More importantly than that, if you're going to tape or record someone, it's <em>polite</em> to ask their permission first, and if they refuse, to accept that. Even if there's no policy/legal basis for it, nor do they actually need to justify themselves.</p>\n\n<p>Beyond that, the professor may legitimately have concerns beyond just whether or not you intend to sell the recording. Knowing there is a recorder in the room changes how people act. A professor might wish, for example, to have fostered an environment where people are free to make intellectual leaps, push the bounds of their knowledge, make mistakes while discussing a problem etc. in a relatively consequence free environment.</p>\n\n<p>Having a recorder in the room now makes those mistakes permanently recorded, and if you're <em>streaming</em>, it makes it publicly broadcast. It's not unreasonable to presume that will have a dampening impact on those \"This might be wrong but...\" questions, and the professor may wish to prioritize those over your note-taking convenience.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30682",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20070/"
] |
30,686 |
<p>I'm a graduated student and about to make a poster for my institution's conference. I would like to have a website so that I can have more space to present in the poster while still have a data to show if necessary. If I choose to have a free domain, I will have an URL contain the host name, e.g. myname.wordpress.com. If I buy a domain and use free host like Wordpress, I can quickly build my website up but the price is not cheap. If I buy a domain and a host, the price may cheaper but I have to build it by myself. I want my website to look professional (and impressive) on the poster so that using a free domain may not a good choice, but I also consider in the economic prospect. In my country, $10 is not a big deal, but also not a thing that people is willing to spent easily. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30687,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The best thing to do in terms of web presents at this point in your career is probably to host it through your institution. Pretty much any academic institution has some way for its members to host a website, and will sometimes provide templates as well. Talk to your IT staff and find out what they recommend.</p>\n\n<p>If hosting through your institution is not possible, you can also consider using ResearchGate as your official web presence. It is designed as a social network for academics, and gives a nice stable URL as <a href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/profile/[yournamehere]\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.researchgate.net/profile/[yournamehere]</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30689,
"author": "Austin Henley",
"author_id": 746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/746",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>If your department/school won't give you support... </p>\n\n<p>The domain should cost you between $0.50 to $0.99 USD for the first year. Hosting costs range a lot, but many offer deals for the first year that cost about $12 USD.</p>\n\n<p>After you have your own server and domain, it is trivial to setup WordPress on your own server. </p>\n\n<p>Thus you get the best of both worlds, extremely affordable and easy! Besides, I recommend most people have their own personal website for their portfolio and such anyway.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30723,
"author": "blmoore",
"author_id": 8722,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8722",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'd recommend <a href=\"https://pages.github.com/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Github pages</a> as a quick and easy way to set up an accompanying static site without paying for hosting. For free you get a slightly nicer sub-domain than wordpress etc. (<code>username.github.io</code>), or if you've bought a custom domain you can use that. There's some nice, modern default themes and Jekyll integration if it's to be used as a blogging platform.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30726,
"author": "StasK",
"author_id": 739,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/739",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would simply walk off a poster without asking for a copy of the paper if the poster had a WordPress reference for the contact information. To me, this makes a statement to the effect of \"I am an amateur and don't really know if I want to be a part of academia\".</p>\n\n<p>There is no shortage of professional social networks, including LinkedIn (academia + real world), ResearchGate (academia as a whole), WebMD (medical sciences), and whatever it might be in your discipline. You can start off with these. Also, I am surprised that you can't set up a personal page at your institution, even as a graduate; this would be the primary route in the U.S., as far as I can tell.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30686",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14341/"
] |
30,690 |
<p>If you want to apply for graduate school in computer science , you have to show that you have the prerequisite background knowledge . What are the available options ? Can I take a challenge test for credit in one subject area ,say ,algorithms provided that I have the required knowledge in this subject ? There is a man who managed to complete most of the undergraduate MIT computer science curriculum using MIT OCW . Can he verify his knowledge to the admission committee by taking challenge tests?Can I take the final exams that the university department offer to regilar students without attending to prove that I have the required knowledge for the graduate program ?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 30703,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What you want to do will limit your choices among schools. Where I teach, we do allow provisional admission for people without the requisite undergraduate degree.* Those students are required to take a series of foundation courses before beginning the \"real\" master's courses. It is possible, although not easy, to test out of the foundation courses. The provisional admission is revoked for the student who earns unsatisfactory grades (C or below) in the foundation courses.</p>\n\n<p>So, you will need to look for institutions that allow provisional admission, and then check the details of the provisions. </p>\n\n<p>* Students must have <em>some</em> accredited undergraduate degree to be admitted; but it need not be in computing.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 30727,
"author": "Patricia Shanahan",
"author_id": 10220,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10220",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I went through this starting in 2001. I had a 1970 bachelor's in mathematics and a 1975 master's in computer science, and successfully applied for 2002 admission to a computer science Ph.D. program. I was not able to get a detailed transcript for the master's degree so I had no evidence of specific computing courses I had taken.</p>\n\n<p>I got letters of reference from people in industry who knew my work. I made prior contact, through my industry network, with some professors in the department. I took the computer science GRE, which is no longer available.</p>\n\n<p>The professors waived recommended prerequisites based on my experience: \"The bad news is I've never taken a formal course in operating systems. The good news is I worked as an operating systems developer for 8.5 years.\"</p>\n\n<p>The department assigned professors to check whether I needed to take undergraduate courses in their subjects, or already had the corresponding knowledge. They used several different systems, including looking at my industry achievements and interviewing me. One professor did not commit until after I had an A in his graduate course, when he decided there was no need for me to take the undergraduate course.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/10/28
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30690",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23439/"
] |
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