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31,393 |
<p>It might be possible here in India too, I haven't researched on it, but in one movie I have seen the guy is studying mathematics in MIT but his future plan was to study medicine at Harvard. I kept wondering how could he do that.</p>
<p>Here at India at 11th class we have to usually choose either Mathematics or Biology and then our eligibility changes accordingly.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31398,
"author": "BrenBarn",
"author_id": 9041,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9041",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At least in the USA, yes. The US education system allows the individual student a great deal of freedom in the choice of field(s) of study. You can do your undergraduate degree in one subject and your graduate degree in another.</p>\n\n<p>Of ocurse, to get into graduate school in a particular subject, you have to have sufficient background. Thus it is relatively uncommon for someone to get, say, a degree in history but decide to go to graduate school in physics instead. It is possible, however. In some cases people pursue jobs in one area and gradually develop an interest in another topic, perhaps gaining research experience in the private sector or taking classes informally in order to get the background they need for grad school.</p>\n\n<p>Also, getting an undergraduate degree in a particular subject in the US does not mean you only study that subject. You can take a wide variety of classes outside your nominal area of focus, and in some cases thereby get enough experience to apply to grad school in an another subject. Also, you can \"double major\", completing more than one official course of study. Thus someone may study multiple subjects in undergrad, and decide on one to continue in grad school.</p>\n\n<p>Switching fields between undergrad and grad is not that uncommon, especially if the fields are closely related (e.g., math BS followed by physics PhD). I've personally known quite a few people who have switched fields from undergrad to grad, sometimes with a long detour outside of school. For instance, one fellow I know got undergrad degrees in political science and Asian studies, spent more than a decade as a corporate executive, and eventually went back to get a PhD in linguistics.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31400,
"author": "enthu",
"author_id": 15723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Some universities require students to have similar bachelors degree, some other do not require similar degree and do not have specific policy on this; while others need a related or so near bachelors field. For instance, for a masters in engineering degrees; one with bachelors in applied mathematics or physics will also be able to study masters of an engineering field.</p>\n\n<p>Answers to your question varies in fields and countries, and different education systems. My general advice to you would be to see the minimum requirements of the university you want to apply for to see whether their admissions office have any regulations on having related bachelors degree to the masters or not. If they are not providing you information on this, I recommend you to contact them by email and ask your questions.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31402,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Can people in western countries do graduation and post graduation in two completely different fields?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In principle yes, however: speaking from my alma mater (central european large public university, unrestricted access to most programmes, i.e., no need to convince an admission committee), the main hurdles to do a graduate programme based on a different undergrad degree boil down to two factors:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Formal requirements</strong>, as discussed by the other answers. In my university, this was really a design decision that each degree programme individually could decide. Many (especially humanities programmes) are by design very open to all comers. Others, especially technical fields, require either <em>some</em> technical degree or even one of a very few, closely related degrees. Exceptions could be made on a case-by-case basis, usually with the obligation of additional fundamental course work.</li>\n<li><strong>Practical issues</strong>. Even if you are allowed to, say, do an electrical engineering MSc based on a business informatics BSc, <em>you are still expected to have the electrical engineering knowledge of a good EE BSc graduate</em> right from the start. If your entire EE education was 2 credits in \"Engineering for Computer Scientists\", you will likely be in <em>really</em> bad shape and absolutely nobody will help you or feel bad for you. The consensus opinion will be that you had to know what you get into, and that you would now need to see how to handle this yourself.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>To emphasise the second point again: I have seen a few cases where people tried to argue that, as their degree was sufficient formally for the graduate programme they enrolled in, we needed to accommodate for their very basic subject skills. This line of argumentation <em>never</em> works, and it should not. If you do a graduate in any subject, you are expected to have <em>a least</em> above-average knowledge of the things that you learn in the undergrad major of this subject. <em>How you do it is mostly up to you.</em></p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>in one movie I have seen the guy is studying mathematics in MIT but his future plan was to study medicine at Harvard.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This would specifically <em>not</em> be possible here. Meds is, due to its sensitive nature, highly regulated by law, and there is as far as I know no sidestepping the formal study progression here. The other direction (Meds -> Maths) <em>may</em> work, but I am not sure.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31422,
"author": "cpast",
"author_id": 22815,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22815",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the US, medical school does not require any specific major. The specific requirements are one year each of biology, physics, and English, two years of chemistry (including organic chemistry), and a standardized exam (the MCAT). While it's most common for medical students to major in a field like biology, it's entirely possible for someone majoring in a completely different thing to complete the premed requirements and learn enough to do well on the MCAT, and a fair number of medical students in the US come from outside the sciences entirely.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/08
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31393",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22773/"
] |
31,394 |
<p>I exchanged an email with a professor on Thursday and he asked me if I am available to call him on a specific time next Monday. I replied the email to confirm the time but no reply from him. Therefore, I resent the email on Friday to re- confirm that he knows that I will make the call. However, no reply as well. So I am wondering if it is appropriate for me to call him at the time he indicated next Monday even without his reply?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31395,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Sure. You have booked a time, make the call. If you want to be sure, ask him over the phone if it is still a good time.</p>\n\n<p>Academics are busy and slow responders, so since you confirmed your emails may have been given the lowest priority.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31401,
"author": "enthu",
"author_id": 15723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>When he has asked you to call him by phone; call him in the office hours to the provided phone number.</p>\n\n<p>May be he knew he won't have access to his email on the following days and he asked you to have a telephone conversation instead. That may be why he is not responding your email too.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/08
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31394",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24065/"
] |
31,404 |
<p>Im getting my degree this year (in june presumably) in physics. And while I was getting it I was at the same time getting a degree in mathematics. (By degree I mean completing undergraduate studies in both of those things, I'm from Spain and I'm not sure about the equivalence...).</p>
<p>Now, I dedicated to physics full-time and by the time I will have finished physics (june as I said) I will have approximately 50% of my degree in maths. Independently of the maths degree, next year I will apply to some post-graduate studies outside of my country and I would like to know if I should apply with my physics degree or if it would make any significant (and positive) change in my application to say that I've also been studying half a degree on maths and include a transcript of what I've studied in that degree.</p>
<p>The problems is what I commented on BPND answer, plus the fact that transcripts are 30€ plus 80€ the sworn translation, and if I can keep expenses down, that's a plus. My question is if the difference by including it will be positive. The average grades are 9.24 (GPA 3.9) and 9.2 (GPA 3.82) in physics and maths respectively, out of 10.</p>
<p>The GPAs were calculated with some online converter I found, using all the subjects and the credits for each one.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31412,
"author": "BPND",
"author_id": 17639,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17639",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Many universities will demand a full transcript of your academic history, so, in that case, you will need to attach both (or a combined) transcript(s) to your application.</p>\n\n<p>Even if they only ask for the transcript of your main studies, you might want to attach the transcript for the math lectures and exercises. Especially in this case, where math acts perfectly as a supporting discipline for a phyiscs major.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31556,
"author": "mikeagibson",
"author_id": 24154,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24154",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Answer:</strong> You should apply with <strong>both</strong> of your degrees unless you did poorly during your math studies. However, the honest applicant would apply with both no matter what, as both of these degrees are part of your academic history.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Reason:</strong> Academic institutions want to see you have accomplished a lot. The more you appear to have done, the more likely you will be to get in, as long as you did well during you math studies. Furthermore, as was stated previously, universities often require a full transcript.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/08
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31404",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24073/"
] |
31,405 |
<p>For committing a crime considered very severe in the U.S. and in some countries (hence the 5-year minimum sentence), but not as severe (but may still lead to imprisonment) in many other countries? He does not have any record of academic dishonesty or anything like that; in fact, he had a solid record of publications and was still building on it before he got arrested. Can he still publish papers that are taken seriously, and obtain academic positions, in the U.S. or in some other countries, once out of jail?</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE</strong>: I only know what he pleaded guilty to according to news. It is not something noble like an "honest crime". I have confused conviction with indictment, so now I think the crime is most likely real and hardly disputable. I want to add that he is a first-time offender, so I don't know if his prison sentence can be converted to probation, and if that matters to whom may hire him in the future.</p>
<p>@xLeitix's comment:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I cannot think of one crime which results in a five year sentence where I would hire that person.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Maybe the crime of <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/geologists-who-didnt-predict-an-earthquake-arent-killers-italian-court-rules" rel="nofollow">failing to notify the town of L'Aquila of a 2009 earthquake that killed at least 309 people</a>? Fortunately for those scientists, the initial court ruling was overturned about 2 years later.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31409,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>A five year prison sentence would damage an academic career in at least two major ways. The obvious way it would damage it is from the possible stain on a person's record. In the U.S., at least, being a convicted felon can be very difficult to recover from, no matter what the crime, due to general societal prejudice. Add to that the fact that most crimes indicate either dishonesty or being a threat to others, and you've got a serious problem. It does, however, strongly depend on the crime. For example, if the crime is an \"honest crime\" that derives from ones intellectual inclinations (e.g., <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary\">the notorious example of Timothy Leary</a>, <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz\">the sad case of Aaron Swartz</a>, or <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tappan_Morris\">the youthful recklessness of Robert Morris</a>) then it may be \"forgiven\" from an academic point of view.</p>\n\n<p>The other, perhaps less obvious, source of career damage is from the interruption in ongoing work. Typically, any working scientist has a number of simultaneous multi-year projects at different stages: preliminary work, proposal, execution, publication. Each of these fuels the others, e.g., papers from more mature projects help support proposals for new projects, pieces of ongoing work in project execution include preliminary work that leads to new proposals, etc. With any major career gap, this \"pipeline\" can empty, and there is often difficulty in restarting it. This can be a significant problem even for academics who take family leave; a multi-year gap for prison would be much bigger to overcome. Either, however, can be overcome with time and help from supportive colleagues.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31414,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would think having a felony on your record is poison for <em>any</em> career. In academia, it may be even worse because, in addition to the general stigma of being a convicted criminal, you will need to fight through the following issues:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>You have a career gap that is <em>very</em> hard to overlook or paint in a positive light.</li>\n<li>Job searches in academia are always competitive, so that even smallish taints on your resume can become major issues. Having a major taint such as a felony will make it very hard to succeed on the professorial job market.</li>\n<li>Some jobs may be unavailable to you anyway, for instance those that require security clearance.</li>\n<li>You may even objectively be less qualified after coming out of prison. 5 years of (presumably) low intellectual stimulation are a long time, and many technology fields move quickly.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>So, yes, to be honest, I think that the career of this person would be pretty much \"totally ruined\". And, no, I don't think it matters much <em>why</em> he was convicted - I do not think that there are crimes that can lead to 5-year sentences that would not be considered a big deal by any search committee.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31420,
"author": "R SINGH",
"author_id": 24083,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24083",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If the he/she can come back stronger from it more disciplined it could be a blessing in disguise, wisdom comes at different stages for different people. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31444,
"author": "convicted felon",
"author_id": 24093,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24093",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In short, no.</p>\n\n<p>And if you have time...</p>\n\n<p>When I was young I was charged with number of crimes in US. I took plea bargain and ended up serving few years in California state prison. Although now I think I made mistakes back then, I do not feel ashamed at all of what I have done because I believe the cause was just. It took me about six years after release from prison to be able to do research in another country. I feel pretty content with my current position. \nWhat I would recommend to your friend is not to think about the distinct future but rather get himself mentally-and physically-ready for what's to come during incarceration. I was in level-4 yard for 1 year and the rest in level-3, and the magnitude of violence one must face is probably nothing like you have ever encountered. Be polite, social, observant, and extremely violent when the appropriate moment comes. Most likely your friend will do time in much more comfortable places. I heard it's pretty peaceful in other places such as Federal prisons, other state prisons, or lower level prisons in California, but I don't think I can speak for what I have not experienced. There will be plenty of time to think and even read if someone send in books, however, so it could be a great opportunity depends on how you see it. I actually had pretty descent time in there(although I wouldn't purposely get incarcerated again). I had physics background so I never really had a chance to extensively study philosophy even though I had always wanted to. Prison gave me time to thoroughly study most of the classical works I was interested in, and I believe such experience gave me quite a boost when moving onto other field later on.</p>\n\n<p>Everything must perish eventually. Isn't it already amazing to be able to entertain intellectual matters even for a short moment such as human lifespan? </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31462,
"author": "sr3u",
"author_id": 6448,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6448",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I know a case where someone spent several months in jail (mostly awaiting trial) after college, but was convicted only of misdemeanors (not felonies) after plea bargains, and subsequently moved to another state and got a doctorate. (AFAIK, grad schools, unlike employers, do not have background checks, or they didn't back then.) The person garnered a decent publication record during the PhD, and then moved to another country for an academic career (which, last I heard, is going reasonably well).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31499,
"author": "v010dya",
"author_id": 9441,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9441",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One thing that there was no mention of here is that society does change, and some things which were considered totally \"wrong\" before can be easily overlooked today, and it also goes the other way around. So it is very possible, that although today this particular crime seems to be rather destructive to a person's career, it may be less important by the time one regains the freedom.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, this doesn't help with the simple fact of not being engaged in the field for some period of time.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31525,
"author": "softwareplay",
"author_id": 24137,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24137",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm studying Philosophy and literature and in this field it's not rare to find people who has been to prison or has been condemned for some reason (the first and more famous case is Socrates). Dostoyevsky has been to prison, even G. Pascoli, has been convicted for taking part to a socialist demonstration (and he was quite a quiet person).. But I guess that if someone enacts behaviours that damage the academic society or harass other members of the society then his life will not be that easy. However I presume that if the research has a strong content then it still has its possibilities. Although I know about some researchers who didn't had at all an academic career till someone else discovered their papers. So I would suggest that if that person has something to say, then he should try saying it, and writing it (intellectual connections are important but the content is available if you know how to search for it and do a complete research). That person should even try fixing it's problems with the law. We all do what we can and we all do mistakes.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/08
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31405",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22267/"
] |
31,406 |
<p>I have co-authored one paper with Professor A, PhD student B and PhD student C. B left the best impression on me as the most friendly, productive and hard-working. Now, I want to do a joint paper again. Same as last time, the subject is not in A's area of expertise (nor B's or C's), though it's highly related, but I am hesitant to work with A as he tends to rush and push to publication before getting the paper to perfect (or very near perfect), and he is usually busy so I doubt that he will spend much time on it anyways. C is OK, but probably can't contribute much to the paper. Besides, I think two authors may suffice and be optimal.</p>
<p>Now, A is B's adviser (maybe C's too) and was my undergraduate mentor. I don't want to induce any hard feelings to A and C if they find out they, but not B, are left out of this joint venture. In the end, I did present my draft to A and gave glimpse of it in a presentation where A, B and C were present. Another reason why I choose to work with B who is a PhD student is (this may sound silly) because I think this will actually help her career, as opposed to working with a professor or working alone, as I don't intend to pursue an academic career and am just doing this for fun. Plus, the second author can act as a serious peer reviewer, so this will benefit my paper as well.</p>
<p>How should I do about this?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31407,
"author": "Always Asking",
"author_id": 23610,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23610",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It is absolutely fine to not work with A and C as long as</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>all the work and ideas in your paper are yours (and B's).</p></li>\n<li><p>your preferences on who to work with are based on academic and research skills, Making decisions based on their race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, etc. is discriminatory and hence unacceptable.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I feel it is dishonest to add A and C to the list of authors in your paper just to keep them happy.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31408,
"author": "BPND",
"author_id": 17639,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17639",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It indeed is perfectly fine to collaborate with only B on a specific topic/publication.</p>\n\n<p>What you might want to keep in mind is that, depending on the field you are working in, it might be common to include the supervisor of a PhD student in the list of authors, as long as that supervisor contributed -even little- by advising his PhD student also on this topic. As you wrote \"my undergraduate mentor\", I assume you are a PhD student yourself. So if you have your own supervisor as last author for example, it could become a problem not to include A in general. I agree with not adding A as an author just to make him happy.</p>\n\n<p>Keeping C out of that paper does not seem to be a problem, as long as you don't use research done by him. But you would want to communicate that to B as well.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/08
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31406",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22267/"
] |
31,419 |
<p>I want to introduce the findings of a case study in my report, but it has four authors and I would like name them in when introducing it.</p>
<p>What would be the best way to do this, or is the below perfectly acceptable?</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Andria A, Paul S, Derek B and Howard C provide an interesting insight in their case study...</p>
</blockquote>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31421,
"author": "GeneMachine",
"author_id": 18248,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18248",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For more than two authors, it's generally the norm to say something like \"As Andria, <em>et al</em>. (2014) discuss, ...\" </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31425,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>How to handle this depends on your field. If your field has a notion of first author, then \"[name of first author] et al.\" is appropriate. In fields like math that use alphabetical ordering, I'd strongly recommend naming all the authors, since \"et al.\" could be read as diminishing the credit later authors get. I would not be happy if my name disappeared into an \"et al.\"</p>\n\n<p>The sentence \"[last name of author 1], [last name of author 2], [last name of author 3] and [last name of author 4] provide an interesting insight in their case study...\" sounds fine to me. (I.e., the same sentence as in the question, except that I assume \"Andria A, Paul S, Derek B and Howard C\" are just stand-ins for the actual names, and not actually a proposal for how to format the names.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31486,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is completely dependent on your citation style. Two examples:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>For APA, if there are only two authors, cite both each time; if there are between three and five, cite them all the first time then cite as \"First et al., 2014\" in subsequent citations; if there are six or more, use \"et al.\" every time.</p></li>\n<li><p>For IEEE, use of \"et al.\" begins at three authors, and you use \"et al.\".</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>As you can see there are wild variations. Check which style you're supposed to use, and check how multiple authors should be cited with that style. As a general rule of thumb, maybe use \"et al.\" when there are too many authors.</p>\n\n<p>As another user pointed out it's also dependent on your field, and it's even possible that author names shouldn't be cited in every reference (just a numeric reference like [42]) -- I just checked a math journal at random and this was like that.</p>\n\n<p>PS: If you're writing something in LaTeX and are using biblatex, I want to advertise the commands <code>\\textcite</code>, <code>\\parencite</code> and <code>\\footcite</code>. They are able to automate most of this (for example with the APA style, they correctly detect which citation is the first).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 57832,
"author": "Anonymous English Maj",
"author_id": 44024,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/44024",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The question is not about citation, as with a works cited page, but whether or not it is appropriate to introduce <em>all</em> authors when first stating the title of the work. ie \"In <em>such and such article</em> by <em>author A, B, C, and D....\"</em>\nI believe the question is: Must all authors A-D be noted or is it acceptable with less? In this case I'd say yes it is just fine as is.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/08
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31419",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19797/"
] |
31,426 |
<p>I recently came across a post (that I won't disclose because it contains the professor's last name):</p>
<p>Attendance in this course was regularly low, so the professor used a one-question exam to punish students who weren't attending a class. Those who weren't in class would have obviously failed this exam, and those who were in class (presumably) would have all gotten A's. The final remark on the note on the door was "<em>maybe we'll do this again some time</em>".</p>
<p>Let's assume a few factors about the course and this one-question exam, since we don't actually know how they're implemented:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The course has an attendance policy (3 days max missed before your grade starts dropping, for example)</p></li>
<li><p>This one-question exam has an impact equivalent to a homework assignment (could drop your overall grade by 1% if you get a 0).</p></li>
<li><p>By the language of the original post, this is <em>not</em> something the students would have expected to happen; this means that the policy would <strong>not</strong> be outlined in the syllabus.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>What if the course <em>didn't</em> have an attendance policy and the professor is simply annoyed that students aren't attending the class? What if this one-question exam was only worth a point or two instead of a whole homework grade?</p>
<p><strong>Is it fair (ethical, if you will) to use this kind of tactic to impose additional punishment on students who don't attend lecture?</strong></p>
<p><strong><em>Clarification</em></strong>: Students who are absent (if intentional, extraneous circumstances aside) deserve to lose the points for the work they missed. However, this tactic is being used to <em>additionally</em> punish students solely for being absent; this is also why I posed different assumptions about attendance policy.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31427,
"author": "GeneMachine",
"author_id": 18248,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18248",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I think that this is unprofessional, and is leaving the institution open to all sorts of action (up to and including legal proceedings, if it impacts on a student's progression, for example). For example, what if a student is unavoidably absent? </p>\n\n<p>If it's only \"worth a point or two\", then I don't think it's worth antagonising people in this way. The sarcastic note left on the door simply underlines how poorly thought-out this whole thing was...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31429,
"author": "Nick S",
"author_id": 7624,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7624",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Note that at many Universities the \"grade distribution\" has to be announced in advance, and changing it later in the term needs often to be approved by chair.\nThis closes the door for this type of idea, and opens the ground for appeals by students.</p>\n\n<p>On another hand, while the exams dates for final exams and midterm exams need to be announced in advance, we are often not forced to do the same for work which is worth a small percentage of the mark. Even if I don't use it, I have the flexibility of having few Quizzes during the term, without the date being announced in advance, as long as they are not worth too much and, most importantly, as long as I announce this at the beginning of the semester. </p>\n\n<p>And I had colleagues which announced at the beginning of the semester that there will be two surprise quizzes during the term(of course technically they were not surprises anymore), each questions worth 1-2.5% percent. And the students know in advance that by missing a class they might lose on those percentages...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31431,
"author": "BrenBarn",
"author_id": 9041,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9041",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience, many professors build a little wiggle room into their syllabi for this reason. For instance, professors may assign 10% of the course grade to \"class participation\". It is then up to them how they assess this. Some take attendance every day; some take attendance only on a few days; some use this sort of \"fake quiz\" approach.</p>\n\n<p>I know of one professor who included \"Quizzes\" as a category of points on the syllabus, and specifically announced that these quizzes would be the kind you describe: unannounced, trivially easy quizzes designed solely to check for attendance. She would have such a quiz on days when she noticed low attendance.</p>\n\n<p>I think the degree to which it is ethical or allowable under policy guidelines depends on hwo transparent the process is and how much the grade penalty is. If, for instance, the syllabus allots 10% of the grade for attendance/participation, I think it's totally legitimate for the professor to assess this via trivial pop quizzes, as long as the penalty for missing them all is no more than 10% of the overall grade. Taking the points out of the \"exam\" portion of the grade would be less defensible, but in practice I don't think it would cause a major stir unless the penalty was large.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31432,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Having a daily quiz that counts for meaningful points can be a very effective way of getting students to pay attention to the course and learn the material day by day rather than trying to cram before an exam. This is different from simply requiring attendance, because students have to attend class <em>and</em> have to learn the material to pass the quiz. This provides students with frequent feedback throughout the course. It also fits well with the general principle that grades should be based on demonstrated student learning and not on arbitrary factors. </p>\n\n<p>There are certainly situations where students are unavoidably absent from class. Thus its necessary to have some kind of policy for \"excused absences.\" For example, you might accept excuses provided by medical professionals or the college's Dean of Students. You might also give students a reasonable number of \"free passes.\" </p>\n\n<p>Having such quizzes as part of the course design from the beginning is an entirely reasonable thing to do. On the other hand, introducing these quizzes half way through the course as a way to punish students for not attending class is difficult to justify and will likely be seen as unfair by the students. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31456,
"author": "reirab",
"author_id": 12999,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12999",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Given the third assumption listed in the question (that this policy was not outlined in the syllabus,) then I would say <strong>no, it is not ethical.</strong> Regardless of how much of the final grade it is worth, assigning grades contrary to the grade distribution in the syllabus just because the professor doesn't like that some people were absent is not ethical (and likely violates school policy.)</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, instructors are usually allowed to create policies that penalize students for not showing up, such as having a portion of the course grade be due to unannounced quizzes or even having quizzes every class period. However, these policies <em>must be announced ahead of time.</em> While I personally find such policies annoying and not particularly useful in most scenarios, as long as the expectation is given to the students up front that not coming to class might (or will) impact their grade and by how much, then I don't see an ethical problem with it (and it shouldn't violate policy, either.)</p>\n\n<p>The main issue here is that, whatever policy the instructor wants to use, it needs to be decided up front and included in the syllabus, not created on-the-fly in violation of what someone would reasonably expect by reading the syllabus.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31523,
"author": "Patric Hartmann",
"author_id": 20449,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20449",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At my institution we have a strict \"no-absence\" policy. If you can't attend a lecture for whatever reason, you must apply for a leave to the dean. Failing to do so may result in failing the respective module and since many are only offered every other year this may result in a decisive prolonguation of your studies. I personally know cases where people quit due to such issues.</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, neither the dean nor the secretary can really have an eye on every single student all the time. So there is need for methods as you describe to compulse students to attend lectures and at the same time punish those who didn't. Since I find the quiz you describe, aiming only at those who were absent, highly questionable, to say the least, I quickly give you an overview of how we handle it at my institution.</p>\n\n<p>There are several approaches at our institution:</p>\n\n<p>Some lecturers simply don't care. It's your task to pass the exam, not theirs. If you miss many lectures, you lack a lot of material which will surely be in the exam. If you had good reasons for your absence (illness or the like), the others will easily share their material with you (besides that in such cases you told the secretary and he then informed the professor, so they knew in advance). If you, however, were absent with no reasons (laziness, sleeping late, whatever...), others might refuse to help you out.</p>\n\n<p>Others let students do a quick oral resumee of the last lecture. First to compulse students who were absent for good (or not-so-good) reasons to catch up the material as the professor will continue where he ended the last time. Secondly it quickly shows if the students understood the material and if not, the lecturer can give additional help.</p>\n\n<p>My own method is a quick three-questions-quiz at the beginning of each lecture. If you don't answer at all, you fail, three failed quizzes lower your grade by one point (we have a system of 1 = worst to 6 = best grade, so one point is already quite a high loss). However, if you didn't understand a topic and therefore can't answer my question, you can write down what you didn't understand and then still pass it. Like this I always have an overview what the students understand best and what not. By the number of people not being able to answer a question I can also determine the quality of my lecture. If a certain number (I say: more than 2) hasn't understood a certain topic, then it's most probably my fault and not theirs.</p>\n\n<p>These methods have the big advantage of being fair to everybody. It's not a punishment, but a motivation to attend every lecture and to catch up material you missed.</p>\n\n<p>Beside that the grading of a module is transparent and clear to everybody from the very beginning. We, the lecturers, have any freedom we want in how we handle it, but we have to announce it at the beginning and cannot change anymore later.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31536,
"author": "Ole Frederiksen",
"author_id": 24141,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24141",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What is it that we want to achieve/check by having an exam? In my world it is what the student is capable of doing/what the student know.</p>\n\n<p>How the student has achieved the information is (in my world) irrelevant.</p>\n\n<p>So the only fair exam is the one that tests the skills/knowledge the students have to the subject. That cannot be tested by asking just one (silly/irrelevant) question.</p>\n\n<p>So to answer the question: No it is not fair to ask a question like that! The professor will have to ask the questions about the subject. If the students that have not attended his class knows the answers they should pass. If they dont know the answers - they should fail. And that goes for the students who has attended the class as well!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31581,
"author": "Flyto",
"author_id": 8394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>IMHO it is not fair to impose penalties for non-attendance unless there is a clearly-signposted policy that attendance is required. I don't know how this varies across the world, but in some UK universities lectures are technically optional - the point is to learn the material described in the syllabus, and if a student can achieve that better with private study and textbooks than by attending the lectures, that is up to them. \n(most students would be foolish to rely exclusively on this approach, but that is their problem, and doing badly in the final exam would be their punishment if it has not worked)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 37363,
"author": "DoubleDouble",
"author_id": 23421,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23421",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>To answer the actual question:</strong> I don't feel the professor's approach is ethical, because he seems to be caring more about <em>attendance</em> rather than the learning experience his students are getting. I explain more on this below.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>I think @NeilKirk asks a very good question in the comments of the question.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"Why is attendance so low in the first place?\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In general, with the exception of the occasional sickness or special circumstance, the answer is that <code>in the students' opinion, it is not worth their time to attend.</code> This could be for a number of reasons:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>The class is covering information they really don't care about.</strong> (<em>one reason some teachers try asking their students what they want to get out of a class</em>). If this is an elective class, they should probably be taking something else instead. If this is the situation though, it's probably a required class. So, why is it a required class? Why <em>should</em> they care? Telling them how this class is valuable will solve some of this issue. <em>I'm assuming the value from taking this class isn't only the earned credits and grade.</em></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Shortcuts are available</strong><br> I had this as its own section, but it falls into the category that the students don't really want to learn. If there are ways to get a good grade without going to class and without learning anything, some students will take it.</li>\n</ul></li>\n<li><p><strong>Going to class doesn't get them anything more than they could do on their own</strong> Maybe they see the value of the information, but they just don't get anything out of being in class. Why go, if you learn just as much as if you stayed home and read a chapter of the book? Some people naturally learn better by themselves, and there's not much that can be done about that, but if this is a problem for most, or more than a few, of the students then the professor should really be considering changing the way they teach their material - the students just aren't learning anything more from the professor than they could from just having the resources the professor provides.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Incorrect personal judgements</strong><br> <em>While the judgements being made are typically by the students, many of these could also be caused by the professor and all attempts to help the students avoid them should be made.</em> The students may have judged the class content or difficulty incorrectly, making them think they that they will easily be able to make up what they miss in class. They may have judged their own abilities or knowledge incorrectly. They may have thought getting some sleep was more important than class that day. etc..</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The last bullet is what the professor in question seems to think is happening. He is trying to punish those who make \"incorrect\" decisions by affecting the student's grades. It is one way to get what he wants (<em>attendance up</em>), but I personally doubt the problem is mostly caused by this. If it is, then I think there are better ways to solve the problem. That said, I could consider this an ethical solution, if the students were warned in some way and if the <em>real</em> problem was then attempted to be corrected.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 64305,
"author": "Arnab Datta",
"author_id": 11701,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11701",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Fair</strong>? Absolutely not.</p>\n\n<p>If you inform students beforehand that class attendance will count for a certain percentage of the grade, then yes this is absolutely fair. But you asked <em>\"What if the course didn't have an attendance policy\"</em></p>\n\n<p>Well, in that case: How exactly are the students supposed to know that failure to attend will affect their grades negatively? It is both <strong>ethically</strong> and probably <strong>legally</strong> wrong to deduct marks from grades based on arbitrary reasons (a professor not liking attendance levels). </p>\n\n<p>Most higher level education classes specify the criterion for getting grades. This is to enable the students to work systematically towards getting a certain grade.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/08
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31426",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15360/"
] |
31,440 |
<p>I am an undergraduate level student planning to put out a research paper for publication. The second author is a PhD student who has helped me to do much editing (including re-writing my entire paper into a concise and expressive form, and also the numerical simulation part). I think he helps me a lot. My friend suggests to me to buy him a gift card at the end to express my gratitude. I am wondering would this be a good idea or not?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31442,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Others may differ in opinion, but I personally think that gift cards are a poor choice for expressing personal gratitude. The problem is that gift cards are effectively cash with spending restrictions. Your colleague has invested time and energy in helping you, and giving cash would essentially be saying how much per hour you feel their time is worth.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, I would recommend offering something like taking them out for a fancy lunch, which invests your time and gives the two of you a chance to do some informal bonding and building of your professional relationship. Unless, of course you don't actually want to spend time alone with this colleague (many possible good reasons for that), in which case I would still recommend looking for some way to express gratitude that shows an investment of time and caring beyond just money.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31454,
"author": "Miguel",
"author_id": 14695,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14695",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If I was the person who helped, I would indeed be very positively surprised to receive anything at all from you (unless it's something offensive). You don't have an obligation to do it and so most people would appreciate whatever time or money you spend into expressing your gratitude.</p>\n\n<p>That said, for the choice I would try to avoid \"objects\" which are usually rather useless and tend to end up gathering dust somewhere. Food and/or drink are good choices in my opinion. My mother in law knows I like beer and I love it when she gets me four or five different styles when she makes me a present.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31458,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would probably kindly reject such a gift, since it is essentially giving money and I do not want to receive money for this type of thing. I would be fine with a bottle of wine or a similar thing. It is not money and the \"price\" part of it is not that important (I, after all, don't even know the price).</p>\n\n<p>Another choice is to invite the person for whatever you think (or know) they like: sushi, good burger, NHL match, ... Just don't \"overshoot it\", you're younger and they need not be exactly interested in coming for an NHL match with you, because they may plan to go there with someone else or whatever. Use some sort of common sense for this.</p>\n\n<p>Last but not least (and I consider that the best option), invite them for a beer. In my country (Czechia), you even say \"<em>Thanks, I owe you a beer</em>\" when someone does something good for you (mostly like in your case: spending their time on your project with no reward expected), and quite often the people really end up having a beer or two. I think you can invite them for a beer in most countries in the world.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31459,
"author": "Federico Poloni",
"author_id": 958,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/958",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Another important issue is: do not overdo it. A present of value, say, 50 or 100$, can not only make the recipient uncomfortable, but it might also be against the regulations of the university. There are often anti-corruption regulations that prohibit university employees from receiving gifts, excluding very small token ones.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/09
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31440",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24089/"
] |
31,445 |
<p>What is the idea behind giving a student a grade? It might sound like a funny question but I'm serious. </p>
<p>I ask because in my previous question about <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/30569/when-and-how-should-you-talk-to-a-professor-if-you-think-you-deserve-a-different">disputing a mark</a>, it's hard for me to decide how many marks and how much effort I should put into having a mark changed. If the purpose of going to school is to learn (something presumably you don't already know) then how do marks fit into the equation?</p>
<p>Given some of the answers and comments on the question I'm curious, how did this mentality that marks are non-negotiable arise? There seems to be the belief the prof has a totalitarian rule over the students. This doesn't make sense, especially considering how commercialized some schools have become. In any other area of business if a client pays (e.g. a student pays tuition) and is dissatisfied or has a concern about a service, then the company would work with them and either explain or change some part of the contract. How is it with teachers they get away with simply saying "that's the right mark"? (I know that's rather a facetious example but hopefully the point is clear). I'm certainly not suggesting one can or should be able to buy grades: rather I meant in business there seems to be a certain level of diplomacy which doesn't exist between students and teachers. For example in the question linked to it was mentioned that even if the wording to a question is vague, if there had been examples in class of a similar question then it should be known what is being asked for. This wouldn't happen in business. If a client said they wanted x, they're not going to pay for y; conversely if they had asked for x and wanted y, they're not going to sue the company. </p>
<p>It may be relevant to note that where I go to school, costs quite a bit of money (and it's a public university).</p>
<p>After reading this several months latter, I hope my tone didn't come across as too harsh. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31446,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Grades do many things, and there is no general agreement which of those things is the most important. A few things that grades do are:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Grades motivate students to learn. Without grades, many students would not learn nearly as much, because the mere presence of grades encourages students to study. </p></li>\n<li><p>Grades tell others whether students have mastered the material of the class (e.g. which students can count a class towards graduation, and which need to re-take the class).</p></li>\n<li><p>Grades tell others how students compare with each other (e.g. to help determine which students are accepted to competitive graduate programs). </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Even when they disagree about why grades are assigned, most professors <strong>do</strong> want to grade fairly, and will listen to student comments and consider them seriously. But, as I described in <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/30577/16122\">another post</a>, the situation may be more complex than is apparent from a student perspective. Moreover, many universities have a system for \"grade appeals\" through which students can formally dispute grades. So, far from being \"non-negotiable\", grades are usually subject to review by the professor's superiors at the university. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In any other area of business if a client pays (e.g. a student pays tuition) and is dissatisfied or has a concern about a service, then the company would work with them and either explain or change some part of the contract.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is not really the case. Imagine two hypothetical scenarios.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><em>I buy an annual membership in a local warehouse club (e.g. Costco or Sam's Club), and then tell them I don't like their bananas, and I want them to buy some other kind.</em> They are likely to ignore me, unless many other people make a similar request. They may well just tell me to go buy bananas somewhere else if I don't like the ones they offer. There are various opinions about whether universities can afford to take a similar position with their students. </p></li>\n<li><p><em>I hire a professional opera singer, but then I tell her that I want her to sing pop songs, and by the way can she also lose a little weight and learn how to dance better?</em> She's just as likely to just tell me \"no\" as she is to work with me to figure out which pop songs I prefer. She has an uncommon skill that is sufficiently in demand to keep her employed. There are various opinions about whether professors are in a similar situation. </p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The applicability of #1 and #2 to universities can certainly be questioned. These examples are just meant to show that it is not universally true that a paying customer can negotiate freely with the company or person being paid. This goes against the idea that this sort of negotiation should \"also\" apply at universities.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31448,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>A professor who I used to work with once gave me an explanation that I found quite useful for understanding the purpose and philosophy of grading. Universities, he said, must always struggle with a tension between two educational goals, illumination and certification.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><strong>Illumination</strong> means the intellectual development of the student, bringing them a deeper understanding of a subject, its relation to the world, and the deeper issues it may touch on. From the perspective of illumination, marks are intended to be feedback to students that helps them realize weaknesses in their understanding so that they can fix them.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Certification</strong> means evaluating a set of skills acquired by the students against an objective standard, to attempt to measure their fitness for certain tasks or professions. From the perspective of certification, marks are intended to be objective judgement of the fitness of the student for carrying out tasks requiring the skills taught in a class.</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>These two are often in tension with one another because certification pushes teaching toward rote practice and standardized testing and grading, while illumination pushes toward more open-ended exploration and interactive formats which can deliver much more benefit for apt students but are often very subjective. Most classes try to deliver both, to varying degrees of success, though some classes may almost entirely hew to a single side of the balance.</p>\n\n<p>You need to decide what you're after from the classes that you take. From your \"pay for service\" tone, it sounds like you want the career value that comes from certification. But certification isn't valuable if the standard can be easily negotiated, and so professors have to set a standard and stick by it. Sometimes they are even forced to by regulations. From the perspective of certification, trying to negotiate for a better grade is trying to cheat the system and reduce the value of everybody's grades. </p>\n\n<p>Moreover, one of the \"meta-skills\" that is always being certified is the ability to figure out what somebody wants from you. If you're out in industry and you deliver the wrong thing because you misinterpreted your client's needs and didn't ask for clarification, it will be difficult to argue that you should be given more partial credit.</p>\n\n<p>If, on the other hand, you're after illumination, then grades are less important to begin with. In that case, it's more important to understand why you got the grade that you got, so that you can improve your understanding of the material. If you want illumination and you aren't getting it, you need to switch courses, majors, or institutions.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31449,
"author": "Name",
"author_id": 12871,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12871",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Based on my experiences I realized that most students make more effort if the course is graded rather than its result is just marked by Pass or Fail. Consequently they learn more. Of course there are also exceptions: the situations where they make effort regardless of the grade. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31453,
"author": "Jessica B",
"author_id": 20036,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20036",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is not so much an answer as an extended comment on 'the right mark' from someone who has to allocate marks.</p>\n\n<p>On the whole I would not say with certainty that a mark I have given is 'the right mark' (well, unless it's 0), only that it's close enough. For most questions that are useful for actually teaching students something, it's very difficult to be completely objective. Even if you start with a detailed mark scheme, the way you decide whether something slides across the yes/no divide will change over the course of a large pile of scripts. I also often suspect that some students get the marks more by luck than judgement. For this reason I think it's best to have worked in to the grade system a way of checking borderline cases.</p>\n\n<p>Not discussing marks also acts a defense mechanism, particularly in cultures where students are focused more on marks than learning. I believe it is not unusual for a large section of a class to try and argue for more marks. This is frustrating just in terms of being time-consuming for anyone, and disappointing for people who really care about the students learning. It can also be particularly difficult when students understand so little of the topic that they cannot be shown why they are wrong.</p>\n\n<p>Another thing I've come across, particularly in the context of north American large classes, is 'I'm really close to the grade boundary so it's not fair to give me the lower grade'. When there are hundreds of students, and grade boundaries are 5% apart, being 0.8% below a boundary can mean there are 5 or more students closer to the grade boundary!</p>\n\n<p>In the other direction, if you really feel your grade is substantially wrong, do ask about it. It can be a mistake, particularly if the marker has not noticed part of your work, or added up the marks wrong. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31502,
"author": "reirab",
"author_id": 12999,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12999",
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"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First off, I would say that the primary importance of a grade is to be able to certify that you actually mastered the material. Simply knowing \"X attended Y university and studied Z\" tells me next to nothing about how much X knows about Z without the additional information provided by grades. This is not to say that GPA is the end-all-be-all of the hiring process, but it does make a significant difference in my ability to determine how successful the candidate was in work similar to what I'm wanting him or her to do if hired. This is especially true for candidates who are recent graduates and don't have an extensive work experience to point to. It can also be helpful in cases where a candidate can't give much in the way of specifics about prior work projects, such as if those projects were classified or otherwise secretive in nature.</p>\n\n<p>Second, Regarding this portion of the question:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In any other area of business if a client pays (e.g. a student pays tuition) and is dissatisfied or has a concern about a service, then the company would work with them and either explain or change some part of the contract.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In order to serve their above-stated purpose, it is essential that grades be objective. If you can buy a grade, it is worth absolutely nothing because it does not serve the purpose of a grade. In order for the degrees granted by an institution to be valuable, the grading process must be held to high standards of ethics and objectivity. Having those standards violated is an enormous black mark on the reputation of the institution. Furthermore, when discovered, it will likely result in the termination of those involved. For a recent example, see <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_North_Carolina_at_Chapel_Hill_academics-athletics_scandal\">UNC Chapel Hill academics-athletics scandal</a>.</p>\n\n<p>As far as the 'customer' analogy is concerned, consider that you are not the only customer of the institution. If the institution allows you to get a degree and a good GPA without actually mastering the material, that makes not only your degree worthless, but also the degrees of everyone else in that program. Since it can be reasonably assumed that most of the other students and alumni don't want their degrees to be useless, the institution is, in fact, acting in accordance with what their 'customers' want by maintaining the integrity of the grading process.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31514,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Given some of the answers and comments on the question I'm curious, how did this mentality that marks are non-negotiable arise? There seems to be the belief the prof has a totalitarian rule over the students. This doesn't make sense, especially considering how commercialized some schools have become. In any other area of business if a client pays (e.g. a student pays tuition) and is dissatisfied or has a concern about a service, then the company would work with them and either explain or change some part of the contract. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I don't think \"non-negotiable\" is the right word. Marks can be questioned and even challenged. However such challenges are (outside of the movie <em>Clueless</em>) not negotiations, because that implies a business transaction in which the student is offering something in return.</p>\n\n<p>[Also, professors do not have \"totalitarian rule\" over the students. We don't have any \"rule\" over the students. We can only ask them to do certain limited things and they get to decide whether to do them or not. It is of course very common for students to drop or exchange a class because they are not happy with some aspect of how it is being run. This is really the antithesis of totalitarian rule.]</p>\n\n<p>Grading is not a business transaction. You seem to think (or at least be willing to argue) that modern academia is a business transaction in which the student is the client and the instructor is the service provider. Well, there is some truth to that, but it also has severe limitations. (By the way, I have found that most businesses whose services I enlist as a paying client have severe limitations on how they are willing to work with me or (especially) change part of the contract in response to my complaints. The threat of losing my business does something in some cases and very little in others.)</p>\n\n<p>It is worth thinking about what services a university is actually providing, and to whom. If all you wanted from your university was to teach you courses and give you a grade at the end, you could enroll in internet classes at little (or no) cost. Most universities -- especially expensive ones -- are also <strong>certifying competence</strong> and <strong>providing prestige</strong> to their graduates. That is why you are paying them the big bucks. This only works if the grades themselves are <em>not</em> negotiable in the sense you mean. At a very elite university there will be considerable resources available for the student and steps taken to try to ensure their success, and the average GPA may be higher than at some other universities. But I taught calculus at Harvard for several years, and every time there were some students who got D's and F's. A B- in calculus at Harvard is a discouraging grade -- literally; it is meant to signal to the student to seriously shape up or not continue studying math -- but it does certify some amount of calculus knowledge. To get an A in calculus at Harvard you must indeed be very good at the subject: Harvard wouldn't be a top American university if it gave top grades to students who had not mastered the material.</p>\n\n<p>Sometimes it helps to make the situation more extreme. If you think that \"the student should always be right\", perform this thought experiment: I will offer you the opportunity to take the <strong>COSAT</strong>s, a consumer-oriented variant of the SATs. Every student who takes my exam will pass. In fact, every student who gets less than the 50th percentile will have their score reported as \"satisfactory\". And that's just for basic members. Silver members will be allowed to answer again the questions that they got wrong and will have their exams rescored. Gold members will be offered the same service together with additional instructional materials that will include complete and comprehensive answers to all exam questions. Platinum members get online access to the materials while taking the exam, in a patented \"one-click: correct!\" format. Of course the COSATs will cost money -- so do the SATs! But actually basic membership is cheaper than the SATs and silver, gold and platinum membership is surprisingly competitively priced. Are you interested?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31526,
"author": "Massimo Ortolano",
"author_id": 20058,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20058",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>If the purpose of going to school is to learn [...] then how do marks fit into the equation?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Grades are a \"cheap\" way of assessing what a student has learned on a specific topic. Imperfect and cheap as they are, grades are nonetheless one of the best tools that we (as humans) were able to conceive for assessing learning without introducing more serious problems (experiments have been made, but with doubtful success).</p>\n\n<p>But let me stress a few facts about grades and grading which sometimes students overlook:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Sometimes students are discouraged by bad grades because they feel deflated as persons. Grades, however, do not assess personal or moral qualities: better grades do not make better people. As I said, a grade is just a measure of what a student has learned or understood on a specific topic and, also, of his ability to convey this learning to other people (don't underestimate this part!). <em>But no more than that.</em> </li>\n<li>Grades are not proportional to the amount of study done. This might seem unfair: I've studied so much, I deserve a better grade! Rather, grades are roughly proportional to the quality of your study. If you study a lot and you don't get good grades, probably you have to change your approach.</li>\n<li>Grades are the result of a measurement and, as such, are subject to uncertainty. There is no such thing as a right grade as there is no such thing as an exact measurement. The amount of uncertainty depends on many factors, e.g. the type of exam, the grader, the neatness of students' papers etc. A professor should try to keep this uncertainty to a minimum, but it will be never negligible.</li>\n<li>Grades can't be negotiated in the sense of \"hey prof, here I should've got 3 more marks\", but you can say \"I think that this piece of solution, which was marked as wrong, might be right because of this and that etc.\". Then, if the professor recognizes that you're right, he or she will upgrade your marks on the basis of their rubric; if they think you're wrong anyway, they will explain where your argument fails.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31535,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>This doesn't make sense, especially considering how commercialized some schools have become.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Commercialization doesn't go in pair with quality. At least in my region, private universities are infamous for very poor quality, and yes, there you can negotiate marks untill you are happy, or at least, you can expect not to fail until you pay.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In any other area of business if a client pays (e.g. a student pays tuition) and is dissatisfied or has a concern about a service, then the company would work with them and either explain or change some part of the contract.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Not at all. You can, for example, be dissatisfied with mobile network quality, but all you can hear is 'we're sorry, but we can't assert 100% coverage neither 100% availability in peak hours'. </p>\n\n<p>But going to the main point:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>What is the idea behind giving a student a grade?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You can consider it a service, which prooves the quality and quantity in which you cope with the given tasks. You become a syllabus and a limited time. The marks proof how much of the material you were able to process. It makes them very valuable - a student that has many 5 marks have usually coped (almost) fully with the expectations. A studen with 4 had some issues, a student with 3 has coped in a mediocre way, however good enough not to fail. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>It may be relevant to note that where I go to school, costs quite a bit of money. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If it would be relevant, it would mean, you are buying your certification, and it would make it of mediocre quality, because the whole point of the exams and the certification would be lost (which is the case in my country, where the private universities are considered mediocre because of that). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31564,
"author": "abathur",
"author_id": 5668,
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"pm_score": 3,
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"text": "<p>While I generally agree with the answer by @jakebeal, I also wanted to note what is probably the single most important part of the reason we grade (which I don't see mentioned).</p>\n\n<p>The ultimate point of education is to create individuals capable of producing work of sufficient, <em>consistent</em> quality. The ability to self-evaluate and recalibrate towards the desired quality is the essential component of consistency (at least for mere mortals).</p>\n\n<p>While the instructive and gate-keeping functions of grades are important, the feedback grades convey helps us create an internal model of what qualifies as \"good\" and \"bad\" and \"mediocre\" work in our fields. If we don't build models (and learn to apply them to our own work), we'll forever be at the mercy of hand-holders and gate-keepers to tell us what we've done wrong.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 73200,
"author": "Geremia",
"author_id": 9425,
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"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Historically, grades are relatively recent in the university system. The first universities in the modern sense sprouted up in the High Middle Ages (circa 1200 and afterwards). They used disputations (formal, logical, oral debates) as a means of assessment. Grading began in the 1800s when professors wanted a quicker way of assessing progress; those professors using grades were considered lazy.</p>\n\n<p>cf. \"<a href=\"https://www.ehow.com/about_5103640_history-grading-systems.html\" rel=\"noreferrer\">History of Grading Systems</a>\" by Nicole Lassahn.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/09
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31445",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23316/"
] |
31,451 |
<p>I am an undergraduate student in the hard sciences, and am thinking of pursuing a research career after graduation. I am also quite politically involved on the left, and have political articles published online. I am critical of many governments (including my own) and corporations, and of many of the applications of technology in fields I am interested in.</p>
<p>My politics are very important to me, and I could not give them up. That said, I often worry about how they could be detrimental to my career, especially before I'm already established. I worry, for instance, that grad school admissions would Google my name and find my views and affiliations, and that this would negatively impact my chances to get in. How realistic is this fear?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31455,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It will very much depend on the country you intend to work in.</p>\n\n<p>In Britain, academia has long been a home for radical thought: for example, the foundation of University College London in the early 19th Century was an open act of defiance against the establishment at the time.</p>\n\n<p>It's far from universally true, but academia does strive to reward merit for merit's sake; so people will strive to assess you on the basis of your research. Having said that, recruitment decisions are made by us humans, with all our foibles, prejudices and weaknesses.</p>\n\n<p>There are political movements that get associated with large-scale crimes against humanity, including mass murder: Khmer Rouge, Stalinism, Fascism. If you were involved with those, that would indeed be likely to be devastating to a career in academia.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31477,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The recent case of Steven Salaita (who was offered a tenured position at the University of Illinois and then had the offer pulled after there were complaints about some of his political remarks on twitter) shows that being politically outspoken can have an effect on one's academic career in the United States. Although Salaita doesn't work in the physical or life sciences, I think the same thing could very easily have happened to (for example) a chemist who had made the same statements. </p>\n\n<p>Unlike most professionals working for large corporations, faculty are public figures. If an employee of a large corporation makes political statements, it's very clear that these don't represent the views of the corporation and it isn't likely to cause a significant problem to the employer (although individuals within the organization might well object to the statements and respond in ways that might be unfair.) When a faculty member makes political statements the press is likely to pick these statements up and amplify them and the administration of a university is more likely to be concerned about the effect of these statements on the reputation of the university. For example, your political statements might cause a wealthy donor to stop a planned donation to the university. This is especially true when the university is a public university that depends on the state and federal governments for financial support. </p>\n\n<p>A growing problem in the sciences is that even making non-political statements about scientific issues (evolution, natural resources, global climate change, etc.) can result in politically motivated attacks against a researcher. If your research interests happen to be in one of these areas and you're also politically active, you're even more likely to become the target of such an attack. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31489,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I will direct my answer at an American academic career in the sciences.</p>\n\n<p>You certainly have a right to make your political opinions known. Unfortunately the internet makes it possible (indeed, trivial) to search through every public remark someone has ever made, and this means that everyone can be held to a higher level of scrutiny in this regard than in the past. As others have said, there are situations in which remarks people have made have had a negative impact on their academic career. Most academics believe that \"academic freedom\" should ensure immunity from retribution for a range of such political remarks...but certainly not all of them. </p>\n\n<p>In fact, it is not entirely clear what constitutes a <em>political</em> remark as opposed to something else. For instance, one of Steven Salaita's tweets was</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Israel: transforming 'antisemitism' from something horrible to something honorable since 1948.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This is taken from <a href=\"http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-steven-salaita-tenure-jews-twitter-tweets-unive-20140929-story.html\">this article</a> in which he explains the context. The additional context he provides convinced me to view it is as a truly political remark that should come under the protections of \"free speech\" and \"academic freedom\". However, without that context....in that it contains the claim that antisemitism is honorable, it looks pretty bad. If my colleague had posted this and asked me to defend his right to keep it there, I would on the contrary ask him to take it down. </p>\n\n<p>Here are some thoughts on how to be politically active in a way which is not to the detriment of one's academic career:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Don't post on twitter.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Really, \"don't post on twitter\" seems close to being universally good advice. [<b>Added</b>: David Z disagrees. I can see that if you want to post academic/scientific content <em>only</em> then the twitter effect would be at least non-negative. I cannot agree that twitter has had a significant effect in disseminating work in my field, especially in comparison to so many other electronic media. But maybe it is different for others.] But the combination of telling the whole world and strict character limits make it anathema to academic discourse or even, I would advise, to discourse by academics. In general, young people need to use social media carefully: political <em>articles</em> are different, but one's off-hand political, social and religious comments are best not shown to the entire world.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure that your political remarks can only be construed as political.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>This is the moral from the above example. Political remarks advocate policy, support or criticize governments, or support or criticize political figures on political matters. Salaita's tweet (intentionally, and even rather cleverly) plays on the distinction between criticizing the Iraeli government and criticizing Jewish people. But don't play with that. Don't criticize or denigrate any ethnic group. When you want to criticize a group of people aligned around a certain practice, make sure you are criticizing the practice, not the people <em>as people</em>. For instance, if you are pro-life, don't (publicly) paint women who get abortions as immoral or unclean: that's not a political statement. Don't (publicly) criticize conservative politicians who are against gay rights by saying that they must either have terrible sex lives, be latently gay or both. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Try to have a clear separation between your political activities and your academic ones. </li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The OP says that he has political articles published online. Sounds fine to me. I would think at least three times about incorporating these articles into your science classes. As a general rule, I feel free to discuss politics and religion in my (mathematics) courses because I feel these should not be taboo topics among human beings, but I always characterize them as digressions from the class, I never push a position, and in fact I try not to enunciate my own stance or position in a classroom environment. If someone wants to hear how I really feel about Islam or the midterm elections, they can talk to me after class.</p>\n\n<p>This \"clear separation\" should work just as well in the sciences as it does in math. Academics in certain other fields might have more trouble with this: e.g. women's studies.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Hiring committees doing significant digging into candidates' extra-academic life is the exception rather than the rule.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The OP specifically mentions graduate admissions and googling. I have done lots of graduate admissions and I cannot specifically remember ever having googled an applicant (and I often google their letter writers or their home institution). For faculty and such: sure, sometimes I get curious, but I don't feel like such googling is part of the faculty search process. If I found some political activity about a faculty candidate through the job search, it would have to be extremely significant or specifically problematic in some way for me to bring it up to my colleagues at all. To give two examples of googling academics: I have learned for instance that someone had been a union organizer and someone else was a leader of a campus pro-life organization and had run for political office. If these people applied for jobs I would keep this information to myself.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>On average, it is a little safer to be on the left than on the right.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The majority of American academics that I know are not very politically active but are considerably left of the center of American politics. This applies to me. If I learned that a potential job candidate was very active in Tea Party politics, I would take a moment to steel myself not to let this affect my decision. If I learned that a potential job candidate had been active in Obama's campaign, I would think \"Well, that will make for a fun story sometime.\" I have colleagues whose political views are very different from my own, including one whom I respect the most, because of his great personal integrity and selflessness. But I still have to think and act a little more carefully around this colleague because of this; often I cut off a \"humorous remark\" just before it leaves my mouth because I remember that he will not be amused, and I don't want to make him uncomfortable. </p>\n\n<p>I put this point last because it is purely contingent on \"local phenomena\", but I think it would be naive to expect exactly the same academic reception for political activism on the two sides of the spectrum. On the other hand, at some state universities the local politics can be <em>very different</em> from the politics of the university and the faculty. This is really beyond the scope of my answer, so I'll just say: surely it is best if state employees who run the university system know as little about a faculty member's political activity as possible, at least until tenure.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31492,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
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"text": "<p>I agree with the answers so far, but let me elaborate on one sentence that could be a little worrisome:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I am critical of many governments (including my own) and corporations, and of many of the applications of technology in fields I am interested in.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Criticizing governments and corporations is one thing, but criticizing specific applications of technology could come across as far more insulting to anyone personally involved in those applications (whether through their own research or as a consultant to corporations or government agencies). It won't endear you to your colleagues if you denounce their work, particularly on moral grounds. This is not to say you shouldn't do it if you feel strongly, but you should try very hard to be as reasonable and fair as possible, and in any case you should recognize that you may be cutting off certain options. For example, if you loudly announce that people with DARPA grants are immoral because they are serving the military-industrial complex, then you shouldn't expect anyone with a DARPA grant to hire you as their postdoc, even if you would be supported by a different (and less objectionable) grant.</p>\n\n<p>I don't think this is the sort of thing that's likely to derail your entire career, but it's safest to keep the list of people you personally offend as short as you can.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31493,
"author": "Hal",
"author_id": 9263,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9263",
"pm_score": -1,
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"text": "<p>Likely, very detrimental. </p>\n\n<p>Ask yourself this. Suppose you become a scientist, and you are considering citing a paper authored by someone you know stridently espouses ultra-conservative views, entirely antithetical to your own. If you could cite another paper instead of hers, all things being equal, would you? Would it cause you to hesitate citing her paper? Would you think to yourself, 'Ugh, I hate this guy, I wish someone else had published similar research?'</p>\n\n<p>In my opinion, this is common sense. However, there's also a bevy of evidence that publishing research contra, for example, feminist theory, will harm the publisher's career. Consider the following quotations from the <a href=\"http://www.law.fsu.edu/journals/lawreview/downloads/304/kelly.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Florida State Law Journal</a>. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Perhaps the most physically and personally intimidating behavior was\n directed at Suzanne Steinmetz, who had first brought the issue to the\n public’s attention.43 Steinmetz appeared on such shows as the Today\n Show and Phil Donahue. 44 Her work was reported in various newspapers \n and magazines, including a full-page story in Time magazine.45 Yet, \n while Steinmetz’s work received some support, the public attack, the\n public attack against Steinmetz and her family evidenced the public's\n overwhelming rejection of her work. Verbal threats were launched\n against her and her children - at home and in public. Threatening\n phone calls were made to Steinmetz and the sponsors of her speaking\n engagements in order to prevent Steinmetz from further publicizing her\n work. On one occasion, a bomb threat was called into an ACLU meeting\n at which Steinmetz was scheduled to speak. Professionally, Steinmetz\n was also threatened. In an attempt to prevent her from receiving\n tenure, every female faculty member at the University of Delaware was\n lobbied by individuals calling on behalf of the women's rights\n movement... Other social scientists committed to the study of husband\n abuse and family violence were similarly mistreated.Such tactics seem\n to have proven effective. Both researchers who were involved in the\n early projects and even those who might have become involved admit\n that they now choose to give the topic of battered men \"wide berth\".</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Further consider the following list of feminist methods of suppressing research, as published in the <a href=\"http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/V74-gender-symmetry-with-gramham-Kevan-Method%208-.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Journal of Criminal Policy</a> </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <ul>\n <li>Method 1. Suppress Evidence</li>\n <li>Method 2. Avoid Obtaining Data Inconsistent with the Patriarchal Dominance Theory</li>\n <li>Method 3. Cite Only Studies That Show Male Perpetration</li>\n <li>Method 4. Conclude That Results Support Feminist Beliefs When They Do Not</li>\n <li>Method 5. Create \"Evidence\" by Citation</li>\n <li>Method 6. Obstruct Publication of Articles and Obstruct Funding of Research That Might Contradict the Idea that Male Dominance Is the\n Cause of PV</li>\n <li>Method 7. Harass, Threaten, and Penalize Researchers Who Produce Evidence That Contradicts Feminist Beliefs.</li>\n </ul>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Moreover, just the other day I learned that a pharmaceutical corporation decided funding an endowed chair at the U of T was no longer a \"priority\" when the U of T decided to award the chair to David Healey, author of the book <em>Pharmagedon</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Of course politics will affect your academic career. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31503,
"author": "Cape Code",
"author_id": 10643,
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"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Academia (in the Western countries that I know of) is the realm of <strong>political correctness</strong>. In this regard, as long as you don't deviate too much from the spectrum of opinions it defines in your region, the risk is small. In your case, if your opinions are just the regular college-student, mainstream leftism <em>a la</em> 'corporations are evil', you will be just fine. </p>\n\n<p>In addition, your opinions will most likely evolve and get more nuanced by the time you'll be looking for an academic position.</p>\n\n<p>This being said, if I were implicated in the hiring process and your opinions included denial, or gross exaggeration of scientific facts, or were based on crackpot science (say you were a 'climatoskeptic', or vociferously anti-GMO or anti-nuclear energy, or you think vaccines are a corporate conspiracy that will give your child autism) I would wonder about your scientific sanity. But people with these opinions <em>get hired nonetheless</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Now, there are cases where your political opinions, if made public, would close doors, but it's typically cases where said opinions would prevent you from wanting the job in the first place. Say you were supportive of an 'animal welfare' activists group that <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/news/animal-rights-activists-wreak-havoc-in-milan-laboratory-1.12847\" rel=\"nofollow\">'released' lab animals wasting years of hard work and money</a>, you'd be unlikely to get hired in a biology lab.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31531,
"author": "Patric Hartmann",
"author_id": 20449,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20449",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A recent scandal at a Swiss university shows clearly, that political involvement can even be detrimental to a career in natural sciences.</p>\n\n<p>As the whole story I'm going to tell is highly political (and I actually try to remain on a neutral position), I add a large number of sources to the end, unfortunately most in German as the whole incident occured in the German speaking part of Switzerland. I personally do not name the institutions or people involved, the articles, however, do so.</p>\n\n<p>Switzerland has several state universities which are, in theory, under the administration of a deanery independant from the government. However, a recent scandal at one of these universities questions the extent of this independency.</p>\n\n<p>Background: The new primary school syllabus contains material from a scientifically highly questionable ideology. Two professors, heads of medical and biological faculties, with the support of professors from other natural sciences' faculties strongly opposed this referring to recent scientific research.</p>\n\n<p>One of the leading professors of this opposition was soon after charged for academic misconduct and forced to retire from his position (resp. fired, not sure anymore), alone, all accusations turned out to be false. Quickly after the media had discovered this, the university blamed that professor's strongest supporter to have made up the whole charade and fired her for this with no evidence at all. Beside of it being highly questionable why she, as such a strong supporter of the first one's standpoint, should now suddenly be the one plotting to end his career, courts soon found her guiltless in all charges (and, in return, her claims for compensation are now pending).</p>\n\n<p>Public pressure forced the dean to retire after the whole story became public. However, the person evidence points to as the main plotter remains unspoilt as she has certain immunities in connection with her position.</p>\n\n<p>There have been similar stories in the recent years which I do not unfold here now.</p>\n\n<p>The following articles, unfortunately all German, illustrate the evolution of the whole scandal. It casts a really poor light on the current state of academic freedom at least in Switzerland.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.weltwoche.ch/die-weltwoche/themenschwerpunkte/fall-moergeli.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.weltwoche.ch/die-weltwoche/themenschwerpunkte/fall-moergeli.html</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/moergeli-affaere-condrau-flurin-uni-zuerich-medizinhistorisches-institut-1.18381044\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/moergeli-affaere-condrau-flurin-uni-zuerich-medizinhistorisches-institut-1.18381044</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/affaere-moergeli-1.18325659\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/affaere-moergeli-1.18325659</a></p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/dossiers/schweiz/dossier2.html?dossier_id=1640\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/dossiers/schweiz/dossier2.html?dossier_id=1640</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31550,
"author": "jonescb",
"author_id": 22774,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22774",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you consider Political Science to be a scientific career, I can cite an example in which political involvement would have been detrimental.</p>\n\n<p>A political scientist named Richard Fenno wrote a book called Homestyle in which he observed Congressmen in their home districts. At the time, research was mostly done in Washington. To accomplish this, Fenno had to contact several Congressmen on both sides of the aisle and ask permission to follow them around in their home districts. He would have access to some of their most intimate moments with their family, constituents, supporters, etc. so they need to trust that you aren't out to smear them.</p>\n\n<p>Congressmen might have been less likely to accept his request if he had been politically active (which he was not). A Republican might fear that he might be trying to dig up dirt on them, or vice versa.\nSo contrary to popular belief, being a political scientist is not a good idea if your goal is the advancement of a particular ideology, but I digress.</p>\n\n<p>A takeaway from this for non political scientists is that people might be less willing to work with you if they believe you have a highly partisan agenda.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 115344,
"author": "John Slegers",
"author_id": 37939,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/37939",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Let's look at the current political climate in academia:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Over the\n years, I have watched a growing intolerance at universities in this\n country – not intolerance along racial or ethnic or gender lines –\n there, we have made laudable progress. Rather, a kind of intellectual\n intolerance, a political one-sidedness, that is the antithesis of what\n universities should stand for. It manifests itself in many ways: in\n the intellectual monocultures that have taken over certain\n disciplines; in the demands to disinvite speakers and outlaw groups\n whose views we find offensive; in constant calls for the university\n itself to take political stands. We decry certain news outlets as echo\n chambers, while we fail to notice the echo chamber we’ve built around\n ourselves.</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/2017/02/21/the-threat-from-within/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\n<br>\n</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>More than nine in 10 UK universities are restrictive of free speech,\n according to a new report that raises concerns over the issue of\n censorship on campuses.</p>\n \n <p>Analysis by Spiked magazine, supported by the Joseph Rowntree Reform\n Trust, suggested campus censorship had increased steadily over the\n past three years – with a growing number of institutions actively\n clamping down on ideas, literature and guest speakers that are not in\n keeping with their own values.</p>\n \n <p>The Free Speech University Rankings (FSUR), drawn from examining the\n policies and bans of 115 universities and students’ unions, found\n almost two thirds (63.5 per cent) were “severely” restrictive of free\n speech, with more than 30 per cent given an “amber” warning.</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/nine-10-uk-universities-free-speech-restrict-rankings-joseph-rowntree-cardiff-ediburgh-newcastle-a7577381.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\n<br>\n</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Higher education’s suppression of speech is well-publicized. But in an\n odder and less well-known twist, campuses are increasingly co-opting\n the language of free speech and using it to justify censorship. One\n example: The designated “free speech zones” that exist on roughly 1 in\n 10 U.S. college campuses, according to a report released last month by\n the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.</p>\n \n <p>The very existence of a “free speech zone” suggests that students’\n expression is limited elsewhere on campus. And even in the “free”\n zones, administrators often restrict who can speak, when and for how\n long.</p>\n \n <p>Dozens of universities have also used the language of free speech to\n justify trendy “Language Matters” or “Inclusive Language” campaigns.\n The point of these programs is to condition students to wince away\n from words and phrases deemed offensive, instead using politically\n correct substitutes.</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/articles/censorship-is-free-speech-it-must-be-the-class-of-1984-1485478244\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\n<br>\n</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A related survey question, which has been asked most years since 1967,\n inquired whether “colleges have the right to ban extreme speakers from\n campus.”</p>\n \n <p>About 43 percent of freshmen said they agreed. That’s nearly twice as\n high as the average share saying this in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.\n It was surpassed only once, just barely, in 2004. But in general,\n support for banning speakers from campuses has trended upward over\n time.</p>\n \n <p>Recent incidents suggest students (and sometimes their professors) may\n have rather expansive views of what constitutes an “extreme speaker.”\n Among those disinvited or forced to withdraw from campus speaking\n engagements in the past few years are feminism critic Suzanne Venker,\n former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, International Monetary\n Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and Narendra Modi, now the\n Indian prime minister.</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/liberal-but-not-tolerant-on-the-nations-college-campuses/2016/02/11/0f79e8e8-d101-11e5-88cd-753e80cd29ad_story.html?utm_term=.9ca4bae92c94\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\n<br>\n</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Harvard revoked offers to at least 10 applicants based up their\n digital footprint. What is more troubling is that Harvard has lobbied\n for years against a social media privacy law for applicants that would\n ban colleges in Massachusetts from being able to request applicants\n verify their digital accounts and activities which may indicate their\n political or personal opinions.</p>\n \n <p>Harvard along with other prestigious colleges have a long documented\n history discriminating against students based on religion and other\n personal attributes. A recent lawsuit is claiming Harvard for years\n has discriminated against Asians. The evidence so far demonstrates the\n troubling ways Harvard uses personal non-academic information to\n reject applicants.</p>\n \n <p>The bottom line is that if a college applicant visits websites that\n discuss hot button political issues such as the president, or far left\n or far right lawmakers, the First Amendment or Second Amendment\n rights, abortion, affirmative action, gay marriage, immigration, etc.\n its highly possible they may be denied admission to the most\n prestigious colleges in the United States. Why? Because an increasing\n number of college admissions officials are going to great lengths to\n collect their applicant’s personal political opinions.</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"http://www.shearsocialmedia.com/2018/08/top-college-tried-to-reject-applicant-who-followed-alex-jones-on-twitter.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\n<br>\n</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A Pensacola student who sparked controversy Tuesday by wearing a\n Confederate uniform to the site of a violent clash between white\n nationalists and counterprotesters has been kicked out of Pensacola\n Christian College, according to a North Carolina media outlet.</p>\n \n <p>WXII News 12 reported that Allen Armentrout, who reportedly splits\n time living in Pensacola and North Carolina, learned Thursday that PCC\n staff had decided to terminate his enrollment. </p>\n \n <p>[...]</p>\n \n <p>Video from Tuesday showed Armentrout — wearing a Confederate uniform\n and carrying a Confederate flag — standing and saluting a statue of\n Gen. Robert E. Lee at Charlottesville's Emancipation Park. He was\n surrounded by a crowd that chanted \"terrorist go home.\" Armentrout\n stood in a motionless salute until he was peaceably escorted away from\n the scene by police.</p>\n \n <p>Armentrout later told the News Journal he made the trip to Virginia\n because the KKK, Neo-Nazis and other groups are destroying the history\n of his ancestors and he wants to share \"the true history\" of the\n American South. He said Neo-Nazis have wrongly \"latched on\" to\n Confederate history.</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"https://eu.pnj.com/story/news/2017/08/18/confederate-demonstrator-kicked-out-pensacola-christian-college/579978001/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\n<br>\n</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A University of Pennsylvania Law School professor has been removed\n from teaching mandatory first-year courses after making derogatory\n remarks about the academic performance of black students.</p>\n \n <p>During an interview last fall, professor Amy Wax said that black\n students at Penn Law never graduated in the top quarter of their\n class. \"Here is a very inconvenient fact Glenn, I don't think I've\n ever seen a black student graduate in the top quarter of the class and\n rarely, rarely in the top half,\" Wax told Brown University professor\n Glenn Loury in a video of the interview that recently gained\n attention.</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"https://edition.cnn.com/2018/03/16/us/penn-removes-professor-for-racial-remarks-trnd/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\n<br>\n</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Shepherd is a graduate student and teaching assistant. Her sin was to\n show a first-year communications class a video snippet from TV Ontario\n of two professors debating grammar.</p>\n \n <p>[...]</p>\n \n <p>All of which is to say that when Shepherd ran her five-minute TVO clip\n featuring pronoun traditionalist Jordan Peterson debating another\n professor, she unleashed a storm.</p>\n \n <p>[...]</p>\n \n <p>The teaching assistant was hauled before a three-person panel made up\n of her supervisor and boss, Nathan Rambukkana, another professor named\n Herbert Pimlott, and Adria Joel, Laurier’s acting manager of gendered\n violence prevention and support.</p>\n \n <p>The trio interrogated her for more than 40 minutes.</p>\n \n <p>Shepherd had the wit to record the proceedings. It makes for\n depressing listening.</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2017/11/24/the-problematic-case-of-the-wilfrid-laurier-ta-who-dared-to-air-a-debate-on-grammar.html\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\n<br>\n</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Finkelstein was not denied tenure because of any shortcomings in\n scholarship or teaching. Noam Chomsky had earlier described\n Finkelstein's book Beyond Chutzpuh as \"a very careful scholarly book\"\n and \"the best compendium that now exists of human rights violations in\n Israel\" (Goodman, \"Chomsky Accuses\"). The late Raul Hilberg, widely\n recognized as the founder of Holocaust studies, said of Finkelstein,\n \"his place in the whole history of writing history is assured,\" and\n praised his \"acuity of vision and analytical power.\" (Goodman, \"It\n Takes\"). </p>\n \n <p>There can be little doubt that Finkelstein was fired because of his\n criticisms of Israel's human rights violations against the Palestinian\n people, and for his fact-based criticisms of the Israel lobby. Raul\n Hilberg warned at the time, \"I have a sinking feeling about the damage\n this will do to academic freedom\" (Grossman). Even the DePaul\n administration tacitly conceded that his firing was politically\n motivated when it acknowledged Finkelstein as a \"prolific scholar and\n outstanding teacher'' in a later legal settlement (Finkelstein, \"Joint\n Statement\").</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"http://www.worksanddays.net/2008-9/File14.Klein_011309_FINAL.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\n<br>\n</p>\n\n<p>etc. etc. etc.</p>\n\n<p>Although <a href=\"https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/0945999763\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">this problem has existed for decades</a>, expressing an opinion that is \"politically incorrect\" has never been as dangerous within an academic context as it is today. Also, the range of speech that qualifies as \"politically correct\" is becoming <a href=\"https://www.studyinternational.com/news/offence-students-2017/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">ever more narrow</a>. Especially (but not only) for people on the right of the political spectrum, expressing any political opinion whatsoever has become simply too risky. Many people received a grading penalty, were kicked out of college, lost their jobs, failed to obtain tenure or were otherwise punished by expressing opinions too controversial for the current political climate. And often this involved opinions expressed on social media or other non-academic contexts.</p>\n\n<p>As a consequence, 54% of students report self-censoring in the classroom at some point since the beginning of college, according to <a href=\"https://www.thefire.org/new-survey-majority-of-college-students-self-censor-support-disinvitations-dont-know-hate-speech-is-protected-by-first-amendment/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">a survey by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education</a>. A similar survey by <a href=\"https://spec.hamilton.edu/free-speech-survey-support-for-discourse-strong-but-self-censorship-endures-ca7c152c902f\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Hamilton college's student newspaper</a> also looked into the political affiliations of respondents and demonstrated a striking difference between responses from conservatives and liberals. No less than 84% of conservatives indicated that “the political climate on campus prevents them from saying what they believe”, whereas only 21% of liberals reported self-censorship.</p>\n\n<p>Why Liberals & Conservatives experience censorship so differently :</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The idea of a balanced argument at my undergraduate university [in the\n US] was ‘neoliberal’ versus ‘radically liberal’. We spoke of the\n importance of diversity, but political diversity was never considered.\n I thirsted for a deeper understanding of why half of Americans could\n hold opinions that were only met with dismissive ridicule or barely\n acknowledged. What I wanted was a wide exposure to different ideas and\n arguments, whether or not I agreed with them.</p>\n \n <p>In the US, if someone disagrees with you politically, they disengage\n from you and refuse to get to know you on a personal level. So I have\n often kept quiet among my peers, only revealing my true thoughts to\n those who have ‘come out’ to me in the same way that Madeleine\n describes. This has been compounded by the fact that my undergraduate\n degree was in gender studies, a famously radically liberal discipline.\n I am proud that I do not conform to the stereotype of a gender studies\n student.</p>\n \n <p>I wish to remain anonymous not because I am ashamed of my views, but\n because I want to be an academic and fear assumptions might be made\n about my politics. Academia is so liberal that, though I am\n politically neutral or centrist, others might regard me as being\n conservative and not want to hire me. Nevertheless, I look forward to\n working towards a future where academics have intellectual freedom in\n the form of open discussion, not anonymous letters.</p>\n \n <p><a href=\"https://heterodoxacademy.org/the-problems-of-campus-culture-presumption-and-self-censorship/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">source</a></p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>\n<br>\n</p>\n\n<p>So if you're a Liberal and your political views are sufficiently aligned with those of the academic establishment, you may not have anything to worry about. For everyone else, however, it is best to keep your opinions for yourself and not advertise them in any way if you want to pursue an academic career.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/09
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31451",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6071/"
] |
31,465 |
<p>I am an undergraduate and am new to paper writing.</p>
<p>I have been writing papers with professor A at another university since I was in high school. We are writing a paper together for an upcoming conference (which is pretty big).</p>
<p>I have been also writing a paper with professor B at my current institution for the same conference.</p>
<p>I am also writing papers with some graduate students for the same conference.</p>
<p>But - in total, I will be submitting about 5 different papers to the same conference (all with different people!). </p>
<p>I don't know if this is acceptable in academia. That is, will there be any sort of consequences for submitting a lot of papers to the same conference?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31470,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Yes, it is acceptable, particularly since the author lists will all be different. Go for it! </p>\n\n<p>One word of warning: The papers themselves must have clearly different content. If you submit five nearly identical papers, the editors are likely to accept at most the best one and reject the rest. That will annoy your other co-authors mightily.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31471,
"author": "Peteris",
"author_id": 10730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's not a problem as such - for example, I see in the proceedings of a recent very large conference an author that shows up on 9 papers (<a href=\"http://www.lrec-conf.org/proceedings/lrec2014/authors.html#B\">LREC2014, Núria Bel</a>), the only question is if the individual papers are strong and novel enough.</p>\n\n<p>\"Salami publishing\" is frowned upon, and if there is significant overlap in the topics it might be more useful and more likely to get accepted if you combine two smaller papers in a single better one.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31472,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's a big difference between a large national conference and a smaller regional workshop. When you have 5,000 to 10,000 talks plus posters at a meeting, with 50 parallel sessions, there's likely not a problem with the number of abstracts on which you're an author. If it's a small meeting of 100 to 200 attendees, with only a single session at a time, you probably can't submit more than one or two talks.</p>\n\n<p>There is also a difference between being an <em>author</em> and being the <em>presenter.</em> Many big conferences do not have limits on authorship, but <em>do</em> restrict the number of presentations any one person can give as the \"first author\" (or, depending on the conference, \"presenting author\"). For example, the APS has the rule that the first author should be the presenter, and there's a limit of one contributed (and one invited) talk per meeting.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31473,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's not a problem per se. Many professors with larger groups submit multiple papers to the same major conferences every year.</p>\n\n<p>However, the fact that you are an <em>undergrad</em> and, as you say, <em>new to writing papers</em> and you are still handing in <em>five</em> papers simultaneously to this conference sounds concerning to me. Make sure that:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>the papers are all individually good quality - even <em>writing</em> 5 good papers would take me multiple months of work, and I have plenty of experience. And that's not even talking about the time required for doing the research that the papers talk about.</li>\n<li>the papers are actually about different research, not just the same basic idea sliced up differently.</li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/09
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31465",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1/"
] |
31,475 |
<p>As a software developer just starting out in research (working for a lab) I have this idea of a software application which is meant to target a specific need: specifically to help users query data using specific and novel methodologies (navigation languages and autocomplete methods).</p>
<p>Anyway, I know that ultimately I want to do science and not engineering. By that I mean that ultimately I don't want to build a tool (although it could help prove my idea) but that I want to investigate (that's really what research is about isn't it?) about how the navigational and autocomplete methodologies are important for querying data (for example)</p>
<p>So I'm a bit troubled wondering how I can transform this application idea into a more scientific research project. Should I look at the novel parts of the application (such as the autocomplete functionalities) and investigate how that might make querying better for users? Is that even research?</p>
<p>I guess overall I'm puzzled on how to make the <strong>idea</strong> of my software application stand on its own. How do I make my software idea contribute to the current body of human knowledge? Does software even count as knowledge? I guess I'm trying to convert the idea of my software application into a piece of knowledge. Any help/clarification?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31490,
"author": "GeneMachine",
"author_id": 18248,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18248",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your first step should be an extremely thorough search of the scientific literature, in order to explore what's already been done in the area covered by your application - that is, assess the originality of \"the idea\" and its theoretical underpinning.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31506,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For software to \"contribute to human knowledge\", it needs to <em>advance</em> human knowledge -- a new algorithm, a new human interaction technique, a new approach to coding (often embodied in a new language tuned for that purpose, for clarity, though almost all such can be implemented in older languages with a bit of work)...</p>\n\n<p>If you have a really new approach to performing or using autocomplete, that probably counts. If you're just using autocomplete in your program in a place where it's obvious to an experienced practitioner that autocomplete would be appropriate, it probably doesn't. You could do some legitimate research on measuring exactly how much difference which kinds of autocomplete help which users -- but that's human factors engineering, not software engineering per se.</p>\n\n<p>Programming is just a tool. If you use it to conduct research, you're doing research. If you aren't, you aren't. Writing may be a good analogy -- you need to be able to write well to communicate, but \"writing well\" is usually not the creative act unless you're someone like e. e. cummings who can create a new way to approach writing itself. Deciding what to communicate and how, or finding ways to measure the advantages and disadvantages of varying approaches to communication, is usually where human knowledge is advanced.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31512,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Your software idea <em>may</em> be able to become a piece of research if you can come up with a few things:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Research question.</strong> Ask a question relating to your software idea - for example, \"How can we do X?\" \"What is a better design for X?\" etc. Check the literature to see what has been said about this question (and related questions) by others.</li>\n<li><strong>Research result.</strong> What is the actual, novel contribution of your work? Is it a new technique that hasn't been done before? A rule of thumb for designing certain kinds of applications? A much better way to do a certain kind of task (for some reasonable definition of \"better\")?</li>\n<li><strong>Validation of research results.</strong> What kind of convincing evidence do you have that your result is sound? Depending on the type of result you claim, your evidence may be in the form of performance benchmarks of your technique relative to state of the art, user studies from users of your application, or something else entirely.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The best way to get a better understanding of what constitutes a research question, research result, or evidence, is to <strong>read a lot of papers in your field of interest.</strong></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31549,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your desire to do research is commendable. But although you are a seasoned engineer, you are still an undergraduate at research and you need to slow your pace. Although you have a headstart in relation to your peers, you still need to develop some research maturity which takes time or a mentor who might give you a push to the right direction. </p>\n\n<p>I was also an programmer first and went into researcher later, so I understand where you are coming from. But like me at first, you do not really \"get\" it. Autocomplete is not research. Period. A tool that shows a nice graph of semantic data is not research. Period. It is a DEMO and you can submit it to a demo track of a conference or a smaller workshop and that is it. But even then, unless the tool does something unusual it will get rejected. Unless you want to built the new <a href=\"http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/dataspace/doc/dav/wiki/Main/\">Virtuoso</a> or the new <a href=\"http://neo4j.com/\">Neo4j</a> then your tool is not research. Period. And developing a GUI tool is something that I would not easily recommend, because making a GUI tool that is good enough for showing to others, takes a lot of time. That is why developing such GUI tools, is usually reserved for MSc thesis projects and students like you and is not something like a PHD student undertakes on his own. Of course there are always exceptions, but this is what I have seen.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, developing a new, better index for autocomplete than e.g. a trie is research. But even then, building the autocomplete module is not proof. You need experiments, related work section, literature review, proofs, complexity analysis, knowledge about data structures, which you may have but probably you have not. </p>\n\n<p>Conclusively, you are now a good programmer. But that does not automatically make you a good CS student. You need to build a theoretical background to formalize research questions. And that I am afraid requires time and/or guidance.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31555,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would start with a quality blog post, with references to other approaches, justification of claims. If you can accomplish it, this piece of software <em>might</em> be a candidate for a paper.</p>\n\n<p>In a journal paper you need to have something novel concrete to show, to support it with evidence and reference with other research. But it needs to be something concrete not \"it is a great app, because I think so, my friends and it got 10k likes\". More like \"new algorithm allows to compute X with 7% less error...\", \"we introduce a new statistical model for classification of words based on Y...\" or \"75% user accomplish goal of Z with autocomplete vs 53 who...\".</p>\n\n<p>Software engineering and scientific research (which topic? algorithms, statistics, linguistics, psychology...) are different skills.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/09
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31475",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12847/"
] |
31,476 |
<p>I have a paper that was presented at an NRC workshop and was not peer reviewed. Moreover, although this work is accessible at an NRC website, it is clear from reading the literature that search engines do not discover the paper and no one is aware of its existence.</p>
<p>Is it ethical to submit this paper to a peer-reviewed journal for publication?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31478,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Different journals have different standards for what counts as prior publication. For example, most computer science journals happily accept \"extended journal versions\" of existing papers that are intended to supersede the prior publication, as long as there is at least 30% new content and the relationship to the prior paper made explicit. Some high-ranked biology journals, on the other hand, are so obsessed with \"novelty\" that they will consider a submission improper even if only an extended abstract has previously appeared. Check the policy of the journal(s) that you are considering: either it will be listed clearly online, or the editorial staff should be able to give you a quick answer about their policies.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31479,
"author": "Atilla Ozgur",
"author_id": 333,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/333",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>A lot of journals give their politics for conference paper in their websites. It is mostly like following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p><a href=\"http://jmlr.csail.mit.edu/author-info.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">Journal of Machine Learning Research</a></p>\n\n<p>We will consider research that has been published at workshops or conferences. In these cases, we expect the JMLR submission to go into greater depth and extend the published results in a substantive way. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Some of them give numerical new content like %30 new material. \nFind suitable journal which accepts such submissions. Clearly cite this is an improved version of your workshop paper. Improve your paper as suitable and submit.</p>\n\n<p>As long as reviewers and editors are aware that your submission is an extension of workshop/conference paper, this should not be issue.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/09
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31476",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24116/"
] |
31,483 |
<p>Is there any research/study/survey that looked at what percentage of papers submitted to a conference or journal have been previously rejected in the same or another venue?</p>
<p>I am mostly interested in the computer science field (machine learning) and English-speaking venues, but I am curious about other fields and languages as well.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 36817,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I haven't found anything in computer science, but this has been well-studied in other fields.</p>\n\n<p>For example, one study<sup>1</sup> surveyed authors from 923 scientific journals from the biological sciences in 2006-2008 and found that</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>about 75% of published articles were submitted first to the journal that would publish them</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>(implying that 25% of published articles were rejected by another venue before finding their ultimate home).</p>\n\n<p>A more common approach found in the literature is to follow up on the fate of rejected manuscripts from a particular journal (as opposed to the original target venue of published manuscripts).</p>\n\n<p>For example, a study of manuscripts rejected by the British Journal of Surgery<sup>2</sup> found:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>From the 926 manuscripts rejected by BJS, 609 (65.8 per cent) were published in 198 different journals with a mean(s.d.) time lapse of 13.8(6.5) months. Some 165 manuscripts (27.1 per cent) were published in general surgical journals, 250 (41.1 per cent) in subspecialty surgical journals and 194 (31.9 per cent) in non-surgical journals. The mean(s.d.) impact factor of the journals was 2.0(1.1). Only 14 manuscripts (2.3 per cent) were published in journals with a higher impact factor than that of BJS.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This trend is not especially new. Studies from decades ago also show large numbers of rejected papers being accepted somewhere, eventually. For example:</p>\n\n<p>A study of 350 manuscripts rejected by the Annals of Internal Medicine, a general medical journal, during 1993 and 1994,<sup>3</sup> found:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Of 350 rejected manuscripts, 240 (69%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 64% to 73%) were eventually published after a mean of 552 days (95% CI: 479 to 544 days, range 121 to 1,792 days). </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A study of papers submitted to the American Journal of Roentgenology in 1986<sup>4</sup> found: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>At least 82% of the major papers and 70% of the case reports that are submitted to AJR are eventually published, either in AJR or elsewhere</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>An interesting study I came across measured the reverse phenomenon: published articles that are subsequently rejected<sup>5</sup>. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>As test materials we selected 12 already published research articles by investigators from prestigious and highly productive American psychology departments, one article from each of 12 highly regarded and widely read American psychology journals with high rejection rates (80%) and nonblind refereeing practices.</p>\n \n <p>With fictitious names and institutions substituted for the original ones (e.g., Tri-Valley Center for Human Potential), the altered manuscripts were formally resubmitted to the journals that had originally refereed and published them 18 to 32 months earlier. Of the sample of 38 editors and reviewers, only three (8%) detected the resubmissions. This result allowed nine of the 12 articles to continue through the review process to receive an actual evaluation: eight of the nine were rejected.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><sup>1</sup> Calcagno, V., E. Demoinet, K. Gollner, L. Guidi, D. Ruths, and C. De Mazancourt. \"Flows of research manuscripts among scientific journals reveal hidden submission patterns.\" Science 338, no. 6110 (2012): 1065-1069. DOI: <a href=\"https://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1227833\">10.1126/science.1227833</a></p>\n\n<p><sup>2</sup> Wijnhoven, B. P. L., and C. H. C. Dejong. \"Fate of manuscripts declined by the British Journal of Surgery.\" British Journal of Surgery 97, no. 3 (2010): 450-454. DOI: <a href=\"https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bjs.6880\">10.1002/bjs.6880</a></p>\n\n<p><sup>3</sup> Ray, Joel, Michael Berkwits, and Frank Davidoff. \"The fate of manuscripts rejected by a general medical journal.\" The American journal of medicine 109, no. 2 (2000): 131-135. DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9343(00)00450-2\">10.1016/S0002-9343(00)00450-2</a></p>\n\n<p><sup>4</sup> Chew, Felix S. \"Fate of manuscripts rejected for publication in the AJR.\" AJR. American journal of roentgenology 156, no. 3 (1991): 627-632. DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.2214/ajr.156.3.1899764\">10.2214/ajr.156.3.1899764</a></p>\n\n<p><sup>5</sup> Peters, Douglas P., and Stephen J. Ceci. \"Peer-review practices of psychological journals: The fate of published articles, submitted again.\" Behavioral and Brain Sciences 5, no. 02 (1982): 187-195. DOI: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00011183\">10.1017/S0140525X00011183</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 63255,
"author": "user49096",
"author_id": 49096,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49096",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For atmospheric science, I surveyed a number of journals. The results are published here:</p>\n\n<p>David M. Schultz, 2010: Rejection Rates for Journals Publishing in the Atmospheric Sciences. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 91, 231–243.\ndoi: <a href=\"http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2009BAMS2908.1\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2009BAMS2908.1</a> </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 86822,
"author": "Fred Douglis",
"author_id": 4246,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4246",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I suspect the numbers for journals in CS vary widely, as do the numbers for specific conferences. But I will say that most CS systems conferences, as an example, have acceptance rates in the 15-25% range. As someone commented above, most of these papers don't get submitted once and die after rejection. Some get submitted multiple times, get rejected each time, and eventually the authors give up. But I imagine a pretty high fraction get published in the same or a different conference a year or two later. I know of some cases, including a paper of mine, where something rejected one time got revised and selected as best paper in a later instance of the same conference. </p>\n\n<p>So I guess it's a question of why this was asked [some time ago]. If it's to have assurances that one shouldn't give up hope after a rejection, rest assured! </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/09
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31483",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
31,484 |
<p>I am taking a course with a major final project. I was looking for a topic when my co-advisor noticed this. He suggested that I do a project related to my master thesis, and I agreed since I didn't know what I was going to do. He suggested that we do a certain design in half between me and a colleague of mine during a brief meeting with the course instructor. The course instructor asked if we are going to team up and I said no (I am not a team player). I submitted a proposal saying what I will do and as stretch goal, I will complete the whole design on my own. </p>
<p>I ended doing a very smart design in one week and my co-advisor was very impressed. He said that one part of my design could be patented. The whole design can make it to top conferences. Now he is saying you both, me and my colleague, should work together to finish the whole design. I still have 3 weeks to go and I have almost finished his part too. I feel very mad now and I don't want to give him any credit that he didn't deserve(His is part is much simpler than mine). </p>
<p>He is asking me to show him my design and I am not comfortable with that since he, in two occasions, performed "unethical actions" during these projects. He could easily claim that this is his work as well. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I don't want to start a fight with my co-advisor who suggested a paper that helped me in my design. He also knows my design and likes my colleague much more than me. He could easily tell him do this and that.(I feel like I made a mistake showing him, my co-advisor, my design). </p>
<p>What would be a smart move in this situation ? What words should I use to explain this to my advisor ? I just want to protect myself and get the credit for the work I did. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31527,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Communication is needed and you need to communicate to your co-advisor your feelings rather than second-guessing things and increase your frustration. You may lack some aspects of the picture that your advisor's see. So I would suggest the following:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Prepare everything to as close as the final product (manuscript) you can at this point. Add your name as sole author (unless anyone else deserves co-authorship at this stage)</p></li>\n<li><p>Present the work to your co-advisor for discussion and point out what \"little\" is left to do and discuss what remains to be done. This can then lead to understanding of what other could contribute that is not accomplished in your work.</p></li>\n<li><p>Once you have the situation a little more clear and depending on the outcome, state how you would like to see the distribution of co-authorship and take any discussion that follows.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Hopefully this will put you in a clearer position when considering taking on additional collaborators.</p>\n\n<p>Please also check the tag <a href=\"/questions/tagged/authors\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'authors'\" rel=\"tag\">authors</a> or search for <em>contributorship</em> here on academia to et input on what should be involved in adding names on a manuscript (<a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/23822/4394\">here is a link</a> to one example).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31543,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Please do not take this personally, because I do not know you or your abilities. I am only guessing by what you say but consider that a complete Internet stranger like me, gets a negative vibe from your words. And this is not a good thing. In detail:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I still have 3 weeks to go and I have almost finished his part too.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You never do that. Would you like the other-party to do exactly this on your part of the design? And perhaps even doing it better than you? No, you would not. You can offer suggestions / improvements on his design <strong>after he finishes</strong> and only in a way that does not offend / belittle him. You have a task - he had a task. Do your part and stick to it.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I feel very mad now and I don't want to give him any credit that he\n didn't deserve.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>You should be mad at yourself because you are a lousy team-player. Programming skills and intelligence can only get you up to a point. If you do not play well with others, you will usually be the first to get the boot. And the sad part is, that in that case no one will miss you. Consider this, at your next cooperation.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>He is asking me to show him my design</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>How does your colleague knows that you finished his part of the design too? It is obvious that not only you did something wrong (doing his part of the design) but probably bragged about it. That is totally immature, childish and unprofessional.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>He likes my colleague much more than me</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I wonder why. And why do you care who he likes most? </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I feel like I made a mistake showing him, my co-advisor, my design. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Of course you made a mistake. You wanted to brag. You could actually used the time you spent on your colleague's design to improve your design. Or you simply believe that your design does not need any improvement. If you believe that, you\nare seriously mistaken, because everything can be improved. So, focus on improving your design and checking for errors that have escaped your and your advisor's eyes.</p>\n\n<p>I believe you must be an undergraduate from your previous posts (I may be mistaken). If you are and you want to go to grad school, please humble down. Some of the things you are suggesting sound pretty paranoid. You thought of hiding part of the work from your co-advisor, so that he would not share this with his \"beloved\" student, who you seem to antagonize. Your design (which you finished in a week) will be patented and it could make it to the top-conferences.</p>\n\n<p>You do understand that all these sound a bit strange. </p>\n\n<p>Also, grow up. All of you (you, your 2 advisors and your coleague) have a common task / goal. You all are going to be co-authors if the project comes out. Understand, that you will not get more credit by overtaking other people's work but just burn some bridges. So, work towards the project's goals and not toward your personal goals. </p>\n\n<p>On your next project, make clear to everyone that you do not want to cooperate, because you want to do everything on your own. Although this is not a good long-term policy and sooner or later cooperation is a key to a good research output. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34726,
"author": "Welly314",
"author_id": 26960,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/26960",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While most research projects involve collaboration, I will assume that this was a student project where there was a legitimate option to either work alone or with a partner. You chose to work alone. Honestly, if someone had a history of fabricating results, I would also not risk publishing or presenting with them.</p>\n\n<p>I see 5 issues to resolve/consider:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>One issue seems to be where you're academic project (where you had the option of working alone) ends and where the publication, presentation or patent begins. The co-supervisor may think that you have already fulfilled the personal academic project with your design so far and that to bring it to the point of publication/presentation, additional steps need to be taken. To fulfill these additional steps, they may think it is best to bring in the other student.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>You need to honestly ask yourself if the other student may have something to add (a different skill set, etc.). The co-supervisor may like the other student and just want to do him a favor, but he might just be thinking of what is best for the project.</p>\n\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><p>Another potential issue is what has the other student been told. Perhaps the other student worked on his portion of the design for his individual project and the idea is now to combine them. Even if this not the case, the fact that you chose to complete the other students contribution, even after being told that was his job, does not help your case. For future reference, you should have addressed this issue immediately- making your case for completing the whole project alone before moving forward. Right now, it could look like you knowingly completed the other students work to force him out of the project. Although based on what you say, I can see why you would do this, I am not sure it was the most mature approach.</p></li>\n<li><p>The patent issue. Depending on your location (or maybe it is an international law), you may have a legitimate claim to the design. I am not an expert in intellectual property law, so please consult an intellectual property lawyer before proceeding. But, legally, you already at least co-own the intellectual property rights to your design. See <a href=\"http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2011/01/who-owns-student-created-intellectual-property.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">this legal blog post</a> for an example of student intellectual property. The law overrules academic norms,seniority etc. Although it may be unusual for a student to come up with a successful patentable design, no one here knows whether this is what you have. You may be in the small percentage of students who do, in fact have something of value. Please realize that you need to think this through, read through the legal literature and consult a professional if possible. You might take a risk (reputation wise) asserting a legal claim, but if you are really sure it will pay off, maybe it is worth it. But please be sensible and humble here. In the mean time, document, photograph, time-stamp, send e-mails to yourself...these steps won't hurt and could help if a disagreement arises later.</p></li>\n<li><p>The role of the co-advisor. If ultimately presented/published, this person may be assuming they are the senior author/PI. The PI would be an author and thus, would have a legitimate say in your work. You say you want him to 'back off', but if they consider themselves the PI on a collaborative project, they are not overstepping their bounds. </p></li>\n<li><p>The unethical behavior of the other student is another issue and one you need to consider. If you know this is 100% true and you exhaust your other options, you might need to bring this up. I'll call the other student John. Say \"I am in an uncomfortable situation that I think I need to bring to your attention. John fabricated the results of his mid-term project. I know this because [present your evidence]. I am concerned about the long-term implications of publishing work with an unethical collaborator. As you know, this could impact all of us. So, as uncomfortable as this is, I need to bring it to your attention and ask for your help.\" But, check your schools rules-you may have been required to report this as soon as you knew, so be careful. Depending on the rules and culture, this may be a last resort.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>But, the most important thing you can do is try to get a clear idea of expectations and roles. Perhaps you could ask the course instructor to help you. He gave you the option of working along and might be able to sit down with all of you and sort things out. Calmly ask for help, stay away from accusations and speculation and see what he says.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/09
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31484",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18244/"
] |
31,495 |
<p>What do you do when you have a conjecture, and you run experiments that confirm your conjecture, but you are unable to provide a formal proof (perhaps because it's too complicated)? Do you name them as conjectures or observations or... what?</p>
<p>This is in the context of a CS theory paper.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31497,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In mathematics and TCS (which is really a branch of mathematics), if you don't have a proof, you don't have a theorem. (You write \"experiments\", which I will assume means \"computer calculations\". Please let me know if this is not the case.) Doing some computer calculations can be interesting and even sometimes publishable, but it does not constitute any kind of proof, formal or otherwise. (<b>Added</b>: Well, unless it does, of course. You can prove a theorem by <em>reducing</em> it to a finite calculation and doing that calculation by hand or by computer or some of both. You can't prove a theorem which pertains to infinitely many cases by doing finitely many of them and claiming \"and so on\".) Also, although the word \"confirm\" is often used in this way in empirical science, in mathematics to \"confirm a conjecture\" means to prove it. </p>\n\n<p>I see two possible questions here:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>How do I write up computational evidence for a result that I cannot prove in a paper? </li>\n<li>Can I publish a paper in which I do not prove my conjecture but only have computational evidence towards it?</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>The first question is more straightforward. You state the conjecture -- i.e., the statement that you think is a theorem but can't yet prove. Some discussion of the provenance of the conjecture is probably a good idea but is not strictly necessary. However, if you got the conjecture from somewhere else you must indicate that. Then you document the calculations you made. Finally, you probably want to make some remarks about why the calculations make you confident in your conjecture (if that is the case). Here sometimes informal reasoning can be helpful: e.g. if your conjecture is that for two sequences of integers a_n and b_n that a_n and b_n are always congruent modulo 691, then if you check this for the first 100,000 terms then in some naive sense the probability that this happened by accident is (1/691)^{100,000}, which is vanishingly small.</p>\n\n<p>The second question is much more complicated. It can be hard to publish papers in which you do not prove a theorem but \"only\" give computer evidence...but not as hard as it used to be. Mathematics is slowly becoming more enlightened about the merits of computer calculations. I would say though that you need to understand the field much better to be able to predict whether a paper primarily containing computations would be publishable than to publish a more \"theoretical\" paper: many, many referees and journals will say \"no theorem, no proof, no paper\", so you should expect to work much harder to sell your work. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31498,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The important thing is to be honest and clear. In any proof-oriented subject (including theoretical CS), you should carefully distinguish theorems you have proved from conjectures you believe but have not proved. It's reasonable to give evidence in favor of your conjectures (such as your experiments) or to discuss possible proof techniques that might work, as long as you are clear about what you have or haven't done.</p>\n\n<p>What makes this awkward is that sometimes beginners are tempted to be a little unclear in dishonest ways. Suppose there's something you are pretty sure you could do if you had more time, and it's embarrassing to admit that you haven't yet been able to work out the details. It can be tempting to write something vague like \"These techniques apply to case X as well\" and rationalize it by saying it's not technically a lie, since you never actually said you applied them to complete the proof. Nevertheless, it's unethical since it misleads readers into thinking you've done more than you have.</p>\n\n<p>Even if you don't feel this temptation yourself, it's important to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, so it's best to be extra careful about anything near the borderline of what you have or haven't proved.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Do you name them as conjectures or observations or what?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Conjecture sounds like the appropriate name here. Observation might make sense if this terminology is commonly used in your subfield, but it sounds potentially problematic to me. It sounds a little too much like something you could prove but are omitting the details for, rather than something you have been unable to prove (so if you use that terminology, you should be careful to make this clear).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/09
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31495",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10297/"
] |
31,505 |
<p>I am applying for a university scholarship program, and as part of the application I have to write some essays but I don't understand what they want exactly in the first essay. The question is written like this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Household information and Statement of Need</strong></p>
<p>Describe the challenges you have faced in your path to education until
this point. Please include the following:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Who has supported your academic achievements until now? (financially and/or other)</p></li>
<li><p>Which challenges did you overcome during your secondary education?</p></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>So my question is: when they ask "Which challenges did you overcome during your secondary education?" are they only asking about financial issues/challenges or also other kind of challenges?</p>
<p>Is it OK if I talk about family problems(non financial) that have negatively affected some moments of my education?</p>
<p>I would like also to ask if anyone could give me a link to an article or some other other online resource that has tips to writing a good essay, I have already googled but I can't find anything very useful.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31511,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It's hard to know for certain without knowing more about the particular scholarship that you are applying for, but many scholarships are designed to very specifically target particularly disadvantaged students and try to turn them into success stories.\nIf you, for example, faced discrimination and prejudice, or other institutional barriers, that would likely be an excellent thing to talk about, as this is the sort of problem that many scholarships are designed to help mitigate. If it is a more personal thing, e.g., you had an older brother who you just didn't get along with, that may not be as compelling a narrative.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31586,
"author": "R Mac",
"author_id": 24175,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24175",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>They're leaving the question open-ended intentionally. They will use your answer to judge whether you're a good fit for the school's culture.</p>\n\n<p>Generally when you see questions like this for things like admissions essays or in interviews, the interviewer wants to give you an honest and complete answer. You can discuss any kinds of challenges here, be they personal, financial, or strictly academic, but only bring the challenge up if the way you responded to it either taught you something or reflects a positive character trait.</p>\n\n<p>The goal for your essay should be to show the reader why you deserve the scholarship or why you are most likely to use that money in a better way than another recipient might be. Because of this, keep in mind the <em>kind</em> of scholarship it is. If it's a minority scholarship, for example, remember that the scholarship is, at its core, designed to help underprivileged kids have the opportunity to go to school, and those kinds of scholarships are <em>especially</em> relevant to bright kids with decent test scores who come from places with limited academic resources or families with low income. That kind of situation might give you all sorts of stuff to talk about, from disrespectful kids and xenophobic teachers to insufficient access to technology and school supplies. If you can show that you faced some or all of these kinds of challenges but still got a 29 on your ACT (because you worked hard and applied yourself, naturally), the Minority Office might be more impressed with your application. Review the mission statement of the department that will be receiving the recommendation before writing it, and always tweak essays for other departments before you send out the letters.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/10
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31505",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24128/"
] |
31,507 |
<p><em>Background: I'm writing a master's thesis with APA citations.</em></p>
<p>In one paragraph, I cite two unrelated pieces of information that happen to come from different chapters of the same textbook. It's obvious from the chapter titles where in the book the second piece of information is located, but it's not obvious where the first piece is located. For the reader's sake, I'd like to be able to write something like:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Here's what I'm doing. Here's an interesting fact <strong>(Trout, chapter 2, 1946)</strong> and this is what it implies in the context of my research. I then fit this interesting model, described by e.g. <strong>Trout, chapter 8 (1946)</strong>.</p>
<p>References:<br>
Trout, Kilgore. (1946). <em>Ice-9 and its Applications</em>. Ilium, NY: Slaughterhouse Press.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I've never seen this done before and I couldn't find anything like it in the Purdue OWL APA style guide. Another idea would be to cite each chapter separately, as in:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Here's what I'm doing. Here's an interesting fact <strong>(Trout, 1946a)</strong> and this is what it implies in the context of my research. I then fit this interesting model, described by e.g. <strong>Trout (1946b)</strong>.</p>
<p>References:<br>
Trout, Kilgore. (1946a). Why ice is nice. In <em>Ice-9 and its Applications</em>. Ilium, NY: Slaughterhouse Press. <br>
Trout, Kilgore. (1946b). Containment methods. In <em>Ice-9 and its Applications</em>. Ilium, NY: Slaughterhouse Press.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>How should I cite this? Is there an established convention for this? Am I worrying too much?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31510,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If the chapters are part of a unified work (e.g., a textbook or monograph), then it's appropriate to use one citation, and to say the chapter in the text:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Here's what I'm doing. Chapter 2 of (Trout, 1946) presents an interesting fact. I\n then fit the interesting model, described in Chapter 8 of (Trout, 1946).</p>\n \n <p>References: Trout, Kilgore. (1946). Ice-9 and its Applications. Ilium,\n NY: Slaughterhouse Press.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I'm not quite sure of where APA puts the parentheses; my point is about handling chapters as prose.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if the chapters are separate pieces of a collection (e.g., contributed texts in a \"recent results in...\" book), then each should have an independent entry in the bibliography.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31524,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I would suggest the following:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Here's what I'm doing. Here's an interesting fact (Trout, 1946, Ch. 2) and this is what it implies in the context of my research. I then fit this interesting model, described by e.g. Trout (1946, Ch. 8).</p>\n<p>References:</p>\n<p>Trout, Kilgore. (1946). Ice-9 and its Applications. Ilium, NY: Slaughterhouse Press.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>However, you should consider whether citing pages would point the reader more directly to the fact than an entire chapter. Only you can judge this but it is rare that a <em>fact</em> needs an entire chapter to be stated. If you cite a theory or some larger concept the chapter may be an appropriate entity to be cited. If pages are better suited your references would look like, for example:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Here's what I'm doing. Here's an interesting fact (Trout, 1946, p 56) and this is what it implies in the context of my research. I then fit this interesting model, described by e.g. Trout (1946, Ch. 8).</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31530,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Chapters and page numbers are not included in in-text citations or the reference list for monographs in APA style. The <a href=\"http://www.apastyle.org/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">APA style guide</a> is comprehensive and definitive and my understanding is that deviations are not allowed, even if they are helpful.</p>\n<p>Both of your examples deviate from APA style. The APA compliant way is:</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Here's what I'm doing. Here's an interesting fact (Trout, 1946) and this is what it implies in the context of my research. I then fit this interesting model, described by e.g. Trout (1946).</p>\n<p>References:</p>\n<p>Trout, K. (1946). <em>Ice-9 and its Applications</em>. Ilium, NY: Slaughterhouse Press.</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>You need to decide if you want to give the reader all useful information or stick strictly to APA style.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/10
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31507",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17850/"
] |
31,545 |
<p>Is there such a thing as an interdisciplinary PhD, where the student chooses the fields, courses, etc.? If so, which U.S. universities offer such a thing?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31565,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, every Ph.D. is officially within some formal department, or other program, and a Ph.D. student will need to do at least whatever courses that program requires. Some such programs, however, are extremely interdisciplinary by their nature: some nice examples are MIT's <a href=\"http://esd.mit.edu/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Engineering Systems Division</a> and <a href=\"http://media.mit.edu/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Media Lab</a>, where participants have the opportunity to take a wide variety of different courses connected to different disciplines. Every program has some (often relatively loose) expectations about what a student will do, however, so you're unlikely to find anything where you just get to pick whatever you feel like.</p>\n\n<p>Beyond a certain point, however, a Ph.D. is not about coursework. Once you start to focus on your research, then you can do anything that you and your advisor agree is appropriate...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31587,
"author": "user24177",
"author_id": 24177,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24177",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>For a while I was a graduate student in the math department of Portland State University. At Portland State, the Ph.D. program in math <em>requires</em> students to have an \"allied area\" (field of study other than mathematics). The student's thesis must be related to this allied area, the student must take about 25% percent of their courses in the allied area, and the student must pass a qualifying exam in the allied area. Thus the whole program is designed to be interdisciplinary from the get-go. </p>\n\n<p>(Side note: The actual name of degree is \"Ph.D. in Mathematical Sciences\", and it definitely differs from the traditional math Ph.D.) </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/10
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31545",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9425/"
] |
31,567 |
<p>In my statement of purpose, I am using certain arguments by scholars of my field (IR). Will it be advisable to use referencing, or might it be to my disadvantage as an unnecessary attempt to boast on my knowledge in that field.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31565,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In general, every Ph.D. is officially within some formal department, or other program, and a Ph.D. student will need to do at least whatever courses that program requires. Some such programs, however, are extremely interdisciplinary by their nature: some nice examples are MIT's <a href=\"http://esd.mit.edu/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Engineering Systems Division</a> and <a href=\"http://media.mit.edu/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Media Lab</a>, where participants have the opportunity to take a wide variety of different courses connected to different disciplines. Every program has some (often relatively loose) expectations about what a student will do, however, so you're unlikely to find anything where you just get to pick whatever you feel like.</p>\n\n<p>Beyond a certain point, however, a Ph.D. is not about coursework. Once you start to focus on your research, then you can do anything that you and your advisor agree is appropriate...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31587,
"author": "user24177",
"author_id": 24177,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24177",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>For a while I was a graduate student in the math department of Portland State University. At Portland State, the Ph.D. program in math <em>requires</em> students to have an \"allied area\" (field of study other than mathematics). The student's thesis must be related to this allied area, the student must take about 25% percent of their courses in the allied area, and the student must pass a qualifying exam in the allied area. Thus the whole program is designed to be interdisciplinary from the get-go. </p>\n\n<p>(Side note: The actual name of degree is \"Ph.D. in Mathematical Sciences\", and it definitely differs from the traditional math Ph.D.) </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/11
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31567",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24166/"
] |
31,568 |
<p>I am planning to apply for tenure track academic positions, and I already got 3 letters from people who I have worked with during my PhD, including my advisor.</p>
<p>Do you think I should seek out letters from my former supervisor (masters) and a few that I have published paper with during my master's program? Does it add value to the application?</p>
<p>Also, I have worked with a few fellow students who are now assistant professors in other institutions. Does it make sense to ask for letters from them?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31595,
"author": "Louis Iselin",
"author_id": 11631,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11631",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Start by looking at the type of academic position. What skills does the position demand? Who can best speak to those areas of strength? Do you know anyone outside of your academic department who will write a positive letter for you? For some additional guidance, consider this document.<a href=\"http://careers.washington.edu/sites/default/files/all/editors/docs/gradstudents/Academic_Jobs_-_Letters_of_Recommendation.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://careers.washington.edu/sites/default/files/all/editors/docs/gradstudents/Academic_Jobs_-_Letters_of_Recommendation.pdf</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31717,
"author": "A.S",
"author_id": 22447,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22447",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Short answer: Extra letters do not improve an application, but could undermine it.</p>\n\n<p>Elaboration: One advice often given in career center presentations or online articles about post-doc/TT applications is that the application packet should only contain the documents (and the number of documents) requested. If the announcement asks for 3 letter of reference, it means the hiring committee expects 3 letters, not 2 or 4. This is a simple yet often overlooked fundamental criterion of a successful application.</p>\n\n<p>Assuming you are planning to supply only the requested number of letters and the issue is <strong>which</strong> letters to include, I recommend sticking with the traditional approach of letters from the individuals who you have worked with in subordinate capacity with during your PhD studies. This typically includes your dissertation advisor/committee chair, perhaps another committee member, or (if different) a PI on a grant you worked on, whether in or outside of your department (e.g. an affiliated research center). </p>\n\n<p>I would advise against letters from very junior faculty at other institutions (e.g. your recent peers) as they carry relatively little clout and the hiring committee might get the wrong idea if they suspect your choice of using them as reference may have been forced, to some extent, by circumstances that prevent letters from more reputable/senior colleagues (in other words they may come across as less convincing and perhaps even suspicion-provoking reference choices - and you don't need that).</p>\n\n<p>Generally, I would advice including letters from the individuals (faculty) you have worked with most recently. The dissertation advisor is an unavoidable choice and a must. Beyond that, if you worked with other faculty who were PIs or partners you have collaborated/co-authored with, choose the individuals you have worked with on most recent projects/publications as consistent with the chronology of your academic appointments/experience in the CV.</p>\n\n<p>It is also a well known and accepted (if not publicly advertised) practice to pre-write letters of recommendation to save your references' time. Whether you have done this already or not, good to keep in mind. Just ask your reference in a matter-of-fact way if they prefer to author the letter or could use a summary draft (or at the very least, a current copy of your CV).</p>\n\n<p>Good luck with your apps! Let us know how it goes!</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/11
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31568",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10297/"
] |
31,576 |
<p>Diploma mills sell degrees at any level, ranging from bachelor to PhD. The way I see it, the sole purpose of getting milled diplomas is to deceive others. As such, I expect the consequences of getting caught to be sufficiently severe.</p>
<p>I wonder if there are known cases of people getting prosecuted for using such fake degrees to land a certain job. I know there are plenty of cases where said people got fired, for instance <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Psst-Wanna-Buy-a-PhD-/24239" rel="noreferrer">here</a>.</p>
<p>I am mainly interested in the consequences of obtaining fake PhDs and subsequently using the supposedly obtained titles. In Belgium and the Netherlands, for instance, the formal title of 'Doctor' is legally protected, so unjustified use <em>could</em> lead to prosecution. I assume this is also the case in some other countries (examples are most welcome), since we have a lot of questions pertaining '<em>can I call myself X in country Y after obtaining Z</em>'.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31579,
"author": "GeneMachine",
"author_id": 18248,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18248",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>See here for one case:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.employeescreen.com/iqblog/fake-degree-leads-to-arrest/\">http://www.employeescreen.com/iqblog/fake-degree-leads-to-arrest/</a></p>\n\n<p>And here's the official announcement:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.nyc.gov/html/doi/downloads/pdf/pr46feraca05_26_2010.pdf\">http://www.nyc.gov/html/doi/downloads/pdf/pr46feraca05_26_2010.pdf</a></p>\n\n<p>Apparently, in the US, one can be charged with \"criminal possession of a forged instrument\" and \"offering a false instrument for filing\".</p>\n\n<p>However, this case concerns a fake degree from a real institution. As noted below, the Diploma Mill case is much more complex. See here for a discussion of the legal issues:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://journals.law.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/stanford-law-policy-review/print/2010/01/gollin_21_stan._l._poly_rev._1.pdf\">https://journals.law.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/stanford-law-policy-review/print/2010/01/gollin_21_stan._l._poly_rev._1.pdf</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 59635,
"author": "Adam Davis",
"author_id": 11901,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11901",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should probably just read the <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diploma_mills_in_the_United_States\" rel=\"noreferrer\">wikipedia article on Diploma Mills in the US</a>. Here's my short summary.</p>\n<p>There are a few legally protected titles in some states. For instance, you can't call yourself a Doctor, Lawyer, or Professional Engineer in Michigan without having passed the relevant licensing tests and have obtained a degree from an accredited educational program.</p>\n<p>This essentially forms a chain of trust. For a profession engineer, the state requires you obtain an NCEES license, they perform testing and also require an educational degree from an accredited institution, and they only trust a handful of accrediting agencies.</p>\n<p>One <a href=\"http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">accreditation</a> list is maintained by the US Department of Education.</p>\n<p>For instance, the University of Michigan is accredited by an organization that the US Department of Education trusts - the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, The Higher Learning Commission.</p>\n<p>Thus there is a chain of trust.</p>\n<p>Diploma mills come in two types, accredited and unaccredited. The accredited diploma mills get their accreditation from fake or otherwise invalid accreditation agencies.</p>\n<p>The unaccredited diploma mills simply call themselves schools and claim authority to hand out degrees.</p>\n<p>There are no federal laws that would unambiguously prohibit diploma mills, and the terms "university", "college", etc are not protected so anyone can use them for any purpose.</p>\n<p>Some states have fairly tough laws that prevent diploma mills from claiming that state as their home, requiring accreditation from an institution recognized by the US Department of Education, for instance, before being able to award educational degrees.</p>\n<p>This is not universal, though, so you end up with diploma mills setting up in states that do not have such protections. This helped initially, but then the internet became very popular, and diploma mills started extending their reach more aggressively outside their states.</p>\n<p>In states where such mills are illegal, sometimes the degrees and use of them to promote yourself is also illegal. However it appears that <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diploma_mills_in_the_United_States#cite_note-13\" rel=\"noreferrer\">these laws may be unconstitutional</a>.</p>\n<h3>Conclusion</h3>\n<ul>\n<li>If you award fake diplomas, you can be prosecuted in some states.</li>\n<li>If you promote yourself using a fake diploma you are unlikely to be prosecuted, but there are laws under which you could be prosecuted.</li>\n<li>If you use legally protected terms requiring license in your state, such as doctor, lawyer, professional engineer, etc, you may be prosecuted under state laws.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 93024,
"author": "David",
"author_id": 62652,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/62652",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First off- I'm not a lawyer.</p>\n\n<p>My understanding is that in the US you generally cannot be prosecuted for claiming to have a PhD when you do not, or when that PhD was conferred by a diploma mill. Both of these actions are protected by the first amendment. However, you can be prosecuted when you <em>lie for the purpose of personal gain</em>. </p>\n\n<p>Federal law and all 50 states have some notion of the crime of <em>fraud</em>. Fraud is generally defined to be <em>deception for the purpose of personal gain</em>. When you can prove deception you can build a criminal case, but where you can't prove a deception occurred it is much harder. This is why it's easy to find cases where someone fabricated credentials and was caught (e.g. claimed that Harvard gave them a degree when they in fact did not, and a simple call to Harvard verifies this). However, if you have a PhD from a diploma mill you can honestly say that you have a PhD, it just happens to be that the degree is worthless. </p>\n\n<p>This is complicated by the fact that some people apparently believe (or can plausibly claim) that their diploma mill degrees are somewhat legitimate. There are a host of phoney rationales that these organizations use to mitigate peoples' sense of moral hazard. For example, \"Your accumulated life experiences equate to a substantial amount of degree credit.\" It sounds reasonable to some people- especially since it's something that one would want to believe. Thus, someone may honestly believe that they have a Ph.D. and are an expert through the benefit of accumulated life experience.</p>\n\n<p>I would compare this situation to the <em>Stolen Valor</em> laws in the US that attempt to punish people who falsely claim to have served in the military. The original law punished the act of falsely claiming you had military service, but was <a href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Alvarez#Supreme_Court.27s_decision\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">struck down by the supreme court</a> on the basis that the first amendment protects speech even if it is a lie. (Some specific types of speech are excluded, such as lying under oath.) As a result, a revised version of the law was created that specifically punishes lying about military service <em>for the purpose of personal gain</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Note that some states have passed additional laws specifically concerning or criminalizing diploma mills, or criminalizing the use of diploma mill degrees in certain contexts such as job applications. However, the majority of states have not. </p>\n\n<p>What this all adds up to is that employers have to be diligent about tracking down and verifying people's credentials and asking the right questions. Consider the difference in specificity and potential for deception between the statements \"I have a PhD.\" and \"I have six years of postgraduate study in computer systems engineering that culminated in a dissertation.\" There are basic questions that could reveal a diploma mill applicant even if the interviewer didn't have an expert background in the topic. The questions \"How long did you study for your PhD\" or \"How long were you a full-time student at your graduate university\" or \"Describe the degree requirements at your graduate institution\" have a set of expected responses that can be followed-up upon if something sounds out of the ordinary.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/11
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31576",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7173/"
] |
31,582 |
<p>I have a tendency to overcategorize things when writing a paper. Currently I’m working on my thesis and I’m concerned with my level of subchaptering. Right now I’m already down to x.x.x.x and I fear going down a level deeper would look bad. I think it adds to the overall clarity of the paper to categorize everything and would allow for more efficient lookup later on, but it’s not clear to me to what degree this should be done. Are there any general best practices? Are there any rules of thumb you use?</p>
<p>My faculty does not have any clear policy regarding this. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31583,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Many, if not most, journals specify a maximum of three levels. In a book where the chapter is the top level, four may be ok considering each chapter can be as extensive as a paper. The problem of having too many levels is that the headings disrupt the reading. A good sign of this is when you end up having one heading per paragraph. If that is the case, you can probably remove the lowest level of headings and try to make the resulting segments of text flow by inserting bridges that makes paragraphs into a coherent text.</p>\n\n<p>In my experience having read numerous student reports, theses and articles, three is a good goal. It is rare that a fourth level adds much in terms of structure apart from perhaps helping the writer. In fact, I often recommend students to keep a more detailed list of headings to enable them to see the structure of what they are writing but under the pretext that only a maximum of three should remain in their final version. I stand by that recommendation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31585,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I find that a good heuristic for structural depth is visual and conceptual navigation. If you think of a paper as a collection of (reasonable length) paragraphs, then for ease of navigation its structure should generally be a balanced tree with roughly 2-6 subunits at each level. Bigger than that, and it starts being hard to navigate, smaller and it starts feeling unorganized or pointlessly subdivided.</p>\n\n<p>It is also important for each level of the structure of a paper to be a relatively even partition (possibly excepting the introduction and conclusion, which may be much smaller). If you find yourself with some sections much bigger or much smaller than others, then you may want to rethink your structure (e.g. should \"Results\" and \"Discussion\" be separate, or combined into \"Results & Discussion\").</p>\n\n<p>Put the balancing and branch restriction heuristics together, and you've got a natural control on depth. One exception: some journals require a particular set of section headers, which may force the top layer of your tree to be unbalanced; you can still apply the heuristics for subsections and beyond, however.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 187675,
"author": "user3352632",
"author_id": 129441,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/129441",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you think that a deep structure adds to clarity, then it is ok to use it. I think, a thesis (PhD) should be fine with x.x.x.x.x. If your supervisor finds otherwise, he should tell you about this - or ask him.</p>\n<p>A <strong>good supervisor</strong> will not just write: <em>max structure is x.x.x.x</em>. Instead, he would give you recommendations on where to change what and why - based on his opinion and maybe his experience (which is only reliable if he has written more than a master thesis a year before you).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/11
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31582",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24172/"
] |
31,588 |
<p>I have been studying hard for the past year and a half (it's my second year of Computer Science) while not getting remotely close to the desired results. I passed my first year with a 7.2 GPA (5 (failing grade) - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 (best)) which is very low given that I want to master in applied maths or an area revolving around that.</p>
<p>I'm doing 6 hours a day Monday to Thursday, 10 hours a day Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday I try to rest a little. I rest every 30-45 minutes for 5-15 minutes. Now, I'm isolating myself, sacrificing my social life, among other things. I'm feeling angry at myself every time I get the exam results or when a deadline passes and I haven't finished the lab/project.</p>
<p>I even started eating healthier because I thought unhealthy food was the problem.</p>
<p>What can a student in this situation do to earn better grades?</p>
<p>P.S: I do like what I study, no matter how angry I get, I know I will wake up the next day and head to the library/school.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31592,
"author": "mhwombat",
"author_id": 10529,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10529",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Don't panic. The fact that you're still enthusiastic about your studies suggests to me that you can likely fix the problem, whatever it is.</p>\n\n<p>If you're having trouble with just one or two of your subjects, then there's probably a gap in your background knowledge. Try to figure out where that gap is. Right now it may feel like everything in those subjects is difficult, but I suspect if you look hard, you'll find out there's just one or two small gaps in your knowledge, and that's something you can remedy. Perhaps you can take a lighter course load next semester to give you time to focus on the areas you're having difficulty. Once you figure out what the gaps are, you could either take the appropriate course, or teach yourself. This strategy may delay your graduation by a semester, but it could be worth it.</p>\n\n<p>If you're having trouble with most of your subjects, then I suspect you're not studying very efficiently. You may be working hard, but not using your time well. Unfortunately, I don't have specific advice on how to improve your study habits, but there are lots of resources available for this kind of thing, and others here may be able to point you to those resources. Again, it might be worthwhile to take a lighter course load while you practice your new study habits.</p>\n\n<p>Talk to your student advisor about your problem. If you think it's a gap in your foundational knowledge, t may be worthwhile to pick one problem that you found particularly difficult, and ask the instructor (during office hours, not in class) to go through it in gory detail with you to help you figure out where your knowledge gaps are. </p>\n\n<p>Also, there is probably a student centre or something like that at your school, where you can get advice on how to improve your study habits.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31594,
"author": "R Mac",
"author_id": 24175,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24175",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Go slow. You can't improve your grades overnight, and if you try too hard to do, you'll do more harm than good. Different people learn at different rates, so if you don't get something straight away, don't fret. <em>Nobody</em> gets everything the first time. That might sound obvious the first time you hear it, but every time you fail, you need to remind yourself that you <em>have</em> to fail in order to succeed. Your first and largest hurdle is learning not to be afraid of failure. Contrary to popular belief, your failures will not haunt you for the rest of your life. :)</p>\n\n<p>Don't spend too much of your focus on assignments and study, either. De-focusing, in fact, is a valuable research and problem-solving technique. Take a break every thirty minutes or hour to grab a snack, talk to a friend, or play a game. Return to the task that had you stumped when your mind has had an opportunity to relax a bit. This will give you a fresh perspective on the problem and will make it far more likely that the thought process that ultimately gets you to a solution will stick with you.</p>\n\n<p>Figure out your learning style. Some people learn best by writing down everything they hear. Others learn great just by listening. Still some other people need to actually build things and hold them in their hands to see how those things work. Start by figuring out if you're a <em>visual</em> learner (you learn best by watching others do things), an <em>auditory</em> learner (you learn best by listening to instructions and discussion), a <em>lexical</em> learner (you learn best by writing things down and taking copious notes), or a <em>physical</em> learner (you learn best by doing things yourself). When you've figured this out, remember to employ your learning method as much as possible throughout your education, and make your strongest effort to \"study\" things in the way that works best for you (regardless of whether that means listening well in class and not studying at all or writing down every gosh darn thing you hear). If you need to write down everything, I highly recommend investing in a small audio recording device you can use in your classes, unless you're a super fast writer.</p>\n\n<p>Speaking of recording classes, learn to use your resources, also. Your teachers or professors are there, for the most part, to help you, so never feel bad about taking advantage of office hours or after-class help sessions. Whenever you are struggling to understand something, ask for help! Sometimes someone else explaining things differently can have a big impact on your ability to understand.</p>\n\n<p>Do everything that you do with the mind that you'll have to do it again someday. When you try something new or encounter new material, don't just learn what to do. Learn <em>how</em> to do it. This practice doesn't require OCD studying. Just get in the habit of wondering why things happen. If you ask enough questions, answers will come back to you. They have a natural way of that.</p>\n\n<p>Also, read! Pick up reading as a habit, and do it for fun. Reading regularly will make the kind of reading you have to do for effective studying <em>much</em> easier. You'll feel less exhausted after studying, and you'll retain much more of what you do study. Best of all, books are cheap from Amazon or local bargain book stores and make for an outstanding way to kill some time.</p>\n\n<p>After reading for awhile, maybe you can get yourself to start writing, too. Even if you're just writing in journals, the purposeful employment of language implicitly forces you to think about things like syntax, word choice, and tone. Writing is a really great way to engage problem-solving and analytical skills without actually doing any overtly structured problem solving or analysis.</p>\n\n<p>Play games! Sudoku, solitaire, puzzle games, \"code\" games, video games--anything that gets your brain juices flowing. Games that involve problem-solving and strategy can stimulate parts of your brain that you actively use during studying and test-taking. Besides solitaire and Sudoku, take a gander at Zendo, Mastermind, and chess. If you're into video games, good news--basically every mainstream video game is designed to stimulate your mind (because, incidentally, that feeling causes gamers to play the game more). If you go the video game route, just be careful not to play too much. :)</p>\n\n<p>Lastly, be patient, but don't let opportunities for good discussion pass by. To learn to love learning, you have to experience a kind of learning that is super engaging for you. It comes when it comes, but if you don't put yourself out there, you'll never see it. Be involved in classroom discussions, and when a topic comes up that interests you, share your thoughts on it. Eventually, when you've learned how to make connections between things you would used to have thought unrelated, you might make a comment that starts a totally new perspective on a topic for a whole class, and that's a really cool feeling. You've probably also heard before that the most effective way to learn is by teaching others, right? Well, guess what classroom discussion is all about? Put yourself out there. Discuss!</p>\n\n<p>Obviously you can't do all these things right this very minute, so I refer you at this point back to the first two words in this whole mess of verbiage: go slow. Rushing yourself is the surest way to get nowhere, so make a long term plan describing what you want to accomplish within the next twelve months and daily chip away at it. Just remember above all other things that you can't reinvent your learning style overnight. :)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31596,
"author": "Henry",
"author_id": 24188,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24188",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am in my third year, and I am on course to get a Math with CS minor degree.</p>\n\n<p>When I don't understand something, feel stuck, or get crap grades, I take a step back and ask the following questions:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Was I careless?</li>\n<li>Do I lack fluency?</li>\n<li>Can I explain the material?</li>\n<li>Am I answering without sufficient proof?</li>\n<li>Do I know my definitions?</li>\n<li>Am I mindlessly practicing?</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Each of these questions comes from experience.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Careless</strong> is easy. Slow down, think through the wording of questions, check your answers for plausibility. Unfortunately, this is rarely the true culprit.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Fluency</strong> is often key. Don't give in to extremism (concept-only or mechanical-only learning). Fully understand practice problems, and then practice writing out solutions with clarity and succinctness. You cannot gain fluency by mindlessly repeating problems, copying and pasting code, compiling until it finally works, checking answers in the back when you're half done, etc. But you cannot win by learning only concepts! You <strong>must</strong> be fluent writing out solutions. <strong>Teaching others is perfect.</strong></p>\n\n<p>Which leads to <strong>explaining</strong> nicely. Try explaining problems to yourself in the shower, and their solutions. Try writing out very neat and tidy solutions, diagrams, and other tools for deeper intuition. If you can explain something to someone else, you will use and grow these a <strong>lot</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>As you move forward in your studies, you will be asked not to simply provide answers, but answers that you can <strong>prove</strong> are correct (and in the case of CSC, often demonstrate have certain running times). This means you must know the background material so you can draw on definitions, previous results, and similar proofs.</p>\n\n<p>So <strong>know your definitions</strong>. If you cannot say in one sentence or less what a function is, a set is, a graph, a cyclic graph, a residual graph, or whatever terminology and level you are at, then you will have major problems.</p>\n\n<p>And <strong>mindlessness</strong> will kill you. You cannot memorize definitions flashcard style and expect to succeed. You have to write them down over and over in your attempts to solve problems. You need to be fluent reading and writing the material of your major. Think about how your fluency in your native tongue came about. Understanding others, and <em>then</em> making yourself understood. It does not come from standing in the mirror mouthing 5 words of the day over and over again. I hope you see what I mean.</p>\n\n<p>I have no proof for this, but I believe that some of my study sessions are 10x more productive than others. These are not the sessions where everything clicks! Those are the product of many efficient study sessions. No, efficiency comes when I turn on my mind, I slow down, and I work the really hard problems methodically.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, make sure you read <em>How to Solve It</em> by <strong>Polya</strong> (or at the very least, read a summary of this work).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31598,
"author": "arp",
"author_id": 23831,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23831",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many of the people I knew who majored in Computer Science put in a lot more than 44 hours a week on their classwork and projects; how much time do your classmates put in on their studies? </p>\n\n<p>If you're spending 44 hours a week on your studies why do you feel that you are sacrificing your social life? People who work 40 hours a week at a job don't usually complain about not having time for themselves. (If you are spending 44 hours a week studying on top of having a job to support yourself, you may need to think about whether you're capable of a full-time job and a full-time course of study at the same time. Many people are not.)</p>\n\n<p>As others have suggested, forming a study group may help you; you can learn from those who have mastered concepts you are struggling with, and learn even more by teaching what you <strong>think</strong> you know well to those who are just learning. Going to a professor or tutor for extra help might also be useful. </p>\n\n<p>What parts of computer science are the most fun for you? Algorithms? Programming? Hardware? Theory? Would it help to do a personal side project that mostly just uses the fun stuff, to help encourage you to get more practice? (For example, program a little video game to relax.)</p>\n\n<p>Do you have as much maths background as your classmates? There may be concepts you struggle with that they learned in other classes, like Boolean logic. </p>\n\n<p>Finally, you may benefit from going back over your old coursework to see what you missed, but now have the framework to understand better. If you have graded homework or exams from your first classes, can you now easily see what you missed at the time? If not, you may benefit from going back to study those elementary concepts until they are second nature.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31601,
"author": "Village",
"author_id": 600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Use SQ3R to Focus Your Readings</strong></p>\n\n<p>To help your memory and focus on material that you learn from reading, try using the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQ3R\" rel=\"nofollow\">SQ3R</a> method. See <a href=\"http://www.ucc.vt.edu/academic_support_students/online_study_skills_workshops/SQ3R_improving_reading_comprehension/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">this article</a> from Virginia Tech to further learn how to use it. Several other strategies exist to help you to think more carefully about how you think of the material while you study are listed in this <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Study_skills\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikipedia</a> article, but be selective and strategic in which ones you use and when.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Use SRS for Repetitive Practice and Review</strong></p>\n\n<p>To practice skills that demand repeated practice, such as math, try using <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition\" rel=\"nofollow\">SRS</a>. This is essentially flash cards, but controlled by algorithms based on memory research. Many SRS tools allow for cards with graphics, audio, and LaTeX, HTML, and CSS. You could add math problems from your textbook to the software and the algorithms in the software will help you to spend more time on the difficult ones, less time on the easy problems. Study with such tools daily, but do not use them in excess. As SRS takes considerable time to setup, as you will likely need to build custom study materials, so use your holiday time to get started. \"<a href=\"http://www.supermemo.com/articles/20rules.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">The 20 Rules of Formulating Knowledge in Learning</a>\" is essential reading.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Avoid Attentive-less Practice</strong></p>\n\n<p>Many students get into a routine of solving their textbook's problems by just following their teacher's steps or by memorizing information by rote. Think carefully about how you think about what you are learning. If you are studying math, avoid just pushing the numbers around as your teacher showed you and spend time exploring the real meaning of the problem through visualization. Spend time solving your math problems using <a href=\"http://fcit.usf.edu/mathvids/strategies/cra.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">concrete, representational, and abstract methods</a> so that you do not merely build the capacity to solve problems on paper, but can visualize what that math actually represents:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Concrete - use some physical items or the physical space to solve the problem.</li>\n<li>Representational - sketch the physical items or situation on paper to solve the problem.</li>\n<li>Abstract - use the mathematical language your instructor or textbook taught to solve the problem.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p><strong>Use Support Services</strong></p>\n\n<p>Determine what academic support services are available. For example, your school might have a writing center to help you with your writing. Your school might have a tutoring center to help you with your math. Some departments may also have a meeting area where you can meet other students who are working on their homework, where you can join a study group and potentially meet your teachers or their teaching assistants, to get help outside of class. In the US, some schools offer 1-credit courses or free seminars to introduce these available services. Do not attempt to do everything on your own.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Maintain a Fixed, Sufficient Sleep Routine</strong></p>\n\n<p>Staying up late to get in a few hours more work done can cost you more hours the next day. Establish a fixed sleeping schedule where you wake up and go to sleep at the same time each day, even on weekends. Make sure you are getting a good amount of rest each night so that you can be very focused the next day. Break this schedule only at strategic times, e.g. to work on an important project, but not before an exam.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31610,
"author": "Vector Lightning",
"author_id": 24195,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24195",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First things first, you gotta know what's dragging your grade to the nether regions. Are you turning in everything but scoring low, or not turning in everything? I know plenty of fellow students who would do amazingly well if they turned in everything, and I know the other case as well. Are you taking good notes, or not understanding, or some other issue entirely? </p>\n\n<p>I've asked plenty of questions, but these are an important part of knowing how to improve the grade. There are some tricks that can help you improve but you gotta know/tell the problem first. </p>\n\n<p>I'd normally say I'm done here but I found some handy tools recently that may be worth checking out. \nOrganization: Trello.com is a neat organizer you can use for sorting assignments, tracking due dates, and project ideas. What I did with it involved making a homework \"board\", which contains stacks of cards. I then made one stack for each class, and then one card per assignment. You can drag the cards with assignment names and info around, as well as rearrange the card stacks. What I do is sort the cards by due date and delete them when the assignment is done. \nStudying: Studyblue is a neat Web app that not only does flashcards, but also shares them, searches for similar decks, and allows you to borrow decks from classmates. It also tracks your progress and learns which ones you know, and it helps me to study. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31620,
"author": "Saking",
"author_id": 24110,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24110",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Points: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Try to think what you have learned, DO NOT JUST LEARN. This means that more time should be spent for thinking, thinking about where this kind of knowledge could be used, how to use it. Learning is not enough, thinking will help you understand deeply about what you have learned, which can give you more chances to get higher scores in examination. </li>\n<li>Do not isolate yourself, you need fresh air by exchanging ideas with others. Trying to talk about what you are learning with other students. Others' experiences will inspire you to get high scores. </li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31626,
"author": "314314314",
"author_id": 24205,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24205",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Personal experiences to improve study efficiency:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Practice your ability to concentrate for a longer time. Remove source of distraction (phone, PC, people) and remain vigilant to prevent mind from drifting. Given enough practice, you will find yourself focusing for more than 3 hours without noticing the flow of time, which is longer than a normal exam session.</li>\n<li>If you are attending the lecture, make sure you understand the content beforehand, validate and reinforce your understanding during the lecture. Given enough practice, you will start skipping lectures because productivity is higher when you read books on your own.</li>\n<li>When something doesn't add up, dig deeper instead of just memorizing. Understanding details helps reinforcing the memory, and speeding up re-acquaintance. Besides, your later courses depends on the previous ones, gaps in knowledge will eventually come back to haunt you.</li>\n<li>Healthier life style helps a lot, regularize your sleeping schedule and do exercise.</li>\n<li>All of above are time consuming and requires persistence, expect to study for >60 hours a week if your goal is 9/10. Good news is, you might find yourself getting smarter, doing thing you wasn't able to do before. Like remembering numbers you didn't even try to memorize, and a much faster reading and learning speed.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Be reminded that, except for extraordinary people, high GPA comes with costs. Isolation and scarification of social life have their consequences. Knowing when to stop is quite important.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31631,
"author": "Mark Meckes",
"author_id": 101,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/101",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You don't say exactly what you're doing in all those hours, so I don't know whether this applies to you, but in my experience a lot of students don't know how to study effectively.</p>\n\n<p>I highly recommend <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?hpw&_r=0\" rel=\"nofollow\">this article in the New York Times</a> for an overview of what recent psychological research has to say on the subject. In a nutshell, one of the major messages is that for studying to be effective, it should be <em>active</em>. Time spent re-reading books and notes is time wasted. Instead you should be actually <em>doing</em> the things that your field is about — solving problems, writing code, etc.</p>\n\n<p>I sometimes encourage my students to think of it this way. If you're training for a sport, you spend your time doing the things that go on in a game/match. You don't read about how to do those things, or watch videos of someone else doing them. You practice doing them yourself.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31639,
"author": "Erik Engheim",
"author_id": 24226,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24226",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is missing a lot of info about your particular situation so I'll come with some different answers based on different assumptions about your situation.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>You might not have a natural talent for this. That doesn't need to be a problem in your case however since you seem very motivated and work hard. Working hard will make you smarter and more capable in time but it won't work in the short term. Also getting top marks isn't crucial if you got the motivation. E.g. I've happened to have talent and got good grades without working as hard as many of my peers. However I failed to get my Master due to lack of motivation. I know several fellow students with shitty grades, who still managed to get their Master because they stayed motivated and kept working hard. Seriously I'd rather have had shitty grades and gotten my Master degree than getting good grades and then dropping out on the final project because I had zero motivation.</li>\n<li>You might have a very inefficient study technique. Research this. It makes quite a big difference. E.g. reading the same thing over and over again takes long time and is inefficient. Active work like doing practice assignments or trying to teach somebody else what you read is more efficient.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>I might mention a story about a fellow student. He used to get stuck on assignments and got frustrated with himself. He was failing a lot of assignments. He finally went to a coach, that got him to stress down. He told him to not stress out if he didn't understand something right away. It isn't normal to do that. Just take his time. There was obviously a lot more to it, but this student he got a dramatic improvement. He got absolutely top marks. I noticed when discussing problems with him that he was not any smarter than me. But I noticed when reading or preparing for tests that he was way more focused than me. He could really stay in the zone. The coach had taught him how to do that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31650,
"author": "GreenAsJade",
"author_id": 11468,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11468",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Lots of good material is already there in the other answers.</p>\n\n<p>There's a lot of focus on how to improve the \"act of studying\", which of course may be the problem, and can always benefit from attention. </p>\n\n<p>There are some other things to add though, which will be useful to add into your mix:</p>\n\n<p>1) Do hobby activities that relate in some way to your study.</p>\n\n<p>In Comp Sci, this is so easy. You can make web sites, program Raspberry Pi, make little games ... being involved in actually doing stuff that relates to what you are learning can go far towards making it \"click\".</p>\n\n<p>You always learn better when doing things that <em>use</em> the learning, particularly if you are using it in an enjoyable way. </p>\n\n<p>2) Participate in the learning community. Head on over to Stack Overflow and see if you can <strong>answer</strong> questions. That's right, you're learning, and a great way to learn is to answer other people's beginner questions. On Stack Overflow, there are hundreds of very basic questions per day that a student of Comp Sci should be able to answer.</p>\n\n<p>3) Get a learning buddy, someone who is doing well and who would be willing to have you along. Study in their room, in the library, nearby and have coffee and talk about the work.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, I agree that 40 hours per week is no where too much to be spending on your Uni work and related (hobby programing, recrational reading about your art etc). At University, your learning is your life. Just do it, it's over soon and you can party for the rest of your life. Which is not to say \"don't party\" - just don't look resentfully at the people working 9-5 and partying the rest of the time.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/11
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31588",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24182/"
] |
31,590 |
<p>I am currently at a conference in the US
and I will be reimbursed by my adviser.
I was wondering what is a reasonable per diem spending for meals?</p>
<p>Of course I could ask my adviser directly,
but I feel bad doing so,
because I am afraid my adviser will think that
I am trying to spend the maximum amount possible.</p>
<p>I don't want to blow my adviser's budget,
but I also don't feel that I need to save every last penny
in terms of my meal spending.
I would like to have maybe one nice meal a day ~$20
but otherwise eat cheaper meals < $10.</p>
<p>What types of spending guidelines would help me not to upset my adviser?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31591,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Ask your advisor. Your university is likely to have a maximum allowable per diem that is based on the city that the conference is in. It varies from university to university, but mine just pays the per diem for that city regardless of how much you actually spend. Many universities do it this way. It saves time and money processing expenses on a meal-by-meal and receipt-by-receipt basis. If your university does this, then it doesn't matter how much you spend on yourself.</p>\n\n<p>Also, given that the per diem is likely capped in the $40-$50/day range anyway, you are unlikely to blow your advisor's travel budget on food even if you hit the max every day.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31593,
"author": "TCSGrad",
"author_id": 79,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/79",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Here's the guidelines <a href=\"http://www.siam.org/meetings/pdf/travel_guidelines.pdf\">according to SIAM</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>There are two options for meal reimbursement. You must select an option and use it for the entire trip . The options are:</p>\n \n <ol>\n <li><p>Full Reimbursement - For full reimbursement, detailed receipts are required\n whether the meals are paid for in cash or credit card . Detailed\n receipts for meals showing the food and beverages ordered are\n required. If the meals are included on the hotel bill as room service,\n a detailed receipt is still required. Since SIAM receives funding from\n government agencies it is mandatory that we receive the detailed\n receipts so that unallowable costs can be segregated for government\n funding purposes. If a detailed receipt/receipts are not provided to\n support a meal item on the expense report , the meal(s) will be\n deducted from the expense report and not reimbursed . </p></li>\n <li><p>Per Diem - Costs vary according to the area of the country ; there are no fixed per- diem rates . The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA ) updates the per-diem by city periodically. If using per-diem, the rate for the\n conference city travelling to should be used. Current per-diem rates\n are available at:</p>\n \n <ul>\n <li>Domestic ~ <a href=\"http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/21287\">http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/21287</a></li>\n <li>Outside US ~ <a href=\"http://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp\">http://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp</a></li>\n </ul></li>\n </ol>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you use the per-diem rates, you can comfortably afford a nice meal every day, no matter which city you are travelling to in US.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/11
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31590",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8802/"
] |
31,599 |
<p>I'm applying to doctoral programs right now and I'm having dinner tomorrow night with a professor and three of his grad students. I'm very hopeful to join this lab. I've spoken with the professor before and would like to focus my attention on the students. I've never done anything like this before.</p>
<p>Do you have any suggestions for questions I should ask and how I should act? I wanted to offer to pay for dinner or at least drinks since they are going to this trouble, but would that seem like I'm trying to schmooze my way in? Would it be weird for me to write notes on what they say at dinner?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31606,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To add to the Massimo's comment on not taking notes, yeah I think that would seem weird. If the conversation is about science, and a particularly interesting point comes up or you want to take note of someone's name to look up a paper, make a note on your phone.</p>\n\n<p>Offering to pay might be polite, though if the prof's paying through his department or a grant I wouldn't insist. I think it's safe to say that if the grad students don't pull out their wallets, neither should you.</p>\n\n<p>Just act normally. Be yourself - it is not a formal occasion. The prof will have invited his students along for two reasons:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Because dinner with just the two of you could be exceedingly awkward</li>\n<li>So that everyone can get an impression of how you'll fit\nin with the group.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Just make the usual small talk with his grad students to (hopefully) find some common ground, talk a bit about their projects, and make sure to have a good yarn about non-work-related things too. Your scientific prowess will not be assessed at the dinner table!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 72305,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>All of what @Moriarty said except that I disagree about taking notes using your phone. It's just very hard to look professional doing so and too easy to get (or look) distracted. </p>\n\n<p>Carry a little reporters notebook and pen and pull that out if you need to jot a name down. You'll get more prop points if the notebook looks well worn. </p>\n\n<p>Also, even if you think you have a good alcoholic tolerance, I would drink no or close to no alcohol. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/11
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31599",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23630/"
] |
31,604 |
<p>I had submitted to a reputed computer vision journal. Both the reviewers (there were only two) marked it as "reject" with comments that alluded to the fact that they had actually "missed the point". It was interesting that the reviewers missed the point on two major levels, first on the actual aims and scope of that journal and second the actual scope of the conducted research. With 2 reviewers recommending "reject", the Editor decided to "reject" the article.</p>
<p>Even though there was no avenue for rebuttal, I drafted a long email with my rebuttal highlighting where the reviewers had missed the point of my article. The Editor replied saying that he himself was very much surprised by the reviewers decision because from his reading of the paper he actually saw value in it. On top of that, my rebuttal was very convincing. However, he does not feel comfortable reversing the decision because both reviewers had recommended "reject" hence he is going to refer this to Editor-in-Chief to get his opinion. </p>
<p>Now, what are my chances of publishing this article of mine with this journal? </p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> The editor-in-chief got back with a list of possible items for major-revision that they would like to see. The major-revision deadline was quite short (just three weeks), they agreed to postpone the deadline on my request. I tried my best to address the items of major-revision and the article was finally accepted. Perseverance pays! :-)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31607,
"author": "Bitwise",
"author_id": 6862,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6862",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Chances are slim.</p>\n\n<p>It is possible that the editor would ask for a third reviewer to look at the paper. If that reviewer is extremely positive, they might reconsider. Someone has to be passionate about the paper in order to get the paper accepted.</p>\n\n<p>However, since both reviewers missed the main points there is a good chance that the presentation is not clear enough. So you could consider significantly rewriting the paper and then resubmitting to the journal as a new submission (it is best to coordinate this with the editor). This might prompt the editor to decide to evaluate it as a new manuscript.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31611,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First of all, your situation is not at all uncommon. On the contrary, most academics who submit sufficiently many papers find themselves in it from time to time.</p>\n\n<p>The fact that your rebuttal email resulted in an editor's writing back that he saw value in your paper is already worth something: it gives corroboration that your paper has value. In general it is doubtful that an editor would write that only to be polite, because in doing so he is opening himself and the journal up to further rebuttal from you. The fact that he is passing your complaint on to the editor-in-chief is further evidence that he takes it seriously.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Now, what are my chances of publishing this article of mine with this journal? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you're asking for a straight-up prediction: that's hard to say. <em>In general</em> the chance that a paper that gets multiple negative referee reports is eventually published is very small. However, it is also relatively unusual for an editor to directly communicate disagreement with the referee reports to an author. The chances depend on how egregiously off-base the referee reports were. If the editors truly agree that the referees \"missed the point on...the actual aims and scope of that journal\" then they are going to feel like wronged parties along with you and the chance that they will at least solicit another referee report seems pretty solid. (On the other hand, if that is the case one wonders why they didn't notice it before you brought it to their attention.) If a third referee report disagrees wildly with the first two, then perhaps the editors will be inclined to accept the paper (or seek yet further reports).</p>\n\n<p>Nevertheless, unfortunately my guess at the most likely outcome is that the editors will convey their sympathies to you and wish you the best of luck elsewhere. In my experience editors just do not have enough incentive to overrule referees in this situation. From a hard-nosed perspective they may be right: if your paper truly is valuable and the referees are wrong, then you can resubmit to another journal of similar quality. That outcome is in the long run almost as good for you and only detrimental to them if your paper is not just publishable in the journal but outstandingly strong beyond the sort of papers they usually accept. On the other hand if your paper is flawed and they publish it anyway then they are throwing away all the advantages of peer review. </p>\n\n<p>In general, it is a rare referee report that doesn't tell you something that could improve your paper. If a referee wildly misses the point (which again, is not at all uncommon) it is not necessarily your fault...but nevertheless maybe you could rewrite the paper to make it easier to get the point. Sometimes authors work for months or years on very subtle things and then expect readers to appreciate these subtleties upon a much more casual reading. The fact that two different referees missed the point still does not imply that their comments have any legitimacy, but it does make it more probable. If two people miss the point of your work <em>in the same way</em>, then I would certainly take a crack at rewriting the paper to avoid that particular misunderstanding.</p>\n\n<p>All in all, it would be safe to at least start thinking about how you could (perhaps relatively quickly and easily) modify your paper for resubmission. I would expect the editorial deliberations on this to be rather quick: if you don't hear back from the editors within, say, two weeks, then it would be appropriate to inquire politely on the status of your paper. I would not advise you to resubmit to the same journal unless you know you'll get new referees: people who have missed the point once are not your best bet for appreciating the new version.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/11
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31604",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10013/"
] |
31,605 |
<p>With an eye to finding the reasons behind <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/29923/452">high journal subscription costs</a>: do journals / publishers make outrageous margins, or are prices truly justified by the costs to run journals? In other words, how does their budget look like?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31613,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Many of the commercial academic publication companies have <a href=\"http://libraries.mit.edu/scholarly/mit-open-access/open-access-at-mit/mit-open-access-policy/publishers-and-the-mit-faculty-open-access-policy/elsevier-fact-sheet/\" rel=\"nofollow\">massive profit margins</a>. In the age of the internet, profit is by far the main reason for high costs---and many of the other costs are essentially just ways of enhancing profit, such as marketing expenses. The actual costs of running a journal can be very low, given that many (including high cost journals) depend entirely on volunteer service by academics for editing and reviewing. Some disciplines have dealt with this by embracing electronic publishing: see for example, the <a href=\"http://www.jmlr.org/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Journal of Machine Learning Research</a> which is high impact and entirely free (in a related discussion, JeffE independently provided <a href=\"http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/pamphlet/2012/03/06/an-efficient-journal/\" rel=\"nofollow\">a link to an excellent article analyzing its finances</a>)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31621,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>tl;dr: it is a distorted market. Open-access models involve cross-subsidy. Subscription models offer inflated profit margins to large publishers</strong> (and some small, very specialist publishers).</p>\n<p>Those market distortions mean that suppliers' budgets will conceal as much as they reveal.</p>\n<p>You'll find a little sympathy for the devil, here. Things are rarely pure, never simple, sometimes ugly.</p>\n<h2>Market prices?</h2>\n<p>As with most questions of the form "why does this thing have this price?" the answer is: supply and demand. It's that price because that's the price at which buyers and sellers agree on a quantity of supply.</p>\n<p>But is it a fair market?</p>\n<h3>Is there an oligopoly?</h3>\n<p>There are very low barriers to entry: pretty much anyone with a computer and web connection can start a journal and get an ISSN for it.</p>\n<p>Some profit margins at the big publishers (Elsevier, Taylor & Francis), do suggest oligopolistic pricing - 25-35% margins look suspicious. While any sensible profit margin analysis would also look at returns on capital employed, none of the critiques of the large publishers that I've seen have done so. There are claims is that Elsevier and Taylor & Francis, and possibly others, have used bundling (selling large numbers of titles as a group subscription) to inflate their margins. Some universities tackle this by subscribing journal-by-journal.</p>\n<p>So yes, there are indications of oligopolistic practices that inflate prices and margins.</p>\n<h3>Is there a monopsony or oligopsony?</h3>\n<p>Well, those high margins would suggest not, and indeed, there are many many hundreds of competing universities each paying publishers on their own behalf, so the demand-side looks competitive. No, there is no oligopsony</p>\n<hr />\n<h3>Business models</h3>\n<p>There are three primary models of publishing business.</p>\n<p>The <strong>first model</strong> is the open-access charity model, where everything is begged, borrowed or donated. So the costs are still there - and it's typically academics and universities paying - but the costs are concealed: effectively, the donators of resources are cross-subsidising the publishing, perhaps as an investment in reputation and/or impact. This model is very rare, because it's practically impossible to build a reputation from zero without any investment. Journals that I'm aware of that use this model, inherit reputation from predecessors that used one of the other two business models.</p>\n<p>A <strong>second model</strong> - open access, author pays - is also along the lines of academia pays, readers from industry and commerce get the research for free, just like the open-access charity model. A large number of low-quality predatory journals are able to use this model, because of the pressure on many academics to "publish or perish".</p>\n<p>The <strong>third model</strong>, the traditional journal subscription model, is that only organisations and institutions who access the papers, pay. This is the only model where academia does not have to subsidise industrial and commercial access to research. Some low-quality predatory journals use this model, though less sucessfully than the open access-author pays model, because the subscription model has much less demand-side pressure. But this model is also how large-scale scientific publishing got established, and it's how reputations of most academics, editorial boards, weighty titles, and many conferences got established. This is the least fashionable and most successful model.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 49700,
"author": "Franck Dernoncourt",
"author_id": 452,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Do journals / publishers make outrageous margins,</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes, e.g. from this <a href=\"http://www.nature.com/news/open-access-the-true-cost-of-science-publishing-1.12676\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">post in Nature</a> (ironic publishing venue for this kind of article...):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Elsevier's reported margins are 37%, but financial analysts estimate them at 40–50% for the STM publishing division before tax. (Nature says that it will not disclose information on margins.)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>From <a href=\"https://vimeo.com/217495703\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Paywall The Movie Trailer</a>:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/4t8Zm.png\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\"><img src=\"https://i.stack.imgur.com/4t8Zm.png\" alt=\"enter image description here\"></a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 111223,
"author": "Allure",
"author_id": 84834,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/84834",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Three of the four biggest academic publishers are publicly held (Informa, Wiley, and Elsevier) which means their profit margins can be searched for in their annual reports. Links to their websites: <a href=\"https://informa.com/investors/annual-reports/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Informa</a>, <a href=\"https://www.wiley.com/en-us/investors\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Wiley</a>, <a href=\"https://www.relx.com/investors/annual-reports/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Elsevier</a>. Note that Informa and Elsevier especially are multi-faceted businesses so the profit margin they report might include their other businesses. All three companies also publish books, which has a different profit margin compared to journals (book margins are usually lower).</p>\n<p>As of time of writing (2018):</p>\n<p><a href=\"https://informa.com/Documents/Investor%20Relations/2018/2017_Informa_Annual_Report.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Informa's academic publishing division</a> reported revenue of 530.0m GBP and operating profit of 154.1m GBP for an operating profit margin of 29% (note operating profit doesn't include taxes).</p>\n<p><a href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/wiley-ecomm-prod-content/Q418_Earnings_Slides_Final.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Wiley</a> reported journal revenue of $901.5m and a "contribution to profit" of $275.5m (this includes an unknown contribution to profit from Atypon, which is a publishing platform). Taking Atypon to contribute $0, this is a profit margin of 30.56%.</p>\n<p><a href=\"https://www.relx.com/%7E/media/Files/R/RELX-Group/documents/reports/annual-reports/relx2017-annual-report.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Elsevier</a> didn't break down their academic division's revenue, so the reported 2,478m GBP figure includes numbers from Scopus, ScienceDirect, ClinicalKey, and a lot of other stuff. Notably they said 19% of their revenue was from print with the other 81% from electronic sources. Total reported adjusted operating profit was 913m GBP or 36.84% adjusted profit margin. Caveat: adjusted operating profit is non-GAAP. Based on page 186 of that same report, their real profit is significantly lower.</p>\n<p>Something else that might be interesting: OMICS, a publisher widely-held to be predatory, reported <a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-08-29/medical-journals-have-a-fake-news-problem\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">$11.6m in revenue and $1.2m in profit</a> in 2016, for a profit margin of 10.34%.</p>\n<p><strong>Small update</strong>: <a href=\"https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2020/08/10/guest-post-mdpis-remarkable-growth/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">here</a> is an analysis of the fifth-biggest publisher MDPI's profit margins: about 1-6% per paper, after tax. The APC is about $1500, and the cost per paper is about $1400.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/11
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31605",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
31,609 |
<p>I am applying to grad school and I asked one of my professors to write a letter of recommendation on my behalf. He happily agreed. He submitted a recommendation and forwarded the confirmation email to me so that I can have look. </p>
<p>On the recommendation form there are some questions that asks the professor to select things like top 1%, 5%, 10% in terms of writing, organization, maturity ..etc.</p>
<p>He chose top 1% in all of them. In another question "What is the group you are comparing thq applicant with ?" He wrote "He was at least in the top 1% compared to all students in the last 5 years".</p>
<p>I told this to a friend and he was surprised and suggested that the admission committee might not take his recommendation seriously. Another one of my referees showed me his recommendation and it was very similar. </p>
<p>My concern is how admission committees look at recommendations that seem too good to be true? The two professors really know me very well and they are the best options I got.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31612,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Saying that you gave the first proof of Fermat's Last Theorem is too good to be true. (I.e., it is literally false, since the result was resolved 20 years ago by someone else.) Saying that you are more talented at physics than Einstein and Feynman combined is technically possible but strains credulity to the point that it would have a strong negative effect if not backed up by some truly remarkable facts. However, saying that you are in the top 1% compared to all students in the last five years is obviously <em>not</em> too good to be true: it must be true of at least one student. (These questions are often muddied by not being precise enough about the cohort being compared, and you should know that admissions committees interpret them with a grain of salt.) </p>\n\n<p>When I was involved with PhD admissions in the UGA math department, each year I saw several applications in which the recommender gave the applicant top marks in every category. When this happened I didn't say \"Ridiculous!\" but instead looked carefully at the rest of the application. It may be that I conclude that the recommender is a bit naive and/or hasn't seen as good students as I have...but that still might mean that the student's application is quite strong. In general top marks are <strong>good things</strong>, not <strong>red flags</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>To my mind the fact that two of your recommenders showed you the letters is much more of a red flag than the top ratings. The strongest letters of recommendation often contain confidential information that would not be suitable for the candidate to read (e.g. comparisons to other named people). If such information doesn't appear then there is nothing inherently wrong with the practice, but nevertheless it does not inspire my confidence. </p>\n\n<p>I guess if you are looking at the recommendation letters you have a chance to evaluate their suitability (which you can use in a future year; it is awkward and perhaps even ethically suspect to withdraw a recommendation letter after reading it). At least in US graduate applications, good letters are about a lot more than the slightly silly ratings. They also contain several paragraphs of text, usually occupying at least the better part of a page. If someone gives you absolutely top marks and then writes little or nothing to back them up, they look quite lazy. Though that does not specifically reflect on you, it certainly doesn't help your application either.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31648,
"author": "Tom Au",
"author_id": 755,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/755",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>\"The two professors really know me very well and they are the best options I got.\"</p>\n\n<p>Then you are one lucky individual. And, \"don't look a gift horse in the mouth.\"</p>\n\n<p>Try to find out from them why they think this, so you aren't blindsided at a interview, or by writing something in an essay that contradicts them. Then understand how people see your strengths.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/12
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31609",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18244/"
] |
31,615 |
<p>I have seen <a href="http://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/64C6D277/What-Is-the-Difference-Between-a-Thesis-and-a-Dissertation/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">some sites</a> that distinguish a dissertation as what is written as the requirements of a doctoral degree. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.englishforums.com/English/DifferenceBetweenThesisDissertation/bkrxg/post.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Others</a> that distinguish a thesis as a document written for the fulfillment of any degree (Bachelors, Masters or Doctoral) while a dissertation is a more general name for a document where someone is presenting findings.</p>
<p>I am curious if there is any more rigorous definition which distinguishes the two, but my more immediate question is this:</p>
<p><strong>I am writing the document to fulfill a doctoral degree. Within the text of the document do I refer to it as a "Dissertation" or a "Thesis"?</strong></p>
<p>For example: "A more thorough review of this analysis is presented in Chapter 5 of this ________."</p>
<p>Maybe the fact that the <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/tags/thesis/synonyms">[thesis]</a> is the tag used for all of these documents is an indication of the answer?</p>
<p>I've also seen this question on this site, but it doesn't seem to answer my question:
<a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/7252/what-are-the-main-differences-between-undergraduate-masters-and-doctoral-thes">What are the main differences between undergraduate, master's, and doctoral theses?</a></p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31617,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>\"Work\" is just as good as either. There's no need for precision or rigor here. All three would be acceptable. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31624,
"author": "David Z",
"author_id": 236,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/236",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Follow the guidelines of your university's thesis office (or dissertation office, or whatever they call it). They'll probably have a format guide that specifies how to refer to the document, or if not, you can contact someone at the office and ask.</p>\n\n<p>If they really don't tell you which one to use, you can probably use either, but it helps to be consistent.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31647,
"author": "unjx",
"author_id": 13489,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13489",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>To lift from the definition provided <a href=\"https://www.englishforums.com/English/DifferenceBetweenThesisDissertation/bkrxg/post.htm#331513\" rel=\"nofollow\">here</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>A Thesis is a scholarly written document of a smaller study on a\n particular topic in consistent with every details of Research\n Methodology. It's written usually for obtaining a Masters Degree.</p>\n \n <p>A Dissertation is a scholarly document of a larger study on a\n particular topic in consistent with every details of research\n Methodology. It's written usually to obtain a Doctoral Degree.</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/12
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31615",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24197/"
] |
31,623 |
<p>At the end of each semester, usually a month before final exams, my school (in the US) distributes teaching evaluations. What people will read these? Do people only see these after the final grades are posted?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31636,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>While this may vary significantly from institution to institution, my understanding is that, in the US at least, evaluations are at least read by:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>The instructor, who needs to get feedback on their teaching efficacy</li>\n<li>Others in the department who are evaluating the instructor, e.g., as part of tenure and promotion review, as part of peer mentoring, as part of a departments' own ongoing self-management.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>They may also end up being read by other administrators (internal or external, e.g., certification authorities) who are monitoring a department's teaching quality, and may be distributed to students to help them decide which classes to take. In these latter cases, it is likely that a summary will be distributed rather than the raw evaluations.</p>\n\n<p>Timing with respect to finals and grading varies. In all cases, however, institutions tend to take pains to preserve student privacy so that unless somebody leaves a clearly identifying mark in the comments it should be unable to affect their grades either way.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 95802,
"author": "Elros",
"author_id": 21835,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21835",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In the university I attended, evaluations were in two parts. A number ranking (1-5) on some university wide (and sometimes department wide) questions were available to the department. A second set of open-answer questions were available to the professor only.</p>\n\n<p>Other universities have different policies, including as open as making all the evaluations available (in an anonymized fashion) on the university website. Often a department secretary (or possibly assistant to the Chair of the department) is tasked with handling these evaluations. They (or your advisor) should be able to answer how your university handles them.</p>\n\n<p>It is nearly universal (in the US at least) that the evaluations are not given to the professor until after final grades are turned in. This avoids the appearance of retaliation for a bad review (or reward for a good one).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/12
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31623",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
31,625 |
<p>I am enrolled in an on-line graduate course (US public university). I do not live near the campus, so I cannot attend office hours (which aren't even offered).</p>
<p>For 3 months, I've been working on a research paper for the course. At regular deadlines, I've submitted my progress electronically, however, the instructor's feedback was sparse in each case:</p>
<ul>
<li>No feedback on whether my chosen topic was okay.</li>
<li>No replies to my public posts/E-mails about some concerns I had in approaching the topic.</li>
<li>Only minimal markings, e.g. pointed out a few grammar/MLA mistakes, no comments focused on my ideas, organization, etc.</li>
</ul>
<p>I do not even know if the instructor read my work. The project is worth a significant portion of the course grade, but the instructor has given such little input and I have no idea if the paper is good or terrible. What can I do?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31640,
"author": "user3209815",
"author_id": 14133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First of all, I must say that I find it possible that your instructor simply doesn't care enough. The reason for that (or the other way around) might be that the online course isn't serious enough and that the instructor will just give you some passing grade if you hand in virtually anything. While this might not be true for US universities, in Europe online courses and degrees are considered pretty unprofessional, at least in my experience.</p>\n\n<p>Now to your question what you can do in your situation. Based on the information you provided, I would try to publish your paper somewhere (if not in a journal, then on a conference). The peer-review will give you most certainly feedback on your paper. Furthermore, you attend a graduate course in pursuit of a graduate degree, so publishing will become a requirement for your in the near future. Finally, the peer-review will indicate quality to your instructor and give you some certainty that your work will be higher graded.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 42106,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I see three likely paths for you to take, depending on the quality of the program that you are enrolled in.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>If you haven't already done so, explicitly ask the professor for more concrete feedback on your work. You might simply be having a communications problem, where the professor assumes \"no news is good news.\"</li>\n<li>If the professor doesn't not respond constructively, escalate to somebody higher up, like a dean. Approach delicately, as a student concerned and asking for help, rather than making demands.</li>\n<li>If you don't get a satisfactory response from the dean, then it may be that the online program you are enrolled in is crap, and you should not bother investing your time and money in it. Some online programs are quite serious and good, while others are essentially just for-profit scams, and yours might well be one of them.</li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/12
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31625",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
31,641 |
<p>Today I suddenly found that my email server requests a read receipt every time when I send emails. Since I am recently exchanging messages with a potential Phd supervisor, I wonder if this will make him feel that I am rude and annoying? I have already turned this feature off!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31644,
"author": "Andrea",
"author_id": 24234,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24234",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I do not think that this is rude. If it even mildly irritated him he might have mentioned it to you at some point. Even if he didn't, he still corresponds with you so it probably didn't bother him that much. Regardless, if you disabled the feature, he should not be getting those any more.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31645,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Unless you have reason to suspect that emails are not being delivered successfully, email receipts are pretty much useless. Here's why:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Not all email clients support read receipts - Mail on OS X doesn't, for one prominent example. If some of the previous emails you sent requested a receipt, and it wasn't returned, obviously either the prof's email client doesn't support it or he didn't bother clicking that button.</p></li>\n<li><p>Unless the receipt is returned, you can never be sure if the email was read or not.</p></li>\n<li><p>Unless the email is replied to immediately - which is unlikely if the reply will take some effort - it can easily be forgotten about. Receiving an email receipt is no guarantee that you'll get a reply.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If you have no response to an email after a reasonable period of time (\"reasonable\" can vary between 3 days and a month or more, depending on what is required), just send a quick reminder email.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 186444,
"author": "G M",
"author_id": 10333,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10333",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Unfortunatly, this is highly subjective. I think everybody could clearly understand the benefits of a read receipt this is why all modern messaging platforms (Whatsapp, Telegram etc. etc.) implement this feature automatically. I could not estimate how many times I encountered the dilemma of "should I send the email again" because sometimes it happens to lose the email even though this is not in the spam folder. For me, this communication issue should be solved somehow and I would not consider rude a person trying to solve it with the means that he has. In my personal opinion, I would not consider it a bad practice unfortunately many people prefer to lose or not answer emails rather than face the writer with a clear answer. I think that a messaging platform should be a way better tool to use in the future for communications between persons.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/12
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31641",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24065/"
] |
31,651 |
<p>I am finishing my Master's in mathematics in Germany and I'd like to apply for a PhD in Europe, preferably in the UK. Most departments recommend that students get in touch with potential supervisors prior to submitting a formal application. I am a little nervous about it and I would appreciate advice regarding the following:</p>
<p>(1) Some people say it's advantageous to mention interest in specific papers published by a given professor. But I'm not sure how applicable this is to mathematics. To be honest, I haven't read a single paper by most of the people I'd like to apply to. (Reading and understanding a math paper takes a long time, so I think it's rather normal.) Is it OK just to say, for example, "I've seen you have published a lot of papers on non-linear PDEs, which is an area I'd like to do research in", or does this sound too generic?</p>
<p>(2) Is it OK to mention that my Master thesis supervisor or lecturer at my university recommended a given professor to me as a potential PhD advisor (they know each other), or does this sound somewhat awkward/patronising?</p>
<p>(3) How long should my email be? Is about 300 words too long?</p>
<p>(4) What should a first email accomplish? Should I just introduce myself and express interest? Or should I ask some specific questions about a potential research project straightaway?</p>
<p>I will really appreciate your advice, especially from academic mathematicians. I think one of the problems is that I find it a bit hard to see how the situation looks from the perspective of the potential supervisor. Do they get hundreds of such emails every year and just get annoyed when they get another one? Do they want the applicants to be very specific from the start, or is it better to first introduce oneself and see if they are at all interested before asking more specific questions about a research project, etc.?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31660,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>(1) Either is okay. Keep in mind you do not have to read an entire paper to determine if it is interesting.</p>\n\n<p>(2) Definitely do that, assuming your supervisor will recommend you.</p>\n\n<p>(3) It should be readable in just a couple of minutes since professors are busy.</p>\n\n<p>(4) Express interest and qualifications.</p>\n\n<p>(not a mathematician, nor in Europe)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31665,
"author": "Neil Strickland",
"author_id": 12638,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12638",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am a mathematician in the UK. If someone doing a Master's degree in Germany wants to do a PhD with me, I would like them to send me an email of five or six lines, giving a brief indication of what is in their Master's thesis, and a very broad indication of what they would like to do in their PhD (perhaps \"chromatic homotopy theory\" or \"something to do with operads\").</p>\n\n<p>I do not expect that applicants will have read any of my papers, although that sometimes happens. If your supervisor suggested that you should apply to me, then I might find that interesting, but it would not be significant; I would wait for more detailed comments in the supervisor's reference letter.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/13
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31651",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21229/"
] |
31,654 |
<p>American military veterans funded under the GI Bill (and possibly under other VA administrated programs) can only receive funding for classes which are required for the degree. I can find lots of university websites that mention this requirement (<a href="http://veteranscenter.utah.edu/gi-bill.php">here</a>'s a good example), but I was unable to determine where this rule comes from or why it is there. In particular, is it required by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-9/11_Veterans_Educational_Assistance_Act_of_2008">legislation itself</a> or just VA rules? When was the rule imposed and is there any information on why?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31657,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It looks to me like it is more or less required by the <a href=\"http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/part-III/chapter-33\">legislation</a>, although I'm not a lawyer so I may not be interpreting it right. Educational assistance is <a href=\"http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/3313#a\">authorized</a> for pursuing a \"program of education\" rather than just taking individual courses:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The Secretary shall pay to each individual entitled to educational assistance under this chapter who is pursuing an approved program of education...</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>A program of education is <a href=\"http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/3452#b\">defined</a> as:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The term “program of education” means any curriculum or any combination of unit courses or subjects pursued at an educational institution which is generally accepted as necessary to fulfill requirements for the attainment of a predetermined and identified educational, professional, or vocational objective.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Strictly speaking, this doesn't mean the classes must be required for an academic degree per se, and other sorts of credentials or licenses could count. However, it does not seem to allow taking isolated classes for their own sake, but rather just as required for the overall program.</p>\n\n<p>I don't know the history or why the legislation was set up this way. I'd guess that it's because the goal is to help veterans achieve qualifications that will further their careers, not to educate them for the sake of education. One possibility is that nobody really thought hard about the issue while drafting the legislation, so it wasn't a conscious decision. Another is that it was intended to save money by avoiding paying for frivolous or unnecessary courses. A third possibility is that it was intended to help veterans by putting pressure on them to follow a set degree program (rather than squandering their benefits on isolated courses that might never fit together to complete any degree).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32522,
"author": "James Mason",
"author_id": 24971,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24971",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The purpose of the GI BILL program is for Veterans to get a degree or acquire a new skill for employment after active duty. Not flounder around in college for 6 years for a Bachelors degree. If there is a class you really want to take that's not a requirement you can always change your major, then change it back. There are different GI bills with different rules depending when you served in the military. I would talk to the VA or visit the VA-GI bill web site, most questions can be answered there. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/13
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31654",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/25/"
] |
31,666 |
<p>I plan to do a PhD in Germany. I have read some material that said that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"The most important formal qualification for being able to do a
doctorate in Germany is a very good higher education degree that is
recognised in Germany"</p>
</blockquote>
<p>"What is" or maybe should I ask "How much is" very good higher degree?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31668,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Basically, you need to have a master's degree. If that master's degree comes from:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>A German university</li>\n<li>A university in any member country of the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_Process\">Bologna Process</a> </li>\n<li>A few other countries considered \"equivalent\" but not participating in the Bologna Process, such as the US, Canada, Australia, and Japan</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>then it is almost always automatically accepted. On the other hand, if your degree is from another source (such as India, China, Iran, Africa, etc.), or is from a German <em>Fachhochschule</em>, then the degree must be certified by the university as being at the same level as a German master's degree before you can be admitted. Also, after your admission, you may be required to take some additional courses to establish your candidacy (although this is usually on the order of two to three courses during your first two years).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31669,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The German grade scale at universities is:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>very good (1)</li>\n<li>good (2)</li>\n<li>satisfactory (3)</li>\n<li>sufficient (4)</li>\n<li>fail (5)</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Numerical grades are commonly considered to the first decimal digit. I'd interpret the requirement for a \"very good\" degree as an average of 1.5 or better. This seems quite strict to me though: my department has the informal rule that we are willing to admit PhD students with an average of 2.5 or better, i.e., a \"good\" degree. In order to compare from international grading systems, the so called \"Bavarian formula\" is often used, see e.g. <a href=\"http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/studium/pruefungen/anrechnungen/umrechnung-auslaendischer-noten/\">http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/studium/pruefungen/anrechnungen/umrechnung-auslaendischer-noten/</a> .</p>\n\n<p>Recognition of your university degree as equivalent to a German degree is another important factor. The <a href=\"http://anabin.kmk.org\">anabin database</a> would be a good place to start researching the situation for your specific case, if you understand a bit of German. (I really don't understand why this isn't provided in English.) @aeismail's also discusses this aspect. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/13
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31666",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24258/"
] |
31,667 |
<p>In my research group, some time we use our funding to buy things required for our research. They can be pretty cheap (e.g. books) or quite expensive (e.g. machines).</p>
<p>When the funded by the project is over, I wonder who will own those stuff.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31670,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The funding agreement or regulations by the sponsor will usually clarify this. In most cases, it can be expected that the legal institution where the project is run buys these things and also owns them after the project. In some cases, the sponsor may own expensive equipment himself, so that it can go with the PI when changing affiliations. </p>\n\n<p>I've also seen regulations where the sponsor only pays the depreciation of long-lasting equipment during the runtime of the project, so the institution would have to cover for the remaining costs.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31671,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In the US, at least, there is a generally clear distinction between two classes of things bought with funding:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>\"Capital expenditure\" items are individually identified in a project budget, e.g., \"36-node computing cluster\" or \"Materials for building prototype robot\".</li>\n<li>'Overhead' or 'Material and Supplies' items are more routine items that are not individually identified, but are considered part of the routine cost of business, e.g., office supplies, laptops, laboratory reagents.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Capital expenditure items are typically owned by the funder, and their disposition at the end of the project is at the discretion of the funder. When this is the US government, it is called GFE - Government Furnished Equipment. In most cases, the funder lets it stay at the institution (effectively giving it to them), but not always. An institution might even be required to give the equipment to another researcher.</p>\n\n<p>Overhead items are generally owned by the institution that is executing the project, and are often owned by the institution in general, rather than being associated with the particular project. These typically further break down into two sub-categories: tracked, and untracked. Tracked is things like laptops, that many institutions still consider expensive enough to keep track of who they give them to and (at least theoretically) ask for them back eventually. Untracked is things like paper and staplers, which are below the threshold where the institution cares. Again, typically all of it technically belongs to the institution, but in practice many institutions will let somebody keep a low-value 'personalized' item such as an old laptop.</p>\n\n<p>The exact definitions of which things go in which categories depend on the institution, the funder, and the particular contract, but this covers most of the typical cases. Make sure you check particular regulations and customs with any particular institution before taking anything, though!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31712,
"author": "Scott Seidman",
"author_id": 20457,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20457",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Research contracts are generally to institutions, not to individuals, so major equipment belongs to institutions. Often, though, the big equipment often leaves with the investigatop if they change jobs. The idea is that in the normal course of business, gear will move both in and out of the university, and things work out over time.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/13
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31667",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12635/"
] |
31,672 |
<p>I recently asked two of my professors to write me recommendation letters and they promptly and kindly accepted to do that. It is now two weeks since then. I want to send “thank you” notes to them. Is it enough to send e-mails? I have heard that it is more polite to send a written letter by US post, but it is a little bit weird when we are all in the same building! Isn’t it? Can I send them some kind of gift on a special occasion?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31674,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Don't worry about it too much, just say thank you. In person or over email are both fine: getting a good recommendation letter is a big deal for you, but writing recommendation letters for good students is a part of normal routine for a professor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31678,
"author": "Matthew Leingang",
"author_id": 5701,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5701",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Recommenders also like to hear the results of the process. So one way to thank them (in addition to a written or emailed thank-you note) is to let them know which programs/jobs/schools you got into on account of their recommendation.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/13
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31672",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24263/"
] |
31,679 |
<p>I am told, by both a professor at my US undergraduate school and here at Stack Academia (for example, at <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/18755/implications-of-being-accepted-without-funding">Implications of being accepted without funding to a computer science PhD in the United States?</a>), that I should not accept an offer from a US graduate school unless I am offered full funding. The reasoning is that if they actually wanted me, they would be paying me. I agree with this.</p>
<p>So my question is, what would be the difference between going to a school with funding and without funding, besides the money? Would I be treated as a second class citizen? And if I was offered full funding, perhaps from a TAship, what would happen if I wanted to pay for myself anyway?</p>
<p>Existing answers, such as at <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8034/will-self-funding-a-phd-hurt-employment-chances">Will self funding a PhD hurt employment chances?</a>, seem to focus on the money and the chance that the applicant is not strong enough for the program. While I also agree with these, I am interested in learning about external factors too.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31682,
"author": "Paul",
"author_id": 931,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/931",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Confession: I've tried this myself TWICE in the field of mathematics, so what I say comes from my own experience.</p>\n\n<p>You need not worry about the existence of a caste-system among graduate students. You will not be treated any differently than any other student if you are accepted into a program and not funded. The main question is whether or not you will get into the program in the first place if you have no <em>external</em> funding sources...</p>\n\n<p>In science-related graduate schools, it is quite often the case that students will not be accepted into the program <em>unless</em> they have some sort of support (i.e. department assistantship, scholarship/fellowship, etc...). Students who try to do it all <em>on their own</em> often find themselves under even more pressure than a funded student. On top of trying to pass extremely difficult courses and pursue original, cutting edge research, they may find themselves also working multiple unrelated jobs that barely make ends meet for rent, much less tuition and all other debts incurred along the way. Often, unfunded students succumbs to financial pressures and drop out to pursue more financially stable opportunities. </p>\n\n<p>Students dropping out of graduate programs also make their host departments' statistics <strong><em>look bad</em></strong> in the eyes of their superiors (i.e. deans, university president, provosts, etc..) and can lead to diminished support for those graduate programs. Since universities don't want to hurt their own reputations (or lose state/donated funding), they tend to be selective of their graduate students. And I believe this is a major reason why self-funded students are often not even allowed in graduate programs: statistically speaking, their success rate is likely too low to merit taking a chance.</p>\n\n<p>Of course there are exceptions (e.g. having wealthy parents, pursuing non-science graduate programs, education doctorate degrees often earned by people who work full time as teachers), but it is certainly a <strong>red flag</strong> if a student willingly tries to pursue a graduate degree in the sciences without any source of funding.</p>\n\n<p>My advice to you: If you're offered funding, <strong><em>take it!</em></strong>. If you are accepted into a graduate program and are <em>not offered funding</em> and <em>don't have any other source of funding apart from yourself</em>, then <strong><em>don't try to do it all on your own</em></strong>. The sheer cost of graduate school, combined with the uncertainty of you graduating from the program, along with the nightmare of trying to pay off student loan debt for the rest of your life (even bankruptcy will not save you from student loan debt); <strong><em>it's just not worth it to you</em></strong>.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31693,
"author": "mkennedy",
"author_id": 5711,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5711",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I started a STEM master's program self-funded because I was changing fields. I had no education or experience in the new field so could not easily be offered a teaching or research assistantship. Once I finished the first year, I was given a teaching assistantship which covered the rest of my degree.</p>\n\n<p>In general, I don't think graduate students really care if you have funding or not. You, if unfunded or poorly funded, may feel jealousy about fellowship-holders or teaching or research assistants with funding. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31720,
"author": "user24311",
"author_id": 24311,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24311",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My path through math graduate school has been as follows: 1 year unfunded in Ph.D. program at school A, 1 year funded in Ph.D. program at school A, move to different school and spend 4 years funded in the Ph.D. program at school B. So I've spent time in Ph.D. programs both as a fully funded \"regular\" math grad student, and as an unfunded math grad student.</p>\n\n<p>Being an unfunded grad student had a couple of potentially negative effects (I won't discuss the obvious financial burden):</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>I felt a bit disconnected from the math department. The funded grad students had shared offices, which naturally led to them getting to know each other. As an unfunded student, I had no office or access to any shared department space (break room/kitchen area, etc.) </p></li>\n<li><p>My goals were slightly skewed from what they should have been. I went in to my first year as an unfunded student with this feeling that I needed to do \"better\" than \"everyone\" else. The reason for this was that I wanted to secure funding for the subsequent years. I basically met this goal, but in retrospect, doing better than my fellow students in all of my courses was not the best goal to have for a first year of graduate school.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>To help remedy pont 1, I worked as a paper grader in the math department my first year, while unfunded. This helped me to get to know a few professors better, which I'm sure didn't hurt when I applied for funding the second year. </p>\n\n<p>As for being treated differently: I don't think I was ever treated badly or differently just because I was not funded. There is a range of different types of funding amongst students: Departmental TA, faculty-funded research assistantship, department fellowship (with no teaching, say), NSF fellowship (in the U.S.), unfunded, partial TA (tuition waver, fewer duties, lower pay) etc. Some or all of these might exist in any given department, and some may be considered \"more prestigious\" than others, but in my experience these differences don't lead to a class system among the graduate students.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31722,
"author": "Paul Reiners",
"author_id": 24313,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24313",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I tried this. Do this <strong>only</strong> if you do <strong>not</strong> have to get a job to support yourself during school. If you do have to get a job, you will probably only burn yourself out and fail. If you do not need to work to support yourself (you're rich; your parents are rich; whatever), go ahead. </p>\n\n<p>Of course, a T.A. or an R.A. is a type of job, but it's a lot different than a real job.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/13
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31679",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24274/"
] |
31,680 |
<p>As we reach the end of the semester, the students in my class are being asked to do their evaluation of my teaching, as is common at most universities. As with most evaluations that I know of, I have been given an opportunity to provide open-ended prompts for the students to respond to.</p>
<p>I would like to craft open-ended questions for the students that will help me to improve my class/teaching style. This class was a large (~100 students) lecture, so I would like to focus the questions on how to improve myself in teaching large classes. Has any research been published showing which questions (or which types of questions) generate answers that are most effective at helping teachers to improve at teaching large lectures? If no research, is there any anecdotal evidence of "most helpful" questions?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 34598,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I will provide a no-answer (which someone can delete if need be).</p>\n\n<p>It seems you are primarily looking for feedback on your teaching in order to improve. In so doing you are looking for questions to have the students provide that input. Although I admire your trust in students, it is a bit like the blind leading the deaf. The likelihood that you will receive in-depth feedback on how to improve seems small. I am sure you will get lots of pointers about many details so it is not pointless but you should probably consider one or a few other approaches in parallel.</p>\n\n<p>First, consider looking into a university pedagogics course. Hopefully your university provides such courses for teachers where experience is the foundation for the teaching. Second, ask fellows to attend your class(es) and provide feedback from their point of view. Third, have a fellow video-tape a lecture from the back of the room (communicating with the first rows is not difficult but the back of the room is different).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34615,
"author": "mako",
"author_id": 5962,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5962",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I asked <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/18816/5962\">a similar question</a> in April. In my case, I was specifically interested in a very short survey that I could ask students to fill out out after every every single class so I could make adjustments to lectures, class organization, and readings as the course progressed.</p>\n\n<p>As I detailed in <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/29138/5962\">my answer to my own question two quarters later</a>, I went ahead and used a series of four open-ended questions very successfully. Since late September when I left that answer, I have used those four questions very successfully in another class as well.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34722,
"author": "padawan",
"author_id": 15949,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15949",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Actually, based on my experience, it is better to ask the questions to the students at the end of the <strong>next</strong> semester.</p>\n\n<p>During the semester, an average student usually concentrates on passing the course, rather than thinking about the outcomes of the course.\nI think one realizes what the course gave him/her after about one semester.\nAnd this is the time that they use their knowledge of your course to understand or pass another course.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, the questions are highly dependent on what you want to improve.\nHowever, it is always more clear what to improve when the students have a chance to use the course outcomes without any expectation of the grade.\nIf a student says \"I wish you underlined the importance of Unit 6. Thus I could understand XX201 better\", this is a good feedback, whereas\n\"This course is sooooo hard.\" is not.</p>\n\n<p>As for the questions, this is what I ask to my students after one semester. Not like a questionnaire, but face-to-face:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Do you use what I've taught you for this semester?</li>\n<li>Are there any redundant topics that I've covered?</li>\n<li>How would you study if you were to take the course this semester?</li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/13
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31680",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7346/"
] |
31,681 |
<p>How best to present long equations in two-column papers? </p>
<p>I've tried splitting them in two or more lines along operators, but that still looks a bit weird to me, especially when parentheses have to be carried along across the lines. Also, I've considered stretching them across both columns, but that seems only an acceptable solution if the equation is of outstanding importance, e.g. the final result and not some middle section of a proof.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31698,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>When I have had occasion to deal with obnoxiously large equations, I find that there are four strategies that do well for me. In order of readability, they are:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Shrink the font: if you are allowed (any many venues do allow this), you can usually shrink the font on an equation a few points without affecting readability.</li>\n<li>Map separable terms of the equation to new variables, which can be given their own independent definition lines. This can really help readability in a complex equation as well.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>--- <em>The line of desperation</em> ---</p>\n\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>Break the equation across two lines: this works up to about 1.6 lines worth of smaller-font equation. When combined with adjusting font size, you can often adjust where the break occurs to make it look reasonable.</li>\n<li>Move the equations to a full-width figure, where you can play all of the same games.</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31700,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What a programmer would do is break the formula into sub-functions along boundaries that reflect the way the formula itself breaks up into individual concepts, define those, and then define the top-level formula in terms of those. I can't see any reason that wouldn't work here, at least to some degree...</p>\n\n<p>(This is like @jakebeal's suggestion to define new variables, but taking it one step farther to point out that when several of those variables are of the same form, you can define a parameterized function rather than having to spell out every one.)</p>\n\n<p>In my experience, what a pure mathematician would do is the same thing, but they'd call their functions operators and assign them symbols rather than names. :-)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34682,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I suggest you check chapter 3.3.4 in the book <a href=\"https://www.ams.org/publications/authors/mit-2.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Mathematics into Type</a> published by the <em>American Mathematical Society</em> (AMS). </p>\n\n<p>The book sets up specific rules for breaking the equations and also how to align these after breaking. The rules are too complex to be reproduced or duplicated well here so anyone interested should download the book using the link above for reference. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/13
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31681",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133/"
] |
31,687 |
<p>Is it unethical to refer to solutions to assignment questions that have been asked at other universities before? The questions are the same word for word. </p>
<p>EDIT: </p>
<p>A lot many answers are very helpful. Most of them revolve around introspection and the classical definition of plagiarism. I agree with that. I know I am digressing from the original topic and may seem to justify copying but at the end of the day I have to pass the course. I spend hours trying to learn all the background concepts and then try to apply them to the assignment questions. Thats what I have done till now. Not all the times I get them correct. Many of my classmates get the solutions online, rephrase the wordings and then submit it. Its a no brainer, they end up getting more marks than me. Sometimes(many a times) it feels really bad. Am I just being stupid in that case? should i follow their approach when I am not able to get some questions or to verify just to be sure?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31688,
"author": "Compass",
"author_id": 22013,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22013",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, it is unethical. Copying the answer from a solutions manual is considered plagiarism, even if it's from another university's website. The question bank and solutions are likely part of a question bank belonging to either an educational group or the textbook.</p>\n\n<p>Additionally, there is also no guarantee the answer key is right. For example, one answerer to another plagiarism related question <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/30012/22013\">said this</a>.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Then I went to Yahoo Answers, made a bunch of fake accounts, and posted tantalizingly wrong answers to all of my own HW questions. I have told all subsequent students not to google the HW answers because there are wrong solutions out there.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I'm not too sure about whether or not checking your answers once you've done the work yourself is unethical, however. That's a gray area for me that someone with more experience in academic misconduct might be able to help cover.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31696,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you get a solution from another school (or a previous year, as questions are often reused on problem sets), it's no different than getting a solution from another student in the same section who happened to finish the problem first. In other words, it is unequivocally cheating, unless there is an explicit policy to the contrary.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31706,
"author": "Stefano",
"author_id": 22533,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22533",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ask yourself: would you be comfortable telling to your Professor that you got the answers from a website? Do you think she or he would think you did a good job with your homework if you copied it from a website?</p>\n\n<p>The problem is much less about whether there are rules (and there are, no doubt) than about what is the intended purpose of homework, that is to help students learn. If you don't learn from your homework, you're not doing it right.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31714,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I do not view it as generally unethical to <strong>refer to</strong> these solutions. This situation is more complex than I think some other answers have admitted. Here is a list of claims: </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>In an ideal world, the point of homework is for the student to learn the material.</p></li>\n<li><p>In a perfectly ideal world, we would not need to grade homework, because students would do it on their own to master the material. They might refer to other people's solutions to see if theirs are correct, and that would be fine. </p></li>\n<li><p>Experience shows this world is not perfect. Students will often skip ungraded homework, and their learning and exam grades will suffer.</p></li>\n<li><p>So instructors assign homework for a grade. But this isn't because the grade is really important: it's because we want the students to do the homework and learn the material!</p></li>\n<li><p>Some students then get the idea that the grade is the real goal of the homework, and simply copy their assignment from others. Professors often find this unacceptable. </p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>One important point that others have answered is that, if you are going to turn in the homework, what you turn in should reflect your own understanding of the assignment. But, equally importantly, <strong>it is important to let yourself struggle with problems for a while before looking up the answer.</strong> That is the only way to really learn how to solve problems. </p>\n\n<p>Most professors accept that the internet exists - we know you can look up other people's answers. It used to be that fraternities had giant files of old homework and exam answers for this purpose (maybe they still do). And students study in groups all the time - research shows study groups can dramatically increase learning. So getting help is not a bad thing. </p>\n\n<p>But you don't want to get help too quickly. <strong>Make a genuine effort to answer the problems yourself first.</strong> If you find that you are looking up the answers to all the problems (even the easiest ones), then something is off - try going for more tutoring, or studying more before doing the homework.</p>\n\n<p>If you find that you occasionally need to look up one of the most difficult problems, that's perfectly normal (but it still wouldn't excuse directly copying the solution into your homework, of course). </p>\n\n<p>Of course, the usual caveats apply: some professors may specifically tell you not to collaborate with anyone or use any other resources. But most professors know that students usually collaborate with each other on homework (e.g. study groups) and know that students can look up answers using other resources. We have no problem with that, as long as each student's submission reflects their own understanding in the end. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31719,
"author": "JamesRyan",
"author_id": 8110,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8110",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The value of university is the learning. So the point of homework is not to solve the task but to learn how to solve the task. If you take a shortcut not only is it unethical but you cheated yourself out of your actual goal!</p>\n\n<p>What your classmates do is irrelevant, they won't be there with you in your career when you need to call upon these skills.</p>\n\n<p>So the question becomes more obvious. Did this additional material help my understanding where there was some lacking or did it make the question substantially easier where I will lose the benefit of working out how to solve the problem myself? You know the honest answer to that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31723,
"author": "bmargulies",
"author_id": 20580,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20580",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Either the policy is, \"Do your homework however you like, and the teacher will grade it to let you know if you got the right answer,\" or the policy is \"Homework is a graded assessment that is used as part of your overall course grade. Your homework is subject to the honor code / academic integrity rules / ... just as if it were an exam.\"</p>\n\n<p>If the former, it's up to you to decide what helps you learn. If it's the later, you're cheating.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31739,
"author": "Bee Kay",
"author_id": 24324,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24324",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>If you copied it from another classmate, is it cheating?</h2>\n\n<h2><strong><em>Of course it is</em>.</strong></h2>\n\n<p>Some other student wrote the code and you're copying it, <strong>so you are also cheating.</strong></p>\n\n<p>If you are unable to solve it yourself, you need to seek help from the professor.</p>\n\n<p><strong><em>A personal case in point:</em></strong></p>\n\n<p>My CompSci teacher gave me an F once, for allowing someone else to copy <strong>MY</strong> code.</p>\n\n<p>He simply wrote on my printout:\n \"Did copying from X help <strong>you</strong> learn anything?\"</p>\n\n<p>I explained to my teacher the circumstances. She had missed classes due to a death in the family. I tried to explain the assignment to her, but it didn't sink in. So, I shared a hard copy of my code, as I had expected her to read my code, and try to understand how it worked. Instead she typed it back in verbatim. So, she learned nothing beyond how to also get an F on a coding lab assignment.</p>\n\n<p><strong>My F did not get changed, and I agreed with him on his decision.</strong></p>\n\n<p>It certainly taught me a worthwhile lesson.\nHopefully it will help you too, without an F.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31767,
"author": "David E Speyer",
"author_id": 1244,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1244",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Ideally, your professor should have a policy about this. For example, here is mine. (It get's adapted a bit for each course, based on things like whether or not there is a textbook, or whether the course has TA's.)</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><b>Homework Policy:</b> You are welcome to consult each other provided (1) you list all people and sources who aided you, or whom you aided and (2) you write-up the solutions independently, in your own language. If you seek help from mathematicians/math students outside the course, you should be seeking general advice, not specific solutions, and must disclose this help. I am, of course, glad to provide help!</p>\n \n <p>I don't intend for you to need to consult sources (books, papers, websites) outside your notes and textbook. If you do consult such, you should be looking for better/other understanding of the definitions and concepts, not solutions to the problems.</p>\n \n <p>You MAY NOT post homework problems to internet fora seeking solutions. Although I participate in some such fora, I feel that they have a major tendency to be too explicit in their help; you can read further thoughts of mine <a href=\"https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/190453/is-it-morally-right-and-pedagogically-right-to-google-answers-to-homework/190558#190558\">here</a>. You may post questions asking for clarifications and alternate perspectives on concepts and results we have covered. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If your professor does not have a policy, your university probably has a default one.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/13
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31687",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22045/"
] |
31,694 |
<p>Can you please let me know how following TOEFL scores are usually judged on graduate (mainly master) admission if a) minimum requirement is 100 and b) minimum total requirement is 80 and minimum speaking requirement is 24?</p>
<p>Reading & Listening: 29<br>
Speaking & Writing: 20</p>
<p>Probably I would not have the chance to provide this explanation to admission board however it may be worth mentioning here that I communicate very well in my native language and I can speak better in English without exam pressure. I have learned English on my own and I have not been able to practice speaking/writing enough.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31697,
"author": "Xline",
"author_id": 8180,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8180",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This largely depends on the school. Some schools have this as strict requirement others good profile may compensate lower TOEFL scores. In either case, the department secretary/chair is the one who has the answer ( or the graduate studies office). </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31703,
"author": "Anonymous Physicist",
"author_id": 13240,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13240",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Speaking ability is considered very important; the TOEFL is used to determine if you can speak well enough to teach as a TA at US universities. Keep in mind teaching is also high pressure, like taking an exam.</p>\n\n<p>These scores might do better with degree programs which do not require the graduate student to teach.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/scores/understand\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.ets.org/toefl/ibt/scores/understand</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34294,
"author": "Paul de Vrieze",
"author_id": 10183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10183",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Besides the aspects of TA roles, there are other issues with both speaking and writing. On speaking, will you be able to participate properly in class discussions, will you be able to ask sufficient questions when stuck in a topic.</p>\n\n<p>On writing, most assessment will be in written form and the inability to communicate clearly in written English can cost you a significant amount of marks.</p>\n\n<p>Besides this, you need to think about your ability to listen to spoken English. Listening and reading are separate skills, and the inability to consume spoken English can entirely undermine your studies.</p>\n\n<p>Based upon my experience with master students (we increased our requirements at some point, computer science is actually remarkably dependent on good English), you really do not want to skimp on the English requirement. Poor English tends to result in poor or failing results, despite the student's inherent capabilities.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, most programmes <strong>want</strong> to admit foreign (profit making) students. Language requirements tend to be absolute minimums and going below them tends to be inadvisable from both sides (student and university). </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/14
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31694",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24289/"
] |
31,716 |
<p>I am in the process of submitting thesis corrections and attempting to add sufficient reference information for our school's Thesis Office. They are requesting that I add in the <strong>editors</strong> for Conference Proceedings.</p>
<p>Occasionally, I can find the explicit listing of editors for a conference (I am looking at Control Systems conferences, such as HSCC, ACC, ICRA, etc). With institutional access, I can find the Proceedings on sites such as IEEE Xplore, ScienceDirect, etc., and some of the sites list the editorial boards directly on the site. Others, however, may not list this information, and I try to look at the electronic material available for the proceedings, but cannot find a reliable method to find the editors to add to my reference.</p>
<p>May I ask if anyone has suggestions for reliably finding the Editorial Board? Should I just contact the Program Committees?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31741,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The \"editors\" for a conference, such as they exist, would typically be the program chairs (if that position exists), or the general chairs (if it does not). This should be listed on the conference web site or the front matter of its proceedings.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31743,
"author": "Xline",
"author_id": 8180,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8180",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One possible way is to look for indexing engines( where the conference is indexed). Some databases givs you a direct bibtex or xml file to cite the conference proceedings. Such information should contain the editor/chairs information. <a href=\"http://dblp.uni-trier.de/rec/bibtex/conf/aaai/2014\" rel=\"nofollow\">Here</a> is an example.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31834,
"author": "al_b",
"author_id": 5963,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5963",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The editors should be the authors of the proceedings. For proceedings published by Springer, e.g., in LNCS they are called \"volume editors\". ACM lists General and Program chairs of the conference, without calling them \"editors\". On IEEE sometimes you could see sth like \"title page\" or \"PC Credits\" among the first documents in IEEExplore, but I could not find such for ICRA. </p>\n\n<p>So, to summarize, there would be no official \"editors\" for IEEE conference proceedings like ICRA.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/14
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31716",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8523/"
] |
31,718 |
<p>I'm applying for a master's program, and one of the required documents is a motivational letter, in which I should briefly expose the reasoning behind my choice of program.</p>
<p>I'm using a LaTeX template which has a nice place to put a logo, and I'm thinking about putting the university logo there. Is this allowed? Is it common? Is it a good idea?</p>
<p>Any help would be greatly appreciated. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31721,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>No, you should not put the university logo in the letter. You are <strong>not</strong> representing your university in an official capacity in a statement of purpose, and therefore using the university's logo would be inappropriate, as you would be suggesting an official imprimatur for your work.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31776,
"author": "keshlam",
"author_id": 10225,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10225",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In fact, using the university's official logo without their permission may be a trademark violation, if they want to make a stink about it. Either get permission (unlikely in this case), or don't.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/14
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31718",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21375/"
] |
31,733 |
<p>I've read a lot on what to include and not to include in a personal statement. I have some short specific in that regard.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>At my core, I think I want a PhD more than anything because I want to deeply challenge myself. Obviously, I have a passion for my field as well, but if someone asked me why I was doing it I'd say it's because of the need to push myself. Is this something to say in a personal statement, or am I better off leaving that out? </p></li>
<li><p>One school I'm applying is a top 10 school, and it's a bit of a reach for me. Is it a bad idea to say that I've always wanted to get into that school specifically? Will that imply that I'm applying for the wrong reasons? This school is right next to where I grew up, and I've always wanted to study/research there.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The personal statement is the only thing holding up my applications. I feel like I'm afraid to say a lot of things because I don't know if they'll be perceived in a positive or negative light. </p>
<p>Thanks for any help.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31751,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I doubt these sorts of statements matter very much. They are basically fluff and would presumably occupy just a few sentences in your statement of purpose. However, I'd be inclined to omit both of them, to avoid potentially giving the wrong impression:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>At my core, I think I want a PhD more than anything because I want to deeply challenge myself. Obviously, I have a passion for my field as well, but if someone asked me why I was doing it I'd say it's because of the need to push myself. Is this something to say in a personal statement, or am I better off leaving that out?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The difficulty is that there are many ways to challenge yourself. You might run a marathon, master a foreign language, or raise lots of money for your favorite charity. Because of the many ways to satisfy a desire for challenge, this motivation doesn't necessarily lead to stability over time. Once you have completed your Ph.D., your academic ambitions may be satisfied and you may feel more attracted to a different challenge. From your advisor's perspective, that would be a suboptimal outcome. The purpose of a Ph.D. is preparation for a scholarly career, not checking off \"get Ph.D.\" from a list of unrelated challenges.</p>\n\n<p>Wanting to push yourself certainly isn't a bad thing. If you didn't enjoy a challenge, then getting a Ph.D. would be a bad idea. However, a desire for challenge is not in itself a very compelling reason to go to grad school, so I'd instead highlight the reasons you chose this particular challenge.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>One school I'm applying is a top 10 school, and it's a bit of a reach for me. Is it a bad idea to say that I've always wanted to get into that school specifically? Will that imply that I'm applying for the wrong reasons? This school is right next to where I grew up, and I've always wanted to study/research there.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This won't help you get admitted: fulfilling your childhood dreams is not one of the admissions committee's goals, nor is it relevant to whether you'd make a good grad student. It could come across as off putting (for example, if you seem too interested in the university's overall fame), so it would be best omitted.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31790,
"author": "John Harbord",
"author_id": 24358,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24358",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>That you want to push yourself is a potentially good quality. If you want a prospective university or employer to see this quality, go ahead and include it, but think about how this can be translated into something that will also benefit them. What makes a person who pushes themselves a good candidate? Sell it from that angle.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/14
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31733",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19655/"
] |
31,738 |
<p>I have a general inquiry regarding the impact of past misconduct in different courses of study.</p>
<p>To provide an example: if a student takes a course and is removed because of poor performance (or even if they are not removed and have had a warning) could this be used against him/her in a different course in the future? Or does the code of conduct for each university specify that each course constitutes a different "chance". What about when it is not about removal, and is about academic misconduct or general behavior? </p>
<p>In cases where the gap between both courses is quite high (say a decade), would it be safe to presume that misconduct as (for example) a teenager could not be used without good reason in the future, or could it be waived all-together?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31740,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Are you talking about academic misconduct (cheating) or simply poor performance? </p>\n\n<p>With respec to to cheating, policies vary from institution to institution. However, in my experience it is common in the US to have a central authority responsible for recording and reviewing cases of academic dishonesty. </p>\n\n<p>For example, on my campus faculty are required to report incidents of academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, forged signatures on registration documents, etc.) to the Associate Vice President for Academic affairs. Individual faculty can punish students by assignment of failing grades, up to and including failing the course. There is a formal process by which students can appeal these decisions. However, if a student has repeatedly violated the policy they can be punished further by suspension or expulsion from the institution. </p>\n\n<p>A huge advantage of this approach is that if this were left up to individual instructors a student could cheat repeatedly in multiple classes and never suffer any punishment worse than a failing grade in an individual class. In the other direction, it provides students with due process if they think that a faculty member has acted improperly. </p>\n\n<p>A suspension or expulsion for disciplinary reasons will typically remain on the student's transcript forever.</p>\n\n<p>If you're talking about poor academic performance (low grades), that can be a very different issue. </p>\n\n<p>It is certainly the case that poor academic performance in the past (having \"flunked out\" of a program) can affect your chances of being admitted to another program even many years later. The application process nearly always requires the student to provide transcripts from all colleges that they have attended. </p>\n\n<p>In the US, a student who has \"flunked out\" typically can apply for readmission to the university after some period of time. Many institutions have policies that explicitly disregard academic failures (and the associated low GPA) that happened in the distant past e.g. a student who flunked out 5 years ago or more may be readmitted and start with a new GPA. However, under such policies the student's transcript will still typically show the earlier academic failure. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31752,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My UK university centrally tracks all academic offences, both major and minor, and I think this is pretty common. We are not allowed to release information about academic offences to employers or other universities. If the new course is at a new university, it is up to the applicant to inform the university. There may be a question on the application and the applicant must answer it truthfully. If the new course is at the same university, it depends on how well they track things, in this case, how well they tracked things in the past.</p>\n\n<p>Past occurrences of academic misconduct are only used in deciding penalties for current occurrences of academic misconduct. Hopefully, a student would not commit academic misconduct again. If they did, the board may have discretion to ignore some past events if a large amount of time has elapsed. This is going to be specific to each board. Even if the board is allowed, discretion, they may not exercise it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/14
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31738",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24322/"
] |
31,746 |
<p>At the moment I am involved in a neurobiology research trying to assess the feasibility of using emotional response to elicit distinct EEG (brain wave) patterns from the brain using static images. Distinct brain waves can be used as control signals to perform distinct actions traditionally done using a remote controller (i.e. flipping through the channels).</p>
<p>Conventionally, people have tried using different images such as a flower or a tiger, a spaceship or a musician in attempt to trigger different responses. The team believes that these input stimulus are too "lite" to produce consistent and reliable results. We wish to investigate whether pornographic images, or images depicting violence, death will produce even stronger responses. Nothing too wild, but definitely involves things that people do not talk about while doing these kind of research.</p>
<p>Since there are a dearth of publications on this technique for eliciting EEG, the best way for us to meet the deadline is to go ahead with these "non-traditional" trials. On the one hand I think my project supervisor will be shocked that we have even thought about using these method, or he will reject it out right claiming an ethical issue, but we are hopeful that a small breakthrough may be reached if the team followed through with this experiment.</p>
<p>What should the team do in this case? Should we go through with our experiment and jeopardize our reputation or should we just give up on this train of thought and risk failure by continuing with the methods that are likely not to yield any useful results?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31748,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>First, do I understand correctly that a large part of your question is whether you should avoid discussing this significant and controversial change in research methodology with your project supervisor <em>because</em> you think that he would reject it outright for ethical reasons? If so, what am I missing that makes this even conceivably a good idea? Most supervisors will have a huge problem with that behavior <em>whether it yields breakthrough results or not</em>.</p>\n\n<p>Even assuming that you have the primary authorization to run the project, your idea of, under deadline pressure, just taking a quick shot at showing project participants images of pornography, violence and death with the goal of getting suitably vigorous brainwave activity again sounds almost too-bad-to-be-true. It is in the nature of disturbing images that people who are shown them may be...disturbed. That's not a side-effect: that is an essential part of the effect you're trying to produce. People can react in unpredictable ways to being shown such imagery: if it triggers, say, depressive or violent behavior in a subject, then....yikes, you could be in so much trouble. Compound that with not running it past your supervisor: yikes squared. </p>\n\n<p>Once more: <strong>talk to your supervisor</strong>. It is really distressing to me that you see a <em>possible</em> ethical objection and are asking other people on the internet whether or not it can be brushed aside if the results are nice. This is doubly wrong-headed: on the one hand, you don't actually know if your methodology would be ethically objectionable: scientific research involving pornographic or violent images is not <em>inherently</em> ethically objectionable; it's just potentially sensitive and needs to be handled with extreme care and professionalism. But in case what you're suggesting turns out to be truly ethically objectionable according to the standards of your discipline: <strong>of course</strong> you're going to have severe difficulties publishing such work, and publishing it could do you more harm than good. Exchanging ethical integrity for better research results is a terrible proposition....right? Is that really news to you?</p>\n\n<p>Finally:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Should we go through with our experiment and jeopardize our reputation or should we just give up on this train of thought and risk failure by continuing with the methods that are likely not to yield any useful results?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Meaningful research inherently carries the risk of failure: that is not a peculiarity of your situation. But you present a dichotomy of research failure versus showing pornographic and/or violent images. I'll take door number three: maybe it's just my own prejudice -- none of my academic successes have inherently involved violence, pornography or death -- but I will suggest that another solution may be lurking out there somewhere. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31750,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>All research involving EEG on human subjects will require <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_review_board\">IRB</a>, or equivalent ethical review board, approval in order to be published in a reputable journal. Studies involving pornography, violence, and death are not that uncommon and your IRB will have procedures in place to deal with these types of studies. They will likely require you to provide clear information about what the subjects will see during the experiment if it does not impact your hypothesis. They may require you to prescreen subjects for past experiences that may make the images more salient, again if it doesn't interfere with the hypothesis. Finally, if the images are disturbing, they will likely require you to have a support mechanism included in your debrief. Often, if the subjects are limited to students, understanding how to get emergency access to a psychologist is enough. In extreme cases they may require a psychologist to be on site.</p>\n\n<p>NEVER do research without ethical approval. There is nothing in your proposal that sounds so shocking that it should cause a supervisor to think less of you. He/she may not want to go down that road on scientific or personal moral grounds, but you should still feel comfortable raising the idea with your supervisor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31756,
"author": "peter",
"author_id": 17246,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17246",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm going to approach this from a different angle as I think your premise is flawed. </p>\n\n<p>Graphic images will only produce a more \"energetic\" response if the subject's threshold is below the image's level, so you will have to do a lot of pre-screening. This will, by definition, prepare the subject for what they are about to see and lessen the impact, thus negating exactly what you are trying to accomplish.</p>\n\n<p>Consider these (extreme, but that's what you want) examples:</p>\n\n<p><strong>Image</strong>: teen girl getting railed by 4 very well endowed men.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Subject A</strong>: Average soccer mom. Reaction: vomits on EEG machine.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Subject B</strong>: Retired porn producer. Reaction: None. Been there, filmed that.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Image</strong>: Messy truck vs. motorbike accident scene. </p>\n\n<p><strong>Subject A</strong>: Average soccer mom. Reaction: vomits on EEG machine.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Subject B</strong>: Ambulance attendant / policeman. Reaction: None. Saw worse than that yesterday.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Image</strong>: Flowers.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Subject A</strong>: Average soccer mom. Reaction: None.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Subject B</strong>: Trauma surgeon. Reaction: Can't breathe. Hyper-allergic to pollen, image triggers psychosomatic reaction as he almost died from the real thing last week.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Image</strong>: Clown from Poltergeist.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Subject A</strong>: Average soccer mom. Reaction: Smiles. She likes horror movies, and that's a classic.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Subject B</strong>: Battle-hardened soldier. Reaction: Panic attack - watched movie on a sleepover when he was 9 and now has coulrophobia. Can barely handle McDonalds.</p>\n\n<p>In summary, a neutral image familiar to everyone will produce a consistent response. Going too far off the well-trodden path will become increasingly unpredictable but will not always result in <em>stronger</em> results. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/15
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31746",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20070/"
] |
31,747 |
<p>Is it okay to mention in my statement of purpose for admission to grad school in math, that my undergraduate major is engineering because my parents wanted me to do it? </p>
<p>I was initially wrote my statement without including my motivation for undergraduate degree, however people said it seemed too abrupt. However, without it, I'm not sure how to tell why despite being interested in math, I still chose engineering as a major. </p>
<p><strong>EDIT</strong>: Thank you for your responses, I should mention that, after my undergrad degree, I have managed to enrol in one of the top masters program in math in my country and I'm doing well there, and also that there was not really any scope to learn pure math in my undergrad university. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31754,
"author": "Frames Catherine White",
"author_id": 8513,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8513",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Do not say: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"I did engineering undergraduate because my parents made me.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Why?\nBecause you are applying for graduate school. The admissions committee wants to see adults. Referring to your parents (at all) makes it seem like you are not independent -- that your parents run your life. Whether or not they do, it does not benefit you to give such an impression. You don't want to put the idea in their heads, whether or not it is true now (or then).</p>\n\n<p>I suggest, if your really must mention it at all, something along the lines of: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>\"My time as a Engineering undergraduate has made clear to me my true desires. While engineering is a interesting and worthy subject, my passion is for mathematical side I saw during my studies.\"</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31793,
"author": "John Harbord",
"author_id": 24358,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24358",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you change subjects, consider what you did get out of your first degree. It has equipped you with skills, even if you didn't enjoy it. You go into your new field with a different background where you can bring to bear perspectives others do not have. Don't look at the negative, look at the fact that you realised your true vocation but you do have other skills that you picked up on the way, which are never worthless. Academe is about the ability to process existing knowledge and apply/adapt it to create new knowledge; if you can do that in a field you didn't enjoy, you can do it in a field you do. That your parents pressured you is bad, but we all make mistakes in life. You will be assessed on your ability to learn from your mistakes, not the fact you have made them.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31798,
"author": "Kate Gregory",
"author_id": 12693,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12693",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You are right that some people will see a first degree in engineering and wonder something like \"if this applicant likes (and is good at) math enough to do grad work in it, why not do the undergrad in it too?\" Where you are wrong is in thinking that answering that question will help your application at all. (The specific answer of \"my parents made me\" will probably hurt your application, but I will say that in my opinion there is no answer that will help.)</p>\n\n<p>What will help? Sentences that rebut the worries or doubts they may have about you:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>engineers don't learn enough math to do well in grad school</li>\n<li>people who don't know what they want at 18 can never pursue their true dream</li>\n<li>people who change majors don't have the commitment and passion we need in this field</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>So, focus on what, as a math-loving person, you got from your undergrad work. Point to the courses you did well in, the electives you took, the projects you worked on, that helped you understand that graduate-level math was right for you. Talk about how committed and passionate you now are about math - and don't worry about whether teenage-you was committed and passionate about engineering. Admissions committees are aware that undergrad choices are made for a variety of reasons, including not knowing much about specific undergrad programs and not having much freedom of choice. Talk about your purpose now, not who you were four years ago. That four-years-younger person isn't applying to grad school; today-you is.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/13
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31747",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24439/"
] |
31,757 |
<p>I am working in academia in a position that is similar to instructor. The job is great but I am working under a short-term contract system with last-minute renewal notice, so I am trying to move for a more stable position.</p>
<p>Since the positions I am looking for are mostly in other countries, my interviews are held by video-conference. Some allow Skype interviews, but others ask for a "professional" video-conference, with high-quality video, and good and stable internet connections. Basically, they want me to use the video-conference room in my current institution. </p>
<p>I was wondering how people usually manage their organization for this kind of interviews. My question is 2-fold:</p>
<p><strong>Questions</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>How do institutions feel about letting their employees using their video-conference resources for job prospecting? </li>
<li>How do researchers that are not currently working for an institution find the resources to participate in this kind of interview? High-quality webcams are expensive.</li>
</ol>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31759,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Regarding institutions, I have gone through the regulations in mine (the Swedish equivalent of a national laboratory), and they don't specify any usage limitations. This makes sense, after all, most of the time they sit unused, and you don't wear them out by making a call. I would assume that if someone makes such a heavy use of it that it is disruptive to others, will be asked by the administration to explain it. But a few interviews will not by all means be so.</p>\n\n<p>YMMV, but if the regulations don't forbid it, you are probably fine.</p>\n\n<p>Regarding the second one, an anecdote: the only online interview I had for PhD positions was done audio only over Skype. The professor didn't have a working video set.</p>\n\n<p>An institution <em>demanding</em> to interview you over HD video sounds suspicious.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31762,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Since I do much of my work by video link, I have some experience with the problems of conducting business over video-conference.</p>\n\n<p>For permission, in universities it will generally be fine as long as you aren't disrupting the work of others. If there is any rule regulating video, you should be aware of it (e.g., some non-university research institutions don't allow video-conference at all, and make very certain their researchers know).</p>\n\n<p>For quality, I would guess that their actual requirement is not HD, but that they want to be able to read your expression as you talk. Here, the primary limitation is not your camera, but your network connection. The built-in camera for your computer or any cheap webcam will generally produce much higher quality video than you can transmit effectively. Things to do to ensure a good connection:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Use a wired link (e.g., EtherNet) rather than wireless if possible, as your connection is likely to be better and more stable.</p></li>\n<li><p>Use headphones and a microphone (cheap earbuds with a built-in mike will do): the headphones will prevent echo from your speakers, and the microphone ensures consistent pickup of your voice.</p></li>\n<li><p>Different software provides different quality tradeoffs optimal for different connections:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Professional videoconferencing hardware (e.g., PolyCom), is nice if your institution has a room and you can get help using it. Its learning curve is a pain, and it's not any better quality than...</li>\n<li>High-end videoconferencing software (I've had good experience with <a href=\"http://bluejeans.com/\">BlueJeans</a>), provides a fantastic quality connection but has brutal demands for bandwidth and processor power. If I use it for more than ~2 hours on my laptop, it overheats. Note that you don't have to buy this software: generally, only the meeting organizer needs to, and you can connect via a web link that they send you.</li>\n<li>Skype is good for mid-grade connections: it provides nice video when given a consistently good link, but degrades badly if the link is inconsistent.</li>\n<li>Google Hangouts is good for low-grace connections: its video quality is never particularly good, but it will get <em>something</em> through.</li>\n</ul></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>The most important thing is the high-bandwidth link: with a good enough link, Skype is generally sufficient within a continent. For very long distance connections (where the limitation is lag and undersea cables) you may want to use higher grade software. If you can't get access to a place that gives a strong connection, arrange the connection for a time when you are likely to have little competition with others for bandwidth. Early morning is generally best: during the day work activities consume bandwidth, and in the evening people are watching video.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/15
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31757",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15528/"
] |
31,768 |
<p>A <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31764/what-to-do-with-teachers-who-think-their-subject-is-extra-special-and-gives-st">recent question</a> asked how students should deal with professors who "think their class is extra special". Putting aside the question of how good students are at judging what an appropriate workload is: how should other professors handle this?</p>
<p>For instance, I've had students whose previous class routinely ran late, causing them to be late for mine. I once taught a class where several students had a professor immediately before me who decided, in clear violation of university policy, that their midterm exam would take place during a double length class period, which meant that would miss my entire class (which was in fact also my midterm). (This is slightly less crazy than it sounds, because it was a summer course.)</p>
<p>Let's stick to the case where the other professor is actually violating university policy. Students are usually very reluctant to try to enforce such policies on their professors, and I don't think I could in good faith encourage them to: even when there are written policies about these things, it's often unclear how a student would go about enforcing them, it's not clear that the relevant chair, dean, or provost actually would enforce them, and there's real potential for negative repercussions to the student.</p>
<p>I could be inflexible, but this seems unfair to the students, who are then stuck between two inflexible authority figures. Even if I'm right and the other is wrong, students shouldn't bear the brunt of that.</p>
<p>Finally, I could seek to enforce the policy on the other professor, but as mentioned, it's not clear how one does that, especially if the other professor is in a different department. (And since it's often relatively senior professors doing this sort of thing, at that point <em>I</em> worry about negative repercussions.)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31769,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Where I did my undergrad, students' complaints were common, and now the dean has a zero tolerance policy towards extending compulsory lessons or exams beyond the allocated time. It takes them only one student complain to get involved.</p>\n\n<p>The most immediate action they can take is just not allow the booking of the room, which is quite effective in itself; and also talking to the professor in question. In case of repeated transgressions, they can attempt other actions, like giving that subject to another department in the following years.</p>\n\n<p>So, the best way you can solve this is to get the people in power involved, and show that the students don't need to go through many hoops to get their rights enforced.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to ensure enforcement you need the students, because they are the only ones who will surely know when there is a collision. Make sure they know there are channels open for them, anonymous, and swift. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31771,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Finally, I could seek to enforce the policy on the other professor, but as mentioned, it's not clear how one does that, especially if the other professor is in a different department. (And since it's often relatively senior professors doing this sort of thing, at that point I worry about negative repercussions.)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I see no alternative to \"enforcing the policy on the other professor\". Seniority does not confer the right to violate university policy. In my opinion you should not let hypothetical concerns about your career or your tenure case stop you from standing up for your students in a situation in which policy is clearly on your side: assistant professors are university faculty, not captives who hope to be rewarded in the future for their docile behavior. </p>\n\n<p>The way to bring it up is to communicate with the other professor as soon as possible. I would recommend speaking in person or over the phone, as email renders trivial a large variety of passive-aggressive behavior: e.g., they might not respond at all, leaving you to wonder how long to wait. If you talk to someone face-to-face they have to either be reasonable or display their unreasonableness directly to you. How do you look another faculty member in the face and say \"I'm sorry that students will be missing your midterm, but it is critical that my midterm last double its scheduled length\"? You should come to the meeting knowing the relevant policy cold. You should bring printed copies of the policy, but only take them out if things are not going your way.</p>\n\n<p>You should continue talking to this person until you have conveyed that their proposal is against the policy, is specifically detrimental to your course, and that students are being caught in the middle. If they agree to that or at least acknowledge receipt of the information and still are intransigent, then you should end the conversation, calmly, by saying that you will have to take the situation up with the administration.</p>\n\n<p>I would then bring the matter to your department head and see what is suggested. If the faculty member is in a different department then it may be in order for the two department heads to have a discussion. If the department head does not take ownership of the issue you should ask whether he [I happen to know that the head of the OP's department is a \"he\"] wants you to take up the issue with the higher administration. If not, then as an assistant professor this may be the place to drop it, but again you should communicate clearly that policy is being violated and students are suffering. Or you could take it up with the higher administration: I might have done that as an assistant professor. (As a tenured associate professor I would probably do it now, and would not worry about it jeopardizing my future promotion or dealings in the department. On the other hand, the egregious behavior you described would probably not even be attempted at my large public university.) Tenure and promotion is not a docility contest, and \"He reported a rule violation\" is not a point against someone's case. I think honestly the issue is mostly one of your own peace of mind, so act accordingly.</p>\n\n<p>You certainly have my sympathies: it sounds like the other professor is being both selfish and unreasonable. It's hard to deal with unreasonable people -- you just can't reason with them! -- and if a situation arises in which it is primarily a battle of wills, then the unreasonable person tends to take the outside track. The fact that you care about the students and the other guy apparently really does not could indeed make you blink first. You may for instance end up having to give a makeup exam to some of the students. If so you should clearly document every time you do that and have the individual students vouch for you as well. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31774,
"author": "David Mulder",
"author_id": 11353,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11353",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Not sure whether student councils are really so unimportant at other institutions, but once again I would advice you to address a student representative from that class (or otherwise from that year). Point out the specific rules they are violating and they should know who to address and how to get the rules enforced, after all, that's a huge part of what the student council does (assuming it's in the students best interest, which this does sound like, keep in mind to always highlight the advantages for the students if the policy is enforced). The advantage is that you are not 'attacking' a colleague and the student council will never mention your name. On top of that - if played well - it will even put you on good terms with the student council (after all, by pointing out the specific policies that were violated you saved them work), which might be useful if you ever make an unintentional mistake somewhere.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31791,
"author": "kkron",
"author_id": 24359,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24359",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Henry,</p>\n\n<p>IMO you best bet is to ask the other professor to help you out with an issue. Explain that students are complaining that the \"other professor\" runs over. </p>\n\n<p>The professor will then either engage with you in resolving the problem or will try not to engage. Either way summarize the discussion back to the professor in an email and try to use the mutually agreeable solution. You may have to try this a few times but if within one or two meetings you don't resolve the problem you can then escalate it to \"upper management\" with documentation of what has been tried.</p>\n\n<p>If none of this works you could in clear conscious ask at the beginning of a course if your students have \"that other\" professor before you ad suggest that they not keep both.</p>\n\n<p>Once you show the way other brave souls may follow suit and the peer pressure could evoke a behavior change where your voice could not.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31831,
"author": "Patricia Shanahan",
"author_id": 10220,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10220",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>As a student, I have e-mailed a professor to point out the difficulty caused by his overrun habit. I was much older than most of the class, which had two consequences:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>I needed the entire scheduled 10 minutes to get to my next class.</li>\n<li>I had enough experience to know that sending the e-mail would not affect my grade etc.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Even so, I would have welcomed support from the professor teaching the second class.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/15
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31768",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8/"
] |
31,772 |
<p>I noticed that some teachers announce the grade breakdown in the first class or in the syllabus, while some don't. What's the best practice? If giving the grade breakdown at the beginning is preferable, is it better to use an absolute or relative breakdown?</p>
<p><a href="http://web.mit.edu/6.005/www/fa14/general/" rel="nofollow">Example of grade breakdown announced in the syllabus</a> (absolute breakdown):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Letter grades are determined at the end of the semester. The default
cutoffs are: a final average of 90 and above is an A, 80 and above is
a B, 70 and above is a C. These boundaries may be adjusted downwards
if necessary because of the difficulty of the assignments or quizzes,
but the boundaries will never be adjusted upwards, so a final average
of 90 is guaranteed to be an A. The boundary adjustment is done
heuristically, and there are no grade quotas, no grade targets, and no
centering of the class on a particular grade boundary.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/mathematics/18-404j-theory-of-computation-fall-2006/" rel="nofollow">Example of grade breakdown announced during the first class</a> (relative breakdown):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The first half get A, the second half get B (except in case of failure to try to do the homework or show up at the exams).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am especially interested in computer science education in the US.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31779,
"author": "user24349",
"author_id": 24349,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24349",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it depends on the situation (assuming there is no official department or university policy on the matter).</p>\n\n<p>For example, I am a young (math) teacher teaching a single course that has 25 students in it, at a college that I have never taught at before. I figured it was unlikely that I would be able to write exams that effectively separated the A's from the (A-)'s (say) based on some numerical scale that I set ahead of time. So I chose to <em>not</em> put a grade breakdown on the syllabus.</p>\n\n<p>After each exam, I look at the performance of the students, and I give them an individual grade update containing what I call \"a good estimate\" of their letter grade thus far in the course. This prevents them from just remaining in the dark all term long with regards to their grade.</p>\n\n<p>I have taught sections of courses at bigger schools where the grade scale is set ahead of time and is the same for all 800 or so students enrolled in the course. This makes sense, as the content of the courses is the same year after year, the exams are similar every year, and in general everything involving the course is somehow standardized.</p>\n\n<p>I would say that, in general, it's fine to not announce a grade scale ahead of time if you don't have to. Just be prepared to have <em>something</em> to say about grades, because students will likely want to know. Sometimes I give myself some wiggle room on the syllabus by saying \"your grade will not be lower than the following...\", so they know that a 90 (or whatever) will guarantee them an A, but they might also earn an A with a score of less than a 90. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 68556,
"author": "thebishopofcalc",
"author_id": 54015,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/54015",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There will surely be a strong correlation if the decision to be ambiguous on Day 1 about what precise performance will result in an A (sort of an \"I'll know it when I see it\" nod) is compared to the number of student grade appeals at the finale. </p>\n\n<p>I have taught in arguably the most quantitative of departments at a number of schools, and the policies have always revolved around a fixed basket of accrued points to be earned. Want an A? Then get an A level of points on the assignments throughout this semester. </p>\n\n<p>Few students protest their grade when they come up short. Fewer still try for a formal appeal. None have come close to winning it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/15
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31772",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
31,797 |
<p>Currently I am working on my Final Year Project. I have worked with the current supervisor for 4 months. In the first month, everything went smooth. Whenever I email a question to her, she will answer it within 3 days. However, as times goes by, she started to ignore my question. This happens from 2nd month onwards till now. I don't know whether she hates my for asking so many questions or simply don't have time. </p>
<p>What should I do to deal with this kind of situation as my Final Year Project's grade depends on her. If I don't have a good relationship with her, I think my grade will suffer. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31803,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Email is a terrible way to supervise work for both parties involved. It's difficult to ask a good question over email and it's difficult to address a misconception over email. From your question, there's no way of knowing which of several types of problems you are experiencing with your advisor. The answer to all of them, however, is to have regularly scheduled meetings that are face-to-face if possible, or over a video link if you are doing distance learning.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 36521,
"author": "A.S",
"author_id": 22447,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22447",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would add that you may want to figure out what mode of communication your supervisor prefers in general, and with regard to advising students on final projects in particular. Pushing for a meeting might work, but it could also add to the supervisor's load if s/he is already overburdened with meetings with advisees. I would recommend to stop by her office, explain that you are looking for some additional feedback from her as you work on completing the project, and ask what she would prefer as as plan for communicating about it. Chances are it could be a mix of email and face-to-face. </p>\n\n<p>Also, you could significantly increase your chances of hearing from the advisor by email if you adapt to her emailing style. People tend to have preferences in terms of how they communicate by email. Some like long, drawn-out emails with lots of detail. Others are absolute minimalists, writing barely a line in response to an inquiry of any length. A good rule of thumb is that if one writes short emails, one also prefers to receive/read short emails. </p>\n\n<p>I do not believe I ever met someone who asked me to write them longer emails! (except my mom perhaps ;) So reviewing your past communication might suggest adjustments you could make in your emailing style, so it is \"easy on the eyes\" for the advisor. This small adaptation can pay big dividends in the long-term, as you teach yourself to consider your conversation partners' preferences and adapt to them. They will subconsciously perceive correspondence from you more favorably, which in turn will increase the chance of quicker and more positive communication. </p>\n\n<p>This might seem trivial, but many people never intentionally learn good emailing practices. They just assume that if they get responses, their emails must be good enough. However, it does not take much effort to advance from 'good enough' to 'very good', but it could make a difference at critical times in your work or career.</p>\n\n<p>A couple resources: </p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/effective-e-mail-communication/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Effective E-mail Communication</a> - guide from the UNC-Chapel Hill Writing Center</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/EmailCommunication.htm\" rel=\"nofollow\">Writing Effective Emails</a></p>\n\n<p>Good luck!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 36525,
"author": "M R R",
"author_id": 19761,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19761",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<ol>\n<li>they all have their works and their tasks. they are so busy .</li>\n<li>it difficult for a adviser to just answer your emails and ignore his/her tasks.</li>\n<li>also the same time, as your project goes on he/she need to bit google-search to help you. this a bit google-search or even thinking about your issue in your in your perspective is few time tackle, but they are really busier to <strong>READ, think, search , TYPE and send</strong> your answer. </li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>So try to see him/her.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31797",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18108/"
] |
31,800 |
<p>After having a paper published, I submitted the preprint to arXiv, but with a different title.</p>
<p>Now, Google Scholar has identified the arXiv version as another paper, and by merging the two articles using the <em>merge</em> button, I cannot make the arXiv version appear next to the published paper when someone searches for it.</p>
<p>I guess that Google looks for the title of a paper (in the PDF, not the file name), and decides if this is the same paper. Anyway, is there any way to make Google Scholar understand that the arXiv version is the same paper and show the PDF in the search results?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31802,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my experience, when you use 'merge', Scholar will not return multiple listings in the main result. Instead, it asks you which version is the 'better' version and shows that version preferentially. If a person clicks on the 'all N versions' button, however, the alternate version should appear in that list.</p>\n\n<p>If you want to have a more explicit statement of the two articles and their relationship, you cannot force the search engine to do it for you---and even if you could, it wouldn't necessarily remain that way next year, since Google is always tweaking their systems. Instead, you should put this on your personal webpage, which (if hosted by your institution) will likely end up high in Scholar's returns in any case.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31810,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This may not be the answer you're looking for, but one solution would be to update the arXiv paper so that its title agrees with the published paper. (You can change an arXiv paper's title by submitting a revision.) Maybe you prefer the title from the arXiv, but using different titles causes enough hassle and confusion that I can't really believe it's worthwhile.</p>\n\n<p>It's not just a matter of convincing Google Scholar. If they supply a link to a paper with a different title, some users will assume it's an error without looking closely enough to detect that it's really the same paper. The same issue will occur whenever anyone runs across the arXiv paper, since the first heuristic most people use to decide whether two papers are the same is comparing the title and authors.</p>\n\n<p>If you really want to use a different title, you should take every opportunity to clarify the relationship between the papers. For example, the arXiv abstract page and the first page of the article should explicitly state that it's the same as the published paper (and give the citation). But even if you do that, readers will be confused and perhaps a little annoyed. They'll naturally wonder why it has a different title if it's the same paper otherwise, and they may wonder what else you have changed compared with the published version. If there are nontrivial changes, then you should warn the reader, while if there aren't, then it's not good to let readers wonder about that.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31800",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24369/"
] |
31,807 |
<p>I understand the concept of (peer-)reviewing as helpful to guarantee a good quality result. Clearly it makes sense that journal articles are reviewed by someone before publication. Yet, what I am still unclear about is who the reviewers are? The focus of this question is not <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19025/who-can-peer-review-articles">who can peer-review articles</a>, as I am not interested in who qualifies for being a reviewer, but rather about <strong>how to find out about the actual people having been involved in the review process?</strong></p>
<p>It disappoints me to not be furnished with a list of the reviewers as it would help me tell if the article is likely to be well-reviewed or not. In academia, where reputation is paramount, it would seem imperfect if the people behind the reviews are kept secret. Yet I have not yet encountered a list of reviewers for a specific article and the best place to put this information seems to be with the article itself. </p>
<p>Another worthwhile information connected to it would be <strong>the number of reviewers</strong>. After all the more people investing time into a review of some contribtion the higher I assume to be the chances that flaws and problems become corrected and again the more interesting the contribution may become. Since unfortunately there is an excess of publications from people needing to make a career and reading through all of those articles constitutes an obstacle more than an accelaration of the scientific progress.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31808,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>how to find out about the actual people having been involved the review?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>By and large, you can't. This is guaranteed by the anonymous (or \"blind\") peer review process used today by most publishers. I guess the main reason for blind reviews are that publishers fear that well-known professors will not be judged harshly by more junior researchers for fear of repercussions. </p>\n\n<p>There are individual publishers out there that share your frustrations with the model, though - most importantly, <a href=\"http://www.plosone.org\">PLOS One</a> and <a href=\"https://peerj.com\">PeerJ</a> have recently started to experiment with a semi-open review model, where reviewers can choose whether to reveal themselves to the authors.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31811,
"author": "Alexandros",
"author_id": 10042,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10042",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Although @xLeitix answer is spot-on, I think you are missing the main point. Anonymity is directly linked to any democratic process. Likewise, your election vote is anonymous. In this sense, a review is just a vote of confidence for the reviewed article and therefore it has to be and remain anonymous for a more objective opinion. </p>\n\n<p>Another point is that anonymity in reviews not only protects the reviewers against repercussions but also protects against nepotism and mutual exchange of favors. Moreover, anonymity also ensures that all reviews are (almost) treated equal. So, a favorable, short review from a professor (who just said ACCEPT because he might personally know the authors) might count less than an informed, in-depth review even if that review comes from a PHD student. So, although the editor knows the reviewers, one reviewer cannot argue / discard with the other reviewer based on their individual status. In this sense, anonymity also protects the reviewed, since if the paper is actually good, it is more probable to be reviewed based on its merits then the authors' public relations.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31875,
"author": "user71659",
"author_id": 24431,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24431",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In terms of conflicts and deliberate sabotage, it is the <strong>responsibility of the editor</strong> assigned to your paper to moderate this. The reviewers and authors are known to the editor, and the editor has the ultimate power to accept or reject a paper. If there appears to be a conflict of interest, or a reviewer is unduly harsh, or misunderstands the content, the editors have the power to overrule the reviewer, and the editor-in-charge has the power to overrule assistant editors.</p>\n\n<p>You will see this in some journals where each paper has a name under \"communicated by\". It lets the reader know that the named editor is responsible for the review process.</p>\n\n<p>Finally, the number of reviewers <em>is</em> disclosed. All journals I've ever worked with have a policy of providing reviewer comments unedited to the authors. Just count the number of reviews you receive. The editors should have no problems telling you how many reviewers were involved; I've frequently received e-mails saying \"I got 2 reviews back and am waiting on one\".</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31878,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><em>The short answer is \"you can't\". Unless somehow required by local law, editors will not reveal the reviewers' names. This answer focuses on the reasons behind this.</em></p>\n\n<p>So far, two benefits of blind peer reviewing have been mentioned:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>It (maybe) avoids a situation where junior researchers are afraid to criticize senior researchers.</p></li>\n<li><p>It (maybe) avoids the issue of exchange of favors, where reviewers help each other by giving overly positive reviews. This is similar to a benefit of secret ballot voting, which helps prevent \"trading\" votes with another person, because the secret ballot makes it impossible to tell whether the other person actually voted the way they agreed to vote (as long as the vote isn't unanimous). </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>I see two other benefits:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Many research areas have a small number of researchers. The anonymity of peer review (maybe) helps to avoid personalizing the peer reviews. My own subfield of mathematics has under 100 researchers in the world who could realistically referee my papers, and only maybe 25 who could claim to be experts in the specific area. I know many of these 25, and they know me. So we are often asked to referee papers for authors whom we know - there are not that many experts to do the reviews, after all. In small research fields like mine, the inevitable disputes over rejected papers could otherwise be toxic to the common good. </p></li>\n<li><p>The editor is responsible for choosing appropriate reviewers. Keeping them anonymous to the author cuts off an avenue of appeal where, instead of responding to the content of the reviews, the author instead just tries to impeach the reviewers. Of course, the author can already tell the editor \"I don't think the reviewer understands the field\". But they can't directly refer to the reviewer's identity when doing so - they have to look at the actual review. </p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31807",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24376/"
] |
31,814 |
<p>Sometimes when I have been struggling on a problem set for a while, I'll post a question on StackExchange, openly acknowledge that it's homework, and ask for hints (not the full solution). Typically people give good advice and help me think about the problem in several different ways, and I end up learning a lot by asking the question.</p>
<p>Now the thing is, we are probably not supposed to ask the Internet for homework help. But in my classes it is perfectly acceptable to go to TA office hours, where most of them will tell me the entire answer instead of giving hints. Often I've seen TAs present the solution on the blackboard in front of about 20 students (because all the students need help on the same question). We're also encouraged to "collaborate" with other students, who will usually tell you the entire answer instead of giving minimal hints to help you along.</p>
<p>Is it unethical to ask for homework help on StackExchange given that I learn a lot more than I would using officially sanctioned methods?</p>
<p>(If it matters, I post on math.stackexchange, and this is for classes like real analysis and abstract algebra.)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31815,
"author": "Dave Clarke",
"author_id": 643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/643",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This might depend on your university's policy on cheating and plagiarism.</p>\n\n<p>For our university (though the precise details may vary from course to course), you are allowed to use StackExchange to help you to understand concepts, but you are not supposed to use it to help you solve assignment questions. </p>\n\n<p>We tell the students that if there is any risk that they may have read an answer or some code or whatever that might have influenced their answer, then they need to cite it. With a proper citation, they cannot be accused of plagiarism. We may, however, ask the student to answer extra questions in such a case, in order to demonstrate their knowledge.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31830,
"author": "Daniel B. Chapman",
"author_id": 19927,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/19927",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The ethical solution here depends completely on the context. If you're using that information to complete an ungraded assignment there is absolutely no ethical gray area. Any information (tutor/book/the internet/study group) is an entirely valid resource.</p>\n\n<p>However if you're turning it in for a grade the gray area immediately becomes black as you are passing off someone else's work as your own.</p>\n\n<p>I would question the structure of a class that forces you into a situation where you're stuck solely with the text book but I have seen it. Talk to the professor, but if there's no grade seeking knowledge isn't an ethical violation. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31837,
"author": "Jackson",
"author_id": 24403,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24403",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is it unethical to ask for homework help on StackExchange given that I learn a lot more than I would using officially sanctioned methods?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Deliberating over the ethicality of the situation is frivolous. You know that StackExchange helps you to learn. So use it. Do not allow your school to restrict your ability to learn. Clearly the school would be bad, and not you, if its policies prevented you from learning.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31839,
"author": "Lilienthal",
"author_id": 15370,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15370",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Asking for help is ethical, asking for solutions isn't.</p>\n\n<p>The entire goal of homework is to increase your understanding of new material you've been presented with, usually by using the theory in practical examples. Discussing material with others and \"thinking out loud\" are time-proven practices to help in grasping new concepts and techniques and as such it's perfectly ethical to process your homework in a way that most efficiently helps you to understand the exercises. As you say your university explicitly supports 2 classic methods help you on difficult assignments: TA assistance and collaboration. </p>\n\n<p>Regardless of the method you employ, <em>as long as your goal is to increase your understanding</em>, and not to get out of doing the work at all, you're ethically in the clear.</p>\n\n<p>Three caveats to this:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Graded homework: it's my belief that grading homework is a way to enforce students to keep up with coursework and ensure that their understanding of the material is at the required levels to eventually complete the course. Seeking help, no matter the source, should not be frowned upon here since you're still accomplishing the majority of the work (i.e. learning it) yourself. Ethical.</li>\n<li>Assignments: coursework that is a sufficiently large part of your grade as to move beyond simple homework and into assignment territory is different. Seeking assistance about the general concepts involved is ethical, asking help on the details of the assignment itself most likely isn't.</li>\n<li>Legality: as some of the other answers and the comments mention, whether or not your university allows you to seek help from online resources is an altogether different question and it's sensible to check your university and course regulations on this or ask for confirmation from the professor or TA.</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31850,
"author": "Rob",
"author_id": 21446,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21446",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Pretty much what everyone else said. I dont think there is an ethical issue unless your code of conduct forbids it, and you make it clear that it is homework and you need some guidance versus the whole solution. However keep in mind that what your prof is looking for in terms of answers may not be what the internet comes up with. Often your prof is just wrong but good luck trying to get them to accept it (this happens especially in lower level courses). In higher level courses such as yours I wouldn't worry too much about it, its not like one problem solution from the internet is going to make or break your grade.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31886,
"author": "Ryker",
"author_id": 4514,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4514",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Personally, I don't feel there's anything unethical about it. Sure, you might be breaking your university's honor code, but I think the only ethical conflict there is that you are breaking a code you at least implicitly agreed to, not in the act itself. That is, your ethics or ethical principles in general do not necessarily align with the honor code, and I would say in this case they most certainly don't.</p>\n\n<p>I namely think that the stock standard honor code imposed by universities is a dinosaur that needs to revised, and I think many professors are recognizing that. For example, one of mine mentioned explicitly that he realizes that students use the internet for solutions, and that we should just reference the source when doing so. On one of our homework problems, he also gave us a hint in his office hours and then just added \"or just look up a proof on the internet\", saying either way is going to be fine ultimately. </p>\n\n<p>In addition, I do not see a difference between looking something up on the internet and consulting a physical book in your library. I assume no one would take issue with the latter, would they? After all, the goal is to learn the material.</p>\n\n<p>Plus, research shows immediate feedback is necessary for learning, and by not asking for help on homework (be it your friends, your professor, or \"the internet\") you're only hurting yourself. You probably have to at least attempt the problem in earnest to get something out of it, but if you can't get it, you gain nothing by puzzling over it without success. On the other hand, if you do stumble upon a solution on the internet, you might find a new trick or a new way of thinking about it, since you'll have to interpret it on your own. Often, answers here are also given by people with a different background, so you don't get the answer served on a platter, but, instead, you have to really look into it and interpret it so that it fits with <em>your</em> specific background and the tools you are allowed to use.</p>\n\n<p>So, basically, I don't think that there is anything, and I mean anything, unethical about asking for help on SE in and of itself. It just might be against the honor code. And as I mentioned earlier, the only unethical thing then is that you're breaking an agreement, which I think is an obsolete one anyway.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31902,
"author": "Paraplastic2",
"author_id": 24424,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24424",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Asking for a direct answer would be unethical. Asking questions to gain knowledge and/or understanding should never be unethical. The goal of any class is to learn the material. Different people learn differently. It’s perfectly understandable for anyone to be stuck or confused on different points. When you need help, you need to ask someone that knows more than you. They can help you understand. Strictly speaking for ethics and knowledge transfer, you’re fine. </p>\n\n<p>Past knowledge transfer it can get grey. Basically, don’t plagiarize and site appropriately. Course and college policies become grey as things like stack exchange aren’t completely adapted into the education system yet. So they don’t always have a clear or accepted fit. Because of that, it may be wrong per their policies. Then ethically, I think their policies aren’t ethical. That’s a whole other debate. However, I believe that if you follow what the point of the policies are you are fine. That’s typically, are you cheating or plagiarizing. As long as you aren’t doing activities down those paths you should be fine.</p>\n\n<p>Think of stack exchange as your instructor. Can you ask these types of questions of your instructor? If you have no ethical problems with asking the same questions of your instructor, then you have nothing to worry about. Is asking questions on stack exchange really any different from asking a friend or colleague? Is it unreasonable to use the friend of colleague as a source of information? No on both. Use every tool to your advantage to learn. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31814",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384/"
] |
31,817 |
<p>Online course providers like edX and coursera offer free courses, but you can only take/enroll the courses at specific times of the year (not any time). Why is that? If you just want to learn something (not for a degree in accredited institutions), it would be much easier if you could do it online anytime.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31821,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Actually for both of them some courses are fully autonomous \"anytime\" courses, while others are restricted to being offered at particular times. So far as I can tell, the time-restricted courses derive two benefits from being time-restricted:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>It creates a \"cohort\" of students learning similar things and doing similar assignments at the same time, who can then help one another in the associated forums.</li>\n<li>Resources needed to support the course (e.g., TA monitoring, course material updates) can track the progress of the students through the course, increasing the return on resources and minimizing disruption to students.</li>\n</ol>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31833,
"author": "Adam Baum",
"author_id": 24398,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24398",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You kind find two type of courses. </p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Self-paced: When you select this type of courses you can enroll and take these courses any time of the year. </p></li>\n<li><p>But the live courses will enable you to enroll only twice or thrice a year. This is because this type of courses will be conducted for large amount of students at the same time. That's known as MOOC-Massive open online course.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31817",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24386/"
] |
31,818 |
<p>I have been working on a particular topic for some years and I have 6-7 publications on different aspects of the same topic.</p>
<p>My supervisor wants me to write a summary journal paper that would incorporate the work of all these publications. Indeed, such a publication would highlight the contributions of the work and make it easier for an interested reader to be guided through my work. Yet, I am wondering that if such a publication would be ethical, considering that would be no extra unpublished content.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31819,
"author": "ff524",
"author_id": 11365,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11365",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you cite the earlier papers and the specific contribution of this summary paper is clearly stated (so that it is not implied that it contributes new research), there's nothing unethical about this.</p>\n\n<p>Furthermore, you're adding value with this new paper, not just trying to rack up publications without added value.</p>\n\n<p><em>Dishonesty</em> is unethical. If you are truthful in your claims of novelty and contribution, there's nothing dishonest about this.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31820,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>What you are describing is one form of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Review_article\">review article</a>. Although review articles more typically describe a more general state of the art on a problem, they can also be used to tie together and summarize a collection of linked papers into one coherent entry point.</p>\n\n<p>Doing this well <em>will</em> require creating quite a lot of new content---it just won't be new technical results. Rather, the content created in such a paper is the distillation of a much larger body of work into a single coherent picture. This can be quite valuable for readers, because trying to reconstruct the picture of a body of work that is evolving over time and scattered across papers can be painful and difficult; additional detail about particular points can then be obtained by following the citations to the source articles. Note also that if you write this article well there will be little risk of self-plagiarism, because you'll need to rewrite everything pretty much from scratch to fit into the new and more compressed arrangement of ideas.</p>\n\n<p>So, in summary: it's not only ethical, it is legitimate new work and can be highly valuable, just so long as you make the nature of the article extremely clear and include all of the relevant citations.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31818",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24387/"
] |
31,823 |
<p>in my relatively short academic career, I've gathered that academic engineering seems to be more about creating ideas than actually iteratively improving a product using engineering methods. In my field, biomedical engineering, I worry that this is not enough because many biomedical ideas require immense funding that usually comes from large companies willing to wait a decade for profits, and thus good ideas are shelved (obviously many layers to this). </p>
<p>Many questions address how academics could make money, or start up companies, but my question is whether it is actually our responsibility to do so in the biomedical and biotech fields?</p>
<p>edit:
my assumption is that starting a business is the only way to get a product to customers. Answers that provide alternative strategies to achieve this ultimate goal are welcome :)</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31824,
"author": "StrongBad",
"author_id": 929,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/929",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The NIH seems to take the opposite view of you. The NIH provides funding for the training of a large number of biomedical engineers. The individual NRSA mechanism (F31 and F32) provides some of the most prestigious funding for PhD students and post docs. This funding comes with a pay back obligation such if you leave academia for industry within a few years of receiving NRSA funding, you can be required to pay back the funding. The NIH is in essence saying \"do not leave academia\" to the best biomedical engineers it trains. If the NIH thought more people should be starting up companies, I believe it would drastically increase the funding to the SBIR mechanism and rework the pay back mechanism to encourage individuals to leave instead of stay.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31825,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would strongly agree that it is ethically important for beneficial research (biomedical or otherwise) to be transitioned from the laboratory out into the world where it can benefit people. It is not obvious to me, however, that leaving academia to found a startup is necessarily the best way in which to accomplish this, particularly for biomedical work.</p>\n\n<p>There are two reasons that I see it this way:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>The skills necessary to be a good academic researcher and the skills necessary to found a company are very different, and different again from the skills necessary to bring a safe and reliable product to a large market.</p></li>\n<li><p>One of the reasons it takes so long to transition biomedical research is the difficulty of ensuring safety, given our current state of knowledge. Yes, there are many other problems with market structure and regulatory frameworks, but fundamentally it is a lot more dangerous to put a drug or a medical device in somebody's body than to deploy an app on their smartphone, and a lot more difficult to evaluate safety than with a piece of consumer electronics. One of the values that established companies bring to the table is experience with navigating these problems.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>So I think there is a strong ethical responsibility to attempt to move one's research into application, but the right way to do that for a particular case may often not be a startup, but instead to seek out tech transfer relationships with other academics, entrepreneurs, companies and even funding agencies.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/16
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31823",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24375/"
] |
31,835 |
<p>I am doing my master's and I am considering doing my PhD at a different institution. I asked my advisor for reference and he was fine with it. My co-advisor insisted on me staying. I tried to talk him multiple times to be able to leave on good terms before I started applying and he was very reluctant to me leaving. My discussions with him were not productive and every time he starts suggesting projects for me and tries to convince me to stay. Discussion gets heated when I say I want to leave my options open and ends that way. I have to say that he is a very good advisor, but that reason is not enough for me to stay. </p>
<p>I decided to apply without letting him know and I did. My advisor is now asking me to let my co-advisor know that I am applying, and that I owe him that. I am sure he will be very angry and another heated argument will start again. What to do in a such a situation? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31836,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You will finish your Master's before you leave, right? In that case, there shouldn't be any obligation for you to stay. Just tell your co-advisor that you're applying to a different institution.</p>\n\n<p>It's your life and your decision. There's nothing to argue about. Honestly, if you tell him in person (or it comes up in a later meeting) and it starts to turn into an argument, just tell him you don't want to argue about it. If he continues, <strong>don't argue. Just get up and leave.</strong></p>\n\n<p>A calm discussion is fine if he wants to convince you to stay - let him present his counter-offer calmly if he wants to. My advice for dealing with anger is no different than dealing with arguments with anyone else, either personal or professional - if their anger is controlling the situation, just leave.</p>\n\n<p>It's a shame that an otherwise-good advisor is so \"clingy\", but don't let that get in the way of what you want to do. If either advisor has an iota of professionalism, they won't let their personal wishes affect your reference letters. Perhaps it's for the better - having a volatile and possessive supervisor overseeing your PhD could lead to more problems later.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31843,
"author": "Bill Barth",
"author_id": 11600,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11600",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Tell your co-advisor. If he doesn't react well, take your advisor with you and have a second meeting. Maybe they can work it out colleague to colleague rather than professor to student. Withholding a good letter of recommendation because you want a promising student to stay and work with you is extremely selfish and borderline misconduct. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31835",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/18244/"
] |
31,842 |
<p>Imagine one, as part of their academic research, makes a theoretical finding of a new material with interesting properties based on a computer simulation. The method used in the simulation is sound and has been proven to provide reliable results.</p>
<p>Can the discoverer file a patent based on this theoretical work or does one need experimental confirmation that the new material indeed has the predicted properties before being able to file a patent?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31847,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The relevant concept here is <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduction_to_practice\">\"reduction to practice,\"</a> which means that a concept has been sufficiently realized to make it believable. Where, exactly, this bar lies depends on which field and which country you are dealing with. </p>\n\n<p>The United States, for example, used to have much stronger requirements for working models, but has recently introduced a notion of \"preliminary filing\" which lets one start the patent process before demonstrating a working model. In some cases, particularly mechanical devices, the device (<a href=\"http://www.google.com/patents/US3216423\">fortunately</a>) might never actually have to be demonstrated in action. In others, such as many types of biological invention, the science is considered so unpredictable that you cannot be considered to have reduced the idea to practice unless you have an actual working example.</p>\n\n<p>For your particular question of computational material design, I do not know where the boundary of \"reduction to practice\" currently lies. It is likely to be field-dependent (e.g., is this a mechanical macrostructure like a fabric, a simple atomic structure like a new alloy of steel, or a complex organic structure like a protein agglomerate), will depend on jurisdiction, and is likely to move again in the future as patent offices slowly come to accept the validity of more classes of models. Thus, the overall answer is \"it depends\" and \"talk to a patent lawyer.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32408,
"author": "ShaneParker",
"author_id": 24196,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24196",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I haven't encountered cases like patenting a theological findings. If the findings was a result of a research or a thesis, it would be easy to compile it and have it copyrighted under your name. Note: you can only patent a research study if the creator is you. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31842",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14695/"
] |
31,851 |
<p>My area of interest is not so well-researched in the US, but it attracts more interest in some developing countries where the topic is more relevant, but also where academic standards tend to be different, and I must proceed with much more caution.</p>
<p>In EBSCO, recently my searches have turned up a number of articles published in journals abroad that either: (1) contain no in-text citations, but present entries in the reference list related to material discussed earlier in the paper or (2) contain no citations at all and no reference list at the end.</p>
<p>Is the lack of citations in an article sufficient criteria for casting aside a paper, even if I think some of the ideas relate to a paper I am writing?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31857,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think it depends what you mean by \"trust\". </p>\n\n<p>A modern academic paper which references no other paper is unusual and <em>possibly</em> fishy, but at least in my field (mathematics) there is nothing <em>inherently</em> faulty about the practice: perhaps you really are answering a question that you thought up yourself and for which the answer does not require you to use or cause you to refer to any published result. (There must be some examples of this: anyone?) </p>\n\n<p>If you're being asked to <em>evaluate</em> a paper then, sure, read it much more carefully if there are no citations. That's not a good sign. If you know the field well enough to know specific papers that the paper you're reading <em>should</em> have cited, then you should evaluate the paper negatively for not citing them. If the paper has been published in a reputable journal you might consider writing to the editors to suggest missed citations. </p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, a lack of references (or in-line citations) does not cause a paper to cease to exist. If you want to cite the paper then you still can, and if you do use the material in the paper then you must cite it, as usual.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31858,
"author": "Trylks",
"author_id": 7571,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7571",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Is there any kind of formal or empirical validation of the information that the paper contains? Citations and peer-reviews are standard today, as well as the reputation of the venue. Trust is often correlated with these, but this leads to the perversion of the whole system.</p>\n\n<p>Many systems pervert when there is some discrepancy between how things are and how they look. E.g. economic bubbles, perceived and real value of some goods.</p>\n\n<p>IMHO, trustworthiness comes from verifiability (and I think that is the whole point of science). Verifiability implies replicability, reproducibility, falsifiability, etc.</p>\n\n<p>In short: no, you should not trust a paper that doesn't cite any previous work, but you should not trust a paper that cites many others just because they are there. You should, in general, trust no one, and check whether what they say is true by yourself, whether it is coherent with latter studies, whether latter studies could have contradicted it, whether it is possible to see if what they claim is true or not (open data, open science, open source, etc.)</p>\n\n<p>Related and recommended: <a href=\"http://faculty.washington.edu/rjl/pubs/topten/topten.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow\">Top Ten Reasons to <em>Not</em> Share Your Code\n(and why you should anyway)</a></p>\n\n<p>PD: a whole different point (as pointed by @petelclark) is evaluating a paper, in that case you have to consider whether what the paper says is true, but you have to check as well whether it is original research (or it was published before). Citations help to understand the context and the state of the art previous to the paper, and to see that the authors know the state of the art.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31863,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are certainly non-traditional publications that have a high value and that you may wish to cite. For example, one of the important driving scientific analyses in biotechnology right now is the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlson_Curve\" rel=\"nofollow\">Carlson Curve</a>, which is the DNA synthesis equivalent of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_law\" rel=\"nofollow\">Moore's Law</a>. The up-to-date versions of the analysis, however, are not published in any journal article that I am aware of, but rather <a href=\"http://www.synthesis.cc/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=1&tag=Carlson%20Curves\" rel=\"nofollow\">on Rob Carlson's blog</a>. Not only is it not a \"proper\" article, but it has no \"proper\" citations---just links to various sources and related work. As such, it clearly preserves the intent and the value, just not the form. It's also not even vaguely peer reviewed, but it's an important work that is sometimes necessary to cite.</p>\n\n<p>For the cases that you describe, coming from areas where the academic traditions are weak or different, it will typically be harder to determine the difference between low quality work and work that is high quality but fails to conform to the norms of scientific presentation. You should <em>not</em> discard something just because it fails to follow forms. </p>\n\n<p>You should, however, treat non-conforming publications with heightened suspicion: publishing according to typical standards in well-known peer-reviewed publications can be viewed as a form of <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_theory\" rel=\"nofollow\">costly signalling</a>. Conforming is no guarantee of quality, and failure to conform does not prohibit it, but failure to conform with publishing norms is strongly <em>correlated</em> with poor quality work for many different reasons.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31921,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you strictly ignored papers that had no references, then one of the papers you'd be ignoring would be Einstein's 1905 paper in which he originated the theory of special relativity. But times have changed since 1905, and it is now extremely unusual to see any academic paper without references; high-quality journals simply wouldn't consider such a paper seriously. Because of this, my experience has been that when kooks write papers, they do include references. From the examples I've seen in my field (physics) the telltale signs of a kook paper are not a lack of references but one of the following.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Most of the references are to the author's own previous work.</p></li>\n<li><p>Where other people's work is referenced, the references don't show familiarity with the current state of the field. Instead, the references are to papers from the 1940s, or to sources such as textbooks.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31851",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
31,854 |
<p>This question is specifically in the context of an American public institution and a generic faculty member, specifically not someone working in religious studies or a similar department. I have noticed over the years that many faculty members have religious items on display in their office or on their office doors, and I was wondering on the one hand whether they are legally allowed, and on the other hand how wise it is to display them while being sensitive to a diverse student population. Here are a few examples from my own experience (all in mathematics).</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Several years ago I had a colleague post the ten commandments outside his office door. </p></li>
<li><p>I have another colleague who has Bible study books prominently
displayed on his bookshelf.</p></li>
<li><p>I myself have a poster of the Buddha and a Buddha statue in my
office, both given to me by a student.</p></li>
<li><p>Somewhat less on topic: a now-retired faculty member used to put ads
for a Bible study that he held in his home in graduate student mailboxes. (I know many foreign graduate students found this off-putting.)</p></li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31856,
"author": "aeismail",
"author_id": 53,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There's a big difference between inconspicuously displaying religiously-themed materials in one's office and effectively proselytizing, as the retired faculty in your example apparently did. The former is I think entirely reasonable, as it's a personal display that does not put any burden on a visitor or guest to the office. Putting religious materials in their inboxes is unwanted, and is inappropriate for a faculty member to do (particularly given the power imbalance involved).</p>\n\n<p>I don't think I've ever received (or heard of) a legal notice that one is <em>not</em> allowed to display religious imagery in a personal office. Is it a good idea? Again, I think it's a question of degree. There's nothing wrong with displaying a small cross or Star of David or moon and crescent in one's office. Having a large and ostentatious display, though, would probably put students ill at ease. Similarly, having those materials where you actually meet with students (say, at a conference table in the office) is more \"aggressive\" than just having it on a bookshelf. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31861,
"author": "Sasho Nikolov",
"author_id": 1173,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1173",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Here is a <a href=\"http://www.calstate.edu/Gc/documents/HolidayReligiousDisplaysThreading1stAmendment.pdf\">document</a> explaining some of the legal issues involved. Since I have no legal education, I will refrain from commenting too much, it is probably better to consult the document and the references within. With that disclaimer, my understanding is that the main legal tension is between First Amendment rights of the employee and the anti-discrimination clause of the Civil Rights Act, on one hand, and, in the case of a public university, the Establishment Clause on the other. If an unequivocally religious display is placed in a way which may induce others to think that the government (including state government) is endorsing a religion, then the display may be unconstitutional. So, for example, placing the ten commandments in a reception area, like the student accounting office, would likely be a problem. On the other hand, displays <em>inside</em> a faculty office are most likely legitimate exercises of free speech. Another consideration is how much disruption the display causes.</p>\n\n<p>To me the ten commandments on the outside of an office door and placing religious ads in mailboxes seem borderline. I have seen posters (for conferences or publications) and comic strip cutouts on office doors, and I always interpreted them as communication from the person who sits in the office, and not university-endorsed communication. So in that sense, I am not sure the endorsement test I mentioned above applies. On the other hand, putting ads in the mail could be reasonably interpreted as something okay-ed by the university, and may be illegal.</p>\n\n<p>One should consult the code of conduct of the institution, which hopefully has more specific guidelines.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31888,
"author": "peter",
"author_id": 17246,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17246",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At my college we had one faculty who was a very devout christian. The only visible sign was a small bible in the far corner of his obsessively-tidy desk, and topics of religion never came up. Not once. He was also, per christian teachings, rather homophobic. As a significant percentage (like, half) of the students in that program were gay men he rather pointedly never approached the subject.</p>\n\n<p>End result: zero problems. And he got along fine with the 2 gay guys in our section.</p>\n\n<p>Moral: keep your personal beliefs to yourself and everything will be fine.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 38990,
"author": "Oedhel Setren",
"author_id": 29481,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29481",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Seeing as many universities are actually private schools, there is no legality behind it unless the university is a publicly funded school. Even in the case of a public institution, it is only illegal if its being taught as dogma. Displaying religious text outside an office is toeing that line. </p>\n\n<p>Over-all, I would refer to your institutions policies on this. On a personal note, what you want to display in your office is fine, just don't get upset when people judge you for it. School is for academia, not religious expression.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31854",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9464/"
] |
31,855 |
<p>I am a postdoc in mathematics and I work in the US. Two months ago I was diagnosed with moderate depression. In retrospect, I can say that I must have starting suffering from it last spring, though I was completely unaware of it at the time. I am currently under treatment, and symptoms are getting better. In particular my work rhythm is back to be usual. Anyway, I was told that I should continue the treatment for a few other months for safety.</p>
<p>I was wondering whether I should talk about this to my mentor, coauthors or somebody at the department. On one hand, my concern is that they might have realized my slowing down and thought that I was lazy or that I was not interested in doing research on our projects; on the other hand, I am afraid of being stigmatized in the future as a non-reliable person because I had depression.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31865,
"author": "RoboKaren",
"author_id": 14885,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14885",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'm a tenured faculty member with chronic depression. Even though one of the flareups was in my early twenties, I didn't tell anyone in graduate school. Because of the stigma involved, I'm unsure even now whether I would advise telling your advisor about this unless you were absolute sure that he would be receptive. The worst case is that he could view you as less than capable and won't push you when he should. Even now (when I'm relatively open about this), I have used the gloss of personal or family issues when going through particularly difficult times.</p>\n\n<p>But you should also not struggle alone. Your school should have mental health services. There may also be an ombudsman for student affairs. You may also find many of your peers also have mental health concerns. Create a strong support network for yourself.</p>\n\n<p>I also agree with one of the commenters that depression is a chronic condition. I've had several severe bouts through my 20 year career -- and moments when the sun came out and everything felt great. I no longer hold the illusion that any sunny period will last and that I'm free of depression forever. The OP should also plan on what they will do if their depression is chronic, pharma-resistant, or remitting. That being said, I believe that some aspects of academia are good for people with depression (flexible schedules and being able to work from home for some of us) although there are obviously a lot of negatives as well (toxicity in some departments, incessant deadlines, stress before tenure, contingent employment etc.).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32041,
"author": "Tail-Kinker",
"author_id": 24555,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24555",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would be particular about who you share this with in your department, and outside of your regular circles. I would ask myself, how close am I with the people I am considering confiding in - in particular, how much have they been open about their own lives? If I am not certain, can I be somewhat open with them, without being detailed - can I, for instance, clarify that I had a family or personal issue impacting my work, without specifying my condition? I would also ask myself, is the drive for me to tell someone about this, about an existing group of relationships - e.g. these people are close to you, and you feel like you're hiding something from them - or about my need to develop stronger bonds and friendships, but not necessarily with <em>this</em> group of people. I think it is tremendously valuable to talk about depression or other illnesses, but perhaps not always at the workplace. </p>\n\n<p>I was working on my master's degree when I confided in my advisor about a medical condition, and how that had led to a period of depression and unhappiness impacting the pace of my work. We had not been deep confidantes prior to that, but she tried to be understanding, and at one point mentioned other faculty members who were dealing with similar issues. (Actually, another committee member alluded, in our meetings, to having coped with cancer - not my diagnosis, but something that made me feel so much better nonetheless.) I was then given an extension on my work by the dean after I explained my situation in writing. Everyone in this scenario was female, in a predominantly female department, in a field that encourages reflection and expression - and I still felt very vulnerable discussing my problems. Ultimately, it was the right decision for me, but I think you are right to consider the potential for problems if you discuss your experience at work. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32080,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 20342,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20342",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Depression is a burden, and one that nobody should have to carry on their own.</p>\n\n<p>There are people in life who are meant to help carry the burden. A therapist is someone who is <em>paid</em> to help, while a friend may be someone who <em>wants</em> to help.</p>\n\n<p>A colleague, depending on how close you are to them, may be in more of a situation where they ought not to <em>add to the burden</em>. You might tell a colleague what you are going through if you feel it is necessary for them to realize so that they don't add to your burden.</p>\n\n<p>If you feel that your colleagues will not add to your burden regardless, then sharing with them would probably depend solely on how close you are to them.</p>\n\n<p>This is a complicated issue, so I hope I didn't oversimplify it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32105,
"author": "Rebekah B.",
"author_id": 24619,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24619",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Although my level of education and position at the learning institution I work for are not comparable to yours, and the specifics of your situation are going to be a major component in your decision; the defining issues in dilemmas such as the one you are experiencing are universal.</p>\n\n<p>Being the pragmatic individual that I am, I can see (and I believe that you too understand this to be true as well) that the answer to your problem ultimately hinges on one thing and one thing only. Will the revelation of your struggle improve or hinder your career?</p>\n\n<p>My husband, who works as a graphic artist has been fighting depression for his entire life, and he had a particularly nasty bout with it earlier this year. When he asked for my advice on the matter, I told him that because he worked for a small business whose owner is extremely involved in his work, she had a right to know due to the fact that it was directly affecting the quality of product being put out. He took my advice and has gained empathy rather than a negative stigma from his employer and colleagues.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, I was hired as a high school Spanish teacher a couple years back. I was struggling with depression as well as anxiety issues. Three weeks into my first semester, the headmaster of the school learned of my conditions, stated that he never would have hired me to begin with if he had known, and asked for my letter of resignation.</p>\n\n<p>Deeply understanding the need for a sense of community when illnesses such as depression arise, I would still say that so long as your work performance has returned to normal levels, you should not confide in anyone associated with your work environment. However, you may want to look into forming bonds with someone in a similar position at a different institution in conjunction with the continuation of your therapy.</p>\n\n<p>Remember, a professional's reputation is one of his most important assets.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 114808,
"author": "Postdoc",
"author_id": 96772,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96772",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am in the same situation doing my postdoc. Due to the micromanaging style of my PI I have been developing anxiety for a while and at the moment I write this I am totally unproductive at work. The tension is building up as my boss can see me disengaged and I decided that I have to tell him.\nMy plan is ask him to direct my work so I can be a robot producing data during one or two months while I assist to therapy. \nI think that in this world you have to share how you feel. Once you do that you can face two situations. Or your PI doesn't show empathy, or your PI works with you to help you out.\nMy philosophy in live is that being honest with your feelings will make you aware of the environment where you are. If he doesn't understand and does not want to help, leave your position, that's what I will do. I think that by behaving this way you will always be surrounded with people that has empathy and is less toxic with your personality.\nThis way, you are moving on to find the best place for you to work. \nNeedless to say I apply the same with friends and colleagues, as I believe that you have to surround yourself with whom you feel comfortable with.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31855",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24417/"
] |
31,859 |
<p>Let's assume someone has a very thorough knowledge of a particular field of science but they have absolutely no formal education in this background.</p>
<p>This individual one day realizes a very novel approach to solving a somewhat complex problem. After developing independent tests and coming up with rock-solid evidence that her method is groundbreaking, and consistently produces test results that would be impossible without a legitimate solution, what can she do with her research to both share the information with the world and retain some form of credit for the discovery?</p>
<p>In other words, how can one be both a hobbyist contributing to a field of scientific study and yet also retain the respect they deserve for their work if it is of great use and benefit?</p>
<p>To be clear, this isn't about having one's name appear in a Science Journal without the necessary credentials. I think it's respectable to maintain certain sets of rules and standards for journalistic publications. However, it also isn't fair for such a person to have to divulge this information to someone who is "qualified" and have them receive all or most of the credit for someone elses work, just because that other person hasn't earned a piece of paper.</p>
<p>How can hobbyist both share, and maintain, the recognition they deserve if they make a legitimate scientific breakthrough?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31860,
"author": "ChristianSo",
"author_id": 24418,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24418",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I guess there are quite a few scientists that have not graduated in a certain field and later prominently published in it. The best thing to do is to talk to people about it e.g. on conferences or seminars. Because in the end that is what you want: Get feedback/support/critique from other experts in the field. If you have discovered a breakthrough, writing it down in an abstract or discussion paper should be the easiest thing. Hand it in at conferences or local university faculties in order to get the chance to speak about it. If it is good, they will tell. If it aint, they will let you know. Most people I met in academia are open minded and willing to give you a chance (whether or not you have a degree in the field) if they found your abstract/paper interesting enough. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31862,
"author": "Austin Henley",
"author_id": 746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/746",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I see a few approaches you could take (or some combination):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Write up the idea as a white paper and submit to <a href=\"http://arxiv.org\">http://arxiv.org</a> (or something similar). This gets the idea documented, public, timestamped, and allows people to easily cite it.</li>\n<li>Reach out to researchers in the field to see if they would be willing to help you form a scientific paper based on your idea. Not all professors are scary!</li>\n<li>Submit to the industry track of a research conference if you have an industry background (if not, then maybe a workshop). Some conferences elicit papers from industry that can get your idea out there, generate discussion, and allows you to get feedback. These tracks are often less competitive and very open to non-researchers. For example, <a href=\"http://2015.icse-conferences.org/call-dates/call-for-contributions/seip\">Software Engineering In Practice at the International Conference on Software Engineering</a></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31859",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1442/"
] |
31,869 |
<p>I am a undergraduate student interested in doing my higher studies in USA. I am tempted to apply for PhD program offered by the colleges but I am skeptical of my selection due to high competition. So, I was planning to first do MS from a reputed college and then later do a PhD. This will improve my chances of admit as well.
However, while going through the FAQs of some colleges I came to know that there is a possibility of applying for PhD in a college, and in case the application gets rejected they consider the application for MS as well.
So, I just wanted to know which is a wiser decision? To apply only for MS or to apply for PhD and hope that they select you at least for MS. Also, does the chances of being selected for MS reduce if the applicant follows the latter procedure?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31860,
"author": "ChristianSo",
"author_id": 24418,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24418",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I guess there are quite a few scientists that have not graduated in a certain field and later prominently published in it. The best thing to do is to talk to people about it e.g. on conferences or seminars. Because in the end that is what you want: Get feedback/support/critique from other experts in the field. If you have discovered a breakthrough, writing it down in an abstract or discussion paper should be the easiest thing. Hand it in at conferences or local university faculties in order to get the chance to speak about it. If it is good, they will tell. If it aint, they will let you know. Most people I met in academia are open minded and willing to give you a chance (whether or not you have a degree in the field) if they found your abstract/paper interesting enough. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31862,
"author": "Austin Henley",
"author_id": 746,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/746",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I see a few approaches you could take (or some combination):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Write up the idea as a white paper and submit to <a href=\"http://arxiv.org\">http://arxiv.org</a> (or something similar). This gets the idea documented, public, timestamped, and allows people to easily cite it.</li>\n<li>Reach out to researchers in the field to see if they would be willing to help you form a scientific paper based on your idea. Not all professors are scary!</li>\n<li>Submit to the industry track of a research conference if you have an industry background (if not, then maybe a workshop). Some conferences elicit papers from industry that can get your idea out there, generate discussion, and allows you to get feedback. These tracks are often less competitive and very open to non-researchers. For example, <a href=\"http://2015.icse-conferences.org/call-dates/call-for-contributions/seip\">Software Engineering In Practice at the International Conference on Software Engineering</a></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/17
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31869",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24425/"
] |
31,873 |
<p>I'm taking for granted several fact about higher-education system in the US, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>Professors can move freely between universities, even ones outside US. They are in this regard like professional football players.
(Not every country wholeheartedly allows this.) </li>
<li>Lecturers can obtain tenure position. (Some countries are in the habit of "perpetually in 5-year contracts") </li>
<li>There is such a thing as liberal arts education. (Not all
countries have this!) </li>
<li>An undergraduate student can take a major and a minor in their study. (Some countries prefer to have only majors)</li>
<li>...</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>My question</strong>: where can I find documents regarding all these higher education system rules and statute? Which part is governed by the government (state/federal), and which part is decentralized to the univ. management? </p>
<p>Links to such documents (US/UK/Australia/Can.) or Wikipedia pages would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31874,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>One of the key things about U.S. system of higher education is that it is, for the most part, <em>not</em> regulated by statute. For all of the \"rules\" that you explained, there are institutions that do not follow them (except the freedom to depart, which is guaranteed not by regulation, but by the lack of regulation, which creates a free market).</p>\n\n<p>In theory, anybody in the US can found an institute of higher education, at any time, for any reason. People in fact <em>do</em> create all sorts of new institutions all the time: <a href=\"http://olin.edu/\">some turn out very well</a>, and <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unaccredited_institutions_of_higher_education\">some do not</a>. In practice, admission to the \"club\" of credible institutions is regulated by accreditation organizations, such as <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_Higher_Education_Accreditation\">this one</a>. Every institution that can meet the fairly basic requirements for accreditation can set its rules as it wishes. Public universities are typically regulated by the state that runs them (e.g., U.C. Berkeley) or the relevant federal agency (e.g., the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Postgraduate_School\">Naval Postgraduate School</a>), but private institutions like Harvard have a great degree of freedom in how they organize themselves.</p>\n\n<p>In short: there is no document for the rules on how the system works, because the nature of the system is that there is no system, only a market loosely managed by accreditation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31877,
"author": "Brian Borchers",
"author_id": 4453,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4453",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Much of what you've mentioned is simply customary within the US system of higher education rather than being mandated by law. </p>\n\n<p>The federal government does have some involvement in higher education in the US, most importantly through the system of federal financial aid for students. Without federal financial aid, most public and private institutions would cease operations. The federal government also provides some funding for educational activities to universities through the Department of Education. Historically, the federal government provided support for the establishment of universities through the land grant acts of 1862 and 1890. </p>\n\n<p>An additional important influence on research universities is that the federal government (through the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, and other agencies) sponsors research at universities- universities must follow the rules of these agencies in applying for grants and research contracts and conducting the research. For example, there is a \"common rule\" (common among the funding agencies) concerning ethical activity in research involving human subjects. </p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_Education_Act_of_1965\">Higher Education Act</a> is the federal law that sets the policy of the US federal government on higher education and finacial aid in particular. The act has been repeatedly amended with the most recent substantial changes in 2008. </p>\n\n<p>At the level of the 50 states, many states provide a substantial fraction of the funding for public universities. However, in recent years state appropriations to the universities in many states have decreased and in some cases the remaining percentage of state funding is very small- these institutions are becoming effectively independent of state funding. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31873",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24430/"
] |
31,879 |
<p>This post is similar to <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/8278/worry-about-stealing-of-research-ideas">this one</a> except this is a little bit of a special scenario, I have yet to graduate high school.</p>
<p>I know what you're thinking, oh THIS conversation again, check if it exists, make sure your theorem works, etc. etc. </p>
<p>I have gone through all of this, for over a year I have looked for my theorem online and nothing has come up. I have tried disproving my theorem for over a year, and I have contacted professors and have conversed about this and they all say that it is definitely publishable, but that I should prove it myself. My big worry is that due to my position my ideas can easily be stolen, and I am starting to get a little on edge.</p>
<p>How can I ensure that my ideas are not stolen, Can I provide direct proof that the idea is mine somehow? Should I just publish it without a proof, Can I even publish without a proof? I am kind of stuck at this point. </p>
<p>I have a document that has the theorem on it written in permanent ink, dated, and it is signed by a witness. But what more can I do?</p>
<p>EDIT:</p>
<p>For those curious about my conjecture <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202409277147990&l=d80870ebcf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">click here</a>, there are two pages so click next to see the other page.</p>
<p>Feel free to comment</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31880,
"author": "Nick S",
"author_id": 7624,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7624",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For mathematics finding a \"Theorem\" without a proof has very little to no value. With very few exceptions, a Theorem becomes (somewhat) important when it is proven.</p>\n\n<p>The hard part of mathematics is not finding Theorems or statements which seem plausible, the hard part is proving them. And the most important skill as a researcher is finding results which <strong>can be proven</strong>. </p>\n\n<p>For many Theorems in mathematics, over the years there were many people which discovered and re-discovered that a certain result seems plausible, but no proof. Most of the times noone remembers them, and they don't often care. People usually remember who proved the Theorem, not who discovered first that this could be true.</p>\n\n<p>I wouldn't worry about your Conjecture being stolen, unless you find a proof. And this is probably what those profs suggested: if you want to publish it you need to find a proof. </p>\n\n<p>Also keep in mind that this applies to mathematics, might be different in other fields. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31881,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The word \"theorem\" implies that there is a proof. If you do not have a proof, you do not have a theorem. Let's call it a <strong>conjecture</strong> instead.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I have tried disproving my theorem for over a year.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That's a slightly strange thing to say: how long have you spent trying to prove your conjecture?</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Should I just publish it without a proof, Can I even publish without a proof?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It is possible to publish conjectures, but it is significantly harder to do so than to publish theorems. I would not recommend that a young researcher -- especially, a high school student! -- try to do this.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I have contacted professors and have conversed about this and they all say that it is definitely publishable, but that I should prove it myself. </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's no help if I'm not honest, so: this sounds fishy to me. It is often not so easy for (even) a professional mathematician to know what is \"definitely publishable\": after more than a decade of submitting math papers I find that I still have some things to learn about this. But anyone who is telling you that your mathematical work is \"definitely publishable\" if it does not contain a proven theorem is either giving you bad advice, or you are misinterpreting the advice.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>How can I ensure that my ideas are not stolen, Can I provide direct proof that the idea is mine somehow? </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>With probability extremely close to 1, professional mathematicians simply do not steal ideas in the manner you are worried about. The \"I did something great, but oh no I can't show it to anyone\" train of thought is a sad one that amateurs often fall into. Rather, if you do something great, show it to more than one person, and you're fine. One way to do this is just to upload it to the internet in some public or semi-public location. For instance, if you have an account on facebook, just post a scanned copy of the paper as photos. Facebook posts are archived with date and time, so that's that.</p>\n\n<p>I will extend to you the following offer: after you archive your paper publicly on the internet, send me a copy. I will spend up to one hour looking at the paper and tell you one of the following:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The mathematical content of your work is such that you should <em>try</em> to publish it. I will then tell you some places you might send it. </li>\n<li>In my opinion your work is not publishable in a reputable, professional mathematical journal. </li>\n<li>I am not qualified to judge whether your work is publishable, but I recommend that you send it to third party X.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>You should understand that unless the work is very directly connected to my own I will not have the time to help you with it, nor to send more than one email. (I simply can't: I have a lot of other people who are counting on me to spend my time on them. In many cases I am being paid to do so.) But I will give you a professional evaluation of your work so you can (probably) know where you stand.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31879",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24434/"
] |
31,882 |
<p>I graduated 3 years ago with a MS degree and a thesis. I recently discovered that I forgot to include some data - tables and list of datasets. All my final analysis has been included. Can there be some problem about this in the future?
I have a couple of sentences such as : "For the list of datasets used in this experiment, see table xx". I do not have that table. I guess I was in a mad rush at the end and forgot to include those.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31883,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Can there be some problem about this in the future?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>What sort of problems do you mean? It could certainly inconvenience someone in the future if they try to build on your work and have to reconstruct this data. I'd recommend writing to your advisor to send the additional data tables in case anyone could benefit from them, assuming you don't have in mind doing anything else with them yourself. You don't have to describe it as material you forgot to include (although, in light of the edited question, there's no way of saving face since you referred to it in the thesis as if it were included). Instead, you could reasonably say something like \"While going through old files, I discovered some potentially useful material that never made it into my master's thesis, which I've attached to this e-mail. Feel free to make use of it if any future students work on related projects.\"</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, you don't need to worry about being punished or having your degree revoked, assuming there was no dishonesty or fraud involved. There's always more material you could have included in your thesis but didn't, and this is not relevant once the thesis has been approved. Omissions or even mistakes won't invalidate your degree.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31884,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are asking, \"Can somebody claim my degree is improper?\" then no, you are in no danger. You really did the work and advisor and your institution have accepted the work as worthy of an MS degree. Your degree is real and solid.</p>\n\n<p>If you are asking, \"Can somebody have real problems trying to build on my work?\" then yes, it could be a real problem. If you want to be a good scientific citizen, then you should get in touch with your advisor or the department staff and find out how to add a correction; in these days of digital documents, it should be possible.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31882",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24435/"
] |
31,889 |
<p>There's this teacher who takes pictures of his students during exams, and posts them on social media, with the knowledge of the students. A lot of people enjoy these pictures (including the students), but I'm not sure how I should feel about this.</p>
<p>This also includes editing pictures to make them into <em>meme</em>s of some kind. There is no foul play involved, just for fun.</p>
<p>Is this behavior alright? Should it be tolerated? </p>
<p>Addition :</p>
<p>The students were not asked for their consent. There have been no verbal objections, so far.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31890,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Doing this without permission is unprofessional, and it may be illegal, depending on your jurisdiction.</p>\n\n<p>Asking for students' permission first is still unprofessional, especially in an exam situation, where students are already nervous, and given the power imbalance between the professor and the students. Who among the students will dare to object right before the exam? (This could depend on your local culture.)</p>\n\n<p>You write that \"There is no foul play involved, just for fun.\" - What is fun for one student could very well be harrassment for another, especially if pictures are edited. I don't see how this furthers the academic enterprise, so I would avoid doing this, at the risk of coming across as a spoilsport.</p>\n\n<p>I surmise this question could soon be closed as opinion-based.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31894,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>Is this behavior alright? Should it be tolerated?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Well, it certainly does not seem very professional to me, and I would neither do it nor suggest it to any other lecturer. That being said, I can certainly imagine small, informal master-level classes, where doing this <em>may</em> be perceived as a fun gimmick and not as outrageous.</p>\n\n<p>Whether you should tolerate it probably depends on whether you are personally offended, and to what degree. If you personally don't care (and don't know somebody else who clearly cares), I do not see a reason to make a big preemptive fuss. If you would really rather not have your picture taken, or you expect the shy guy at the back to be really bothered by that, then you can (and should) talk to the lecturer in private and explain the situation to her/him.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31898,
"author": "user3209815",
"author_id": 14133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I got a picture of me taken during the entrance exam for my undergrad. The photographer tried to capture the environment where 1000+ candidates sit in this huge hall and compete for a place at the institution. The photo shows a portion of the seats, but as the photographer stood right in front of me, I happened to be in the first plan. This photo was posted on the institution's official web site. It is quite dear to me as it captures a moment which you wouldn't expect to be documented in such a way and I see nothing wrong with it. The same reasoning might apply to your professor. Of course, editing the picture might be another story, especially if it is done with malicious intent. As I see it, you or any other student could approach the professor afterwards and ask them to remove or not disclose the pictures taken. This is a viable option even if those pictures were posted on social media.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31907,
"author": "user24455",
"author_id": 24455,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24455",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would bet that this is surely a FERPA violation in the U. S. </p>\n\n<p>This is not based on my detailed knowledge of the law, but only my past experiences (and vague recollections from the FERPA quiz my university has everyone take).</p>\n\n<p>Here's an example of how strict these laws can be: once I got an email from the parent of an autistic student in my course. The parent wanted to know how the student was doing in class so the parent could help her child stay on top of things. On a hunch, I contacted the disability services office to see if I could speak with the parent about the student in this case. I was told that it would be a violation of FERPA to even confirm with the parent that this student was enrolled in my course! </p>\n\n<p>Since posting a photo of someone taking an exam is certainly evidence that they are taking a particular course, it is very likely posting the photo is not okay.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31978,
"author": "Kate Gregory",
"author_id": 12693,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12693",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Rather than assuming consent, or requesting it on a short timeframe right as the exam starts, the professor should get consent this way:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In the first or second lecture, show a series of pictures from previous years, including the memed ones. Further, explain where these go (public blog or twitter? private facebook page for students in this class this year? The physical wall outside the profs office?) Then say \"if you're cool with being the subject of one of these pictures, please [email me and say so, or put your name on this list at the front, or go to this web page and enter your student id, or something relatively unspoofable.] </p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The onus is now on the prof to ensure that pictures are taken and cropped so that they only include students known to have agreed to this. (Don't recognize third-from-the-left? Can't remember if that's Ashleigh or Ashley? Not a usable picture.)</p>\n\n<p>At most one reminder later in the term for new arrivals would be ok. Other than that, there shouldn't be any haranguing like \"7 people still haven't filled out the ok-to-make-a-meme-of-me form, please try to get that done today.\"</p>\n\n<p>Approaching this any other way at best risks leaving some students unhappy and feeling mocked; depending on where you live it could have worse outcomes including legal and financial liabilities. <strong>There is no upside to assuming consent and saying it's all for fun.</strong> The prof and students are spending 4 or 8 months together, there is plenty of time to collect non pressured optional true consent if this really is so much fun.</p>\n\n<p>In addition, a role model showing people that \"hey, this is fun, don't be a spoilsport, just go along\" is no longer the way universities operate will be doing a larger public service for those who will hear the same words around alcohol, drugs, vandalism, coerced sex, and the like. Just because something will be fun for some of the people participating in it, that doesn't mean everyone should participate regardless of their feelings or preferences. Demonstrating that with something relatively minor like pictures of funny faces during exams is probably a really good life lesson. True consent matters.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31889",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23835/"
] |
31,891 |
<p>From your experience, is it some kind of sign when handling editor of your manuscript (which is under review) sends you a review invitation for other manuscript? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31892,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No, it's no sign at all other than that the handling editor thinks you are qualified to review the article you were invited to review.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31893,
"author": "410 gone",
"author_id": 96,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/96",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Yes, it's a sign that they don't think you're a complete crank. That may not sound like progress, but it is a good thing nevertheless. It doesn't mean anything else about the handling of your own paper.</p>\n\n<p>And remember, part of the art of getting published is keeping on the good side of editors.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31897,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Apart from the fact that you are seen as a person qualified for providing a review, this <em>CAN</em> (half-jokingly) be the sign of desperation of laziness from the side of an editor. Knowing that you are currently enjoying the services of the journal you are perhaps more likely to accept doing the journal a service as a reviewer. The situation you mention has happened to me quite a few times where a rush of requests from a specific journal has followed after submitting a manuscript to that journal. Of course an eaqually or more likely explanation is that the editor is running thin on good contacts that have not been asked already and now finds a new fresh name that can cover topics that correspond to manuscripts of the editor's desk.</p>\n\n<p>In the end, you will never know, but as alrady stated elsewhere, you are deemed as a person with a standing or reputation that qualifies you to provide valuable input as a reviewer and that is all that you need to know.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31891",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22440/"
] |
31,895 |
<p>I am enrolled in a Master's program (Computational Science and Engineering) in Germany and currently I am looking for a Master's Thesis abroad, preferably in the US or in Canada.
Unfortunately, I am not sure how to apply for a thesis and to be honest I am walking around in a vicious circle.</p>
<p><em>What I've done so far:</em>
My first step was to visit the international office at our university. The lady there told me that I should have a look at some university/institute websites, look for specific research areas/topics of my interest and write application letters to the respective persons.</p>
<p>Additionally, I went to one of my professors who gave me a list of people that he has worked with in the past and which probably might have interesting topics available. However, after carefully working through the list and writing down what looked interesting to me he told me that there's a 99% chance that my application will be ignored or denied if I don't explicitly describe what work I want to do. So actually his attempt to help was not of much use to me.</p>
<p><em>My main concern is:</em> How can I know what I want to do if I don't know what is being offered? Most departments do not explicitly offer positions, in particular I haven't found a single offer for a master thesis at US/Canada department sites. </p>
<p>My area of interests involves fields such as the numerical treatment of partial differential equations (e.g. finite elements, solvers for hyperbolic problems...), numerical linear algebra, etc.
However, if there is no disclosure of potential necessities for a master student I don't see a chance to describe my interests more specific than that. On the other hand, I am afraid that my applications will be interpreted as "bulk letters" if I just write down everything that I would like to work with.</p>
<p>I also thought of reading through some publications/papers of the respective persons, which would be very time consuming. But regarding the fact that I can have at most a slight insight into the respective topics and that I don't even know if there is any need for further work at a master student's level I don't think it is reasonable to spend too much time with that without a gleam of any success.</p>
<p>I would appreciate if someone could help me with some hints on how to come across that. It would be even better if someone who faced the same situation and succeeded could share her/his approach.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31908,
"author": "Cape Code",
"author_id": 10643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10643",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Master's have a different meaning in North-America than in Germany. While the Master's thesis typically closes the university studies in Germany, it is considered 'graduate studies' in North America (the Bachelor is considered the 'university degree' and the majority of students join the workforce with it). Masters are either specializations or given to graduate students who wish or have to stop graduate school before completing a PhD. That is the reason why you didn't find any offers for 'Master's theses' on institution websites there.</p>\n\n<p><strong>You approach of asking a local faculty for contacts is probably your best shot, don't give up.</strong> Narrow down to a few options and write them an email, explaining your skills, interests and field of study. Ask if they can think of a possible project for you. In your inquiries <em>explain the requirements for a foreign Master thesis host at your university</em>. Stress out the fact that you are merely asking for the right to use the local facilities and a co-supervision of your work. In my case, a professor told me about a project he had in mind, and I expanded it in a short proposal that was accepted by the local faculty and my program. </p>\n\n<p>North-American professors have to worry about <em>funding</em> for their local Master students. You have to make clear that you want to be a <em>visiting student</em> and thus you will most likely be able to waive tuition fees (with some exceptions, like MIT). Along that line, explain that like Masters students in Germany, <em>you will pay for your ramen noodles yourself</em> and don't necessarily need a stipend if it can't be provided (on that note, Canada and the USA require that you prove you have sufficient means to support yourself while on their territory, so start a piggy bank).</p>\n\n<p>With this in mind, there are few reasons for a group leader abroad not to consider your project, since you might contribute to their research while not costing anything. These few reasons include: too much supervision burden already.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 126201,
"author": "Patrick 2",
"author_id": 105399,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/105399",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I recently applied for my final Master's thesis at institutions in the US and got accepted at the MIT. Without having a warm contact such a professor giving you an introduction to some former research collaborators abroad it is definitely a more challenging task. As I didn’t have these strong ties in the research area of my interest, approaching the research faculty was the option I chose. It is important to note that writing your thesis in US/CA is formally being a visiting researcher / visiting scholar. That’s what you should refer to in your application.</p>\n\n<p>In general what you want to do is to draft tailored messages to members of the faculty and show that you are interested in <strong>THEIR</strong> particular research <strong>AND</strong> why your could be valuable for him. </p>\n\n<p><strong>In general my application approach was the following:</strong></p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Find a research area of interest:</strong> I identified a broad research area\nthat I am passionate about and a few sub branches that would provide\nroom for thesis topics. </li>\n<li><strong>Choose some preferred universities:</strong> For the\nfirst application round I chose 3-5 different Universities in the US\nand UK. I was planning to do the following steps iteratively but got\na positive response in the first round. </li>\n<li><strong>Identify research groups:</strong> I browsed through the websites of the different chairs and research groups of the preferred universities to find out which group was\nworking recently on topics in the research area of my interest.\nMainly the section of publications combined with Google Scholar and\ncurrent projects they are working on were helpful here. </li>\n<li><strong>Find a topic:</strong> Based on their research, I came up with rather broad topic.\nInspiration can come from “future work” section in their published\npapers. </li>\n<li><p><strong>Identify potential advisors:</strong> Within the research group I\nlooked for specific persons working on the topics. Usually, there is\na staff website or a list of names on published papers. As\nprofessors are usually super busy, my main focus were PhD students\nor Post Docs, who usually are also the main authors of the papers.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>Hand-craft an individual email:</strong> Faculty members at reputable\nuniversities get hundreds of emails every week from students all\naround the world wanting to collaborate. So the message really needs\nto be individual (not a mass email) and short (quick to read). I\ntried to show that I familiarized myself with his specific research.\nAspects of the message were mainly motivation, the research\nidea/topic and how I can contribute. As already mentioned your\nchances increase significantly if you state that they don’t need to\nfund you.</p></li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Of course this is not an easy process and you might need a few tries to get a response. But if you convince them about the value you can create being a free research support is a good value proposition. Once I got my acceptance I looked for supportive professors in similar / adjacent research areas at my universities who would possibly supervise it.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31895",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24444/"
] |
31,900 |
<p>I tend to get much work done when some external force (a teacher) applies pressure. Skills such as speed reading and rapid writing come to me only while working under pressure. Also, sometimes the best solutions only come to me immediately before deadlines. I am interested in starting a PhD, but nervous that there will be long stretches where I will not have to submit progress or there might not be much pressure for me to get work done.</p>
<p>Do students working towards a PhD thesis typically face frequent deadlines and pressure in the form of specific targets? How do advisors typically apply pressure to their PhD students?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31901,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>For your coursework, if any, you will face the same sort of deadlines you'd find in any college course. Expect little or no slack on late or sloppy work, though. In one of my courses, grades were 100% or zero. For the dissertation, it will depend on your supervisor. Mine required biweekly reports. When you get near the dissertation stage, ask potential supervisors or committee chairs how they do that.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31903,
"author": "silvado",
"author_id": 3890,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/3890",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>I am interested in starting a PhD, but nervous that there will be long stretches where I will not have to submit progress or there might not be much pressure for me to get work done.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Congratulations for having identified one of the major differences between research projects on the PhD level and earlier levels even before starting a PhD! In my opinion, dealing with problems on your own and without real pressure for weeks ore maybe even months is really a characteristic feature of PhD research. One of the competences which you should acquire before the PhD degree is to go through such phases successfully.</p>\n\n<p>That said, there's of course different types of <em>support</em> (or <em>pressure</em>, if you prefer to call it so) from your supervisor and your fellow researchers, mostly your supervisor's group or collaboration partners.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Your supervisor may ask you or suggest to submit a paper to a specific conference, which has a submission deadline.</li>\n<li>You may be involved in a collaboration project, where regular meetings with project partners take place, and a presentation of the latest results will be expected.</li>\n<li>A third-party funded project may require regular reports on research results, which you may be asked to provide if you work on that project or a related topic.</li>\n<li>Many groups have regular meetings where people discuss their latest research results. You'll be expected to contribute some results of yours from time to time.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>But of course, how much pressure is built up by such expectations varies from place to place.\nAlso, a difference to undergraduate research or coursework is that consequences usually do not come immediately if you fail to \"deliver\", but will only be visible on the long run, over the course of one or two years maybe.</p>\n\n<p>Generally, I'd say that a young supervisor with a growing group will put more pressure on you to deliver research results than a more established researcher with a large group, because the young supervisor depends more on your results for his own progress, and should have more time to work with you closely.</p>\n\n<p>Also, the group you're involved in matters a lot, because discussion with colleagues stimulates research ideas, and also puts you into a mode of \"having to deliver something\". Check a potential group for jointly authored publications (not only PhD student + supervisor) to get a feeling for how active it is in terms of collaboration. The latter point is especially important for a large group with an established senior supervisor.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31904,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my opinion, the most important thing that one should learn during the course of a Ph.D. and postdoc is how to be an independent researcher, directing one's own line of research. Part of that is learning how to acquire your own motivators. If you need external motivators, the academic world is <em>full</em> of deadlines that you can apply to yourself: conference deadlines, journal revision deadlines, project review deadlines, grant application deadlines, collaborators who need you to hold up your end of a bargain.</p>\n\n<p>If you find a framework of deadlines is important for you, you should be able to arrange for weekly meetings with your advisor, which can provide a running set of deadlines for you to target. Early on in your program, much of the goal-setting is likely to come from your advisor. Later, as you mature as a researcher, hopefully it will shift to be more coming from you. Depending on your field, your advisor, and your personality, that may come sooner or it may come later (which is why I included postdoc above).</p>\n\n<p>At the same time, I will warn you that deadlines and short-term goals are a good way to avoid one of the hardest things about research: finding the perspective to step back, take a look at the bigger picture, and figure out what is actually important to do. At one point in my Ph.D., my advisor told me that now was the time that I needed to just go sit under a tree and think for a while. He was right, and I didn't like what I found when I stopped <em>doing</em> and thought seriously about how those things related to my actual dissertation goals.</p>\n\n<p>It's entirely possible to do a Ph.D. and postdoc in an entirely project-focused and deadline-driven way, while never developing as an independent researcher, but instead becoming sort of a \"super technician.\" In fact, pressure from grants provides incentives for professors to push their students to do so, creating deliverables rather than learning to self-direct. You can have an excellent career in industry or a non-PI position in academia on the basis of such work, and that's fine. If you want to be an independent investigator leading your own line of research, however, then at some point across Ph.D. and postdoc, you will need to learn how to handle the dreadful freedom of managing your own time and expectations.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31909,
"author": "Paul Smith",
"author_id": 16116,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16116",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Don't bother. You will be wasting your time and others, and possible stopping someone more deserving from the getting opportunity of a lifetime. I expect someone with or aiming for a PhD to be telling me what needs to be done, not expecting me to tell them. </p>\n\n<p>The whole point of having a higher level certificate is not to prove that you can be taught, it is to prove that you can learn and you can work. As an employer, I want someone that I can present with a problem and get back a solution. If I have to stand over your shoulder asking \"have you done it yet?\" then you wont enjoy my company, and I certainly wont enjoy yours. </p>\n\n<p><strong>---- edit to address some of the comments below ----</strong> </p>\n\n<p>I was being deliberately harsh but not (intentionally) insulting, I apologise for any offence taken. I did not criticise the OP for his or her self-organisation, only their self motivation, and it is this I am hoping they will re-evaluate. In academia, as in commerce, it is expected that a junior will have to be told what to do, and that a senior will already know and be getting on with it. This is often the most useful distinguishing feature between them. I would expect a PhD candidate to be a senior, or one their way to becoming one, but I accept that opinions can differ.<br>\nI do not understand how the certificate of achievement can be considered as anything other then a significant accomplishment. In industry, I do not much care what subject you have mastered as it is unlikely to be relevant, and extremely unlikely that I will be able to ask you meaningful questions on it, but I do care <em>that</em> you have mastered a subject, and I will want to know how you solved problems and approached difficulties. For it is that ability to overcome obstacles in the pursuit of knowledge the makes you a master in the eyes of your peers. </p>\n\n<p>To the original poster, I suggest you find a way to internalise those external pressures you say you need. Whether it is your diary or your professional pride that is applying the pressure, you need to find a way to keep focused and keep working when you are bored, tired, distracted and/or frustrated. When not only is no one pushing you, but when people are telling you that you are wasting your time, wasting their time, that you are wrong or that you have already failed. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31917,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would offer two suggestions.</p>\n\n<p>First, the structure of the relationship between a grad student and their advisor is partly dependent on their individual styles, but is largely what they make it. So don't expect that your advisor would automatically set deadlines, targets, etc (some might and some might not), but if that is something that would be helpful to you, ask your advisor to help you by doing it. You could arrange a system where at each meeting, the two of you agree on what you will have finished by the next meeting (or by intermediate deadlines in between if needed). You might find it helpful to describe it as \"accountability\" rather than \"pressure\".</p>\n\n<p>More broadly, I completely understand your tendency to \"work best under pressure\" (I sometimes feel the same myself), but I would suggest that ultimately, rather than relying on people around you to impose that pressure, you might consider working on changing that aspect of yourself. In my own experience, I found that saying \"I work best under pressure\" turned into \"I <em>only</em> work when there is pressure, and until then I procrastinate.\" (Sometimes this is due to the work being consciously or subconsciously stressful; perhaps paying attention to a project brings up the fear that maybe I'm doing it all wrong, I must be an idiot, I'll never graduate, etc. So it's easiest to avoid these thoughts by avoiding the work until it can't be avoided any longer.)</p>\n\n<p>The work got done in the end, but it wasn't my best work: it was last-minute and only marginally acceptable, and had I started earlier I could have produced something better. It's not easy to change one's own habits and thought patterns if they are ingrained, but it's something that can really be a long-term benefit.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31955,
"author": "Sarmes",
"author_id": 24490,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24490",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is no unique answer for this question of course. So I would like to add also my view:</p>\n\n<p>Some supervisors \"apply pressure\", by being very passive and not setting any deadlines at all, but giving students a lot of self-responsibility. For some people there is no greater pressure then the pressure they set themselves. So the idea is they are learning you to create your own pressure. </p>\n\n<p>It is kind of in the same way as the most horrible teacher, can in the end be the best teacher. Because in case you didn't understand anything of his/her horrible explanation, you had to figure it out yourself, and after you did, you never forget it. Whereas the good flowed story of the great professor, saved you a lot of time, and boosted fast understanding but might have hindered you to question important assumptions, or to study fundamental aspects firmly.</p>\n\n<p>If supervisors help you by setting a lot of deadlines, chopping up the work in small pieces, and specifying the targets, it may help you, but also it could hinder independence. This is why I think its very difficult to compare PhD's because even of 2 people would have done the same work, but under completely different supervision, and resources, the grade or rating, should be different. </p>\n\n<p>My recommendation is that you tell him, how you liked to be supervised. In my case I would have asked for a gradual transition from very structured with deadlines in the first year, to complete freedom in the last year. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31900",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
31,906 |
<p><a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31328/is-it-ever-appropriate-to-correct-a-non-native-teachers-english">Related but not a dupe</a>. One of my Japanese teachers often explains things in a difficult to understand way, or because she uses a lot of Japanese quite quickly, sometimes with constructions we haven't quite covered. I often don't understand the tasks that are set. Usually I can ask, but there's a point where I feel like I'm annoying my classmates, and there are a few lessons where I've walked out and everyone was confused. It's just this teacher, the other four communicate very well in general. I'm not going to say anything yet, but the question is: what should I do if this is a persistent issue? What is the most polite and appropriate way to approach her out of hours and tell her that I am struggling to understand her.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31919,
"author": "Dylan Meeus",
"author_id": 9570,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9570",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can always ask for the task instructions in English, as it's an introductory class she probably won't mind repeating it in English. If the problem persists you might want to just privately say you have some problems understanding her, and explain a bit why, some of your peers might have similar issues.</p>\n\n<p>(I have been in three introductory language courses and had such an issue as well)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31928,
"author": "Compass",
"author_id": 22013,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22013",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I was in a similar position as your classmates in my language course. I'll describe the situation so you can \"step into my shoes\" and see how it looks from the other side. Hopefully, this will help you understand your situation a bit more.</p>\n\n<p>I'm fluent in spoken Chinese, but being illiterate in would prevent me from passing the equivalency exam, so I took the Intro 101 course with most of the class not being able to speak any Chinese.</p>\n\n<p>Our professor was a grad student originally from China. Her English was acceptable as she was a native Chinese speaker, and she had only come to the US after college.</p>\n\n<p>I had no issues with other students (the class was probably ~15 people) asking for directions to be repeated again more slowly.</p>\n\n<p>Reason? <em>Because, from experience, I know languages are hard to learn</em>. I may be fluent in Chinese, but if I were to take a French class, I'd be in the same boat.</p>\n\n<p>The other students in your class should be able to recognize that you are a new learner. Now, leaving the class might not have been the best response, but you can't change that now. I would recommend not leaving class in the future. That's counter-productive.</p>\n\n<p>Have you tried talking to the other students or asking them for help? I'm sure they're willing to help you learn Japanese as well. Certainly, if they already know the material, they might not even want to be in a rush to go through all the material. </p>\n\n<p>I guess a final concrete example is in order. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If you were an English teacher with a college mastery of English, and teaching a 1st grade English class, would you be annoyed when the 1th graders asked 1st grade English questions?</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52240,
"author": "mist42nz",
"author_id": 39089,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39089",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If the other students are also having difficulties, speak with another member of staff who is a friend of hers - indicate that your group is having trouble keeping up with the lesson plan, and ask that staff member if you should approach your teacher directly. Often word will get back about you asking for advice.</p>\n\n<p>If it's just you, then ask your teacher if there is tutorial or support lessons you could do to improve your phrasing/parsing skills. Often this is the best way, as you asking for help is polite and acceptable - as opposed to complaining. Often your teacher will then consider if her phrasing or speed is a little too fast and will slightly adjust their teaching method because often if one person can't keep up then two others are only just managing.<br>\n And if you truly can't follow the phrasing or meaning of what you're asked then you do need some extra remedial work.</p>\n\n<p>It's normal. Many of us have been there. The sooner you act the better.\nJust be prepared to be passed through a lot of hoops or have to run with it yourself, as in the end you are the one responsible for your life/learning.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31906",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14302/"
] |
31,912 |
<p>Preface: I know </p>
<ul>
<li>how how difficult is to get any professorship</li>
<li>that i should write really good research papers etc...</li>
<li>that its not smart to plan on this and only this </li>
</ul>
<p>My hometown is middle of the country, only 2 universities in my field.
Help me out, how do I maximize my chances of being near my family and getting my ideal job?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31919,
"author": "Dylan Meeus",
"author_id": 9570,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9570",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You can always ask for the task instructions in English, as it's an introductory class she probably won't mind repeating it in English. If the problem persists you might want to just privately say you have some problems understanding her, and explain a bit why, some of your peers might have similar issues.</p>\n\n<p>(I have been in three introductory language courses and had such an issue as well)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31928,
"author": "Compass",
"author_id": 22013,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22013",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I was in a similar position as your classmates in my language course. I'll describe the situation so you can \"step into my shoes\" and see how it looks from the other side. Hopefully, this will help you understand your situation a bit more.</p>\n\n<p>I'm fluent in spoken Chinese, but being illiterate in would prevent me from passing the equivalency exam, so I took the Intro 101 course with most of the class not being able to speak any Chinese.</p>\n\n<p>Our professor was a grad student originally from China. Her English was acceptable as she was a native Chinese speaker, and she had only come to the US after college.</p>\n\n<p>I had no issues with other students (the class was probably ~15 people) asking for directions to be repeated again more slowly.</p>\n\n<p>Reason? <em>Because, from experience, I know languages are hard to learn</em>. I may be fluent in Chinese, but if I were to take a French class, I'd be in the same boat.</p>\n\n<p>The other students in your class should be able to recognize that you are a new learner. Now, leaving the class might not have been the best response, but you can't change that now. I would recommend not leaving class in the future. That's counter-productive.</p>\n\n<p>Have you tried talking to the other students or asking them for help? I'm sure they're willing to help you learn Japanese as well. Certainly, if they already know the material, they might not even want to be in a rush to go through all the material. </p>\n\n<p>I guess a final concrete example is in order. </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If you were an English teacher with a college mastery of English, and teaching a 1st grade English class, would you be annoyed when the 1th graders asked 1st grade English questions?</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 52240,
"author": "mist42nz",
"author_id": 39089,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/39089",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If the other students are also having difficulties, speak with another member of staff who is a friend of hers - indicate that your group is having trouble keeping up with the lesson plan, and ask that staff member if you should approach your teacher directly. Often word will get back about you asking for advice.</p>\n\n<p>If it's just you, then ask your teacher if there is tutorial or support lessons you could do to improve your phrasing/parsing skills. Often this is the best way, as you asking for help is polite and acceptable - as opposed to complaining. Often your teacher will then consider if her phrasing or speed is a little too fast and will slightly adjust their teaching method because often if one person can't keep up then two others are only just managing.<br>\n And if you truly can't follow the phrasing or meaning of what you're asked then you do need some extra remedial work.</p>\n\n<p>It's normal. Many of us have been there. The sooner you act the better.\nJust be prepared to be passed through a lot of hoops or have to run with it yourself, as in the end you are the one responsible for your life/learning.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31912",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24375/"
] |
31,920 |
<p>I heard this speaker at IJCAI complained that his paper got rejected because the methods he used were too simple despite the results being highly competitive (twice the state of the art, at least according to one metric). The complain can be listened in <a href="http://videolectures.net/ijcai2011_etzioni_webscale/">this video at 29'30''</a>. Excerpt:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(Addressed to reviewers) Accept simple papers if they demonstrated what they were trying to
show.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It wasn't the first time I heard such a complain, as simplifying existing solutions is arguably a contribution, yet sometime despised.</p>
<p>Is there any research/study/survey that looked at the impact of the complexity of the method(s) proposed in a submitted paper on its acceptance rate?</p>
<p>I am mostly interested in the field of computer science > machine learning / NLP / data mining, and English-speaking venues.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 35131,
"author": "David M W Powers",
"author_id": 6390,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6390",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>This is relevant to the Kuhn - Popper debate about the way science works, and there is a considerable literature here... I don't know about statistics, but I do know this is extremely common! A new simpler approach will usually be dismissed out of hand with scant regard by the powers that be with their strong ties to the traditional model.</p>\n\n<p>Kuhn notes that researchers get locked into Paradigms. Those in positions of power (referees and editors, professors and deans) prefer papers that continue their work, use the tools they invented or are familiar with, cite their journals or journals indexed by their favourite citation company. There is also a factor of workload in relation to interest: They skim things quickly and pay particular attention to headings, tables, figures, equations and references - looking for things that connect to them/their interests/their journal. Some reviewers show no evidence of having actually read the paper, particularly for so-called 'top journals'. If they are not interested, or they have decided it a 'poor approach' a priori, then it doesn't matter how good the approach is or the results are, and you will be flipped off with comments about the style, format, equations or references (e.g. a complaint of lack of references to X or insufficient or unnumbered equations, or lack of road map glue telling them there is are Introduction, Methods, Results and Conclusion sections). That is there are not only paradigms within fields, in relation to how you tackle a problem, or the theoretical framework or model you work in, there are paradigms in relation to modes of presentation.</p>\n\n<p>Popper on the other hand espouses Parsimony and Refutation. The simpler theory or model is better, other things being equal. A poor theory grows more complex as it keeps being adjusted or extended to deal with new cases that cause it difficulties. Usually the poor theories and models don't die off until their proponents and perpetrators do, until they get so complex as to be completely unmanageable and they eventually topple over and fall into oblivion. Conversely, a simple model will be ignored until it is demonstrated that it handles everything that the older theories tried to do, and makes new advances and predictions that are borne out. Popper's ideal researcher is totally different from Kuhn's dogmatic paradigmatic researcher. A good researcher is making predictions into the unknown where the different theories predict different outcomes. A good researcher is not trying to bolster their models, but rather to refute them - find the holes rather than plug the holes.</p>\n\n<p>So how do you deal with this? A very good question - glad you asked...</p>\n\n<p>You have to face it head on. Choose publication venues that are high quality but have the kind of format and expectations that allow you to present your new simpler ideas and models, even though it may not be fully worked out and compared against all your thousands of competitors and their thousands of datasets or examples. Get feedback, and find who is sympathetic, where they publish/review/edit etc. Eventually, you need to target the archival traditional journals, the bastion of the current paradigm, and fit things into their mould, follow their rules, explain the equations/models you are competing against in detail, especially those that are pushed by the journal and its editors/authors (at least they get a citation). Clearly point out the advantages...</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>The theory explains more with less (effectiveness/parsimony)</li>\n<li>The model/algorithm is shorter and/or runs faster (efficiency)</li>\n<li>The results are more accurate and/or have lower variance (efficacy)</li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 49306,
"author": "CentAu",
"author_id": 14408,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14408",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I haven't seen any research on the correlation between the complexity of the methods and the acceptance odds of a work and I think it is relatively hard to do a study on this. First because being simple or complex is completely subjective and domain dependent and hard to quantify. One can not generalize a pattern that is seen in a particular scientific community to others. Moreover, the information about rejection of papers is not publicly or easily accessible making the hypothesis hard to investigate.</p>\n\n<p>That being said, in computer science machine learning community, I have seen that people are pushing towards critiquing the unnecessary complexity of the suggested methods and putting more emphasis on the actual results rather than the simplicity or complexity of the methods. There are many simple methods that are being published because they actually work well. I personally don't think that simple ideas which show good results are necessarily prone to rejection, but the opposite argument (complicated methods having higher chance of acceptance) is sometimes true.</p>\n\n<p>On a related note, explanation of the ideas and presenting a work in the most simple way for people to understand, is being emphasized more and more. One reason of people trying to complicate things is that they think the less it is easy for reviewers to understand their work, the higher their chance of acceptance. I personally think that ideas in the papers should be explained simply and clearly because if it can’t be explained simply, probably it can be done better. And reviewers should not praise the work they don't understand, because it is the duty of the writer to explain everything simply enough so that the corresponding community understands it well.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31920",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/452/"
] |
31,924 |
<p>I wonder is it a good idea to ask for a letter of recommendation from a emeritus professor who I took his course and knows me well? </p>
<p>I was wondering is it bad to get a letter from someone who is not in Academia anymore? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31925,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 6984,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6984",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The best reference is the one that is both honest and based on extensive firsthand knowledge of your qualities. Emeritus status would seem irrelevant to me.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31926,
"author": "enthu",
"author_id": 15723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the answer to your question hugely depends on your application and resume.</p>\n\n<p>If you are having advisers who are writing you strong letters of recommendation (for instance, your masters thesis advisers or professors you have worked in their research group and have publications with them), then you will probably do not need a letter from a professor with whom you'd only passed a course.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if you have not worked with a professor, probably your advisers of your thesis, then you really need a letter of recommendation from a professor that knows you and you had passed his course. So that emeritus professor can write a good letter of recommendation for you. Of course, it is better that nothing.</p>\n\n<p>To the best of my knowledge, students usually need two or three letters of recommendation for their PhD applications.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/18
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31924",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20608/"
] |
31,934 |
<p>I am currently leading a three person team to tackle an undergrad engineering project that involves several parts. I am responsible for data analysis using sophisticated computer algorithms, another is responsible for creating a software graphical display and another is involved in the programming of a piece of hardware.</p>
<p><strong>The problem is that both of those other students are freeloading on my efforts and neither has contributed much since the project started in May of this year (that's 6 months of doing next to nothing).</strong></p>
<p>In the lasts couple of months, every two weeks we would have a team meeting with our project supervisor. The team meeting involves a submission of progress since last meeting. Here's what would happen: one or two days before the meeting, a person will do something that is tangential to what he is assigned to do. For example, it could be setting up a piece of software, or trying someone else's code. Nothing is ever successful and in every single progress report I would see them putting down "investigating alternatives" or "still under research". What? You have been researching for more than half a year.</p>
<p>The most irritating issue for me is that they are both freeloading on my efforts. Because data analysis requires a huge amount of experiments and organization of the data, every once a while I would get them to spend less than 30 minutes with me (amidst whining and complaining and playing with cellphone) on organizing about 4 TB worth of data, while I spend the next week incessantly work on the data analysis, organization of the data, and preparing for presentation at project meetings. You've guessed it, this is exactly what they would put down on the progress report - "helped team member X to perform data organization". In addition, when they are stuck on their parts, I am often forced to take over just to meet the deadline. To be honest, I have single handedly spear-headed every single aspect of project (even though I have never done GUI or hardware programming!) because things are never delivered and there are no immediate, effective checks to keep them from not delivering their work.</p>
<p>MOST irritating aspect: they have put my work onto their LinkedIn profile!</p>
<p>The top excuse that they give is that they are busy with other courses. Since this project is over a long period of time and graded based on overall success, they do not think it is as important as their other half semester courses. They keep on telling me how they are so busy with their courses and everything is due on the next day and midterms is next week they never think that I have the exact same workload (if not more). I also don't have any financial power or control over their grades as we do not have any official reporting system put in place to get them working. Also it is impossible to kick them off of the team without shutting the project down.</p>
<p>I want to signal to my project supervisor that they are not performing AT ALL. This will definitely come as a surprise to him since every meeting there are enormous progress (all from my end) and the project has been an overall success. I am also kind of upset that my team members are going to chip in on a potentially big prize at the end of this year. </p>
<p>From your experience, what is commonly done for a supervisor to spot freeloaders in a group project and how are penalties handed down? How can I work with my supervisor now (who maybe completely unaware of the situation) to effectively put these people back to work?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31935,
"author": "earthling",
"author_id": 2692,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/2692",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The issue you are referring to is called \"<a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_loafing\">social loafing</a>\" and is a very common problem in teamwork. To fix this, us need to do a number of things but the most important is to shine a spotlight on everyone. When people are anonymous, they tend to do things the would not otherwise do (or tend to avoid things they would otherwise not avoid).</p>\n\n<p>So, ideally, when forming the team, you would <strong>set out the ground rules for what is required to join the team and what are the rules for continues membership</strong>. However, this does not seem to work in your current situation (and the nature of your work might have made this unrealistic at the start).</p>\n\n<p>The next thing to do is to <strong>ensure that everyone is responsible to everyone else in the team</strong>. That is, the members do not simply answer to the supervisor but they also answer to everyone else. In this case, they answer to you (and you answer to them). If they are not fulfilling the requirements for continued membership, then they get warned or removed from the team. However, again, this seems difficult in your situation.</p>\n\n<p>If you do have the option of solving the problem through team design, then <strong>you need to resort to coaching/leadership</strong>. That is, you need to find a way to motivate them. Of course, nobody can you tell you what it takes because we do not know them. You need to find out what really motivates them and then you should work with that to try to get them inspired enough to actually get their jobs done. Of course, leadership ability does not happen overnight but it can be developed. The first thing you should do is to take a stand. That is, tell them that enough is enough and it is unreasonable and unfair that you are doing the lion's share of the work while they are trying to take an equal share of the credit.</p>\n\n<p>The last recommendation I would make is to <strong>bring up to your supervisor what is actually going on</strong>. I assume he/she is bright enough to be able to monitor what's really going on. After all, yours is not the first team of students to encounter the issue of social loafing.</p>\n\n<p>If you have no penalties (your supervisor should have these tools available) then your only option is leadership/coaching. Best to use both, if you can.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31936,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>From your experience, what is commonly done for a supervisor to spot freeloaders in a group project and how are penalties handed down? How can I work with my supervisor now (who maybe completely unaware of the situation) to effectively put these people back to work?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>As somebody who taught many courses with a similar structure to what you described: <strong>the common approach for supervisors to handle this situation is to do nothing</strong> (at least not on their own initiative). You are likely not aware of it, but you are in the middle of learning something that will presumably be more valuable to you than the hard technical skills of the project. You are learning how to handle team work that isn't going smoothly.</p>\n\n<p>There is a good chance your supervisor is already aware that things are not working out in your project (your team mates have been reporting that things are \"under research\" for half a year while you have been delivering results - any half-decent supervisor knows what that means). He does not step in because one of the main learning outcomes of such a project is that he expects you to learn how to handle such issues.</p>\n\n<p>So far, you are not handling it well. You are clearly very annoyed by the situation, but you do not mention any clear steps to resolve the issue. You cover their asses by taking over their work, and have as far as I can tell not formally escalated the problem. Instead, you are hoping that the \"higher-ups\" will figure it out on their own, and step in without you having to take responsibility. <em>This is exactly how you should also <strong>not</strong> handle this situation in the real world.</em></p>\n\n<p>And, I should add, do not hope that this situation will not come up when you work in industry. Replace <em>\"we don't have time for this because of other courses\"</em> with <em>\"we don't have time for this because of other projects\"</em>, and you will have the exact same problem in the real world. Only in industry, the stakes for failing will be higher. As usual, university gives you a comparatively low-risk environment to train working on the same kinds of problems that you will also routinely face later on.</p>\n\n<p>To end this with a practical remark: stop focusing so much on what <em>they</em> do, and what your <em>supervisor</em> should do. Start thinking of your environment as a context that you can't (directly) change, at least not without effort. Your task is to figure out what <em>you</em> can do to work in the environment you are given. This may include taking more responsibility for managing the group, or getting into a big, potentially productive fight with your team. This may also include formally escalating the problem.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31948,
"author": "Peteris",
"author_id": 10730,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10730",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<h2>Group dynamics are the responsibility of the group</h2>\n\n<p>The short answer to \"How do project supervisors address the “freeloading” problem in group projects\" is that they don't. It's generally the responsibility of the group to allocate the tasks and the share of effort. If they are unable to do it in a way that's satisfactory to everyone (such as your example) then the solution is to change groups - if everyone really is freeloading off of you in the manner described, then you obviously are capable to do the project on your own. Due to the problem of sunk effort, it's preferable to identify such cases early and split up before too much work is done - giving this advice is something that the supervisors should be doing. </p>\n\n<p>Other than that, the only long term effect is to avoid doing common work with those people in future. For such cases, it helps if such projects are organized not a single event but rather multiple smaller projects with possibly different groups - where functioning groups can stick together for multiple projects, and conflicting groups can re-form in a possibly better configuration.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31961,
"author": "Scott Seidman",
"author_id": 20457,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20457",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I teach a design course. We have a number of checks in place to discourage this from happening. </p>\n\n<p>Perhaps the biggest is we give a little practice team experience before assigning real teams. We ask each team member to evaluate their peers on the team. Students are then surprised to find out that their grades for the team portion of the overall grade are adjusted by up to a full letter based on these evaluations. We then let them know that this is how the rest of the year will be graded. This gets the grade-motivated students participating.</p>\n\n<p>The rest comes down to making sure that each player has some buy in on the project. Our course is customer driven, with students applying to work on specific teams. Once the real teams are formed, I give a mini lecture on project management skills, based on a book by Heerkens (Project Management, from the Briefcase Series -- especially the section on \"Accidental Managers\"), and we discuss as a class why people participate more or less on teams. I point out that our starting assumption is that since everyone applied to participate on the team they ended up on, that everyone wants to make the customer happy. We also discuss that different people are motivated by different things. I ask the students to think about if they would be disappointed if they got less than an A in the class. After they think a bit, I ask them to consider whether their teammates feel the same way. I point out that some students have real obstacles that a team as a whole can help deal with -- like the student that lives off-campus and can't make 11PM meetings, or even a student that might be supporting a family the team doesn't know about, and has an entirely different priority set.</p>\n\n<p>Once the projects get kicking, I ask for lists of weekly action items and who is to carry them out. If a TA (I have a fleet of TAs) notices that someone isn't taking action items, or not delivering on them, we'll intervene to see how we can get the student some more buy-in on the project, often by making sure there's an aspect of the overall project they can call their own.</p>\n\n<p>Is this 100% effective?? Obviously not, but I feel I have some grip on such issues.</p>\n\n<p>In this particular case, one must consider the possibility that the original asker might be part of a poisonous team dynamic that I see over and over and over (usually in the practice team experience, and then I teach about it in my project management lecture so it comes up less often on the real projects). This is where one team member becomes the self-appointed leader without really understanding what that role means. When this happens, you can end up with one person who assumes leading means doing more work, and sometimes can make other team members not want to work with that person. So, without trying to analyze the team, the person who believes that the others aren't doing their fair share might want to reflect on the situation and ask himself if he's done anything to help create this situation. A leader works hard to make sure he's getting the most that can be gotten from every team member, and the teammates are eager to work with him or her. </p>\n\n<p><strong>To offer simple advice for this case</strong> -- you seem to have periodic meetings and progress reports. That's a start. I recommend Gantt Charting the whole project, so you can start showing which parts of the project are moving along and which are not. This way, your teammates see it staring them in the face. Make it clear which tasks you are willing to work on and which parts you are not. When it becomes clear that there are gaping areas, figure out which teammates are going to handle what's left. Help them break up the big tasks into bite sized subtasks, with each tasks assigned to a responsible person. While you're doing this, you might consider asking your teammates if you're doing anything that is pushing them away from the project. If there is, figure out how you can make that stop happening. Apologize, if its called for, and let them know you don't want to dwell on it, but want to move on.</p>\n\n<p>Every meeting should end with a list of ACTION ITEMS, along with the party responsible for each, and a target date of completion.</p>\n\n<p>This way, assuming your teammates want to help (unless you've really alienated them!!) but simply are overwhelmed and don't know how they can best take a bite out of their project, you're actually helping them through the process (i.e., actually leading). Also, you'll have a record of who's supposed to do what, and it will be clear to everybody where progress is happening and where it's not.</p>\n\n<p>Lastly, when you really sit down and start Gantt Charting, you might figure out that the plan is overly ambitious for the remaining time. If this is the case, no use tilting at windmills. Reestablish a new scope of the project that's actually achievable given the time and resources (human or otherwise), and talk this over with your teammates and supervisor.</p>\n\n<p>In the long run, depersonalize it and stop working on blame. Your team is at point A, you need to be at point B. Figure out how to best get there with the resources you have.</p>\n\n<p>Good luck.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31962,
"author": "Brandon",
"author_id": 24495,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24495",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Fire your team. Tell your supervisor that you're going it alone. The other team members are free to take what you've contributed so far and finish it up, which they probably will have trouble doing. I had a programming partner who basically dropped out of school to do drugs and so I submitted the final project with only my name. He complained to the instructor but I responded with how he abandoned the project to party and do drugs. The instructor let him take what I had given him to that point and try to complete it. He could not.</p>\n\n<p>\"Leadership\" can't solve most problems like this. Next time choose your partners more carefully. No amount of inspiring leadership will make incompetent team members competent. The key to leadership is choosing the right team. If everyone on the team is good then the other problems take care of themselves.</p>\n\n<p>In the private sector, it is the supervisor's job to find dead weight and either put them somewhere that they can be productive or get rid of them. Dead weight is incredibly corrosive to any team and once a few people start getting away with it spreads like a cancer to everyone around them. \"If so-and-so can get away with hardly doing anything, then I will too!\" If the whole company is like that, and I've seen it happen, then the solution is to find a better job.</p>\n\n<p>xLeitix mentioned this is like the real world with competing project priorities. If it's a matter of resources available due to project priorities, then the supervisors will have to work out as a company which people need to be working on which projects. If your supervisor tells you someone can't help you with the current project, then you tell him or her it will take longer since you'll be doing it all alone. And if company politics don't allow you to work on the other guy's technology stack, then the project will simply have to be on hold until that changes.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31964,
"author": "user2710669",
"author_id": 24497,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24497",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I was with a similar group in uni. Instead of seeing it as a hindrance, I embraced it. Their lack of input and interest meant that I had full autonomy and control over the project. Yea you have to work harder personally, but what you produce will be top quality, and lets face it, if they did contribute, it would probably be so half-assed it would drag your grade down anyway.</p>\n\n<p>I embraced it so much that I elected the same lazy f**ks for all of my group projects. I enjoyed having full control. I was never disappointed with any of my grades, that's for sure.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31934",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20070/"
] |
31,941 |
<p>I wanted to know how the research profile of a doctoral student or a post-doc is usually judged in academia. In the list of peer-reviewed conference or journal publications, how crucial is the <strong>position</strong> in the authors list, to judge the research calibre.</p>
<p>I am aware that being the first (primary) author is most important. As an example, consider a case where a candidate has 4-5 publications. In all these publications he/she is neither the primary author nor the supervisor of that project. On the other hand, assume he/she has 2 highly ranked publications as the first author. Which of these two cases can be used as a comparative study of the candidate's research contribution.</p>
<p>I see these days a kind of rat-race for papers, where each publication has more than 4 authors. Is the "number of papers" parameter lone enough?
Agreeing that working on multiple projects is important, should the focus be more on publishing one's own work rather than collaborating on multiple papers where the contribution is not significant. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31943,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your focus needs to be on accomplishing significant work, and then receiving appropriate credit for that work. Number of papers is often a reflection of that, but is not, ultimately, the metric on which you will be judged by anybody who is actually thinking of <em>hiring</em> you. More distant reviewers of various sorts (e.g., for a grant or a tenure case) are more likely to apply publication-based metrics out of a lack of knowledge or imagination. Anybody who is considering hiring you, however, should be less interested in what your rank order in authorship is and more interested in what you have accomplished (which is partially reflected by author order).</p>\n\n<p>For example, in your question about comparing a candidate with middle authorships vs. first authorships, I would want to know what, exactly, either candidate had done. Did the first author candidate actually conceive the work and do most of the writing, or were they just acting as a lab tech on behalf of the more senior authors? Was the middle-author candidate just along for the ride, or was it a complicated project where their contribution was critical, but others happened to be more critical. </p>\n\n<p>Thus, in a statement of purpose or other self-presentation, I look for a candidate to be saying, \"I accomplished all of these things (as reflected by these publications)\", rather than simply \"I have all of these publications.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31949,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First, it is worth mentioning that there are several models for authorship in use. In some fields alphabetaical is used, in some the last author is considered the important person (usually project leader), in some single author is used even when collaborations are performed. That said, however, the most common form is by weight and I mean <em>weight</em> in an ambiguous way because this is what is usually the problem, <em>weight</em> can be input but also importance or even by bullying.</p>\n<p>So, the way in which to judge placement in an authorship list has shown signs of collapse, not to mention inflation. To remedy this many journals start to ask for accounts of the contributions made by each author. The notion of contributorship rather than authorship is emerging (see e.g. the <a href=\"http://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-authors/article-submission/authorship-contributorship\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">BMJ</a> description of their use fo the terms in practise). The ideas are based on the (expanded) Vancouver Protocol definitions of authorship which is as follows</p>\n<blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;</li>\n</ul>\n<p>AND</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;</li>\n</ul>\n<p>AND</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Final approval of the version to be published;</li>\n</ul>\n<p>AND</p>\n<ul>\n<li>Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.</li>\n</ul>\n</blockquote>\n<p>This has been reproduced numerous times in replies on Academia.sx so you may want to do a search on the <a href=\"/questions/tagged/authorship\" class=\"post-tag\" title=\"show questions tagged 'authorship'\" rel=\"tag\">authorship</a> tag and on the term contributorship to see more discussions.</p>\n<p>So as the idea of contributorship and the definition of what contributions mean the view on author order might become closer to what it originally was intended. There is thus good incentives for listing contributions in paper even if it is not requested by journals. My suspicion (any certainty will have to come with time) is that when publications are assessed for job applications and promotions, the contributorship will be increasingly important, and by that coherence between author order (including appearance as author) and actual contribution.</p>\n<p>In the end being high on the list is important, clearly showing author's contributions is necessary to judge the placement. This, I would argue, is particularly important for early career scientists.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31941",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6816/"
] |
31,944 |
<p>Suppose I'm writing a paper and at some point in the paper (e.g. the background section), I write that "Vanilla ice cream is healthier than chocolate ice cream." I search EBSCO and find check all research studies that tested this and find and skim through 15 papers all supporting this claim, including the earliest pioneer research in the area up to the most recent. Is it then appropriate to affix in-text citations for all 15 of those studies to that sentence? What about if I find 50 studies?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31945,
"author": "Maarten Buis",
"author_id": 14471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14471",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The purpose of a citation is twofold:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>It prevents you from taking credit for other person's work.</li>\n<li>It can serve as an \"external appendix\" (the interested reader can read more in ...)</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Neither requires that you cite everybody. If there is a large body of work done already, then typically one or more overview articles have already appeared. You can cite those, and combine both purposes: you indicate that it is not your finding and the interested reader can find a complete list of references in the overview article. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31946,
"author": "Chastain",
"author_id": 24474,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24474",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on the purpose of the paper. </p>\n\n<p>If it is a review article on the effects of different flavor of ice cream, it may well be appropriate to cite far more papers than it would be if you are merely establishing the point in a paper containing your original research on the subject. In the latter case you may even be able to cite someone else's review.</p>\n\n<p>Generally speaking, new papers in a field only get published if there is an element of novelty to them. Thus it is unlikely to find 50 different papers saying exactly the same thing. If you need the citation to support your own project, you should be able to find a small subset of those that are most relevant to the question at hand (e.g. if I am using mouse models, I should probably cite prior work in mice over prior work in rabbit models). If you are reviewing a topic, you should be able to find the most important papers out of the group (e.g. the ones that were transformative to our understanding of ice cream health effects). </p>\n\n<p>Additionally some papers will vary in quality or scope. Citing an initial, limited scope paper might be appropriate if you are discussing the history of a topic, but if you are just trying to establish a basis for a claim you may want to go with a later, more definitive study.</p>\n\n<p>Many publications will give you a citation limit when writing for them. So you often won't have a chance to cite an entire library of previous work. You need to be able to pin down the papers that are best suited for your specific need.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31947,
"author": "Stephan Kolassa",
"author_id": 4140,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4140",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>+1 to <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/31945/4140\">Maarten's answer</a>.</p>\n\n<p>In addition: likely enough, the more recent of the 50 studies you mention already cite most of the earlier ones, so the reader can just follow the breadcrumbs back - no need for you to essentially repeat the literature survey that was already done in the papers you cite. Stick (mostly) with the recent literature.</p>\n\n<p>Of course, you <em>should</em> cite papers that are most relevant to your study (e.g., similar protocols, similar questions etc.), and if you manage to find a relevant study that everyone else has overlooked, by all means include it.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31950,
"author": "David Z",
"author_id": 236,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/236",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In my field (particle physics), at least, when you give a citation for a result, it's traditional to cite the <em>original</em> result. Many papers that come later might also give the same result, some with the original derivation, some with updated derivations, some with experimental evidence (though that is really considered a separate result from the theoretical discovery in its own right), but they don't all get cited for that one result.</p>\n\n<p>So it probably depends somewhat on the conventions of your field.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31951,
"author": "Jack Aidley",
"author_id": 5614,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5614",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p><strong>Usually one reference is best; sometimes you want more</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>In general a single, well-chosen, citation is all that is needed. Select a paper that (a) you've read (b) clearly supports your assertion and (c) is well written and the job is done.</p>\n\n<p>However, sometimes you may wish to include more than one references. The appropriate time to do this is if there is historical reason to do so (e.g. you may wish to cite the original paper and a more recent update), if you wish to emphasize the breadth of support for the point, if the point is - in your view - controversial or if you're giving a historical view and want to cite multiple papers to give the historical perspective on the point.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31968,
"author": "Davidmh",
"author_id": 12587,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12587",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>It depends on how important is that point to your paper. If you are studying the consistency of ice cream, and you find that vanilla has a better consistency, and furthermore, is healthier, you just need one good reference.</p>\n\n<p>On the other hand, if that is a central point of your article (you are researching how to condition children into choosing vanilla instead of chocolate), you should make a strong point. In this case, is beneficial to put things in perspective:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The first work by Jones in 1976 suggested that Chocolate was not so healthy...</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If there is a review, it can mostly replace all the older papers:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The fact was well established since the work by Marks, \"Ice cream flavours, health, and little humans\", 1998.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>and possibly special mention mention those papers that are a substantial breakthrough or strength:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Smith 2003 followed the ice cream preferences of 10 000 white children...</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31944",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/600/"
] |
31,952 |
<p>I had a telephone conversation with a proposed Ph.D. supervisor last Monday and he agreed that he will double-check my research proposal before I submit it. Then I emailed him the proposal. However, I haven't heard from him for a week, so I sent a reminder email to him this Monday. And yet still no feedback from him so far. I know that professors are busy and slow responders, but Christmas is coming and I do not want to miss the deadline. I wonder whether it is ok for me to call him at the same time as last time if I do not get his response before next Monday? Or are there any other solutions in this situation? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31981,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First, ask yourself whether you are sending the right email.</p>\n\n<p>One of my professor mentors had a very useful heuristic for ensuring effective communication with busy people. For any busy person, email typically gets triaged into three bins:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Email that can be safely ignored.</li>\n<li>Email that can be responded to with trivial effort, thereby clearing it from their \"todo list.\"</li>\n<li>Email that requires non-trivial effort to respond, and must be put off for later... and later may be a long time, because now it's competing with their other \"large\" duties.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>If you want a response from a busy person, write a short email that includes precisely one question, and make sure that question is easy to respond to. For example, in your case, if you send email saying:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Here is my research proposal, as discussed. Can you please send me feedback?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>then that might get no response until the professor has the feedback ready, and preparing your feedback may get pushed off and pushed off again. The professor might also misremember the deadline and have a lesser sense of urgency.\nIf instead you write:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Here is my research proposal, as discussed. Please recall that I must submit before the deadline of XXX, and I would like time to revise if necessary. When can I expect your feedback?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>In this you've posed an easy question, which should get a response, and also gotten them to commit to a specific date. If you don't get a response in a day or two from an \"easy\" email like this, then you need to wonder whether this person is actually somebody you want to work with.</p>\n\n<p>What, however, if you send the right email, get them to commit to a date, and then they fail to either respond or tell you they need more time? At that point, I would recommend against either emailing or calling on the phone. Instead, go find the professor in person. I have found that with busy people who fail on their commitments, that finding them in person is the best way to get yourself back in their queue. Again, however, you should ask yourself whether you really want your whole Ph.D. to be this way, because it is likely to be a pattern...</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 34433,
"author": "Joshua Dance",
"author_id": 14498,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14498",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you are danger of missing a deadline, yes call her/him. @jakebeal's answer is great for email, but sometimes people just don't check their email. </p>\n\n<p>If you are worried about seeming too \"pushy\" or aggressive, just be really polite and give a sense that you are trying to get things done and moving, rather than blaming her/him for the delay. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31952",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24065/"
] |
31,954 |
<p>We've had discussions on this site about the <a href="https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/12406/why-are-the-german-professors-addressed-as-prof-dr-xxx">German tradition of Prof. Dr.</a>, but I'm unclear on how it maps over to the North American academy. </p>
<p>My question, therefore, is whether a North American assistant professor (PhD holding, tenure-stream) would be considered a professor, a doctor, a professor doctor, or some other form when registering for an event there.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31956,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In North America, one would only mention an academic's rank (assistant professor, associate professor, full professor, etc) in formal contexts where it is important to describe their exact job title (in a CV, business card, news article, etc).</p>\n\n<p>Otherwise, the word \"professor\" is used generically to refer to any tenure-stream university faculty members, and in some cases also non-tenure-stream. For example, \"Susan Jones is a biology professor at Harvard.\" That would still be correct if her rank is assistant professor. Or: \"The conference was attended by 300 professors from across the country.\" They need not all have been full professors.</p>\n\n<p>It is also the word used to address any of these people. (\"Professor Jones, I thought your paper was very interesting.\")</p>\n\n<p>\"Doctor\" is also used as a term of address, assuming the faculty member in question holds a doctoral degree. (\"Doctor Jones, please tell me more about your experiment.\") Whether \"Professor\" or \"Doctor\" is to be preferred is a matter of local custom which varies from one institution to the next. But \"Doctor\" is not used to refer to the job itself. You would not say \"Susan Jones is a biology doctor at Harvard.\"</p>\n\n<p>In North America, titles are <em>never</em> stacked. One does not say \"Professor Doctor Jones\". </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31958,
"author": "Kieran O'Neill",
"author_id": 24466,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24466",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In North America, all professors at all levels seem to just use the salutation \"doctor\", and nothing more. Does this answer your question?</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31954",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/34/"
] |
31,966 |
<p>In about a week I'll be introducing the Coriolis effect to a group of about 50 undergrads. This means I'm going to have to at least touch on fictitious forces and frames of reference.</p>
<p>These aren't physicists and I can't guarantee that they've taken (or paid attention during) elementary physics, so I can't just put the equations up on the board and get comprehension; I'm going to have to be a bit more visceral.</p>
<p>My strongest example refers, from time to time, to the inertial frame as the "God's eye view". This means that while working through it, I would be using the word "God" a few dozen times during lecture.</p>
<p>I don't personally find this term offensive but I don't want the <em>presentation</em> to turn my students away from the <em>content</em>.</p>
<p>So my question has two parts:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>Is using "God" in the way that I've detailed acceptable, or should I search for a different example?</strong></p></li>
<li><p><strong>If it is acceptable, should I have a heads-up at the beginning of lecture?</strong></p></li>
</ol>
<hr>
<p>Extra information:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I'm an adjunct at a large public university in the United States.</p></li>
<li><p>This is an introduction to applied meteorology course.</p></li>
<li><p>I've been teaching for six years but this is only my second time teaching this course.</p></li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31972,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>It's acceptable, but why do you need to use it? It seems to me that you could just as easily use a secular phrase like \"looking down from above\"?</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31977,
"author": "David Richerby",
"author_id": 10685,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10685",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You seem to be a reasonable person. The fact that you're asking this question means that at least one reasonable person has doubts about what you're proposing to do is appropriate. Since using this particular metaphor isn't crucial to your course, why do it?</p>\n\n<p>To be honest, I don't think it would be an issue but I'd also recommend against it simply because it isn't clear. Many religions view god as being present everywhere so it doesn't really make sense to use \"god's eye view\" to refer to looking from a particular direction. Instead, you can use the prosaic \"Seen from above, ...\" or say things like \"If you were in orbit, looking down at the earth...\" If you want something a bit more fun and colourful, \"So, a martian looking at the earth through a telescope would see...\" </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31992,
"author": "Retired IT rollout guy",
"author_id": 24525,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24525",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>In context, references to 'God' are best avoided because religion may be a big part of many people's lives. Yet, to others He (or She, or It) is an archaic irrelevance and for a few - those who will be making assumptions about who you are and why you are focusing away from the science. (I assume since it underpins the class and will have to be spoken about at some point, even if you will be helping them take a run at it.)</p>\n\n<p>Short version, bringing God into your lecture will be distracting (assuming the members of your class aren't coreligionists/members of the same sect/congregation/Bible study group/friends/neighbors/family members). If you feel compelled to use the specific form of shorthand terms mentioned - and I can understand why you might, if it's accustomed and familiar - I'd advise saying so up front where you personally are coming from and quickly move on.</p>\n\n<p>Alternatively you could substitute the anodyne but less contentious phraseology, such as 'from the viewpoint of a space probe/flying saucer/little green man etc' but ideally I'd advise a combination of both based on audience reaction. Perhaps I've been lucky but I've found most classes - particularly those dealing with challenging material - respond well to mild comic irony and gentle self-deprecation.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32000,
"author": "Petr",
"author_id": 13267,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13267",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Well, I am European and an atheist, so I may not have the most relevant opinion. However, I find this perfectly fine. I understand that you are just using this as a connection of words people tend to say, just like \"birds perspective.\" Why should I be offended by that? Why should anyone? I understand that you are not teaching that the god actually is the reason why the Coriolis effect takes place, so I believe it should not interfere with anyone's impression what the god is - whether he exists, what he possibly looks like and so on. I say that if you believe it will make the topic easier to understand, go for it. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32003,
"author": "Nzall",
"author_id": 11593,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11593",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Why don't you call it a \"satellite view\" or \"orbital view\"? Satellites are used for this kind of imagery anyway, and people will understand that this is about view from high above. \"Orbital\" indicates a view from orbit and is easier to say.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32016,
"author": "gboffi",
"author_id": 24537,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24537",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The perfect place to admire the dynamics of Earth's atmospheric currents and their interaction with the Earth's rotation is, of course, Moonbase Alpha from \"Space 1999\" TV series, or any similar Moon base that you can devise.</p>\n\n<p>OTOH who thinks Apollo's missions are a fake could be offended. But a Believer in Flat Earth would be offended by the notion <em>per se</em> of Coriolis forces.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32023,
"author": "gillonba",
"author_id": 13301,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13301",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think the phrase \"God's eye view\" works fine, because it implies a level of omniscience that you wouldn't get as a human observer, regardless of location. A non-religious person can still understand the concept of God, which is all you really need to make your point</p>\n\n<p>A human can't see air currents, only the shapes of clouds. If you look at a hurricane for example, you can infer the motion of the air currents but you would not be able to see a jet stream on a clear day.</p>\n\n<p>As a human, you are limited to looking at one hemisphere at a time. God, presumably, can see the entire earth and gain a more complete big picture view</p>\n\n<p>Finally, a God's eye view would be better for time-lapse imagery. As humans, we are constrained to experiencing time (and gravity) in the usual sense. You would not be able to sit over one spot of the earth observing a hurricane developing over the course of several days and then distill it down to a span of a few minutes</p>\n\n<p>TLDR; if you are describing something a human would reasonably be able to observe, describe it from that human's viewpoint. If you are describing something that would be difficult/impossible to observe directly with the naked eye use a metaphor. God, in this case, is used as a metaphor not religious doctrine</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32037,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I might say \"well I would mean to say bird's eye view, but there's no birds up there so it's more like a God's eye view...\"</p>\n\n<p>As an atheist I get that there is an image of a big-man-in-the-sky and you're not taking any claim on the literal existence of such an entity, so it's fine.</p>\n\n<p>As a Christian you're portraying the God <em>I</em> worship in a way more or less consistent with my religion and you're certainly not offending Him, so it's fine.</p>\n\n<p>As a Buddhist I understand that people understand God as having a total view of the universe, and I can certainly picture God as somehow being \"out there\", so it's fine.</p>\n\n<p>This strikes me as really, really okay. There's always a risk and it always involves a judgment call but any \"reasonable person\" test says you're not harassing or excluding anyone. It's probably best not to throw in \"of <em>course</em> who we know doesn't exist...\" or anything though.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32043,
"author": "RotatingAnt",
"author_id": 24557,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24557",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Maybe use \"from the outside\"?</p>\n\n<p>For example something like this \"Imagine a ball, floating in space (no gravity), but rotating as it does. An ant on the surface picks up a grain of sand and throws it. No gravity, so to an outside observer/from the outside the grain of sand will fly straight. But the ant rotates together with the ball, so from the ant's point of view the grain of sand appears to be spinning and turning as if a bunch of strange forces was accelerating it all over the place.\" and then work on Earth and the forces in reference frames.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32044,
"author": "Community",
"author_id": -1,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/-1",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You are teaching a university course on meteorology to people who have presumably sat through at least one semester of courses.</p>\n\n<p>Your job isn't to dumb this down its to teach the course, if your course requires basic physics, use the term \"inertial frame of reference\". If you feel its necessary give a brief description of what that is and then move on.</p>\n\n<p>Your job isn't to spoon feed them palatable ideas, its to teach them, but more importantly give them a starting point to teach themselves.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32060,
"author": "Roaring Fish",
"author_id": 864,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/864",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The problem with using \"god's eye view\" is that by choosing to use 'God' in preference to, say 'Allah's eye view' or 'Yahweh's eye view', you have already introduce a religious element into the discussion and taken a stance on it.</p>\n\n<p>Unless you actively want to introduce God for some reason, there is absolutely no need to do it. I studied basic meteorology, and 'god's eye view' was never mentioned, though 'stationary point in space was'. Both <a href=\"http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/learning/learn-about-the-weather/how-weather-works/coriolis-effect\" rel=\"nofollow\">The Met Office</a> and <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_effect\" rel=\"nofollow\">Wikipedia</a> manage to explain it without mentioning God.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32090,
"author": "padawan",
"author_id": 15949,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15949",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think you want to gather attention by making an outstanding sentence. \nHence, I do not think jakebeal's answer serves your purpose (of course it is the best way I can think of, but if your purpose is not only telling the subject but giving an extraordinary example, it will not be enough).</p>\n\n<p>Using <em>God</em> is I think not a good idea. However, there are several choices for you, I think:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>You can tell a mythological story and use one of the gods' name (e.g. Zeus).</p></li>\n<li><p>You can ask \"have you ever imagined how an astranaut sees the world?\" and then build your sentences on this question, like \"he/she sees the world turning otherwise\" etc.</p></li>\n<li><p>You can show a video of a spinning wheel of a car and ask the question \"towards which direction does this car go?\" and then answer \"we cannot know until we see the bigger picture\".</p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>In summary, I would not use it but give another extraordinary example to emphasise on the subject. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 38989,
"author": "Oedhel Setren",
"author_id": 29481,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/29481",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Anytime God is used in a scientific context, you should replace it the the ambiguous Universe. The use of God to explain or describe any force that can't be observed is directly insulting to anyone who isn't from a monotheistic religion. By referring to god as the universe you remove the superstitious and replace it with a polite \"we can't describe it.\" Seeing as these forces are are only unknown due to lack of advancement, not because there is a bearded man in the sky moving the stars about.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31966",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10661/"
] |
31,970 |
<p>I am currently teaching computer-science courses in a Spanish-speaking country and I’m having trouble translating my academic rank into English.</p>
<p>Here in my country the position is called <em>profesor auxiliar (auxiliary professor</em> in a word-by-word translation) and it has this responsibilities:</p>
<ul>
<li>You’re expected to have at least a master’s degree.</li>
<li>It is a part-time position. Several auxiliary professors teach one or two courses, and have also jobs in the industry.</li>
<li>There are no research responsibilities. The main job is to give lectures.</li>
</ul>
<p>Initially I thought the best translation was simply <em>professor,</em> but I’ve been warned that the word implies much more on USA (like a PhD requirement and research duties). Is there an equivalent for this position in USA?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31971,
"author": "Nate Eldredge",
"author_id": 1010,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1010",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>In the US, the usual title for such a position is <strong>Adjunct Professor</strong>.</p>\n\n<p>See <a href=\"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/3430/what-are-the-roles-and-responsibilities-of-an-adjunct-faculty\">What are the roles and responsibilities of an adjunct faculty?</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 68606,
"author": "thebishopofcalc",
"author_id": 54015,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/54015",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>At many universities where the professors (even the adjuncts) desire to have that phrase restricted to those teachers who have earned a terminal degree, a more common title for non-tenure-track teaching positions would be Instructor or Lecturer.</p>\n\n<p>NOTE: this distinction is more common in disciplines in which the terminal degree is considered more of an absolute prerequisite for a tenure-track position; in many, more \"skill-oriented\" disciplines (I'm thinking music performance, theater, art, and yes, often computer science), such an academic degree is indeed considered...well, \"academic,\" and a master's-level teacher with a plentiful level of \"real-world\" experience can indeed be considered sufficiently \"expert\" to be granted the exact same level of professional courtesy. Many schools can still be found to have (grandfathered in) veteran master's-level teachers who were in fact granted the luxury of a tenured position (whether dubbed Instructor or Professor).</p>\n\n<p>P.S. It also bears asking whether the \"Master's\" degree in your country is comparable to the Master's in the U.S., or whether there is a level beyond it in your country. If there is no higher level than \"Master\" where you come from, then I would argue that your Auxiliary Prof. absolutely correlates with Assistant or Associate Professor here.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31970",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/21687/"
] |
31,973 |
<p>There is a PhD thesis which is inline with my MSc thesis topic. </p>
<p>The author has collected and classified a huge number of references for the background.
While I am writing the background section, if I use the references he used, but not the sentences and organization, is it still plagiarism?</p>
<p>I am talking about 50-60 references out of 250. They are very well classified and right-to-the-point. </p>
<p>I also cited his thesis. However, referring to one thesis for 40 references is silly.</p>
<p>What should I do?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31974,
"author": "Moriarty",
"author_id": 8562,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8562",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>No. Taking someone else's bibliography, reading those papers, and writing some words of your own about those papers is not plagiarism.</p>\n\n<p>Don't restrict yourself to just those papers, though. In all likelihood, the thesis writer won't have cited every resource that is useful or relevant to your work. If there has been a recent review published on the topic, that's usually the best place to start your own literature survey.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31975,
"author": "BrenBarn",
"author_id": 9041,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9041",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Using references that someone else used is not plagiarism.</p>\n\n<p>That said, if you made significant use of the thesis text itself (not just its bibliography) in understanding what the references were and how they might be relevant, it's worth citing the thesis as a source for more information. For instance, if you got some ideas by looking at a chapter in the thesis titled \"Cake-baking\", reading its summary of different cake-baking techniques, and then looking up the references in the bibliography to get more detail, then you didn't just use the bibliography, you used the textual explication/summary of the cited material. It's common in articles to see a discussion of previous research with various citations, and then something like \"See Jones (2000) for an overview of relevant research in this area.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31976,
"author": "Bob Brown",
"author_id": 16183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16183",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Working from a bibliography in another paper is not plagiarism. It's actually a good research technique. As you read those papers, check <em>their</em> bibliographies, too, and so on. Pretty soon you will have thorough coverage of the subject.</p>\n\n<p>Do note that you cannot just plop those 50-60 or so references into your own bibliography but do nothing else, nor paraphrase what someone else has said about them, but without reading them. That's called reference padding and is academic misconduct. You have to actually <em>read</em> the papers. When you do that, you may find that some of them don't fit your needs as well as you may have at first thought. You will also find it easy to write your own thoughts about those papers, and so will not have to worry about paraphrasing another author.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 31980,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>The author have collected and classified huge number of references for background. While I am writing the background section, if I use the references he used, but not the sentences and organization, is it still plagiarism?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It's not clear to me what you mean. If you just mean you learned a lot of references from the thesis and then cited those references when they seemed appropriate in your own writing, then there's nothing wrong with it. On the other hand, it's less appropriate if you are repeatedly imitating someone else's nontrivial choices about which papers to cite. I'm not sure where to draw the line between plagiarism and other inappropriate behavior, but you should avoid it in any case.</p>\n\n<p>For example, suppose someone has carefully chosen ten representative references for each of six topics and made these citations when introducing these topics. If your background section includes different paragraphs describing the topics (so there's no copying of text) but offers exactly the same citations, then you're taking unfair advantage of that person's work by giving the impression that you chose and organized these references yourself. It's arguably not as bad as copying chunks of text, but it at least doesn't seem like good manners. (I'd be annoyed if I noticed that someone else's background section cited the exact same sixty papers as mine without giving me any credit.)</p>\n\n<p>If this is the sort of thing you're talking about, then you should give credit by explaining the source. For example, you could write something like \"For further background material, see [that thesis], from which I took many of the citations in this section.\"</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/19
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31973",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15949/"
] |
31,984 |
<p>A session at an annual professional society meeting that I regularly help to organize includes an "invited" talk to anchor the session. Some years, the invited speaker is unable to attend the meeting (due to illness, travel problems, etc.). If we are able to arrange a last-minute substitute speaker to fill the time slot (rather than canceling it and risking losing the audience to other parallel sessions), would that speaker be able to list the talk as an "invited" talk on her CV, even though it's not been advertised or listed anywhere?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31985,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>Why not? Of all the possible people to give the (new) talk, you invited that person, and even trusted them to give a good talk on short notice!</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32022,
"author": "enthu",
"author_id": 15723,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15723",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think that there is no difference between first and last minute invited speakers. Nobody mentions in his CV that he is invited in the last days. The important is that he has talked in that conference and this is of value to be mentioned in his CV.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31984",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/53/"
] |
31,987 |
<p>I sometimes have professors who use their own names for things. For example in lecture one kept referring to the "perfect marriage algorithm" but after talking with him I'm fairly certain he was referring to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stable_marriage_problem" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Stable marriage problem</a>. This is a challenge for me as I prefer to learn a little about a topic before going to a lecture, or read up on points discussed in the lecture after it. Are there any suggestions on how to approach this? The prof from the example above told us not to use Google to learn material for the class. With that said, he's a very reasonable and intelligent man, but I've been in other classes where profs have used nonstandard terminology (such as in math saying solve a problem by symmetry) and it would be difficult to talk to them.</p>
<p>I don't want to offend them by suggesting the name their using is wrong, but it makes studying from other resources hard and I don't think it's practical to try to learn everything just from lecture.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 31989,
"author": "grauwulf",
"author_id": 5760,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/5760",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>This is a tough one because it is a topic that meanders into psychology. I have encountered similar problems when professors insist on calling, that thing that everyone else calls agrees on as blue, pink. I will also add that I agree that this is an \"academia\" problem, as it relates to distribution and comprehension of information.</p>\n\n<p>Three techniques for clarification that I have tried. YMMV.</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Ask the professor why they feel the need to be an opaque and pedantic prat. Tell them to stop making up new names for things to feel better about their pathetic little existence and use the language of the field. This method has been met with some ... \"resistance\". :-P</li>\n<li>Ask the professor is X has any adjacent concepts or theories that might be good to look up. This is dangerous as sometimes the prof. will decide to wax poetic on the art of Edvard Munch when you started out talking about impedance mismatch. Use with caution. </li>\n<li>Ask the professor about the similarities and differences between X and Y. On a few occasions I have been VERY surprised to learn that I had completely misunderstood the point they were trying to make. All I needed to do was ask the simple question of \"is this like such and such?\" This has worked several times. BONUS: This approach has also led to some interesting discussions that worked back around to my area of research. </li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Jokes aside, the common theme here is 'to ask'. :-) As for \"don't use google\"... I don't know what to say about that. I guess you could ask for other reference material to gain a better understanding of the topic but google scholar is a pretty awesome/terrible research tool to use as a handicap. (IMHO)</p>\n\n<p>Good luck with your class. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32077,
"author": "Thomas",
"author_id": 20342,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20342",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Politely asking for a little clarification has worked well for me. Is \"term x\" similar to \"term y\"? Sometimes this is met with \"Yes, term x is what I call term y.\"</p>\n\n<p>For example, my Data Structures professor was using a term that I would deem \"non-standard\". He was discussing \"k-trees\", but it was clear from the context that he didn't mean k-trees from graph theory. I asked him if \"k-trees\" were similar to \"k-ary trees\". That led to him explaining the similarities between what he calls \"k-trees\" and \"k-ary trees\".</p>\n\n<p>Then again, not every professor is so helpful.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31987",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23316/"
] |
31,991 |
<p>I'm writing a statement of purpose for my PhD applications and in some cases I'd be very happy if any person from a certain group (say the Algebra Group) would take me as his/her student. Could this be considered a weakness in my application? How should I handle this?</p>
<p>I've been researching people and groups for over 4 months and I know (as much as I can right now) what I want to do and who does it. It's just that some universities and programs have some amazing faculty.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32010,
"author": "Kaido",
"author_id": 24534,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24534",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I would include which certain aspects of the faculty would support your intentions and why, especially if you can include meaningful references to their previously published work.</p>\n\n<p>For example</p>\n\n<p>\"I believe that University X would be a great place to undertake my research into topic Y because it has a great reputation in this field. For example books A and B published by person C are well known texts in the field and I believe the research of person D in the area of E would compliment mine.\"</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32020,
"author": "Scott Seidman",
"author_id": 20457,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20457",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The sad, but true, situation is that admissions committees are often aware of the needs and funding status of the faculty they are serving. If the people you list are actively looking for students, you might have an easier time with admissions, but if the people you list are in funding trouble, or their labs are full, that might be a bit of a negative.</p>\n\n<p>In the long run, though, programs are looking for good people. The impact I describe is more of a nudging effect than the big decision maker.</p>\n\n<p>I'd recommend mentioning your interest, but also mentioning that you're flexible. It shows good planning. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32054,
"author": "Tommy",
"author_id": 23107,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23107",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think this is a high-risk high-reward scenario. I did this; I called out one particular professor, and I nailed it because he accepted me, but this same tactic failed on another graduate school application. At least where I went, when an application letter mentions a specific professor, internally that application gets sent to that professor for review. If you are a match for them, you have just won a spot on the team of your choice. But if you call out this professor and they are not hiring or do not like your application, you will probably alienate others. So, I think it is risky due to potentially alienating others who may have seen your application if you didn't specify, but can be rewarding because it can land your application on their desk. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32161,
"author": "neil_mccauley",
"author_id": 14741,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14741",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should definitely mention your research group preferences. At my university, PhD applicants are required to do so. This implicitly forces the applicants to learn more about the research groups that are offering PhD positions. If your application get through the selection process, you will be interviewed by the professors of your choices. It would be a big plus if you can make an impression that you have general understanding of their research work. It shows that you have <strong>passion</strong> for the topics and also increases your chance of being accepted. </p>\n\n<p>If none of the professors think that you are a match for them, then let it be and choose different PhD Programme. You should not do your PhD in a research group blindfolded, just because you are accepted there. If you don't like the topics, you could run into the risks of not being able to finish your PhD and wasting few years of your life. Academia is all about passion, without it your chance of success is very small. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31991",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24512/"
] |
31,993 |
<p>When I read up the bibliography of the mathematicians and scientists in the early 19th to 20th century, I am always shocked at how they were able to graduate university with PhD(s) at such a young age.</p>
<p>For example, John Von Neumann graduated from two universities simultaneously at the age of 22 with two PhD degrees and critical papers published.</p>
<p>John Forbes Nash graduated with a PhD at 22 on game theory. Enrico Fermi finished school at 21 with thesis on X-ray diffraction. Kurt Gödel finished school at 23 with dissertation on predicate calculus. Abel finished at 20 with thesis on quintic equations. Galois never graduated but created a field of his own before dying at the young age of 20 and the list goes on and on...</p>
<p>I am not knowledgeable of the trend in the social sciences but I suspects much of the same. </p>
<ul>
<li>Can someone tell me if there has been a major shift in how university
education is conducted such that university across the world takes
longer to get through than it used to be </li>
<li>or is it truly because
these people are unusually talented and are able to get through
university purely based on their almost unnatural abilities?</li>
</ul>
<p>Most importantly (and relevant), why is there such a decline in these young PhDs (I've never heard of a professor at my university who graduated at 21) and is it still possible for people to graduate at such a young age nowadays?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32019,
"author": "Cape Code",
"author_id": 10643,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10643",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>One relevant aspect is the shift in the socially acceptable career schedule of people. The age of adulthood has been shifted from 13-15 y.o. to 18 in Europe and 21 in North America. This is not only true of scientists, but of <em>all other professions</em>. In the early 19th century, people started their professional career at 15 and peaked around 30, blacksmiths or scientists.</p>\n\n<p>This shift likely happened during the 20th century. One example from the UK*: </p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>the minimum school leaving age increased from 12 to 14 in 1918, to 15\n in 1947 and 16 in 1972.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I've heard it's 17 now.</p>\n\n<p>Nowadays, kids spend years filling coloring books and playing the recorder awkwardly before they first hear of mathematics, natural sciences or philosophy. And even after that, it's socially accepted to enjoy teen years riding a skateboard and playing beer-pong. So, we can certainly argue that we had a more laid back childhood than our 19th century counterparts, but it sure delays PhD graduation.</p>\n\n<p>Some still go faster than others. For example <a href=\"http://www.math.columbia.edu/~hongler/\" rel=\"noreferrer\">this guy</a> did his PhD in 2 years, got hired as a faculty at Columbia at 25 and got a <a href=\"http://personnes.epfl.ch/clement.hongler\" rel=\"noreferrer\">tenure track position at EPFL</a> at 29.</p>\n\n<p>*Education: Historical statistics, Standard Note: SN/SG/4252, available: <a href=\"http://www.parliament.uk\" rel=\"noreferrer\">http://www.parliament.uk</a></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32025,
"author": "Anonymous Mathematician",
"author_id": 612,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/612",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are several issues:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p>Your examples are somewhat biased, since you've selected researchers who were not only brilliant but also prodigies. By contrast, Riemann finished his Ph.D. dissertation at the somewhat older age of 25, and Weierstrass didn't start his research career until he was 39 or so. Brilliant researchers are more likely to get an early start than average researchers are, but the correlation is far from perfect. Focusing on prodigies gives a misleading picture.</p></li>\n<li><p>There are plenty of prodigies today (Terry Tao, Noam Elkies, Akshay Venkatesh, Erik Demaine, etc.). If they occupy a smaller fraction of academia, it's probably because academia has grown enormously even relative to the population. The faculty in the top departments today are stronger on average than a hundred years ago, but there are many more departments nowadays, so the average professor is overall probably not as talented.</p></li>\n<li><p>The amount that's known is steadily increasing, so getting to the 19th century research frontier takes quite a bit less time than getting to the 21st century research frontier. This is not as relevant in very new fields, but finishing a Ph.D. in algebraic geometry in two years is a more impressive feat today than it was a hundred years ago. This increase in knowledge doesn't translate perfectly into an increase in time to degree: people also compensate by specializing more and then broadening later in their career. However, the obstacles to a quick Ph.D. are certainly increasing over time.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31993",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/20070/"
] |
31,999 |
<p>For some context:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%E2%80%93V_distinction" rel="nofollow">In sociolinguistics, a T–V distinction (from the Latin pronouns tu and vos) is a contrast, within one language, between second-person pronouns that are specialized for varying levels of politeness, social distance, courtesy, familiarity, age or insult toward the addressee.</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>So for example in French there is "tu" and "vous", in Spanish there is "tú" and "usted", etc.</p>
<p>In general one uses "tu" (I'm going to use French as an example throughout) for peers or friends, and "vous" for strictly less or more senior people (so for example a professor would use "vous" with their students and vice versa). As a general rule of thumb, if you would call someone "madam/sir", you would use "vous".</p>
<p>In academia however, interactions are usually more relaxed: it's not unusual to call everyone by their first names, even as a PhD student addressing a professor. Similarly, I would expect that use of "tu" would be more prevalent in academia.</p>
<p>But as a new PhD student, it would have been unthinkable to use "tu" with a senior professor just three months ago, for example. And using someone's first name doesn't necessarily imply that I should use "tu" with them.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Should I use "tu" or "vous" to address more senior people? I guess it's probably safe to use "tu" with other grad students, postdocs or young faculty, but what about other people?</p></li>
<li><p>Does the answer change depending on if you see the person face-to-face or if you write them a letter/email?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>PS: This is all probably language-dependent. I'm mostly interested for the answer in French, if it can prevent this question as being closed for being "too broad", but if it's possible to answer it in generality that would be great too.</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32001,
"author": "user3209815",
"author_id": 14133,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14133",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Even when addressing professors by their first name you should use \"vous\". That is not uncommon. I'm not that familiar with French (I had it in high school), but in German that is described as \"Hamburger Sie\". In my experience, it is considered quite rude to address older unfamiliar people, let alone your supervisor with \"tu\". So, go with \"vous\" regardless whether you are on first-name basis with the person. There is of course the exception when they insist on being addressed with \"tu\", but that is in the case of professors quite rare in my experience.</p>\n\n<p>As for postdocs, students and young faculty I would consider it safe to use \"tu\", but would opt for the more \"safe\" option by addressing them with whatever they're addressing me. The once established addressing routine shouldn't wary when communicating face-to-face or via e-mail, unless for specific circumstances (e.g. the e-mail is very formal and is sent to many senior people)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32002,
"author": "The Almighty Bob",
"author_id": 16086,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16086",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Unfortunately, there is no general rule covering every situation (or every language).</p>\n\n<p>However, a good rule of thumb is to just use the \"vous\" when you are not sure which one to use and then imitate the other person.</p>\n\n<p>If you are more senior you probably can also offer using \"tu\", especially at the university, but with the rule from above you can be sure that you are not being considered rude.</p>\n\n<p>The generally accepted way to address professors unfortunately differs from university to university (in my experience more than from country to country), so I suggest you use the rule from above.</p>\n\n<p>With fellow graduate students and postdocs, you are right, you can in general use \"tu\".</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Does the answer change depending on if you see the person face-to-face\n or if you write them a letter/email?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>No.</p>\n\n<p><em>(This might be specific to Germany and France, but I guess at least in Spain this behavior would also be fine.)</em></p>\n\n<p>Addition: If you are on a first-name basis that usually means that you are allowed to use \"tu\" (at least in Germany this is generally accepted and from my observations this is also true in France).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/31999",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24528/"
] |
32,006 |
<p>When I was undergraduate I proved something which was non trivial (but I have to be honest, it was not something very important) in mathematics and i presented it to a professor at the university. He found it correct and he included the theorem in his new book (it <em>was</em> new - this happened in 2008) with my name along the theorem. Now you can find this theorem in another book published from Springer. </p>
<ol>
<li>I was wondering if this is considered as one of my own publications. </li>
<li>If I submit it to a journal, should I mention the situation with the books? </li>
</ol>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32007,
"author": "Kaido",
"author_id": 24534,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24534",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <ol>\n <li>I was wondering if this is considered as a publication.</li>\n </ol>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes this is a published work and can be referenced by other publications. You are not the author of the published work in this particular case.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <ol start=\"2\">\n <li>If I submit it to a journal, should I mention the situation with the books?</li>\n </ol>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yes it should form a part of your bibliography / references or some other citation within the paper as it is relevant</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32009,
"author": "yo'",
"author_id": 1471,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1471",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you ask whether the theorem is considered as published, then the answer is yes, it is, and it can be cited from either of the two sources you know.</p>\n\n<p>If you ask whether it can be considered as your publication, then the answer is no, it cannot. Proving a theorem and having a publication are two different things. It is just a bit strange that the professor published it in his book without your consent (or have he asked you beforehand?), as a matter of politeness, I would consider it better if he asked you beforehand<sup>☆</sup>. You could have asked him to list you as a co-author for instance of the chapter in the book; then you could list the chapter as your publication.</p>\n\n<p>I would be very careful about submitting it to a journal, since it is obviously a <em>previously published work</em>. It probably can be treated similarly as a conference extended abstract re-published as a full paper so you may be fine, but the journal may as well decide to reject the publication as \"not containing original work\"/\"previously published\". Certainly, however, you can publish it on arXiv or similar repositories; this is not a full publication, but it can be cited and included in your list of publications.</p>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p><sup><sup>☆</sup> Originally, I said that it was unprofessional from the professor. After the comment by Oswald Veblen, I realized that it's really not so uncommon.</sup></p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32012,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>First, you should take pride in proving a theorem that was significant enough for someone to attach your name to it. Even if it was \"not very important\", as you say, it was still enough to be worth mentioning. Not many undergraduates achieve that. </p>\n\n<p>When you submit to a journal, you don't submit a theorem, of course -- you submit a complete paper. A typical paper has more than one theorem, unless the one theorem is particularly good. In this case, if you describe your theorem as nontrivial but \"not very important\", it seems unlikely to make a paper on its own. </p>\n\n<p>If you write a paper, you could certainly include the theorem in question. Because the original book attributes the theorem to you, everyone knows it's your theorem, so there is no issue with 'stealing credit'. In the paper, you could say something like</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The following theorem has appeared in Smith [1, Theorem 4.5].</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>just before you state and prove the theorem. This sort of thing is routine, and as long as the theorem fits nicely into the paper it is unlikely that the referee will complain. To answer part of the question, you <em>should</em> mention that the theorem has appeared in the book already. </p>\n\n<p>At the same time, you will need to make sure that the <em>new</em> content of the paper is enough to merit publication (that is, the previously unpublished results that you put in your paper). As you read more papers in your area, you will get a better sense of how this works in practice. </p>\n\n<p>I think you have also asked whether you can include the book in your vita. The answer is no. But at various times you are asked to write a research statement or research narrative. Because the book attributes the theorem to you, you can state and take credit for the theorem in your research statement. This is particularly relevant if you are applying to graduate schools. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32040,
"author": "Aaron Meyerowitz",
"author_id": 24553,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24553",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I see that you have <a href=\"http://arxiv.org/abs/1311.1398\" rel=\"nofollow\">published a paper</a> in the arxiv. You could certainly write up your theorem, optionally with background and/or example(s), and submit it. That is certainly a common thing to include in a publication list.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32006",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8979/"
] |
32,013 |
<p>One year ago, I started working on a subject with one of the professors of our department. The idea was mine, and all of the subsequent steps including modellings, simulations, generation of figures, writing the paper and even responding to the reviewers were done by myself completely, and the professor just reviewed the paper and reminded some typos and minor mistakes of this kind, and also added a short paragraph (completely unnecessary in my opinion) to the Introduction section.</p>
<p>But at the end he wrote his name as the first author and submitted the paper. He told me that being second author for him means getting no credit from the department. </p>
<p>Anyway, I'm going to apply for grad school, and he told me he will <em>compensate</em> in the recommendation he will write for me.</p>
<p>As this is my only published paper as an undergrad, and being first author means everything for me in my application, is there any way for me to prove to the admission committees (or the professors; whoever will review my application) that I was the main contributor of the paper?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32014,
"author": "xLeitix",
"author_id": 10094,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10094",
"pm_score": 5,
"selected": false,
"text": "<blockquote>\n <p>As this is my only published paper as an undergrad, and being first author means everything for me in my application, is there anyway for me to prove to the admission committees (or the professors; whoever will review my application) that I was the main contributor of the paper?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Short answer: no. Aside from the professor writing in his letter that he did indeed not do the work and just put his name front to brush up his CV, I see no way how you can <em>prove</em> that you were indeed the \"actual\" first author. And, given that this would essentially mean that the professor confesses unethical behavior, I see very little chance of this happening.</p>\n\n<p>Anyway, I am not so sure whether being first author means \"everything\" for you. Undergrads are often not the first authors of publications (for many reasons, not just the unethical reason that you were denied first authorship). Further, if I see a paper with a senior author and an undergrad, I am not assuming that the professor did most of the hard work and undergrad just advised - independently of how the authors are ordered. I would assume your average admission committee to be similarly realistic.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32033,
"author": "Joshua",
"author_id": 13438,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13438",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If you kept a stack of drafts, produce them. While not definite proof, it would be very hard to overcome even if the professor were to try. Likely, he won't and you win by default.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32047,
"author": "smci",
"author_id": 12050,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12050",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Your question breaks down into distinct subquestions and assumptions, we need to call out each of them separately, especially because you have the importance wrong:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><strong>How important is being first named author</strong> [as long as you're second, obviously], in your field. You claimed <em>\"being first author means everything for me in my application\"</em></li>\n<li><strong>Is fighting this fight worth it?</strong> Is it strategically worth picking this one or letting it go? 2b) Also: is it important going forward to preserve your relationship with professor (especially if it sounds like you'll stay in the same dept?)</li>\n<li><strong>How do you actually prove you originated the work/ideas?</strong> (This is pretty self-evident and is the least important question)</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Answers from experience (almost all of us know people who've been in this situation):</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li><p><strong>You seem to be making a huge wrong assumption</strong> here, seems like you extrapolated the application's artificial format <strong>to believe in general you will not get any credit unless you're first-named</strong>. Generally everyone knows the deal with academia and tenure-track, it's an imperfect little world, people will understand he is under pressure from his own tenure-track metrics. Yes it's somewhat bad ethics, but this is utterly different to omitting your name entirely, stealing your idea for a startup or patent, esp. when rejecting the associated thesis, stealing your funding and redirecting it to other purposes etc. Outside in the real world noone gives a **** if you were first named author; at interviews or in applications you will be given adequate chance to demonstrate whether you were/were not the prime mover; in fact people may respect the team-member vibe if you diplomatically say \"we\" and \"our idea\" while making it blatantly obvious you did the work and wrote the professor's promotion ticket.</p></li>\n<li><p><strong>To quote Def Leppard's fine song, \"Let It Go...\"</strong>\nYou have to answer this question: on a scale of 1-10, how was prof's behavior overall, and factor in \"he told me he will compensate in my recommendation\". Sounds like an 8/10 to me. Believe me, there are scumbags out there, and it ain't him.</p></li>\n<li><p>Pretty self-evident, and irrelevant. Notebooks, notes, SCM checkins, emails, drafts. If in future you get a really clever idea [while in academia], send a dated email to yourself (/burn a CD and certified-mail it yourself, unopened). Read also about the concept <em><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduction_to_practice\" rel=\"nofollow\">Reduction to practice</a></em> in US patent law, for the future when you're working for a company.</p></li>\n</ol>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32013",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/6618/"
] |
32,024 |
<p>So, thanksgiving break is coming up. On my campus, a large portion of the students leave early Wednesday to get back home. The break doesn't officially start until Thursday, but since that is the holiday the students (understandably) leave earlier.</p>
<p>I teach on Wednesdays (among other days). I had forgotten about this poor attendance when I planned my syllabus and am currently planning to teach new material next Wednesday.</p>
<p>Now, I anticipate about 75% of the class (50 total students) will be absent. They knew I would be teaching new material that day, since it was on the syllabus.</p>
<p>Do I cancel class so that the majority of students don't miss a lecture? Do I hold class but post my lecture notes so that the students who missed could (theoretically, at least) make up the work they missed on their own?</p>
<p>If I cancel class, I could shift around material so that nothing is lost (by moving a review day). However, something feels "wrong" about cancelling a class that the university has scheduled to occur because the students decided they wanted to start their vacation early.</p>
<p>Is it fine to cancel a class because you don't expect many students to attend?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32030,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 7,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>I have known a number of professors who took a third approach: on an expected low-attendance class day such as the day before Thanksgiving, they held a lecture, but did not make it part of the \"standard\" curriculum. Instead, they would schedule some sort of fun and exciting \"bonus material,\" like a notable guest speaker or a cool demonstration. That way, those students who showed up got something out of coming, but the ones whose plans prevented them from being there didn't have any missed \"core\" material to make up.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32034,
"author": "derelict",
"author_id": 14547,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/14547",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There is nothing wrong, in my opinion, with canceling class and being honest with your students. Just tell them the holiday slipped your mind when you were planning out the syllabus. You are human after all. Besides, you don't want to look like some sort of scrudge do you? </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32058,
"author": "BrenBarn",
"author_id": 9041,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9041",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I agree with other answers that, in general, it is defensible either to hold class on such a day, or not hold it. However, your question is different because you're asking it <em>now</em>, less than a week before the day in question. I'd like to make the point that, if you are making the decision at this late date, I think you are honor bound to do something to compensate the students who <em>would have</em> attended because they have already planned their shcedule in order to do so.</p>\n\n<p>Many students arrange rides, trains, plane flights, etc., to go home for Thanksgiving, and if they know they have class on that day and thought it was important, they may already have configured their schedules to attend. As someone who has not forgotten what it is like to be a student, I can say that it really sucks to be in that situation and then have the professor cavalierly cancel class, leaving you (the student) in the position of having postponed your trip home for no reason.</p>\n\n<p>Realistically, the only way you can do this is to hold class and make it worth attending. You could do this by making it \"fun\" (although I think that has to mean more than just \"a cool topic\" -- at least bring muffins or something to reward the diehards) or, preferably, by making it genuinely useful. Depending on what the class is about, you could spend some extra time on a difficult topic, perhaps go through some example problems (if it's that kind of class), so that those who attend will get extra practice that will actually help them in the class. If your syllabus always clearly showed that class was scheduled, and you haven't given any hint of it not being, it could also be defensible to hold some sort of trivial \"pop quiz\" that would give a few extra points to those who attend. (You can find other questions on this site with opinions on the ethics of this, but if you have reserved a portion of the class grade for attendance or participation, this is the time to use it to give people a bonus for showing up.)</p>\n\n<p>In short, <em>in general</em> it is defensible to cancel class on a day when few people are expected to show up, but if you do that you have to telegraph your intentions early on. I don't think it's acceptable to cancel class for such a reason on less than a week's notice, when students may have already arranged their schedules based on their belief that class will be held. To do so is unfair to students who took you at your (and your syllabus's) word, and penalizes exactly the stalwart and upstanding students who made their plans in order to be able to go to class as scheduled, while rewarding those who had already made the decision to play hookey.</p>\n\n<p>I do think, though, that you could possibly announce what you are doing on that day. In other words, you could say, \"Oops, I forgot about Thanksgiving. We'll still be holding class, and it will be [whatever -- review session, quiz for participation points, etc.].\" This will make it clear to the students who <em>are</em> coming that they are going to get something out of it, and also make it clear to the students who aren't coming that they are going to miss something that will actually be relevant to the class and aren't getting off with nothing. In a way, this can be a good litmus test for whether what you're doing on that day is legit --- if students who already planned to skip have a decent chance of thinking \"Oops, that might have been helpful, oh well\", then the class is meaningful enough to compensate the students who do attend.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32059,
"author": "blankip",
"author_id": 11420,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11420",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>The fact is students have a life beyond school. They also each have their own set of circumstances, issues, whatever. You might have those who live thousands of miles away and must leave early to get a flight to see family they haven't seen in months, some may need to go home to work during breaks, others might not want to drive all night. </p>\n\n<p>Cancel class, email your students tomorrow so that those who planned on staying can leave earlier if they want. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32062,
"author": "Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen",
"author_id": 11257,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11257",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Hold the class just like any other day. If you offer some special content that day, you may end up disappointing those who show up or those who don't. And you can't just cancel class if the class is in the official schedule.</p>\n\n<p>But you could agitate politically for the schedule to be changed institution-wide starting next year. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32063,
"author": "Ian",
"author_id": 9902,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/9902",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You should make it worthwhile for the student that have made an effort, so you could just do what you would have done that day, but insure the contents is covered by an exam question, so as to reward the good students.</p>\n\n<p>Or you could <strong>take advantage of a smaller number of students</strong>, and do something like a review of how to answer exam questions from past years on topics you have already covered.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32094,
"author": "Raydot",
"author_id": 13535,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13535",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My attendance policy is if you miss more than 20% of the class FOR ANY REASON, you fail. That ends up being 3 classes in a 15 week semester. Everyone gets the same three classes. If you miss that Wednesday and no more than one other class during the semester, no problem! If you have missed two other classes and then you miss that Wednesday, you fail the class. Everyone can plan accordingly. You should probably not teach new material but you've put the decision to make or miss that class squarely in your students' hands without unfairly rewarding or penalizing anyone for their travel plans.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32110,
"author": "Intrepid01",
"author_id": 24627,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24627",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I would hold the class and make it available as a podcast if the class were after say 2PM. But that's actually being a bit generous. The holiday is after all a 4 day weekend. It isn't a 5 day weekend. <em>If it were a workplace, they would be expected to report to work</em> and I don't see university studies being held to a lower standard as being good preparation. </p>\n\n<p>My concern stems from having seen too many grads from \"name\" university programs (health care field) - ill prepared for work and life and death responsibilities. They did not know enough to work safely <em>nor survive their 90 day probationary periods</em>. Staff who are seasoned instructors of such students are very concerned that recent grads increasingly show inadequate preparation and too lax attitudes to be safe in patient care. It was not just one or two individuals. Ones education at advanced level is preparation for life and work - it needs to reflect that reality. </p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32024",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4458/"
] |
32,027 |
<p>I'm applying for graduate school in a hard science this year, and most things on my application are pretty good so far. Two of my letters should be strong, but regarding the third one, the professor told me in the interest of full disclosure, that his letter will be a positive one, but certainly not the best he's written. This particular researcher is well known in his subfield, which isn't the field I'm applying to, but it's not very far away either. I've taken many of his graduate courses, and also did an independent reading course with him. The graduate courses went pretty well, but the reading course didn't unfortunately, (mostly due to a difference in style) and as a result of all this interaction, he knows me well, and he thinks I'm a good but not great student. Now I'm really hoping I can get into at least one of the better schools on my list, and it's insanely competitive, particularly in my subfield. </p>
<p><strong>Another option of mine is</strong> asking another professor who doesn't know me that well and is in mathematics instead than the hard science I'm applying to, but he certainly thinks I'm a top student, since he was responsible for many of the math awards I got and I did really well in the one class that I did take with him. </p>
<p><strong>Q</strong>: Would having two great and one good letter hurt me at the top places? My impression is that students who get admitted to top places have their professors say that they're the best student they've seen in many years, and not having such a letter could result in rejection. Which recommendation should I go for? Is it advisable that I even do both and send in four letters?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32031,
"author": "Pete L. Clark",
"author_id": 938,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/938",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think professor \"you're good but not great\" is doing you a great service by letting you know in advance that his letter will not be one that you want in your application. If you are applying to an insanely competitive program, then indeed such a letter would jeopardize your application. I've done graduate admissions at the 50th best math department in the US, and we can do better than \"good but not great\".</p>\n\n<p>A letter from someone in an adjacent field is definitely not as good as a letter from someone in your field, but getting a letter from someone who was responsible for \"many of the awards\" you got is certainly strong. The sentiment that you have award-winning mathematical skills should be a positive one on an application to graduate school in the sciences.</p>\n\n<p>I would definitely switch the letters. Also remember that the first professor really helped you out. It is not the sort of help that is worth an effusive thank-you on your part, but it is worth keeping in mind and perhaps remembering to do for someone else someday.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32038,
"author": "Ben Bitdiddle",
"author_id": 24384,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>\"Not the best I've written\" is probably a huge understatement, and he's letting you down easy. Pretty much all letters of recommendation are positive ones, so he's basically saying he'll write you a bad or mediocre letter.</p>\n\n<p>I would definitely go with the one who doesn't know you as well but will say good things about you. I think people understand that most undergrads aren't going to get to know three different professors on a super personal level. But it would be bad if you did get to know professors and they said bad things about you.</p>\n\n<p>Besides, it's nice to have someone who can attest to your mathematical ability, since that trait is strongly prized in many of the hard sciences.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32039,
"author": "user541686",
"author_id": 1201,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/1201",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I can tell you from personally witnessing the contrary that even a professor who writes your recommendation letter can't really predict whether or not you'll be admitted into his <em>own</em> department correctly. So don't expect that to jeopardize your application.</p>\n\n<p>That said, if you think your second recommendation will be stronger then send that one in instead of this one which you know isn't great; I don't see the benefit of not doing so.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32027",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24542/"
] |
32,029 |
<p>I just finished my Bachelor in Psychology and the master's programmes I am interested in pursuing require some experience with at least one programming language. Of course, at no point in my studies was there a course related to programming and I am considering taking free online courses. Since there have been some questions on MOOCs with certificates, I want to make a question about MOOCs without enrollment, credit and certificate of completion.</p>
<ul>
<li>Does one gain anything by mentioning attendance at such courses or will a reviewer of an application dismiss it as an unverifiable claim (since there is no proof that one has actually attended the course)?</li>
</ul>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32106,
"author": "efuller100",
"author_id": 24617,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24617",
"pm_score": -1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>You may be interested in taking a MOOC on <a href=\"http://www.coursera.org\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.coursera.org</a> . Coursera offers several beginning classes in programming. There is one starting this Febuary entitled \"Programming for Everybody\" offered by the University of Michigan that teaches python which is a relatively easy programming language to learn. You will receive a certificate of achievement signed by the instructor for the free version.For some courses there is also a verified certificate available if you are willing to pay a little extra. A verified certificate is a method of proving that you and only you did the work for the course which is good for putting on your resume.Your coursera profile will show which classes that you have taken and allow visitors to see how well you have done. You can mention on your resume that you have some experience in python from this class providing a link to your coursera profile just like you would provide the address to your own website if you have one. You will need to make sure that you make your profile visible to the general public though.</p>\n\n<p> I would say that taking a MOOC class will help in showing that you have some experience in a given programming language so it will count for something, but it won't count for nearly as much as an accredited course from your university. That said if you combine it with examples of programs you wrote using the language you learned on the class on github this would be in my opinion enough to lend credibility to your claim. You may not be familiar with <a href=\"http://github.com\" rel=\"nofollow\"> www.github.com </a> it is a website where you can host your source code and make it visible to the public. Making an account is free. Here is a website with some <a href=\"https://help.github.com/articles/good-resources-for-learning-git-and-github/\" rel=\"nofollow\"> resources for learning github </a>. Similarly to coursera to include it in your resume provide the url for your account on your resume. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32143,
"author": "Paul de Vrieze",
"author_id": 10183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/10183",
"pm_score": 1,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are many masters programs where programming is not formally required, but still very helpful. Beginning programming is definitely not a masters level skill (nor is it final year bachelors). From that perspective the most interesting questions from an admissions point of view is first of all: do you have affinity with programming (many people, even computer science students) hate programming.</p>\n\n<p>To know that you did additional work shows that you know what programming is and that you are willing to invest some effort into your studies. If you fake this will make you miserable on the course. </p>\n\n<p>The course will however not be relevant in assessing your intellectual abilities (your bsc will) as not only is it hard to verify, it was not designed to test them in the first place.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32029",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/23239/"
] |
32,035 |
<p>I am in the beginning of my phd studies in computer science. Specifically, I am in the area of machine learning and linked data. I have talked with my professor about these both types of dissertations, however, it`s on my own which format I choose.</p>
<p>Any recommendations, when to choose a cumulative and when to choose a monographic dissertation? What`s your experience with each format?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32036,
"author": "Piotr Migdal",
"author_id": 49,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/49",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>If I had had a choice, I would have chosen to write a cumulative thesis. </p>\n\n<p>Results are in the papers. And converting papers into a monograph takes a lot of time with relatively low added value. (When someone asks me about the result I still point to publications.)</p>\n\n<p>One advantage of monographic thesis is when it is on a new field (with publications being very coherent on one topic) - then it can serve as an introduction for the others. (However, it seems that not many theses fit this criterium.)</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32075,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are advantages with both. It is worth starting by stating that a research education is not about writing papers but to educate a person to become a self-reliant researcher. The thesis or dissertation is the document that shows the result of this effort.</p>\n\n<p>From the perspective of showing the result of the education as such, the monograph probably better reflects the work done since articles normally brush away methods and other aspects through referencing. Articles often focus on a core piece of data and have no space for additional data that may have been collected. or shows data in a very condensed way. In a monographs much of this can be expanded upon and more of what was actually achieved during the study can be documented thoroughly. I occasionally bump into monographs that ha excellent detailed descriptions of methods or other aspects where I can really learn something new in a good way. This is of course not why anyone should write a monograph but the monograph can be an appreciated publication.</p>\n\n<p>So the monograph provides possibilities for the PhD candidate to show the knowledge gained in a detailed way.</p>\n\n<p>The cumulative thesis can probably also have different looks. In Scandinavia, the thesis consists of about 3-5 papers at different stages of completion (a basic rule is that they should be at least in shape to be sent in for peer review in a journal). Most students end up with a couple of published papers and a couple of manuscripts in their thesis. There is also a cover paper to be written where the different papers are shown in a larger perspective and which should tie the thesis together.</p>\n\n<p>The benefit of this format is that the PhD candidate has publications under the belt by the time he/she finishes. This can also be true for anyone writing a monographs but then that person has to write on two things in parallel although much of it is likely a matter of reformatting. But the focus on papers is, regardless of how one feels about it, a necessity since almost everything that concerns evaluation in academia involves counting number of publications. So the more publications the better, basically. Doing a cumulative thesis is thus a more direct way into the \"after-life\" of scientific publishing.</p>\n\n<p>Another point to bring up is the actual writing of a monograph. Since the monograph is a single entity the author has full control over the progress (bar intervention by the advisor) which makes it easier to complete with a set deadline. With a cumulative thesis, focus is on manuscripts which often involves more or less responding co-authors which in the end can complicate things and most importantly make deadlines more difficult to assess.</p>\n\n<p>One should, however, not forget that it is possible to combine these to some extent. The cover paper for a cumulative thesis can probably look quite differently in different countries (academic cultures). There is, however, nothing that says that the cover paper could not contain just the parts I described are more or less unique to the monograph. This would then provide the best of both worlds.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32081,
"author": "cbeleites unhappy with SX",
"author_id": 725,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/725",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I'd recommend to check out the associated burocracy for each version. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>I did a monograph: this was the usual thing to do at my old institute, and I would have needed to apply for permissions to do sandwich thesis and another permission to submit in English. I changed institutes, but kept with the monograph as large parts were written already. </p></li>\n<li><p>One colleague told me that he had quite some trouble obtaining the necessary copyright transfers for his cumulative thesis. Many publishers have theses explicitly listed as allowed reuse on their copyright transfer agreements (important also for monographs if the same figures are used!). However, there was one that just gave permission for the required number of <em>prints</em>, so the pdf of the thesis cannot be made available by the library. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>In my experience, there are now to subpopulations in the monographs: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Monograph had no influence on the expected number of papers published (in English, of course) in my old institute. Compared to what the link in @Austin Henley's comment says, the procedure was the other way round: we did publish like other people that go for cumulative thesis, and the monograph refers to the publications (\"These results were published in [CB3]\"). </p></li>\n<li><p>However, where cumulative theses are the default I've also seen people hand in monographs <em>because</em> they do not have the required publications for a cumulative thesis. </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<hr>\n\n<p>To reinforce @Peter Jansson's point that monographs often give more details: </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>My monograph thesis holds a number small experiments and results that were not published in detail in any of my papers, e.g. some findings about sample storage and far more detailed descriptions of the practical lab stuff for the experiments and in some aspects is further advanced than the corresponding papers because I gained some more knowledge between submission of the paper and writing up the monograph.</p></li>\n<li><p>Actually, I've looked up a number of monograph theses to read up on new subfields and if I need to actually implement the discussed methods - I often found them far more readable than the corresponding publications. Just like I have a look also at the Tech Report if both paper and technical report are available. </p></li>\n<li><p>And yes, I sometimes tell students to read up details in my thesis (or to read up the introduction for a crash course of what we are doing). </p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32035",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/17751/"
] |
32,046 |
<p>When I was in high school, I spent one of my summers working in a lab. The professor had a small lab, so I was given my own project, and made enough progress on it to publish a paper.</p>
<p>While I was working there, one of the PhD students started taking a keen interest in my work, and she kept wanting to discuss the problem, asking about details of my methodology, etc. She even started replicating my work and literally rewriting my code to produce the same graphs that I was getting. She was not originally assigned to the project, but I was happy to discuss the problem with her, because I enjoyed my project and wanted to talk about it with as many people as possible.</p>
<p>At the end of the summer she asked me to send her the slides from the talk I gave at group meeting. A few months later my supervisor told my brother that she presented my work at a conference without mentioning my name. (He never told me directly, probably because he thought I'd be sad.)</p>
<p>Anyway, my dad (who is a professor) was very mad about this, and told me I should write a draft of the journal paper myself so the professor would feel obligated to give me first authorship instead of that PhD student. A few months later I sent him the draft, and he didn't give me first authorship, but did give me coauthorship on three different papers, one of which was only marginally related to what I did. I got into my top choice of college (and graduate school), but this was one of the more traumatic experiences I had as a teenager, and ever since this incident I've sworn off academia as a career option.</p>
<p>Do you think I should have done anything differently, and what would you have done in this situation?</p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32049,
"author": "jakebeal",
"author_id": 22733,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/22733",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>The situation that you describe sounds like extremely unusual and improper behavior on the part of the professor. The graduate student is part of the problem, but the real responsibility lies with the professor who committed two major instances of misconduct:</p>\n\n<ol>\n<li>Allowing the graduate student to co-opt your work without giving you credit.</li>\n<li>\"Giving\" you authorship on a paper that you did not participate in.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Whether or not you should have been first author is not necessarily clear---one would have to know a lot more about the final form of the work to judge for certain.</p>\n\n<p>As for your actions, I think that the primary actions that you took (raising the issue with the professor, then walking away from the situation when the problem was not addressed) were appropriate. I think that you should probably feel uncomfortable about the paper that has your name on it when you don't feel you deserve authorship. You can get that fixed by the publisher, if it makes you uncomfortable enough.</p>\n\n<p>I think that you are making a mistake, however, in allowing this experience to sour you on academia. Unethical people who will take advantage of you can be found in every profession, and in academia at least there are clear rules on what the ethics are <em>supposed</em> to be. You won't necessarily find that in the business world, where it is often considered <em>ethical</em> to exploit people for money (see: fiduciary duty to stockholders).</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32070,
"author": "Phil H",
"author_id": 12183,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/12183",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Take the rough with the smooth.</p>\n\n<p>Yes, it seems the other student took advantage, and if you had been an adult you would perhaps have been more wary. But you were a child, so I don't think it's your fault.</p>\n\n<p>However, you did get your name on several papers, which is very unusual for a high-school student, and there is still some question over whether your work would have been at the same standard as the PhD student; it is easy to think that the idea is all that mattered.</p>\n\n<p>On balance, it worked out well for you. And you clearly have academic aptitude. So my advice would be to go into academia; you are in a rare position of having published already, and having experience of some of the pitfalls of coauthorship in research. </p>\n\n<p>Put the past behind you, it will not be your greatest work and digging over the coals serves no constructive purpose. If it prevents a great academic career, the tragedy will be yours, not hers.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32092,
"author": "padawan",
"author_id": 15949,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/15949",
"pm_score": 3,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>Personally, I feel mad as well as your father.</p>\n\n<p>This is not only about you but about the fraud of the lab you have worked in. Even the professor approves this behavior by bribing you.</p>\n\n<p>I would never, ever let this go. </p>\n\n<p>Please do not think that I'm winding you up or anything. But this behavior is unaccaptable.</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>and what would you have done in this situation?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<ol>\n<li>I would accept that this has happened and do not try to change the situation.</li>\n<li>I would not accept the authorship of the papers I have not participated in. </li>\n<li>I would tell the story in every possible media tool without hiding the names, institutions etc.</li>\n<li>I would save all the proofs that I can, that approves the work was mine.</li>\n</ol>\n\n<p>Besides all these, I would carry on with my works, not spend a lot of time on this matter (it seems that (3) contradicts with this, but you can write in a blog and copy+paste the link).</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32046",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24384/"
] |
32,057 |
<p>I recently sent a paper to a journal (which I put on arXiv beforehand) which has now been accepted with some corrections. I want to put the corrected version on arXiv. The corrected version is written using the style file supplied by the journal.</p>
<p>Should I remove this style file? Does it matter if I don't? Will the journal get mad? </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32061,
"author": "Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen",
"author_id": 11257,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/11257",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I think what matters in most cases is whether the journal staff (i.e., not just the external peer reviewers) made some corrections and improvements to the paper. If they did, you generally can't post the fruit of their labor on arXiv without violating the journal's rights. But you can post a version without those corrections and improvements -- and then you can even add additional other improvements of your own that were not in the journal's published version. </p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32076,
"author": "Wrzlprmft",
"author_id": 7734,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/7734",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p><strong>Legally</strong>, the style file at first only is the software which you use to <em>generate</em> your paper and thus there should not be any problems in most cases, for the same reasons that you do not need to ask Microsoft for permission each time you publish something generated with Word. I see three problem cases, however:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you use TeX, and ArXiv does not have the style file and thus you need to supply it, which would make it be published alongside your article. In this case you may be distributing a software that you are not allowed not distribute. In my experience, many style files are free to distribute though; have a look at it whether it contains some license.</li>\n<li>The style file includes a logo or similar (e.g., Royal Society Publishing’s style file does this), which in turn may not have a license that allows you to distribute it and also probably is a problem because of the next point.</li>\n<li>The style file makes your paper mention the journal’s name, publisher, or similar, which creates the false impression that your preprint is actually a publication of that journal.</li>\n</ul>\n<p><strong>Will the journal get mad?</strong> – Of course you need to regard the journal’s copyright agreement (which you accepted) with respect to publishing preprints in general or on ArXiv in specific (<a href=\"http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Sherpa Romeo</a> is a database that helps you to find this out). But if the journal allows you to publish a preprint content-wise, I do not see any reasons why using its style file would enrage it, given that the above problem cases do not apply. Some journals even allow you publishing the journal’s version of the paper on ArXiv, e.g., the <a href=\"http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/issn/1539-3755/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Physical Review series</a>.</p>\n<p>Finally, a <strong>stylistical</strong> argument: If the journal has a single-column layout but your paper has no long equations or something else that would make such a format a good idea, you may want to opt for a two-column layout for your preprint.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/20
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32057",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24621/"
] |
32,064 |
<p>I managed to snag my first interview for a tenure-track assistant professor job. As I had heard, the itinerary seems somewhat gruelling. What caught my eye in particular are three 45min-1hr meetings with various higher-ups: The Dean of Science, the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, and the Associate Vice-president (Academic).</p>
<p>While there is certainly no shortage of topics to discuss with people in my potential department, I have very little sense of what the above three meetings will be like. So my question is: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>What kind of questions should I be thinking about asking deans/VPs during these meetings?</p>
</blockquote>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32074,
"author": "Oswald Veblen",
"author_id": 16122,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/16122",
"pm_score": 6,
"selected": true,
"text": "<p>You want to be friendly, of course, and make a good impression. Depending on the school, these meetings are not usually too grueling; one purpose of the meetings is just to put a face with your name. There is a good chance these meetings will end up being shorter than the scheduled time. </p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Be prepared to give a very brief \"elevator style\" summary of your work. </p></li>\n<li><p>The deans may ask you about grant funding. You may have a good sense, depending on your field, how important grants are to you getting the position. (Andy W mentioned this in the comments). </p></li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Some particular questions I would ask include:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>I would ask all three: <em>Where do you see the program/college/university going in another 10 years?</em> This can help you tell whether your vision for a school fits with theirs. </p></li>\n<li><p>I would ask the Dean of Science about tenure practices in the college. Do your homework and read the tenure policies before you arrive, of course. As long as you are polite and non-pushy, you can ask for clarifications for anything that isn't clear. You can ask about tenure rates in general, but don't ask anything that would require talking about individual candidates. If you are in a field where grants are important, you should also be sure you know the weight given to grants when they make tenure decisions. </p></li>\n<li><p>If you will need anything unusual (e.g. large start-up equipment costs), you should mention that to a departmental representative first, and they can advise whether it needs to be mentioned to the dean. </p></li>\n<li><p>If you are trying to arrange a second hire for a spouse, the dean may be able to discuss that. Again, you can talk with the department first. <em>CAUTION: This bullet only applies to applicants who are also interested in finding a job for their spouse, and who have decided to bring up their spouse before getting an offer. There isn't room in this answer to get into the debate about whether it is preferable to wait until you have an offer to mention that your spouse is looking for a job, which is another commonly advocated strategy for applicants looking to find a job for their spouse at the same institution.</em></p></li>\n</ul>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32091,
"author": "Ben Webster",
"author_id": 13,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/13",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>My experience with these interviews is that mostly they will tell you things. For example, I have always gotten a long disquisition on tenure without making any prompts, as well as general discussion about the university. It is possible they'll ask for your thoughts on general topics in education or research (for math, I think the connection between pure and applied math is popular). Grant funding isn't an issue that's come up for me; I don't think it's what people usually have in mind for math but it certainly wouldn't be a surprising topic. Certainly it would be smart to have a few general questions (where they see the university as a whole going, how your department will fit into it) at the ready, just to fill any dead space. I suspect the main thing is to just come across as a normal person. While deans sometimes try to influence hiring based on general considerations (the direction of the department, diversity, etc.) I've never heard of them trying to use their impressions from the interview for this (with the exception of <a href=\"http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/29/pictures-institution\">Leon Botstein</a>). </p>\n\n<p>Also, don't hesitate to ask people in the department what it would wise to discuss with the administrators. They'll know better than us yahoos on the internet what their deans' bugaboos are.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 32465,
"author": "Casteels",
"author_id": 8633,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8633",
"pm_score": 4,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am the asker of this question, but now that the interview is done, I thought I might add what my experience ended up being. I guess one thing I didn't really realize before is that they've had these meetings many, many times, and so they know already what topics should be discussed and brought them up themselves. So, as Ben indicated, much of the meeting was me listening or answering questions.</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><p>Much of the the time, the meetings felt more like a pitch to me of how great their university is. This made me feel more confident asking them to address any specific concerns I had about the university and life in their city.</p></li>\n<li><p>Most of the meetings were indeed far shorter than the allotted time. The most common topic concerned grants. Mainly the local government funding agency and requirements to get funding from them. Also, discussions concerning start-up funds, and the resources available from the university to help me secure a federal grant.</p></li>\n<li><p>There was also discussion of tenure, such as what things to focus my time on in the first few years (research, shockingly). I thought a good piece of advice was to avoid service, but not too much. In particular, that I should try to get myself on the Promotion and Tenure committee for my department so that I have a sense of what is needed for when my turn comes up.</p></li>\n<li><p>Discussions about moving expenses and life in the city (typical weather, recreation, schools/daycare for my kids).</p></li>\n<li><p>It should be noted that in all of my meetings, the topic of a two-body problem came up, completely unprompted by myself. Although this fortunately isn't really a problem for me, if it was, I would agree with the above advice that it probably would have been a bad idea to bring it up myself, if it should be even discussed at all before an offer is made.</p></li>\n</ul>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32064",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/8633/"
] |
32,066 |
<p>I'm an assistant professor in a non-English country. I work in control system and signal processing. I write publications in my native language. But I want to get experience in publications in English. But I think my English is not so good. So I have small questions. Does anyone know courses or sites where I can practice? I know about <a href="http://arxiv.org" rel="nofollow">Arxiv.org</a>, but I am not sure it's best practice for my problem. </p>
|
[
{
"answer_id": 32069,
"author": "Peter Jansson",
"author_id": 4394,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/4394",
"pm_score": 2,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>I am personally not aware of any open online courses although I would be surprised if none existed. I can, however, point you to some other good resources. First there is the <a href=\"https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL</a>) which has guides and resources for teaching so it is not a course in itself but contains very useful material. I can also recommend a couple of books on writing in English for non-native English writers.</p>\n<p>The first is</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Robert A. Day and Nancy Sakaduski, 2011. Scientific English. A guide for scientists and other professionals. (<a href=\"http://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOGreenwood/product.aspx?pc=A3210C\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">publisher link</a>)</p>\n<p>Hilary Glasman-Deal, 2010. Science Research Writing For Non-Native Speakers Of English: A Guide for Non-Native Speakers of English. Imperial College Press (<a href=\"http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/p605\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">link from publisher page</a>)</p>\n</blockquote>\n<p>and then of course</p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>William Strunk Jr and E.B. White, (many editions over the years). The Elements of Style. Longman/Pearon. (<a href=\"http://www.pearsonhighered.com/academic/product?ISBN=020530902X\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer\">publisher link</a>)</p>\n</blockquote>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 120255,
"author": "Tom Kelly",
"author_id": 58300,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/58300",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are 2 approaches to learning academic writing in English and I'd recommend both of them.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Read</strong></p>\n\n<p>The best way to learn the conventions for academic writing in your field (and it does vary between fields). You should read a lot of publications to gain familiarity of how to explain complex topics in your field. The more you read, the more confident you'll get with writing in English yourself.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Get Feedback</strong></p>\n\n<p>You can also improve by getting feedback on your writing. It can be difficult if you are in a country where English is not the national language. Still you should be able to get friends and colleagues to give you supportive feedback. You can even get your students to contribute to papers and learn from each others English. Another option is to hire a proofreader to check one of your manuscripts. You can use any suggestions and edits as an opportunity to learn why it needs to be changed. Every time you get a proofreader to help you, you can improve on your writing skills.</p>\n\n<p>Your writing does not have to perfect to submit articles to journals. As long as they can be understood in terms of the science, they can be reviewed. Minor issues with grammar and terminology can be sorted out during the review process. Reviewers should point out minor issues that need to specifically addressed, such as confusing or ambiguous sentences. These can be sorted out during revisions and resubmissions.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 189916,
"author": "Tom",
"author_id": 92334,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/92334",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>What I do for languages is to read a book out loud (in Spanish etc.) whilst listening to a native speaker talking about something on a Youtube video and then try to copy their pronunciation. If I see a word I don't know, I write it down in a notebook and then look it up.</p>\n<p>However, whilst this is good for vocabulary, it's also important to try and get feedback from real people (preferably native speakers). You could join an English language learning group on Facebook and then try to match with people.</p>\n"
},
{
"answer_id": 189923,
"author": "Thomas Schwarz",
"author_id": 75315,
"author_profile": "https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/75315",
"pm_score": 0,
"selected": false,
"text": "<p>There are many ways to learn language and you will need to experiment the way that works best for you. The "best" English used in articles is actually not very fancy as scientific communication needs to be as understandable as possible. Since you already know quite a bit of English, judging from your question, the next step is to eliminate wrong phrasing and specific grammar errors. This is best done using feed-back, that is, writing a paper or a summary of a paper in English and have someone edit it. That is quite painful. You need to first find the person and maybe pay them. Then you have to listen to criticism of something you worked hard to write. But it is worth while. There are now also more editorial houses etc that offer help with this editing.</p>\n"
}
] |
2014/11/21
|
[
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/32066",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com",
"https://academia.stackexchange.com/users/24575/"
] |
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