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<issue_start>username_0: Do users need an account (on Research Gate) to view papers on the site? Or, are these papers available to anyone who finds the page for a paper (i.e., through Google Scholar)? Doing some investigating with different browsers and computers is a bit inconclusive to me.<issue_comment>username_1: In my experience, the papers are often not online, but RG let's you "request" a paper, meaning the website sends a canned email to the author, which they may or may not respond to. This is regardless of whether or not the user has an account. [RG infamously listed authors with their publications who never registered](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/24127/should-i-send-a-cease-and-desist-letter-to-researchgate/46604#46604), and these would thus receive all sorts of spam. I'm not sure if that is still the case.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: It seems to depend on which version of the paper is uploaded. Google Scholar appears to no longer index *pre-prints* on Google Scholar (h/t user2768) but it does index papers that are the final, published versions. These final published versions are available both via direct links and via Google Scholar search results without the need for a ResearchGate account.
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: In [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/101935/is-it-accepted-to-refer-to-your-own-result-by-your-own-name) I asked:
>
> Assume that <NAME> has published a paper in 2010 where she has developed a model or a theorem or a similar result, let's say for concreteness that it relates to "growth"
>
>
> Now assume that <NAME> is writing another paper in 2015, where she refers to the model/theorem from her paper in 2010.
>
>
> Is it acceptable for Jane to write: "Doe's growth model (2010), implies that ..." or "Doe's growth theorem (2010) implies that ...", or even "The Doe growth model (2010) implies ..."?
>
>
>
The answer seems to generally be "no".
@jakebeal states:
>
> "Newton's Laws" and "Hawking radiation" and "Rayleigh scattering" are retrospective judgements of significance by the community.
>
>
>
@user2768 states:
>
> Writing "Doe's growth model" or "Doe's growth theorem" suggests that the community has agreed to name Doe's results this way.
>
>
>
**This leaves me with the question: How does the community come to agree to call such a model "Doe's growth model"? By what process is this decided?**<issue_comment>username_1: There is no concrete way that I know of to determine the name of a model or theorem. In the past the following methods seem to have applied:
1. The author calls it something to refer to it and then it gets famous and everyone else uses that name.
2. The author doesn't name it but just talks about the subject and the idea through multiple papers. The papers become famous, and people start referring to it as "The Auther's Blank."
3. The author comes up with an idea based on previous work, and in crediting the inspirational work, ends up calling it "Original Author's Special Idea" which then is how other people refer to it until said name becomes common.
While I personally believe that naming it after yourself is bordering extreme hubris a bit too much for my own comfort, I imagine that it's tough to refer to some nameless idea. My suggestion would be to give the specific model a name that doesn't use your name. This will emphasize the fact that it needs a name and that you're not some narcissist trying to name everything after yourself. Then, if the model proves useful, others also have a convenient name for it -- preferably something close to what you referred to it as in the original paper.
For example, if I were writing that, my reference to the model would be something like: "In the 2010 paper \_\_\_\_\_\_\_, Doe [and the other authors attributed fairly] put forth the model \_\_\_\_, termed for brevity." Then I would describe the model and how it relates to the work.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Often there is no committee or a formal decision, it just happens. So it is a complex social process. The consequence is that inventions are rarely called after its inventor. See [Stigler's law of eponymy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigler%27s_law_of_eponymy), which is of course not named after its inventor.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: [username_1 already answered from a historical perspective](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/101977/50609), explaining what scientists have done. Now I will answer from a linguistic one, explaining *why* it was done.
No person or people "decide" when to name a model after an author; What you see from today's perspective is a result of a long process of [*lexicalization*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexicalization), whereby new words ([lexical items](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexical_item)) or — more loosely — terms† are added to the language of a community: Communication is a collaborative process, and [language is always changing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_change) even *without* intentionally thinking "I'm going to use this other person's term because others are more familiar with it" (even [Queen Elizabeth's language has changed over time](http://sites.psu.edu/wildlinguist/2016/02/10/bbc-evolution-of-the-queens-english/), and she doesn't need to impress many people).
Naming scientific methods is analogous to other forms of lexicalization, such as
* *cleaning the floors with a vacuum cleaner/Hoover* → *vacuuming/Hoovering the floor* → *vacuuming/Hoovering*
* *communicating via electronic mail* → *writing an e-mail* → *emailing*
In other words, descriptions of relatively "new" concepts are initially very [analytic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytic_language) in structure, i.e. the meaning can be inferred directly from the structure of the language. Consider the examples below:
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> We interpolate the data using the frequency estimation of Good (1953).
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>
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Here, the concepts signified by *frequency estimation* and *Good (1953)* are already accepted well enough to be understandable by those in the relevant linguistic community; I imagine that this sentence would have been perfectly acceptable even in an article from 1954.
Over time, however, common concepts tend to be signified by more [synthetic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_language) constructions, such as:
>
> Smoothing was done using Good-Turing frequency estimation.
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>
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Here, *Good-Turing frequency estimation* signifies the same thing but is slightly less compositional: Yes, it is still denotes a "type" of *frequency estimation*, but in an associative manner rather than an ascriptive one (such as seen in *effective frequency estimation*). In other words, it is frequency estimation **associated with** Good and Turing. Jump forward even further in time and you have phrases like *Good-Turing smoothing* which are even less amenable to structural analysis.
At the end of the road, you finally have terms which are so firmly lexicalized that their "original" meaning is no longer apparent to any but the most historically-aware people. Exemplars of this in regards to scientists are e.g. *watts*, *volts* and *angstroms*: I knew what they were from a very young age, but only much later did I find out that there were actually **people** with those names, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
TL; DR
------
Eponymous names aren't invented; They form over time as people become accustomed to the work denoted by the name. In other words, language conventions aren't decided by anyone but rather [emerge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergence) from the collective behavior of a large group of people.
---
† What constitutes a "word" is itself debatable and is not a binary distinction of being either "100% word" or "0% word". The more "word-like" something is, however, the more stable the relationship between the [*signifier* (the word) and the *signified*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signified_and_signifier) is, and the less compositional the meaning is: e.g. *White House* can be considered one word because its meaning is clearly not a "house which is white".
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I recently read two journal papers from the same set of authors published in different journals.
In the first paper, the authors proposed an algorithm and tested it on a real-world system and published the results.
In the second journal, the same set of authors added some new steps on top of the old algorithm and tested it on the same real-world case, used the same data. The steps described in this paper is "Do the old algorithm first, get outputs and then do the second algorithm using the outputs of first". In this paper, they don't execute the old algorithm rather they refer to the results published in their first paper and build on top of it directly.
I personally felt that they could have potentially included the second paper scope into the first journal as it is just an additional step and provides less value. Is this an example of salami slicing? Is this a good strategy?<issue_comment>username_1: This can be a salami slicing strategy, if the authors deliberately split their results into two papers, where the second one has only a slight incremental value.
However, it also might be that "some new steps" they added significantly improve the algorithm so it becomes faster / more accurate / more reliable. It might also be that the improvement has not been known when the first paper was submitted. In this case this is not a salami publishing, but a normal development of their method.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Many journals will include a 'first submitted' date. Compare those dates, if it interests to you. Its possible the first paper was submitted in the distant past, additional work was performed and subsequently submitted to a separate journal (separate for any variety of reasons) and the two publications just happened to have similar publish dates.
Not everything in life is Machiavellian maneuvering. But yes, of course it is good strategy to have as many publications as possible, for both selfish and practical reasons. Selfish in that publications are the currency of academia. Practical in that it reaches a larger audience and likely provides easier reading.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It is not per se bad to publish papers that build on one another. In contrast, a researcher who is an expert in a given topic should be encouraged to improve his methods.
The crucial point is if the contribution of every publication is high enough to justify a new paper. This is, of course, quite subjective, but the same rule ("the contribution has to be high enough") applies to every publication and every reviewer should be able to make an appropriate judgment. So what is so special about the salami slicing technique that it should be considered in particular?
In the case of salami slicing, the pitfall for a reviewer is that he is making the judgment based on the whole contribution by the author built up over several publications and not only on the new contribution. Far fetched example: Imagine someone has developed a vaccine for HIV and describes it in a first paper. Then in a second paper he describes the same method, but also describes how to add raspberry flavor. He might use the words "We developed the first reliable HIV vaccine and it tastes like raspberries". A reviewer reading this might get the impression that the contribution of that paper is the development of a raspberry flavored HIV serum (that would surely be worth for publication), while in fact, it is only about adding raspberry flavor to a given serum (not very impressive).
My rule of thumb to avoid this pitfall is to ask the following question. Imagine the second paper would have been written by another, previously completely unknown researcher and the actual author would review it, would he accept this paper?
If you expect the review sounds like "These researchers do nothing than adding raspberry flavor to the serum previously developed by us", then the second paper is a salami slice and should be rejected.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: While searching for PhD programs, I read a requirement that states I should send in my application an official transcript of all "post-secondary academic work completed to date". Surely this cannot mean *all* work, including published articles or lectures?
**My question is**: What does "post-secondary academic work" mean? Should I send academic work from both my completed Bachelor and from the Bachelor I did not complete? (BTW, is this expression correct, "completed Bachelor"? What would be a better English expression?)
Thank you!<issue_comment>username_1: It means all academic work you did after high school. This includes undergraduate, masters, etc. So yes, you should send academic work from both your completed Bachelor's and uncompleted Bachelor's degrees, including published articles or lectures.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In your question, you say they ask for the *transcript* of all work. They don't want *all work*, as no one has that kind of time to read it all, they just want to know your performance in each course/module/etc.
The reason they stress the transcripts of *all* work, is that sometimes someone may have, as in your case, completed one program but not another and they would like to see the performance from that incomplete program (or perhaps you did two programs —in full— but one was in an unrelated field, they still want to see how you did in both).
Transcripts, thankfully, generally aren't very expensive to have translated.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: As a part of my research project, I am almost finished a first paper. I was proud of myself because of the contributions: I was able to take some ideas that has been used in the field for some years now, and I provided a unified point of view. However, as it turned out, some of those results had been already obtained before. Nevertheless, this results seems to be unknown yet in the community of the field.
A very important conference is coming up, in which the main leaders on the topic will be present. My supervisor wants me to give a talk about my results in this event. Given the fact that a few of these results had been already obtained (and of course, I am not taking credit for this), the paper with only my contributions (discarding what was done before) is not a strong paper. Although my supervisor thinks it is OK, I am afraid that giving this talk in front of these experts will result in them not taking me seriously as a researcher in the future. What are your thoughts on that?<issue_comment>username_1: Answer inspired by @Roland's comment.
First of all, have a little faith in yourself, your supervisor seems to believe your work is good enough and so should you.
Otherwise, if you really do have some doubts about the relevance of the paper you can stress the fact that these results seem to be unknown in the community.
Raise awareness on the fact that your project is interesting and that some work and results have already been made, yet seem to have passed under the radar of many.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I like the answer by @username_1 but I want to introduce another factor to consider, and that is the *scoop factor*.
Are you planning to continue working in this area? Do you think that identifying this area as insufficiently mined creates a special opportunity for you to build on what's been done previously, to come up with something novel, original and worthwhile? If so, you might want to play your cards closer to your chest, and wait before going so public.
If, on the other hand, you just want to see other people build on what's been done so far, and you yourself are planning to turn your attention to other areas and problems, then there's no reason to be circumspect. In this case, go ahead and present, and get people fired up about this potentially fruitful direction!
Upvotes: 0
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a researcher in condensed-matter physics, and I recently started a research project with another professor, for which I hired a student for a six-month undergraduate internship. The student was under my supervision. During the internship she showed good motivation, but did not make any actual contribution to the progress of the project.
Finally, she started a Ph.D. with someone else. I personally took over the project, taking care of both technical and conceptual parts, which requires a lot of time and work.
I kindly invited her multiple times to double check some of my work, but she had not done anything on the project since the end of the internship.
In the past few months she started having an attitude that I find disturbing. She replies to emails once in a while, proposing new conceptual points to explore, as if I were the student and she was the supervisor. On top of that, she ignores the invitations to double check my calculations, which would require actual work on her side.
Given that she did not make any actual contribution to the project, I am inclined to not include her as an author of any eventual publication. I think that it would be definitely fair to include her in the acknowledgments, but unfair to include her as an author.
What do you think about this? How would you inform her of this decision?<issue_comment>username_1: This answer assumes that the student did not perform her job duties.
*she did not make any actual contribution to the project* - forget her. I am extremely surprised that you even ask about it.
The fact that she showed motivation does not count. What counts is what she did. If (and only if) she does her job, she gets the money. If (and only if) she does a good publishable job, she gets scientific credit in addition. That's how it should be. None if these seems to be the case.
So, if she ever writes an e-mail, this would mean that she still wants some of the credit. In this case, fight back, exercising a bit of pressure, getting an o.k. from the colleague first. One approach could go in the following tone:
>
> Thank you for your e-mail. Please notice that you did not fulfil your job duties, but you were paid. There have been no real contributions to the project from your side. As for high-level ideas, these are outside of your scope. Necessary calculations have not been done, despite my several written requests to you, namely on ... , ... , and ..., which was still before your project ended. This lack of contribution is not how it is supposed to be. Therefore, we would appreciate it if you return the salary you received for the internship. Please transfer USD ... to the account ... until ... . If we don't see a reverse payment, we feel necessitated to undertake legal steps. Thank you for your cooperation.
>
>
>
Of course, adapt the text accordingly: you will get the exact wording better than me since you know the details. If your institution has a legal department, you might even delegate the exact wording right away to them. Make sure that the letter goes via snail mail and has an institution stamp. Use the account number for that project. Now, guess, would she ever think of claiming any academic credit after a letter in such a tone?
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: This doesn't seem like an especially unusual situation to me. You had a student for a fixed-term internship, during which time she pursued an angle that did not result in a publication. The student then moved on to other things, and so did you. You kept her informed of your work that is related to what she did as a professional courtesy, but she isn't interested in participating after the internship ends (nor does she have an obligation to). This kind of thing happens often, and nobody behaved badly here...
Do you have any indication that she expects to be a co-author on the eventual publication? (Corresponding with you about the work out of interest doesn't mean she expects to be an author.) She may not have any expectation of authorship credit.
If at some point she asks about authorship, I think you can just gently point out that her work did not lead to publication, and that you started working on the current approach (that did lead to publication) after she left.
If you do get the feeling that she expects authorship but she hasn't explicitly said so, you could say something to her like, "it has been interesting corresponding with you on this, X and I will be sure to thank you in the acknowledgement section of the eventual publication that he and I write." (If indeed you decide that you do want to do so.)
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: You should have been clearer about the problem earlier on. Several months ago you could have said that she needs to contribute to the calculations or else she can’t be a coauthor. Removing someone from a paper this late in the process without making expectations clear is a bad situation for everyone. Especially since she’s continued to engage conceptually with the project and hasn’t just disappeared. I don’t trust myself to accurately gauge how important collaborators suggestions were, and wouldn’t feel comfortable removing a coauthor without their agreement outside of unusual circumstances. If it were me I’d keep her on the paper, but not continue collaborating after that. And in the future I’d be more clear in communicating expectations throughout the process.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_1: This answer assumes that the student did perform her job duties.
In this case, be clear about the contributions to the paper. Roughly stated, "do this and that, and you'll get a coauthorship. If you do something else, it doesn't count". Of course, you have to package the message in a polite way. (It's not easy, I know.) You could start with "I made a mistake. Earlier, I was not clear about the separation of our work for the continuation of project after your intership terminated. Let me make it clear now." After that, you might say that her "participation as a coauthor requires, as of now, doing verifiable calculations X, Y, and Z. Later more steps might get necessary from every contributing party; as the main author I will determine the nature of these steps.", for example. "Without such a contribution, I would have an utmost difficulty to include you in the paper." Moreover, motivate according to @username_5.
It's a bit late to write a clear statement now, but better late than never: postponing makes the matter worse.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: A couple of things jumped out at me about the question that I don't think have been sufficiently addressed in the other answers:
* This is a graduate student who was early enough in the program that she had not yet chosen her Ph.D. adviser when she was active on the project.
* I deduce from some of the O.P's phrasing in the post and comments that the student's work was the application of a method or methods that did not work; this is based on these quotes: "I gave her something to do, she came up with different approaches and questions, wasted time, and then eventually did what I asked" and "she showed good motivation, but did not make any actual contribution to the progress of the project".
In my experience in academia, there are two general rules that are relevant here:
1. Graduate students should not be expected to have the requisite skills to be researchers yet--that's why they're here after all. But they should also not be expected to have a very good sense of where they belong in or how they should interact with academia generally. I don't mean here that they shouldn't be expected to be professional, but swing a dead cat in any major university medical center and you're likely to hit a young grad student who thinks that the best way to prove himself is to emulate Reviewer #3 at every lab meeting, talk, and defense. Most grad students grow out of this. A major, but rarely stated, part of grad school is learning how to interact with other academics, how to accept criticism, and how to be aware of the limits of your own expertise.
2. A researcher who tries a method that fails has **not** contributed nothing to the project: she has eliminated a hypothesis or found a null result.
In short I can only really recommend being cautious judging her, her attitude, or her ability to understand the limits of her expertise too harshly. In being naive/presumptuous/inefficient early in her career she is being nothing that grad students aren't expected to be, and the O.P. hired her knowing she was a student. My sense in similar situations I've been in during my career is that the marginal cost of putting a student in a middle-authorship position on a paper is usually **much** smaller than the moral hazard that I have underestimated their contribution or been predisposed to dislike it for other reasons (such as their attitude or implicit biases I hold).
Finally, I would suggest that the O.P. make it a teachable moment if the student truly has contributed nothing, especially given that she was hired as a student. Students are in labs as much for their own growth as for the labs growth, and assisting that growth is one of the responsibilities of being in academia.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: I support in broad terms the short answer contributed by @Hexal, but there is a less abrasive, more positive way of accomplishing the same thing... even if you are acting alone.
But you needn't act alone. You can talk to her advisor! Her advisor can help her understand your conundrum, and what she would need to do in order to be a co-author. Her advisor is in a sense her ombudsman. Give him or her a chance to function in that capacity.
The more positive approach, which you might not need to carry out, on your own:
* emphasize the positive, e.g. her emails show that she is actively thinking about the project. Before reading her the riot act, acknowledge her unexpected continued interest. I realize it's presumptuous of her, but at this stage, that's not a criticism that needs to be aired with her.
* Start out by dangling a carrot -- a possible co-authorship. Explain that a co-authorship might be possible, IF she is willing and able to make a significant contribution to the project.
* Now you have her attention. Drive the thing through to the end now, by describing enthusiastically a task (or set of tasks) that are needed in this new phase, and pick out some characteristics of hers that lead you to think that task would be right up her alley. This is a strength-based invitation to collaborate.
* Acknowledge her interest and enthusiasm. Then explain that in experimental work, creativity is hugely swamped by willingness to do grunt work.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: I have definitely worked with undergraduates who enthusiastically tried my ideas which have failed, and then with my own hands and brain I have been able to get the same project "working". In this case if I think the student did the negative experiments correctly and diligently the negative results they have obtained have still been crucial to project development and I have offered coauthorship to the student when the manuscript is in its final form.
In this case it seems like you have personal problems with the student and you feel their work quality while contributing to the project was of poor quality. I do not think you should be required to offer coauthorship to the student. However, by asking this question on stackexchange I pick up on a worry that the student does consider themselves a coauthor. You may want to protect yourself by sending a written copy of the manuscript to the student that specifically describe their contributions in the acknowledgements section. That way you would have a written record of manuscript approval. If you go through the submission process without resolving some grey areas you run a risk of going through an authorship dispute after the manuscript is in review or is published, which is something you deeply want to avoid.
Of course you are not PI, just first author. While you have some power and discretion in this situation, you do not have final authority. Hopefully you can also communicate openly about these issues with your boss.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I was recently asked to join a manuscript which had been rejected by a journal. My revisions ended up removing 100% of another author's contributions (i.e. a different approach to the statistical analyses). In my field, this author's contributions were sufficient to warrant authorship - now that their contribution has been removed, should they still be included as an author? (To the extent that it matters, we're all perfectly happy to include them because of the work they put into the paper. I'm curious about the publishing ethics)
Thanks!
Edit:
I thought I'd add some more info based on comments/questions.
The reason the paper was originally rejected was due to the statistical analyses. I made two main changes to the statistical methods - one necessary (the reason it was originally rejected), and one optional:
1) (necessary) The experimental design required that a mixed-effects/multi-level model be used. In the original version of the paper, this was not done.
2) (optional) While this question could reasonably be addressed using frequentist methods, I thought a Bayesian method did a better job answering the question.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes, I would say that he/she should still be included as an author. Despite this person's sections being eliminated, it is likely that they contributed intellectually in other ways throughout the project, through discussions, meetings, paper revisions, etc. Even in the rare occasion that this is not the case (individual responsible for that one analysis only), it is not his/her fault the contribution was removed, and one should respect the time spent.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: As a general rule in life, you accrue good karma if you err *in favor* of others. If you have to ask yourself whether someone should be included -- for example, because they participated in discussions that still inform the paper; or because you only removed the statistical analysis this person did because you needed to go through the exercise of doing the analysis first before you could realize that that's not the way to go -- then that person likely "contributed" to the paper. That's true even if the actual work that is still in the paper does not include what that person did.
In essence, the price to add someone as yet another author to a paper is relatively small. The price you pay by permanently alienating someone by being hard-nosed is significantly larger.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: [***In an extended discussion in Law SE chat***](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/71158/discussion-on-answer-by-dale-m-why-12-jurors-why-not-11-10-9-1), there was a description of the legal approach to epistemology, ***[namely one that is dependent upon the findings of the various actors of the criminal justice system](https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/25059/why-12-jurors-why-not-11-10-9-1/25061#25061)***: police, defendants and plaintiffs, judges, lawyers, and juries. The specific quote that I wanted to touch upon was:
>
> It means that science and law fundamentally (and, one could argue, incompatibly) disagree on the nature of truth. In science, no group exists that can declare something "fact". In law, that's what juries and/or judges do. Asking scientific questions about something science considers impossible is akin to asking what color the most magical unicorns are. - cHao
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But despite this, I know that there is a distinct gap in my knowledge of both realms to conclusively address the issue.
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> How would you test it? It is fundamental that juries decide what is fact from disputed evidence (juries have nothing to do when the parties agree what the facts are). How do you set up your double blind experiment when there is no way of telling objectively who the guilty and not guilty defendants are? - <NAME>
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Taking a research-approach to the question, I posited a rough sketch of how I would've approached the topic.
>
> @DaleM complete taking a guess here, a control (12 jurors) and different experimental groups consisting of different sizes. A known “case” where it is known with a p value of <0.05 that the defendant is X (can be real or imagined). The prosecution (study confederate) would present evidence systematically and equally to all groups but without knowing actual case X. Based on experimental results, determine optimal jury size. - Me
>
>
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So I ask:
* Why is there a fundamental gap between law and science?
* Can the two ever be 'merged' or 'reconciled'?
* How would both realms work if they adopted attributes from either realm?<issue_comment>username_1: Courts have to make a definite decision (that can only be appealed so often) about what the law is in every given case. The law reduces uncertainty.
Scientific progress builds on fallibility, at least in the empirical sciences. The final proof is always elusive, postponed indefinitely. And because every provisional answer invites new questions, science produces uncertainty.
Both systems can, fundamentally, not be reconciled, because they operate according to different logics.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I will describe a situation in legal practice and then say something about it. This is a rather specialized area of the law. It's the only one that I know a lot about.
When a parent of a special learner believes that his child's school district has not been playing according to Hoyle, i.e. has not been faithfully following IDEA 2004 ("The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act"), he may request an impartial hearing.
If he lives in a "two tier" state, such as New York, there is a fast, streamlined procedure for appealing the decision to the State Review Office (SRO).
The SRO appeal system functions somewhat as a way of auditing the hearing decisions.
One can make all kinds of statistical observations about the frequency with which the SRO has overturned hearing decisions.
This is an example of a scholarly approach to the law. Someone who does this comprehensively and well is <NAME>. He also compares results and approaches from one state to another. Perhaps it would be helpful for you to take a look at his [work](https://perryzirkel.com/publications/), so you can see what's possible.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: Law is based upon natural language which is inherently ambiguous, thus, reasoning is based upon personal interpretation and is indefinitive.
Science is rooted in logic which strives to be unambiguous, thus, reasoning is based upon agreed-up rules and is definitive.
Science would fail if it were reliant on natural language and personal interpretation. Law might-well become more definitive if it adopted attributes from science, but this will never happen. Partly because law cannot be codified in logic, at least, not yet. Partly because codification would require significant resources. Partly because the law functions, whereas any future system is untested; if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Partly because ...
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: US law appears to not accept standard logic and rejects [ex falso quodlibet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_explosion) in particular. You cannot argue that
1. The US constitution demands separation of church and state
2. The Alabama constitution (or whatever) requires elected officials to be Christian
and therefore
3. My client is not guilty of this traffic violation.
Laws "in the books" that are in direct contradiction with higher laws cannot be challenged unless it's by an event directly related to them. Maybe that's reasonable but it's not logic.
Upvotes: -1
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2018/01/12
| 579
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<issue_start>username_0: I have received my MSc degree and I want to apply for Ph.D. programs.
I have an idea for an invention (this idea came from my master’s thesis), but it is not completely related to my field – I will need help from people of other fields to design this application.
The idea is new and it is not registered yet.
Since I am graduated, I don’t have any access to the university.
How should I approach a professor to team with me for this work? Is it possible?
If yes could you please give me a piece of advice or sample emails?
BWY, I'd like to study in a foreign country as well, e.g., in the USA.<issue_comment>username_1: You can always contact professors in order to team up, however it will probably be the case that they will provide PhD students to team up with you. This is just a matter of communication and I don't think that is the real problem here.
The idea not being registered yet raises the real issue, because if you start to emailing everybody to try find a team someone may find the idea interesting and start working on it. Then comes the question is it possible to register the idea like in a patent or something? If not, is it possible to publish a paper about it on a conference, this would be a way to turn the idea public but with an authorship kept.
Another thing related to the team item is that you should first get an adviser and be accepted for a PhD program and then you should worry with the team up for the implementation, maybe even with your adviser help.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: This is somewhat complicated, because including the professor puts it within the domain of the university, and universities claim ownership of some portion of intellectual property, especially patents. In fact, professors often have to negotiate with the university's legal department regarding royalties from said patent. As you have no affiliation with the university, it is unclear how that negotiation would work, but I'm not an attorney. Of course, this all assumes your idea comes to fruition.
In the mean time, it would be in your best interest to clearly document this idea, in as specific terms as you can, and email it (to the professor when it becomes appropriate, *and to yourself as well*). This is important because part of the patent process is establishing who originally formulated the idea, and the more documentation you have (with date/time stamps and your name), the better.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/01/12
| 912
| 3,752
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<issue_start>username_0: I am PhD student in my final months, and I know that I don't want to stay in academia forever. However, I wouldn't mind doing a postdoc for two or three years, because I really like the academic work.
I have written a postdoctoral fellowship proposal together with my potential future host. The host has agreed to fund 1 year from her own funds, while the fellowship pays for another year. A few days ago, I have been awarded this fellowship.
In the meantime, I have also applied for industry positions (as I wasn't sure whether I get the fellowship), have recently had an interview and just now I got a job offer ready to sign.
Now, I have to choose between the two, and I am inclined to take the industry position and to leave academia for good - because the company has been on my "wish list" for many years and I potentially might regret having declined the job offer in a few years.
However, I am not sure whether this is fair towards the professor, as she has invested a fair amount of time into the proposal. I have not told her anything about the fellowship outcome nor the job offer. Could I still decline the fellowship without bad feelings, or have I already committed myself into this postdoc?
somewhat related:
[How to politely decline a postdoc job offer after signing the offer letter?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/82304/how-to-politely-decline-a-postdoc-job-offer-after-signing-the-offer-letter)
Please note, I have not signed anything yet, so I am asking from a moral rather than a legal perspective.<issue_comment>username_1: At the end of the day is your life and your decision based on what is best for you.
Sure it is not nice for the PI the time lost, but this is something that could bother her for a couple of hours. In the other hand, if you choose the fellowship instead of your dream job just to be nice it could haunt you for a lifetime.
If she is a reasonable person she will understand. After all in the academic life we are always gambling: submitting projects, papers and investing time in things that sometimes do not work out.
Of course, do not forget to be greatful by the opportunity she gave to you and decline politely the fellowship, if this is your decision. Be honest with her.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Life is too short to throw away several years of your career doing something you don’t want to do in order to protect someone from mild disappointment. It is nice of you to worry about the professor, but she is responsible for her decisions, and knew that the work she was putting into the fellowship application might not yield any return, either due to you not getting the fellowship or for other reasons. So in my opinion your moral obligation in this situation is no different from your legal obligation. By the way, the legal obligation would also be pretty minimal even if you had signed acceptance of the fellowship, considering that having a postdoc is not the same as being an indentured servant, and it is quite common for postdocs to decide on a change of career direction.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Is the fellowship bound to the host institution or to you personally? If the former, the PI will be sorry to see you go, but she can hire someone else and has the grant to show for her troubles. If the latter, she may feel that you have abused her kindness. Indeed, if you do not port the grant to another academic institute, the money will revert to the funder.
General remark: if the person decides right at the beginning that they want to do something else, a PI would rather cut their losses right there and then rather than have an unhappy postdoc who will walk after 6 or 12 or 18 months.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/13
| 2,647
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<issue_start>username_0: I've seen a lot of "kids-in-grad-school" advice that's geared towards male PhD students with stay-at-home wives. I'm a female MD PhD student married to a male MD PhD student, and neither of us is going to quit our career. We are both willing to put in the time needed to raise a family.
I'm interested in hearing from the following perspectives (EDITED FOR MORE DETAIL):
(a) For women who had kids while they were in graduate school -- how did you decide on when to have kids? earlier in grad school vs. later? (since pregnancy can be very difficult for some women e.g. severe morning sickness, I think optimal timing could potentially differ depending on if the grad student is male or female.)
Also, how did you approach being pregnant in an academic environment? (i.e. did anyone harass you as being 'less dedicated'? I know this is not a reason NOT to have kids, but I'm just curious about it. Men who are expecting a child can keep it a secret. Women can't keep it a secret because everyone they meet including total strangers can see that they're pregnant after a certain point.)
(b) For men or women who had kids while they were in graduate school and did NOT have a stay-at-home partner - how did you deal with childcare? Reason for asking: if you have a stay-at-home partner, childcare for the bulk of the day has already been solved. If you don't have a stay-at-home partner, it's a very big issue.
So - what approach did you take? (e.g. alternating schedules between caregivers? nanny? au pair? daycare? relatives? friends? babysitters?)
This question is different from [Advice for having children during graduate school](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/11421/advice-for-having-children-during-graduate-school) because the vast majority of those answers are written from male perspectives and from perspectives of people with stay-at-home partners.<issue_comment>username_1: What you end up doing is going to be very specific to your individual circumstances, but I can give you my two cents about how my wife and I handled this situation. Currently, I'm a 4th year PhD student and my wife is 2 years into a MS degree with the aim to get a PhD. We both hope to stay in academia. We have two kids, ages 4 and 6 mo.
Our first kid came before either of us were in grad school, and our second came a year later than we had planned. Our decision was to have kids earlier rather than later because grad school is more flexible in terms of schedules than real jobs. This really helpful when my wife was practically bed-ridden for a couple months of her first trimester with our second kid.
We didn't want to stick our kids in daycare full time, and we have no family around to help, so we came up with a switch-off schedule. My wife works from 4am-noon (and some hours on weekends) and then we switch off and I work noon-6pm. Then I work at night from home after she goes to sleep (early). Our 4 year old does go to pre-school a few hours a week and the baby naps, so I can put in a few more hours during the day this way. Of course, schedules like this depend on our advisors being okay with our hours, and for our work (me CS, her biochemistry), it works out. Depending on where you are and at what point (and structure) of your MD-PhDs, you might be able to do this.
One consideration is that by the time both of us are on the job market for tenure-track positions, both kids will be school age, which allows us to both work normal business hours. Also, by the time I'm into a post-doc, our baby should be sleeping through the night. Until that happens, caring for children is very draining and it does affect my productivity in research.
As far as I know, my wife did not experience any overt discrimination against her for being pregnant. Her supervisor was generally supportive and understanding even when she couldn't work because she was too sick. However, as with many medical conditions (e.g. disability, known mental health issues), you're sure to encounter at least unconscious bias for being pregnant.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I will answer based on my experience and that of approx. 4 other women in my department who had kids (without stay-at-home spouses) during our PhD program.
>
> For women who had kids while they were in graduate school -- how did
> you decide on when to have kids? Earlier in grad school vs. later?
>
>
>
There were a variety of approaches, but I think the key is to have children in a year where deadlines are flexible. So one of the students had a child very early (while taking classes) because there was no hard stop on when the classes had to be done by, and she could basically take a semester off from classes without real consequences. Three of us had children during the 3rd and 4th years when we were expected to work on our dissertations. Some were a bit ahead and didn't need to stretch the time to degree as a result of the pause, and some, like me, did. I think this was the best timing because we had a good foundation in the program/relationship with our advisors but were in a very flexible time period. I also had a fellowship for that year so it made funding easier. The person who had a child during the job market year had the hardest time, since those deadlines are non-negotiable.
>
> Also, how did you approach being pregnant in an academic environment?
> (i.e. did anyone harass you as being 'less dedicated'?
>
>
>
I stressed a lot about this. My approach was to foreground my research and academic plans in all conversations, while backgrounding my pregnancy. I set meetings with my advisors to discuss the pregnancy and presented it as a scheduling challenge - I am going to have a period of decreased productivity because I am pregnant so here is my proposed plan to stay on track. Here is what you can expect from me in the next 6 months to get ahead as much as possible, etc. I found this worked really well. When people asked in the hall about how I was doing I gave them a positive research-related answer, not a pregnancy answer. The only person who gave a poor reaction was the Director of Graduate Studies, who assumed that the pregnancy meant I would be targeting lesser positions. I corrected him, of course. If he had any real sway over my life I would have made sure my committee knew about it and could discuss the issue with him. I think that others had a similar mix of reactions... mostly supportive with some "lesser expectations" attitudes that needed to be countered.
>
> How did you deal with childcare?
>
>
>
With the exception of one person with nearby relatives, all of us paid for the best childcare we could afford (nanny or day care). You want peace of mind, trust, and communication--and that often means $$. We all made sure to set a consistent schedule (baby likes consistency). We differed in how soon we came back to work and how many hours per week we worked. That is a personal choice and based on your goals and work required to achieve those goals.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I fall into category (b): male who was a single parent, and primary carer, during grad-school. In my particular case my PhD was a research degree (no coursework) in statistics, and so I did the vast majority of my study and research from home. During the day I would look after the kids, and sneak in some research time when able, but most of the research was done after their bed-time, or at free time on the weekend. I also found that I was constantly "mulling" over my research and ideas when I was looking after the kids, so there was also a certain amount of subconscious work going on at those times. I had the luxury of being in a program that could almost fully be done from home, since it had no coursework, and involved research in mathematical things that can be done mostly on paper and a computer. Consequently, my experience is probably substantially different to someone in a program that requires course-work or laboratory research. Nevertheless, I will give my experiences for whatever they're worth.
Although I did most of my work from home, I had a monthly supervisory meeting plus time on the university computers to download a new set of papers for my research. There were also sporadic occasions where I required attendance for some administrative matter, or some aspect of research where I needed new materials that I could only get through the university. Naturally, attendance at the university was a big chore, since I had to get the kids ready, bring a lot of paraphernalia, and I also had quite a long bus ride each way. For supervisor meetings I would take the kids in with me, and they would do some colouring-in, draw pictures on the white-boards, and other activities. This was usually enough to occupy them for a short meeting, and my supervisors were nice about it. I made use of occasional baby-sitting from family members, but I mostly relied on homework. One thing that I found worked well was to make an effort to ensure that trips to the university were a fun activity for the kids, so that they would be in good spirits. This meant having a routine where we would always go and get a treat after my supervisory meeting. That meant that they had something to look forward to and I also had something to "bribe" them with to stay on their best behaviour!
I found that dealing with grad-school was largely a matter of organising my research agenda in a way that required as few attendances as possible, which meant that on each visit I needed to give myself enough material to do over a month. The experience of full-time study plus raising children kept me busy, but it was less hectic than if I had been trying to work a full-time job plus instead of doing grad-school. I found that this was one of the major advantages of grad-school over full-time work; the additional flexibility in attendance and time usage made it easier to spend time raising the kids. In that respect it was perfect timing; it meant I didn't have to use child-care facilities and I could give my kids a fun childhood at home with a parent.
While I wouldn't presume to know your circumstances well enough to tell you what to do, one aspect of your post that strikes me as helpful is the fact that you and your husband are both in grad-school at the same time. An option in that case would be to live on campus, or close by, and "juggle" the kids between you to minimise the need for outside care (e.g., one goes to class, the other cares for the kids, then swap). Obviously this depends on the constraints of your program, so maybe it is infeasible, but it is worth considering how well this could be done.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/01/13
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<issue_start>username_0: I wrote my master’s thesis which looked at something through two different lenses using two different datasets.
I want to use one of those angles to submit a paper to a conference, and potentially the other in the future. So my questions are:
1. Is this okay to do?
2. Do I need to cite my master’s thesis, even if it is unpublished?
3. Can I just copy parts that would apply, or do I need to paraphrase and cite different parts of the paper? For example, the analysis section of the paper, I give the background of the interviews I conducted. Can I just use this same language for the paper I want to submit to the conference?<issue_comment>username_1: 1. Yes if you make sure you don't self-plagiarize. For the exact definition of self-plagiarism, see the guidelines of the conferences and of the institution where your Master's thesis has been submitted.
2. Typically, yes. Difficult to tell without knowing the exact guidelines.
3. Typically, no. Again, difficult to tell without knowing the exact guidelines. Copying large parts is usually considered an act of plagiarism. Copying small parts would work, but only if you quote them.
In general, I'd be careful when submitting parts of your thesis elsewhere even if you reformulate it completely in your own words. Some reviewers are o.k. with it, and some might say "Oh, this is simply a recompilation of the author's thesis. Reject." I've seen both situations. You might wish to look at the guidelines of the venue first. To avoid such issues, make an improvement wrt. your thesis.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: In my discipline (chemistry) and my time almost every good thesis at master level results in a following publication, as a full paper or as a proceeding, or at least contribute in part to them.
Although a master thesis probably is to be considered a publication, I can't believe it is indexed except at local and perhaps country levels.
Indexed or not, there will be practically no way except for those in contact with you and/or your master thesis supervisor to know your results.
I doubt you can easily and heavily cut and paste as the result won't be a (good) paper. You must rewrite a different publication within the limits of the article in mind.
As for self plagiarism, in the very wrong case it will be noticed after you will have win a Nobel, so is really up to you. But for the reason above, it is unlikely you will indulge in formal self plagiarism
(Unless the thesis is already few pages in length, but I do not think so).
Most important you must write and submit in concertation with, if any, coworkers, and surely your supervisor.
He/she surely will have the most appropriate answer to your Q.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: It sounds like you're rewriting your previous research into a publishable form. That's completely above board and very common. You wouldn't have to cite your masters thesis because the thesis is effectively an earlier draft of this paper.
See [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/1897/can-i-reuse-part-of-a-paper-for-my-thesis?rq=1) related question, except the OP wants to turn a published paper into a thesis.
See also [this](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/101347/how-can-i-cite-a-previously-given-unavailable-talk-without-self-plagiarism) related question, where I asked about self-plagiarism in conference talks.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2018/01/13
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<issue_start>username_0: I saw a bunch of students today during my office hours (~15-20 out of a class of 96). Then around noon I went downhill quick, and now I'm sporting a fever over 100 F.
I don't know necessarily what I have, but it seems reasonable to assume it was already there when I had close interaction with the students this morning.
Would you email students, notifying them? Would you wait until you went to the doctor (which won't happen until tomorrow, if I go)? If you emailed them, how/what would you say. Note, I also don't know exactly who all I saw, so I was going to send a class email.<issue_comment>username_1: I would send out an email, but I would recommend caution and measure in writing it, so as not to cause undue panic.
Mention exactly what happened, along the lines of what you wrote here. Just state facts, and urge that anybody who starts developing symptoms to seek medical attention.
I should mention that I am one of the "immunocompromised" people mentioned in the other answers. Since full lecture notes were posted online for each lecture, I asked students who were contagious with something to please exercise caution, because I really couldn't afford to get sick.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: If it turns out to be something serious that requires treatment, yes. Also, if it's the flu, yes. But if it's a garden variety virus, no. There are so many bugs on campus, students are exposed quite often, and your bug is just one among many.
However, if you shook hands with someone, or sneezed on someone, then notify the individual.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Either you infected them, or you didn't. Sending an e-mail about it will not change that (enough time has passed that telling them to wash their hands now will make no difference).
Therefore, it only makes sense to send an e-mail if it turns out to be something where early treatment can make a big difference, or where ignoring it can do harm. (IIRC, this year's flu is an especially bad one, and students might be tempted to dismiss it as just a cold. It's good to remind people that the flu kills and that they need someone to check in on them every few hours.)
Technically, an early warning might also let them avoid people until they are sure they aren't infectious, but in practice that is unlikely to happen as "I was in the same room as someone with fever earlier" probably won't be accepted as a valid reason to skip class...
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Out of fifteen to twenty students, the chances are pretty high that at least one of them has friends or family undergoing chemotherapy.
Exposure to infection can be very dangerous to chemo patients, since many chemo treatments drastically weaken the immune system. When my friends were going through chemo, it was understood that we wouldn't visit them if we were feeling even mildly ill. People can also be immunocompromised for other reasons, with similar consequences.
By letting your students know about your illness, you make it easier for them to protect vulnerable loved ones.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: 1. Make the decision after you see a doctor, and
2. Base the decision on whether there is an effective treatment available.
In other words, if it turns out that you have influenza, where early treatment (even before symptoms appear) can make a strong difference in outcome, then email. If it turns out that you have a cold, which will last a week if you treat it and seven days if you don't, then just let it go.
I actually just experienced this from both the warnee and warner position, though luckily not with students. A day after my parents left our house after the holiday, my mother called to say that she had been diagnosed with influenza A (despite having had the flu shot). When my toddler spiked a fever the day after that, I took it more seriously than I might have otherwise (we'd also all had the vaccine); it turned out my child also tested positive for influenza A, and the whole family was put on a prophylactic dose of antiviral medication. By that point I was also symptomatic, and accordingly informed colleagues with whom I'd had contact. Fortunately I'd already been keeping my distance from them before I was symptomatic, due to the previous notice, and none of them were affected. And thanks to our prompt treatment, no one else in our household came down with the flu, and my symptoms only lasted a few days.
On the other hand, colds around here are absolutely inescapable, and along with most of the folks around me I pretty much assume that anyone I come in contact with could be contagious between September and May. I'd be somewhat baffled to receive an email "warning" me that someone had come down with one.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/13
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| 1,987
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<issue_start>username_0: Specializing the question
[Who to address on the cover letter?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/13286/who-to-address-on-the-cover-letter),
let's assume that you apply for a tenure-track position in the US in computer science, that the job announcement has no particular individual listed, and that Google/Bing/Yahoo led you to, say, "recruiting committee" (as opposed to "search team"). Then, which opening would be proper:
>
> To Whom It May Concern
>
>
>
or
>
> Dear Recruiting Committee
>
>
>
or
>
> To the Recruiting Committee
>
>
>
or
>
> Dear Representative of the Recruiting Committee
>
>
>
or
>
> Dear Ladies and Gentlemen
>
>
>
?
How about the punctuation after the opening? No punctuation, a comma, or a colon? I.e.:
>
> 〈Whatever opening〉
>
>
> 〈Whatever opening〉,
>
>
> 〈Whatever opening〉:
>
>
>
All are o.k. according to the broad English grammar, but, in academia things might be more special.<issue_comment>username_1: "To whom it may concern" is perfectly valid, but you shouldn't capitalise every word as you did in your example.
Instead of "Dear Recruiting Committee" I would write "To the Recruiting Committee". I don't have a good reason for this, it just sounds better to my ear.
I would definitely not use "Dear Ladies and Gentlemen". You're not the ringmaster in a circus. This phrase sounds very odd, especially because you have no idea who is on the committee (there may be no women or no men on it).
Finally, the correct punctuation after all of these (and indeed, any salutation in a letter) is a comma.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Use an inside address and a subject line, then dive into your letter. You can skip the salutation in letters to committees.
>
> Recruiting Committee
> University of Whatever
> City, State
> Zip
>
>
>
> **Request for appointment**
>
>
> I would like to be considered for a full-time appointment as ...
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/13
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently working as a teaching assistant.
My tasks this semester include writing/putting together a formula sheet containing a lot of formulas and some graphs that the students should not have to memorize.
This sheet will be used in the final exam.
A student recently send an e-mail asking whether he should print it out himself or will be given a copy upon taking the exam. Since I am not responsible for the exam or anything grading-related, this mail should have been addressed to the professor, since I can only guess
(although I am fairly certain it would not be useful to let students bring the sheets themselves and thus giving them a chance to alter them).
Now how I see it, I have the following options:
* Forward the e-mail to my professor.
* Answer the student vaguely, recommending to mail the professor.
* Contact the professor; ask him what to do.
I’m unsure whether forwarding this mail would be appropriate. I’d also feel stupid for asking the professor about something that *should* be obvious.
Which of the outlined possibilities would be the most efficient, yet still appropriate way to go?<issue_comment>username_1: You cannot answer this question, so you have to ask the professor.
You do not want to be responsible for the potential confusion caused by a wrong answer.
If your professor already made up their mind, it’s a matter of seconds for them to answer the mail (this is a clear case of [this PhD comic](http://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1047)).
If not, they need to make up their mind anyway some time, and you were right to redirect the question.
Check that the forwarded mail is concise; otherwise summarise it when forwarding.
Also make sure that the response goes to you as well (include yourself and the student in the *reply to* field) as you may get further questions along this line.
This does not really apply to this case, but for more complex or exotic questions you can also include a suggested action and rationale and just have it ratified by the professor, e.g.:
>
> A student asked me whether they should bring a print of the formula sheet or it will be provided. I would guess the latter since it makes it easier for us to control that the sheets have not been tampered with. Can you please confirm or correct this?
>
>
>
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Since you don't know the answer, you have two options. You can (1) forward the email to your professor asking the answer, then respond to the student after you've heard back, or (2) hand it off to your professor by copying your professor on your reply. Personally, I'd go with the latter, replying something like this:
>
> [adding Professor Jones]
>
>
> Professor Jones, I don't know how to answer this. Should students print copies
> themselves?
>
>
>
This gives both your student and your professor a quick handoff and a clear expectation that your professor should reply to both of you with the answer and then you'll both know.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It sounds like this is your first time working with this professor, so why not use this example to broach a conversation with him/her about what his/her preferences are for the semester in regards to receiving questions like this from the students. In general, do they want to be more hands off, or do they want you to forward questions like this? This is going to happen a lot over the semester, so you might as well ask the professor what he/she prefers so that you can best perform your job.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> Which of the outlined possibilities would be the most efficient, yet still appropriate way to go?
>
>
>
You’re way, way overthinking this. Since you seem to care so much about efficiency, have you considered what a huge waste of time and effort it is for you to bother to post a detailed stack exchange post and solicit opinions from multiple people around the world?
Do not be paralyzed by a fear of making a mistake on such a trivial matter - it’s your tendency to hesitate so much (that I’m reading from your question) that will be the ultimate efficiency-killer for you in the years ahead. Instead, just go ahead and choose the option that makes the most sense to you and act on it. You will learn much more by doing so than any of us could teach you with a brilliant analysis of your dilemma that points you to the “correct” (a meaningless concept here anyway) answer.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: In an advanced university course on computer science and problem solving, one of my fellow students asked for a solution to a home exam on one of the Stack Exchange sites. The question he asked is taken *directly* from the exam without modification also stating that this is practice question for the upcoming exam. He got the solution. There was more than one question.
The professor always creates questions that are unique. It clearly states that questions on the exam must only be directed to the professor himself.
Now for the moral dilemma. I feel very uneasy about reporting although knowing that it will hurt future students and in the long term the status of the school. Will it affect me? Most likely not.
I would like input on how others would reason about this.<issue_comment>username_1: I would not make a « home exam » worth any grading points : there is no control on who does the work - it could be anybody and their uncle or aunt...
That way, even if they get it solved on stack exchange or the geek down the street they are the ones who suffer as they may not be able to adapt that to a new problem as they did not solve it with their own thought processes.
Edit, as it belongs in here:
You could still have a quiet word with the faculty and say that some students had it solved externally - what they decide to do is up to them...
I do think they will be between a rock and a hard place - some students not happy if they do nothing and some students unhappy if they change the grading at this point in time (that is, if they can / could change at this late stage)...
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Context:
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> An advanced university course on *computer science and problem solving* is (partly) evaluated on the basis of a home exam that accounts for 50% of the marks.
>
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Issue:
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> A student used Stack Exchange to answer questions during the home exam.
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Moral dilemma:
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> I feel very uneasy about reporting this issue, because this will hurt future students and the school, but it won't affect me.
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First, it is unclear what you have to report. Presumably, you are suggesting that using Stack Exchange during a home exam is not permitted. But, surely students are permitted to use resources available to them during a home exam? Perhaps you should seek guidance from the course leader on what is and what isn't permitted.
Secondly, I don't see how this will hurt future students nor the school. Regarding the latter, perhaps you're concerned that the existence of cheating will harm the school's image? I think this is doubtful, due to the isolated nature of (alleged) misconduct and the existence of such misconduct in many schools. (Incidentally, if it does hurt the school, then it hurts you, since you're affiliated with the school.)
---
EDIT: This answer seems controversial, in the sense that it was upvoted to ~2, downvoted to -6, and is currently on an upward trend (-3 at the time of editing). Please do share your thoughts in the comments.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: If you are confident that the instructor will be discreet about the identity of the informant (you), then it can't hurt to let the instructor know.
But your concern seems to be more about the exam design and the course grading scheme than about whether your classmate played fair or not.
Therefore I'd suggest that you inform the director of graduate studies in your department instead. I'd usually feel more confident about someone at that level being discreet, and also that's the person who could provide support to the instructor for improving the exam design and the grading scheme in future semesters.
I'd suggest making an appointment to tell the administrator in person rather than sending an email. (You can request the appointment either with the secretary or by emailing the administrator. If anyone asks you what it's about, say it's a confidential matter.)
The meeting can be brief, but do close the door.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: Let's be clear here. From your description, the student clearly **cheated** by violating the take-home exam's stated policy that (quoting from your comment on @username_2's answer) "it is prohibited to ask anyone for an answer". Thus, your question reduces to the generic question of "should I report a fellow student who cheated?", to which the answer is "yes", as discussed endlessly on many previous questions on this site, e.g.:
[Is it okay to report classmates cheating on exams?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/19256/is-it-okay-to-report-classmates-cheating-on-exams)
[Is it reasonable to report another student for cheating when it has no impact on me?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/87593/is-it-reasonable-to-report-another-student-for-cheating-when-it-has-no-impact-on)
[When is it acceptable to report classmates who cheat on an exam?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/98218/when-is-it-acceptable-to-report-classmates-who-cheat-on-an-exam)
[Should I report cheating to my professor? If so, how?](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/54342/should-i-report-cheating-to-my-professor-if-so-how)
One can debate (as some here are doing) the viability of take-home exams as an assessment tool, since such exams create relatively easy opportunities for cheating, but that is besides the point. The student cheated, and should be reported. The "moral dilemma" you are referring to is a completely bogus one created by the outdated cultural conditioning that exists in many societies according to which "ratting people out" for bad behavior is morally wrong -- see my analysis of this issue in [this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/98226/40589).
**Edit:** I noticed that you wrote in a comment that “his account is filled with questions related to assignments in different courses”. Thus, he is not just a cheater, he is a *serial* cheater, which makes the case for reporting him much stronger. I suggest saving evidence of his cheating (screenshots etc) before reporting to prevent him from hiding his wrongdoing by deleting the questions.
Upvotes: 9 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: I'd like to throw in the opinion that the moral dilemma "accept ongoing cheating without doing anything" vs. "reporting the student" is a false dichotomy as there are other options besides reporting "the" student.
And I'd like to point out that gut feeling that there is some difficulty in answering the question (dilemma) is exactly right: IMHO it is a dilemma, and options and their consequences need to be considered carefully.
---
Before diving into the case, let me say: @kingledion nicely commented that honesty and trust are important cultural values - with which I totally agree. But I'd like to point out that this works here both ways: reporting other people (justly) undermines trust. The more so, as you may still be reporting the wrong person, see below. So this undermining of trust happens even if *you* honestly *believe* to report the right culprit - plus: all others do not have firsthand knowledge of *your* honesty.
Even worse, a culture that unquestioningly/unconditionally encourages people to report wrongdoers also allows or even encourages *dishonest* people to report other people just from spite - including people who did not do wrong. (This is a type of abuse of power; keep in mind that innocent people who are denounced do suffer, even if they happen to be able to clear themselves)
So **not only not discouraging cheating, but also reporting a particular student comes at a cost for your society.**
---
I put "the" student in quotation marks because from what I've read in this thread so far, you do not *know* that *that particular* student has cheated: Keep in mind that it is very easy to open an account on stackexchange and type in someone else's name to be displayed. And even if a student brags about having cheated, you need to weigh the possibility that they just wanted to sound cool without actually having cheated (false claim).
To be clear: yes, it may be more probable that the student you think of did cheat than that they did not cheat. But you do not have sure knowledge of that, just a suspicion. And if you want that there should be official consequences for the student, solid proof is needed (at least, that is as it should be).
So let me suggest two more options besides "doing nothing" and "reporting the student to the authorities" that tackle the *two* problems we've identified here:
1. Someone is cheating and this should stop
2. Homework rules could be improved (reducing not only the probability of cheating, but also that of future students find themselves in the same dilemma you are in, and/or that of a general atmosphere of distrust and denouncements)
About
1. You could quietly talk to the student you suspect. I think of asking them whether they know that *someone* opened an SX account with more or less their name displayed where homework-no-asking questions are actually asked - because according to what you explained here that is actually all you know.
This would give them a fair chance of deciding how to appropriately handle the situation (fair particularly as we've realized now there is a non-negligible risk of wrongly accusing here: a student whose name is misused this way surely has a right to know that this is going on)
My very personal opinion (feel free to differ - but please think about it) here is that the more likely your authorities are to jump to the conclusion that the denounced student is guilty, and the more serious the consequences of a false accusation are and the more difficult it is for someone falsely accused to defend themselves (How do you prove that you do *not* own a particular stackexchange account?), the more important it is to make sure noone is falsely accused in the first place. Also take into account that even if the accused can comparably easily clear themselves of the suspicion, that until this is publicly clear depending on the possible consequences they will suffer (Make the thought experiment: what would you who never even considered cheating do and feel if you were falsely accused).
As a side benefit, this would give you experience in excercising civil courage. And in practical [subsidiarity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subsidiarity) as in: do not escalate/hand over difficulties to "higher authorities" that you can solve yourself.
OTOH, if the atmosphere is already so distrustful that you don't dare to mention the cheating because you fear you'd be denounced in turn: then I'd agree that talking to the suspect is not the way to go. But then neither should (hopefully!) the instructor listen to any reports about cheating students, and a totally different strategy would be needed to change things.
2. As I said above, I do see a distinct cost to the denouncement in itself. However, assuming you can do your "duty" against cheating e.g. by directly talking to the student in question, you can think whether your duty against problem 2 may be done without undermining trust as well.
* let the instructor know in their end-of-course evaluation that you deem the homework situation suboptimal due to possible cheating and denouncements by asking someone else/on the internet: e.g. that you personally would have preferred if marks areearned only on proper exams
* if there is no such evaluation, you can talk to the instructor after all marks are given.
---
If you came to me (faculty) with the "case" as described, I would explain to you that there is no proof against the student (see above), that from your description and a look at stackexchange alone you cannot judge who is dishonest here (the accused student or some [unknown] other student abusing their name) - and much less can I: in addition to the two possibilities you point out, I have to consider the possibility that you are falsely accusing a student you dislike.
I'd then probably ask you what you'd like me to do in this situation.
I'd probably talk to the accused student in private and certainly without letting you know that this is going to happen (see possibility 3) - telling them there's a rumour they cheat and a possibility that someone is abusing their name on the internet (making sure they don't learn your name, neither).
[Side note: in school, a fellow student who was copying from me was once caught. When collecting the exam, the teacher told them (making sure I could hear it): "Next time try yourself, OK?" - which I think was far more efficient wrt. avoiding future cheating than any kind of big fuss and fail mark for both of us.]
I'd think how to discourage this type of cheating in grade-relevant exams.
But then, I grew up in a university culture where grade-relevant marks could not be earned by homework that could be done by someone else (so I'm quite familiar with this type of thought). To the extent that the important exams were oral. Written exams often were "bring all books you like" [if you didn't understand the course contents, you anyways won't be able to extract sufficient amounts of relevant information during the exam].
Homework may earn you a very few points (as an incentive to not completely disregard the homework) but never even half the points to bare passing.
---
Finally, let me put the "do I have to report *some wrongdoing*" feeling into some context: over here (Germany), there is no duty to report a crime that has already happened for normal citizens - and there are only rather restricted duties if you learn that a major crime is planned (even in case of a planned murder, you don't have to report that to the police if you report it to the intended victim or [successfully!] prevent it yourself) - though you *can* report lots of things, and some suspicions you can even report anonymously.
A while ago I read a newspaper article about the local ("county") veterinarian office. They said that probably about 1/3 of the reported cases of cruelty against animals are not concern about animal wellbeing but clear spite against the accused owner. Which causes all kinds of trouble. Not only for the accused and for vet officers who have less time for the real cases, but also because it sows distrust in the neighbourhood. (And another third of the cases was estimated to be honest but unneeded and quite incorrigible concerns [think "those ducklings are in danger of drowning - no you lazy officer, don't try to tell me they are not. I know they are in danger. You need to get going and DO something."])
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: You have the third option, one of anonymous reporting. Create a brand new account, like z54nk7 at gmail and use it solely for this job. Use a public network, like Starbucks while reporting. You are not breaking any law, you only make sure your anonymity is granted. While this is less credible, it will surely trigger the curiosity of the instructor, which will compare the received homework with the question on stack exchange.
You insulate yourself from possible retaliation (it may happen that the student in cause is the nephew of the Provost for example) while you still keep your odds of getting a good grade because of distribution bending of grades. Depending on the extent of the inquiry the student may even be expelled, given that all his/her homework will be under scrutiny. It may be also that nothing will happen, given that the instructor is busy with other things (for example, own business or he/she is overwhelmed with other classes/homework).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: I truly doubt that a student that has no clue would be able to prepare a good solution even with stackoverflow help. There is a lot of bad advice on this site as well it is highly unlikely for a capable person to write a complete solution for somebody.
If your professor has this practice, maybe you can trust a little bit that he knows what he is doing and see the end results.
Maybe your fellow student has created a solution but tries to check for better ideas. This can be good for his development.
Now 50% may sound a lot for an assignment that you can cheat on. But I'd say, if one can craft a perfect solution based on ideas from others, that certainly deserves the minimal passing grade... at least according to my book.
It is a good idea to ask your professor about permitted sources you can use (as suggested in other answers). I think you will be much better though if you focus on your personal development and professionalism. The point is to learn the skills and develop yourself. You will be always good if you do. If you want to rely on your diploma and you are worried that people get higher grades than deserved - good luck helping this.
I'm not saying to never report anything. In this situation though, it appears more likely that the professor takes into account the cheating possibilities.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_8: You should generally report violations of the honor code. In addition to the very good reasons provided by others here, most universities and colleges include as part of their honor code that all violations are to be reported if discovered - regardless of whether they affect the person reporting or not.
Even simple honor codes require disclosure, *“[I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this examination, nor have I concealed any violations of the Honor Code.](https://ossa.engin.umich.edu/honor-council/policies-and-interpretations/)”* Simply by knowing about it and choosing not to reveal it puts you at risk of violating the honor code.
If you are still concerned and indecisive, seek assistance from your honor council. Almost every university has a group that you can consult with for questions like this. They will very quickly be able to guide you to what your school requires of you in this situation.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_9: A solution to this that is not in the existing answers would be to email the class (and professor) with a brief description and a link to the stack exchange thread. From a burner email if necessary.
This removes the advantage from whichever student posted the question, without needing to accurately identify said student. And from all the others who innocently ran across the discussion.
It also draws some attention to the flaws of this method of assessment.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: There is another question behind: Who is being actually cheated?
The key role of the course is not to get a tick mark but to learn something form the lecturer. If they thinks you learn enough to pass, they give you the mark.
In case you are solving assigned problems by yourself you are practising the problem solving and you are strengthening all the skills needed to solve given problem. You are practising in a safe sandbox on problems designed to teach you with a lecturer to your hand. Once outside you are about to solve problems expected to work, no matter how, and usually with confidential data/details.
In case you are "solving" assigned problems by copy-pasting the question on the internets and copy-pasting results as your work you are not learning anything new. You are not practising anything either. You are cheating on yourself!
Once outside, you are about to solve real problems with real responsibilities. Really not the place to learn!
Now to your moral dillemma:
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> I feel very uneasy about reporting although knowing that it will hurt future students and in the long term the status of the school.
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No, it won't hurt any student present or future. Except the cheating ones. Actually it may help them. Not everyone knows about this site and mentioning it in the course rules may attract new users. Also the lecturer may start using it as a source for inspiration and may refer that some hints may be found here. The lecturer may start their own account here and humiliating the cheater by "This code seems familiar to me and I wonder why. Oh yes, I posted it on StackOverflow yesterday."
To affect a school's status this cheating must be systematical for years to show some connection of underskilled staff and their alma mater. Or they must cause a very serious flaw to be recognised with the school. My alma mater suffers from this, but it was caused by a long term bribery on dean's level at a different faculty.
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> Will it affect me?
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It depends on the lecturer. They may ignore your report and mark you as a stool pigeon or they take it seriously. It also depends on your wording how you present your claims, motives and worries.
There is one advantage for you: A lot of people get annoyed or angry when they realise that the waste time designing a task - it must have a solution - then reading and marking the solution while the other side's work was done in 8 keystrokes.
Maybe you can start with something like
>
> I am actively using StackOverflow to find hints/approaches that helps me with solving problems you have assigned me and/or to find another challenges to solve and I have found some of your questions asked and answered there and I think you should know about it.
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Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_11: Has SE been used to learn? If your fellow student posted several questions and got good answers which he then used to learn then all is fine. He just used SE as a learning resource. Much as he could have used a book, which I am assuming is fine for a take-home assignment.
If he just copy-pasted the answer without learning then he has not acquired the knowledge which would give him a passing grade.
You can't know if your fellow student copied and pasted or got a good learning experience just from seeing him post a question in SE. Thus you have two options:
* Question your fellow student to check if he deserves a passing grade and if that is not the case report him.
* Let your teacher do his job. Have a bit of faith in him.
I would advice to go with the second option. 1st option is there just to show how bad an option it is.
This answer is in contradiction to the OP's statement:
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> It clearly states that questions on the exam must only be directed to the professor himself.
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This is so because that requirement is unethical. There is only one criteria which matters when evaluating a student : *Has the student acquired the knowledge that is the subject matter of the course?*
*"Can the student solve this problem without using Stack Exchange?"* is not a valid criteria for grading. Usage of such kind of criteria is often the result of lack or competence, student massification and/or lack of resources. A competent teacher with enough resources should be able to evaluate his students without artificial restrictions.
It might be the case that the teacher is doing his best with what little resources he has, maybe he is not the one at fault. But regardless of who are the cause of these artificially restricted exams you are in no moral obligation to follow such artificial restrictions.
Upvotes: -1
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<issue_start>username_0: I have some data that originally is from OECD, but downloaded from the database Datastream. How do I cite this kind of data? I don’t even know the original name of the dataset, just what it’s called in Datastream, which is not necessarily the same thing, right? And what year do I put down?
Edit: Someone edited my title. The original source is not unknown as is clear from the text. I just can't find the data on the OECD website.
Edit2: The topics linked are not about citing third-party databases, which is what I would like an example of. For example, do I call the dataset what it's called in Datastream or do I need to find the original source and find its name? That doesn't seem possible in this case.<issue_comment>username_1: A question similar to mine with a satisfying answer can be found here: <http://libanswers.brunel.ac.uk/faq/49262>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You can try [Dataverse](https://dataverse.harvard.edu/), the [Harvard](https://harvard.edu/)'s sharing platform to archive and get credit for your data. The platform creates a [DOI](https://www.doi.org/) that you can cite for.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am doing my PhD in data mining / artificial intelligence and am at the beginning of my second year. I have had three master students so far, whose performance varies quite a bit. The worst (he already finished) got a very clear, cut and dry task for his thesis and still did not mange to do it as expected. The best so far (close to the end of his thesis) had a very vague task, and still got pretty nice results. The third is in the middle of his thesis.
In each each case, the really creative ideas, the innovation if you will, always came from me. Currently I have this third student in the middle of his thesis who has quite a few ideas how to use existing techniques, but I get the impression he is not really able to invent his own. Possibly I am not creating a good environment?
My students seem to lack quite a bit in technical know-how (pragmatic aspects of programming), mathematical understanding and knowledge of existing machine-learning methods. This is understandable – the end of your master is by far not the end of learning and I am happy to help them by explaining those things to them. Still, I struggle a little with that, since this is a road blocker. This is just learning, and not yet creating.
Now I have new task that I would like to have solved and which would make a fine master-thesis topic. However, no solution exists for the problem yet and it is pretty challenging, requiring quite a bit of creativity. A more or less completely new algorithm is required.
My questions are:
1. Is there a point giving this task to a student or should I forget it and solve it myself?
2. More general: What creativity can I expect from master students to create new methods? Am I expecting too much?
3. How can I foster creativity in my students?<issue_comment>username_1: Some people are capable of coming up with new algorithms and ideas, and some people just won't be able to do it. It doesn't mean that they're not capable of being good researchers—it's just that developing a new method from scratch isn't what they're good at.
I don't think there's a way to "make" students creative in algorithm and method development. You can try to "screen" for it—give them a task and see what they do to solve it—but trying to force a student who isn't skilled enough to do method development to do so is asking for trouble.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I categorise potential thesis topics into high-stake and low-stake ones:
* For low-stake topics, I have a clear plan what should be done in which order – unless some unexpected obstacle occurs or something new and exciting is found.
The student still needs to apply their skills and knowledge to solve smaller problems along the way, but I do not expect any obstacles that I cannot solve with a day’s thinking myself.
Thus, I can always keep the thesis work from stalling due to this reason.
Such a thesis may produce a publishable result, usually if the student works efficiently and thoroughly.
* High-stake topics (like developing a new method) involve a considerable amount of trial and error or a considerable creative leap.
In particular, I do not have a good solution to the problem in mind (otherwise it wouldn’t be a high-stake topic).
However, I have at least a few approaches in mind to ensure that the student has sufficient work to do.
It may happen that the student will spend their entire thesis pursuing dead ends and their thesis will be a catalogue of what they tried and what didn’t work.
The student may still get the best grade for their thesis, but it may be a very frustrating experience, and there is likely no further useful by-product from this thesis, such as a publication.
On the other hand, if the student succeeds, this usually means that their work is really useful or interesting and likely to be publishable.
I would never give such a topic to a student without informing them about the above risk (there always are some low-stake topics lying around; so they always have a choice).
Also, I would only offer such a topic to a student who shows at least some promise in terms of enthusiasm, discipline, history, knowledge, and intelligence (though it is often not possible to assess all of these factors).
Note that, while there technically is a grey area between the two, few thesis topics actually fall into it (at least in my field).
Now, why am I telling you all this?
If you want to provoke your students’ creativity, you need to give them high-stake topics that force them to brood over it for some time.
However, this does not work for every student, and students should not be exposed to such topics only with prior warning.
The latter is not only to allow them make an informed choice but also to prepare them for what is to come, should they take the challenge.
A few further notes and answer to your specific questions:
* >
> Is there a point giving this task to a student or should I forget it and solve it myself?
>
>
>
Never rely on a thesis to produce anything.
Even promising students may turn out to be overconfident, lack discipline or stamina.
There simply is no feasible way to judge a student’s prospects for a thesis.
If this is important or promising, do it yourself.
* >
> More general: What creativity can I expect from master students to create new methods? Am I expecting too much?
>
>
>
That’s hard to answer as it depends on what makes for a new method in your field.
In general the best I would expect is combining existing and adapting existing methods, not developing something new from scratch.
* >
> How can I foster creativity in my students?
>
>
>
In my experience, to be creative about a given scientific problem requires:
+ Familiarity – give your students time and encourage them to familiarise themselves with the problem, investigate why established methods fail, etc.
At least in my field, this makes for a considerable portion of the thesis time.
Just writing down the problem and thinking very rarely works.
+ Inspiration – talk with them about the problem frequently; ask them questions about their approaches; encourage them to browse the literature.
+ Being open to failure – encourage your student to practice a lot of trial and error, and be clear that their is no shame in exploring dead ends.
+ Freedom and time – do not demand regular results from your students in a phase where they may need to reflect their results, failures, the literature, etc.
Make it clear to your students that their problems require such phases.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: My question is about letters of recommendation for University of Pittsburgh , graduate studies. My professor uploaded a plain PDF document of the letter over electronic recommendation. Will this create any issues? The document was not signed, but it was not mentioned anywhere to sign the letter of recommendation (which was done in the case if students themselves uploaded the letter)
I am worried.<issue_comment>username_1: I wouldn't worry too much about it.
We're currently in a transitional state between a world of paper documents and a world of electronic documents, and the conventions for digital signatures haven't really converged yet. As such, some people sign on paper and scan, some sign digitally, and some don't sign at all. If you're dealing with a large institution, they've probably seen it all, and are unlikely to hold it against you. After all, even if it was signed, what's the likelihood they would actually know what your professor's signature looks like?
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The committee will be interested in what the letter tells them about you, not whether it has a signature in ink.
People submit LORs without signatures all the time. A PDF with an original signature requires a printer, a pen and a scanner, which not everyone has or has time for. (Yes, you can also paste in a scanned image of your signature, but where do you get that without a pen and a scanner?)
I suppose the lack of a signature might affect some people's overall impressions of a letter, including how much effort the author seems to have put into it, but we've been living in an electronic age for quite a while now. Unless they have some reason to doubt the authenticity or perhaps an unusual policy requirement at that institution, I think most committees will ignore the lack of an actual signature and focus on the content. It won't affect their decision.
The reason universities want signatures from students but not so much on LORs is to create some enforceable contractual conditions and because of the conflict of interest that exists when students are asked to self-report that doesn't exist with references. Asking for a signature reminds the students of the seriousness of the situation, that they are on their honor to submit only correct information, only their own personal essays, etc. When you ask for a signature, you get better behavior.
Upvotes: 2
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<issue_start>username_0: I created a new account and posted a question on Math Stack Exchange asking help for a specific part in an exercise from class. It was duly answered.
That question went on to gain a lot of hits and I received an email notification which I had set, of a comment left by a person who said *I was stuck too*. I didn’t know him as the class strength is around a hundred, but on checking on social media, he turned out to be my classmate. Now with nearly eighty hits on it, presumably from my classmates looking at this problem, should I delete it because I feel that Turnitin would end up holding me guilty for plagiarism from my own content if other students post it before me?
I did attach my files and everything including the idea which should easily enable anybody else from my very class to use it in the assignment.
So is it wise for me to delete the question now or is it too late? Is it ethical for the community at Math Stack Exchange to lose a question that garnered so much attention and I did gain my share of points. Will I lose my points as well?<issue_comment>username_1: From what you have reported, it does not sound like you have committed plagiarism, i.e., you have not claimed the work of anyone else as your own work. So you don't need to worry about that---and if other people steal your work, that is their fault and not yours.
You might, however, also be concerned that you have broken a class policy on obtaining outside help, and that you might be exposed by others plagiarizing you. If you have *not* broken class policy, then don't worry about it. If you *have* broken class policy, then 1) don't do it again in the future, and 2) trying to hide it probably won't help you, since this site gets widely copied and cached in any case.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: OK. Sounds like a bit of an interesting situation you got here. If a classmate turns that answer in before you, your best option here would be to explain to the teacher your situation. You posted a question on a well-known site, and it received a lot of attention, eventually attracting some of your classmates, who probably didn't even know you posted it. In this case, *they* have (most likely unknowingly) committed plagiarism, as defined here:
>
> **Plagiarism**:
>
>
> * To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
> * ***to use (another's production) without crediting the source***
> * to commit literary theft
> * to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an
> existing source - [Plagiarism.org](http://www.plagiarism.org/article/what-is-plagiarism)
>
>
>
If this happens, just set up a time to talk with your teacher and calmly and clearly explain that to them. If they are a reasonable teacher, they will understand and you can go from there. Good luck!
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: You asked the question, and you received the answer originally. Other people copying from the same question should not be a problem to you.
What you should do when receiving help online though is making clear to whoever does the grading that part of the exercise was solved using help by someone else (by citing them/linking it).
In case there will be an aftermath, you will be able to prove you were the one asking that question, since it is linked to your account.
Depending on class you did the exercise for, you might get a worse grade when doing so, but it is the right thing to do.
Upvotes: 4
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for a graduate degree program.
In a letter of recommendation, my professor misstated my *MS in Telecommunication Networks* as an *MS in Telecommunication*.
Can this be an issue?<issue_comment>username_1: No. The committee will want to know what your reference can tell them about you, not so much whether they can pass a pop quiz on the exact name of the program you're trying to get into.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Mostly this sort of thing doesn't matter. I just finished reading some recommendation letters. Some of them were addressed to the wrong university. This is a much more obvious mistake, but I know this happens just because reference writers are busy. I certainly didn't go through and check all of the details at the level you mention. The only time this would stand out is if the applicant made a big deal out of one point, and the referee contradicted them.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/13
| 900
| 3,622
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently studying for a qualifying exam required by my M.S. program to get the degree and have also applied to continue onto a Ph.D. elsewhere (all of this in the U.S). This situation got me curious about a weird edge case:
What is likely to happen if I get accepted to a Ph.D. program, but later find out I have failed my qual/will not receive the M.S. degree?
I realize that no answer to this will be universally applicable, but the reason I ask is because I already have a B.S (what most of my fellow applicants have) and they don't necessarily know that my M.S requires a qual in the first place (so admissions decisions were probably made taking into account my coursework, etc.). So, on the one hand, it seems like even supposing I didn't receive the M.S. I am still an applicant with the same credentials as my fellow applicants + two years of additional grad level coursework + 2 years of MS project + 2 years of Research on top of these other things. On the other hand they accepted me expecting another degree which I don't have.
I'm not too worried about this personally and intend to pass, but I was curious since it is a real possibility for me (most people get 2 or more chances at the quals, but since I am changing fields a bit I wanted to take certain classes to help in Ph.D. admissions during my first year and ended up with only one shot).
It would be nice if this got answered as generally as possible for future worriers, but if more specificity is needed I did a math undergrad/M.S. and applied to Comp. Sci. for PhD. Also, the M.S. was not done to bolster my record but instead just because I found funding and got more time to explore before jumping onto the PhD "treadmill" as some of my professors have described it (meaning, my undergrad would have made me a good math applicant with research experiences, 3.6+ GPA, strong letters, from a respected school, etc. should I have decided to apply straight out of it).
Anyhow sorry this got long, I was just trying to walk the line between keeping it general and making it unanswerable haha. (Also, as a little aside, I can retake it late in the summer but it'd be a pain travel/housing wise).
tl;dr
Accepted into PhD while in a MS elsewhere, but failed exam required for MS (all in USA). What happens?<issue_comment>username_1: The answer is simple: you lose your Ph.D slot.
When you are accepted in a Ph.D program and still need to finish the M.S the acceptance is conditional. You need to finish successful the M.S before the date stipulated by the Ph.D program.
This case is always foreseen and the rules are published in the call.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: I would say it depends on the offer/acceptance letter you receive. I know someone who was accepted to a PhD program while doing an MSc, but whose funding (scholarship) depended on him getting a certain final grade on his MSc. I can imagine situations where that is not the case, and where you are accepted to a PhD regardless of what happens with your studies before the PhD program begins.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: It boils down to two possibilities:
* you have been granted conditional access (you can access only if you complete M.Sc);
* you have been granted unconditional access (you do not need your M.Sc to access the Ph.D).
Please note that a M.Sc is not necessarily a prerequisite to a PhD, as well as a person can become a professor at university without having a PhD (increasingly rarer nowadays, country dependent, but still possible). It all depends on the local/regional/national regulations.
Upvotes: 0
|
2018/01/13
| 2,651
| 11,520
|
<issue_start>username_0: A prospective graduate student is normally not hyperspecialized and inflexibly hyperfocussed on a certain well-developed research line (like a more mature mid-career researcher could be) just yet.
That is to say, even if such student worked on topic "X" (say, in the area of algebraic geometry) for their master's thesis, they may well be flexible and willing to expand their horizon and start working on *any* interesting topic in algebraic geometry that falls within a certain wide range "A" (that possibly includes "X").
So, I assume, *any* school which is (1) reasonably prestigious, (2) conveniently located, (3) endowed with "good" mathematicians that work on a quite wide range "A" of topics within algebraic geometry is in principle a good fit for an application of said student. Any other reasons are (at least in my opinion) less relevant.
---
**In this context, what does it mean to tailor a statement of purpose for a specific school?**
---
In particular, how can one convincingly and professionally show that a certain school is a *great fit* for their academic career and education?
I have heard that the "Why is our university a good fit for you?" question for a statement of purpose is just a way of checking if a student has "done their homework". But what is that actually supposed to mean?<issue_comment>username_1: In my experience, research interests can be even more flexible and broad than you suggest. In particular, it is extremely common for your research interests as a graduate student to change during the first few years, even drastically -- and everyone who is reading your personal statement knows this.
Let's say you write on your application, "I am very interested in topic Y and more broadly, area B". This does not imply that you have research experience in topic Y or area B; it implies only that you are interested in it (and have a passable understanding of what that topic or area entails). It will certainly look favorable if you do have experience in Y or B, but what is most important is that you have *any* experience, even in a completely different area A.
So what does it mean to "tailor" the statement of purpose to a particular university? It essentially means, (1) *choose your interests wisely*, and (2) *don't be afraid to pick interests outside of what you are normally comfortable with, if they will make your application look like a good fit*. I especially emphasize (2) -- it is very easy to think that you cannot express interest in something unless you have studied it extensively, but this is not true, and anyway, how will the admissions committee be able to tell? As long as you get someone to read over your application and it sounds like you know what you are talking about, your interests will be taken at face value.
A corollary to this is to make sure to justify your extensive knowledge and research experience *separately* from your interests. Since people fake interests all the time, just saying you're interested in a topic doesn't imply experience and knowledge, so you should make sure that experience and knowledge are sufficiently conveyed in one way or another.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Speaking as somebody who's been writing my applications for PhD programmes recently, here's what I did (whether it's "convincing" or not is yet to be seen!):
My statement of purpose at its core outlined my (relevant) experiences as an undergraduate. For me, these included my degree, my final year project and my year in work experience during my degree. These core things didn't change much from application to application.
What did change is how I related these to where I was applying/ to which department I was applying. For example, one of the universities I applied to is not in the UK, it's abroad. I then made more of an effort to highlight things I've done where I had to work in new environments, and tackle new problems.
Depending on the supervisors/projects I was going for, I might highlight units I've studied which relate to those particular things, and why they gave me an interest in the project I was applying to.
As opposed to vastly changing the content, I changed what I put emphasis on. Depending on where you're applying, some experiences/units you've taken/etc will be more relevant to some places (or to some particular projects) than others.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: For your starting default draft, write it in a way that will convey your excitement about diving into research. It shouldn't look like a CV. You can show motivation, creativity, fantasy and enthusiasm. (No one is going to invoke a money-back guarantee several years from now if you didn't realize your dream as you described it in your statement of purpose.)
Now for the tailoring to the specific school.
* Look at some webpages for the university and the department. Try to get a feel for what makes this university and this department different from the average, and what appeals to *you*. Check your draft to see if there's something you can emphasize, to convey this. *Example 1: if the university emphasizes early student involvement in research, and you participated in a research project as an undergraduate, make sure you've talked about that experience, and how it shaped your development. Example 2: if the university has an innovative interdisciplinary focus, you can use that as a hook.*
* Which of the department's specialty areas intrigue you? Read some faculty bios. When editing your essay, see if you can tie some of your fantasy ideas in with something you read about in the faculty research interest overviews.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: This particular question's answer can be found in the job advertisement.
I usually prefer writing in a Question-Answer fashion. When the position is advertised, there will be a list of required skills. For each requirement, stating *how* you fulfill that requirement is the most straightforward and neat way to answer your question.
As a side note, you may include the possible reason why the committee would not want to pick you, and justify your counter argument.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: I have been involved in graduate admissions for a quite a few years. Answer below is based on that experience.
This question about fit is a way to make sure that you know approximately what you are getting yourself into.
You do not have to stroke professors' egos by telling how great they are. It does not help your application. If you have interest or past experience in some area, mention it of course, but do not engage in gratuitous flattery. Instead we want to know why this school is suitable to you at all. For example, if you are interested in doing mostly algebraic geometry, but are applying to a department that has no algebraic geometers, this would be a poor fit. If there is a reason you like the location (e.g. a significant other working nearby, or cheap flights home), it does not hurt saying so either.
What we want to avoid is to have a 3rd or 4th year graduate student drop out because they cannot find an advisor in their preferred area, and are utterly unhappy because of location or because of something else.
In general, the statement of purpose is your opportunity to present evidence that you will make a good researcher one day. That includes your scientific background, various personal traits as demonstrated by your past, and your accomplishments. See an [excellent answer to another question by JeffE](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/1555/609) for more details.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_6: The university want to avoid a situation where they take on a student who fails to complete - look at your application from their point of view. They want to know that you will be competent and happy enough to survive four arduous years at their institution, with the loneliness and destitution that is the life of a graduate student. Give them the signals that show them that you will survive.
Your statement of purposes is an opportunity to show that you have the diligence, foresight and skill to check the research strengths of their school, and you have some sensible reason for regarding that school as a preference for you. The university will want to know that your interests are broad enough to allow you to find a suitable research topic that can be supervised by someone in their faculty (preferably with backup, in case they have staff changes during your candidature), and you are able to narrow your focus when needed to get down dirty and do the work. They want to know that you have interest backed up by competence and diligence.
**Demonstrate some knowledge of the faculty and their research interests/projects:** This is an opportunity to demonstrate that you have done your due diligence and checked the various school webpages, faculty profiles, etc., to show that you are aware of the broad research strengths of the school, what they are best known for, and how reputable their research is in different fields. If you have read some of the papers by their faculty, mention this. If you have seen some of the faculty give talks, presentations, etc., in an area of interest to you, mention this. Show that you have a broad awareness of the main strengths of the school. If it is a prestigious school, their strengths are probably numerous, but you should still be able to mention a few specific areas.
**Mention some areas of interest to you that align with the school:** It is important to be able to mention at least a few research areas of interest to you, and be able to point to faculty/research groups in the school that work in those areas. Bonus points for being able to point to some specific work by the faculty that you particularly liked and is of interest to you (bearing in mind that you are only just applying for grad school, so you probably don't have a wide knowledge of the literature in any area). Show that when you have learned about various fields in your undergraduate degree, it gave you lots of ideas for possible avenues of research. Ideally you will have lots of ideas -your mind is flooded with them- and you can't wait to talk to the professors at this school to see if any of your ideas are feasible!
**Back up your interests with your skills/qualifications:** If you're interested in a particular field of study done by this school, what evidence can you show to demonstrate that you are well-qualified to start study in that area. Did you do well studying this area as an undergraduate? Did you get good grades, win an award, write a good project, etc.? Did you ever do any research work on it as an undergraduate? (Remember that most of the applicants to a prestigious grad program probably nailed their undergraduate degree, so make your achievements relative to this cohort.) Ideally you want your statement of purpose to show interest backed up by evidence of high competence (relative to other applicants).
**Show how excited you are to study there:** Convince the school that you will be happy there, and you have the personal skills to make friends and create a life for yourself that will sustain your time there. Unhappiness/loneliness is a killer of graduate degrees, so they want to know that you are a low-risk candidate for dropping out. You should have a tone of excited anticipation - show that you are looking forward to graduate school, and you are excited about studying there.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/13
| 713
| 3,057
|
<issue_start>username_0: What do you call the professors that are hired by two different departments? Say, a history professor who is also a chemistry professor.
Also, in reality how would one do that?<issue_comment>username_1: It's usually called a joint, secondary or courtesy appointment. The purpose is to allow faculty to teach or do research in cross-disciplinary topics. Someone with a joint appointment is usually a full member of both departments and funded by both; secondary and courtesy appointments reflect a looser relationship.
Their formal title will be a *list* of their appointments, e.g., "Professor, Electrical Engineering; Professor (courtesy), Applied Physics".
To an audience, they might be introduced as "Professor of Electrical Engineering and, by courtesy, of Applied Physics", but beyond that, there's no special term for someone who holds this type of appointment. They're still just called a professor, same as the rest.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In my experience, it is common with the caveat that one of the fields is their primary affiliation (for instance, their office may be in that department), but they teach classes in some other field as well. On the professor's website you may see that they state the non-primary department(s) as a "Secondary Appointment" (or any of the other terms username_1 mentions).
Regardless of whether they are officially affiliated with multiple departments, many professors have expertise in two different fields or in the intersection of two different fields (e.g. computational biology, philosophy of physics, applications of statistics to medicine, etc.)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: At my US university, there is a difference based on how their salary is drawn (where the tenure line lies). If they are jointly paid and the tenure case is jointly determined, they have a joint appointment. If the appointment is courtesy, one department pays and evaluates and they have a secondary appointment.
In either case, they are merely referred to in emails, conversation, or other normal correspondence as Professor, just like other faculty. (Note this is not the U.K. where "Professor" is a more rarified title.) In formal title writing, they would be (Assistant/Associate) Professor of X and Y, where X is their primary appointment, if Y is secondary. Order can be either way if they are joint.
If someone has a joint appointment, they likely attend all faculty meetings in both departments. Other faculty in the department will see them as a full member of the team. If they appointment is secondary, other faculty won't see them the same way. They will be thought of as a "affiliated" faculty member for the department.
For a joint appointment, the position is generally advertised that way. This is because the pay structure is worked out in advance. If someone has a secondary appointment, it can be determined at the time of hiring (during negotiations) or after hiring, often on the basis of a talk and faculty vote in the secondary department.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/14
| 523
| 2,136
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<issue_start>username_0: I don't work in academia but I'm working on a screenplay set in that world. I was wondering if there might be a reason for a TA and a professor to travel together for work. If the professor were attending an academic conference, would it be normal for the TA to go with? Thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: In most cases, a teaching assistant would not have any reason to travel with their professor, since their responsibilities are around teaching. Perhaps if the class was an expedition for field work in an archaeological department or something (I think I have heard of a department doing this), but then it would have all of the students as well.
A research assistant, on the other hand, will often travel to a conference with their advisor, if they have a paper or poster to present. Thus, to me, the most likely case for a teaching assistant traveling with a professor is if they are also supervised in research by that same professor.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: In my graduate school in engineering I was aware of an especially poorly-funded group where the professor (70-80 y.o.) and 2-4 research assistant students (all 27-35 y.o.) would drive from east coast to Cincinnati in same car for conference and ALL SHARED THE SAME HOTEL ROOM (2 beds)! quelle horreur! Although the professor liked creeping on female students all persons involved were hetero cis males so no funnie business here, just a humiliating level of frugality.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: This could happen when the course is not taught at the home university. For example, a collegue of mine taught a course as part of an international exchange program focussing on mobility of teachers rather than mobility of students. He took his TAs with him. I have attended a summer school where people from across the world taught courses. Again they tended to take their TAs with them. This happens in real live, but it is definately not the rule. So I am a bit worried that this may look a bit too contrived in a screen play. As others have already mentioned, traveling with an RA would be much more likely.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/14
| 2,999
| 10,243
|
<issue_start>username_0: A bit of an odd question, but I would like to search for a phrase in articles from Science (the journal). Yet I cannot do this on Google Scholar--if I specify in the advanced search that the source is Science or "Science," I get results from all sorts of journals with the word "Science" in them. "Science Magazine" or any further specification yields zero search results. Furthermore, Science Magazine's website search is terrible, and returns every article in the issue of an article containing a search term (my search is for "hierarchical model").
Has anyone else run into this? Can anyone think of a search term trick that might help?<issue_comment>username_1: The `site:` qualifier can specify results from a particular URL.
In this case, searching `"hierarchical model" site:sciencemag.org` in either Google or Google Scholar seems to work.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You have to use source: followed by the name of the journal
For example, source:nature if you want to search in username_1ure
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Alternatively, you could use a big university catalog online search feature for this rather than Google Scholar. Note, you don't need to be affiliated with the institution to do a catalog search. The affiliation will only be required for the second step, pulling up article contents.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: You could use a different academic search engine. All Science articles are indexed in MEDLINE, so you could use the following [search](https://europepmc.org/search?query=(JOURNAL%3A%22Science%20(New%20York%2C%20N.Y.)%22)%20AND%20(%22hierarchical%20model%22)) to find "hierarchical model" in Science articles. It returns 8 results. It will find instances of this phrase in the article abstract, title, or full text, if the article is freely available.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: Like [Google](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en), Google Scholar seems to support [boolean operators](https://southern.libguides.com/google/boolean). So one way to solve the problem would be to use "-source:[string]" (note the minus sign) to exclude by hand journals with names containing "[string]". This may take a few iterations of trial and error before you get only the results you want, and can of course also be used in conjunction with the "site:" qualifier to narrow things down further. E.g.
```
coffee source:"physical review" -source:"physical review letters"
```
Generally speaking, boolean searching is a powerful technique, and one that a lot of people seem to be unaware of.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Google Scholar - Advanced Search allows you to specify the name of the publication (put the name in quote marks to prevent the words being applied as if joined with AND).
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_7: If you want to extract those papers programmatically, for example via Python, you can do it using [Google Scholar Organic Results API](https://serpapi.com/google-scholar-organic-results) from SerpApi, which is a paid API with a free plan of 100 searches to test out. [Check out the playground](https://serpapi.com/playground?engine=google_scholar&q=%22hierarchical%20model%22%20site%3Asciencemag.org&hl=en).
---
Code and [example in the online IDE](https://replit.com/@DimitryZub1/Google-Scholar-Scrape-Papers-from-a-particual-journal?v=1) (you have to pass your SerpApi API key in order to work):
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nMARg.png)
```
# https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/102122/how-to-search-for-articles-from-a-specific-journal-in-google-scholar-when-the-jo
import os, json
from serpapi import GoogleSearch
from urllib.parse import urlsplit, parse_qsl
params = {
# os.getenv(): https://docs.python.org/3/library/os.html#os.getenv
"api_key": os.getenv("API_KEY"), # your Serpapi API key
"engine": "google_scholar", # search engine
"q": '"hierarchical model" site:sciencemag.org', # search query
"hl": "en", # language
# "as_ylo": "2017", # from 2017
# "as_yhi": "2021", # to 2021
"start": "0" # first page
}
search = GoogleSearch(params) # where data extraction happens
organic_results_data = []
papers_is_present = True
while papers_is_present:
results = search.get_dict() # JSON -> Python dictionary
for publication in results["organic_results"]:
organic_results_data.append({
"page_number": results.get("serpapi_pagination", {}).get("current"),
"result_type": publication.get("type"),
"title": publication.get("title"),
"link": publication.get("link"),
"result_id": publication.get("result_id"),
"summary": publication.get("publication_info").get("summary"),
"snippet": publication.get("snippet"),
})
if "next" in results.get("serpapi_pagination", {}):
search.params_dict.update(dict(parse_qsl(urlsplit(results["serpapi_pagination"]["next"]).query)))
else:
papers_is_present = False
print(json.dumps(organic_results_data, indent=2, ensure_ascii=False))
```
Outputs data from the one page as there's no pages for such search query:
```
[
{
"page_number": null,
"result_type": "Pdf",
"title": "Hierarchical Network with Label Embedding for Contextual Emotion Recognition",
"link": "https://downloads.spj.sciencemag.org/research/2021/3067943.pdf",
"result_id": "vuRtqci4UKYJ",
"summary": "<NAME>, <NAME> - Research, 2021 - downloads.spj.sciencemag.org",
"snippet": "… In this paper, a hierarchical model with label embedding is … This paper explores a hierarchical model to learn contextual … (1) This paper proposes a hierarchical model to learn contextual …"
},
{
"page_number": null,
"result_type": "Citation",
"title": "Toroidal Magnetic Fields for Stable Plasma Confinement",
"link": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/160/3826/439.3.extract",
"result_id": "kqZ_vhnt8KUJ",
"summary": "DW Kerst - Science, 1968 - science.sciencemag.org",
"snippet": "… The results of these studies are interpreted in terms of a hierarchical model of mental abilities going from associative learning to conceptual thinking, in which the development of lower …"
},
{
"page_number": null,
"result_type": "Pdf",
"title": "A high-throughput phenotyping pipeline for image processing and functional growth curve analysis",
"link": "https://downloads.spj.sciencemag.org/plantphenomics/2020/7481687.pdf",
"result_id": "093PpcXeoM8J",
"summary": "<NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>, <NAME>… - Plant …, 2020 - downloads.spj.sciencemag.org",
"snippet": "… The hidden Markov random field (HMRF) model is a hierarchical model with an unobserved layer for the pixel class and an observed layer for the pixel intensity given its class. The …"
},
{
"page_number": null,
"result_type": "Citation",
"title": "Galactic Blowup",
"link": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/326/5950/206.2.abstract",
"result_id": "WQd-NjqsznsJ",
"summary": "M Cruz - Science, 2009 - science.sciencemag.org",
"snippet": "… Fritz et al. show that a hierarchical model can be used to calculate the diffusion coefficients and excess chemical potentials (solubilities) for ethylbenzene diffusion in atactic polystyrene …"
},
{
"page_number": null,
"result_type": "Citation",
"title": "Microwave-Safe Dishes",
"link": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/326/5950/206.3.abstract",
"result_id": "k-jOiH7l3-8J",
"summary": "J Yeston - Science, 2009 - science.sciencemag.org",
"snippet": "… Fritz et al. show that a hierarchical model can be used to calculate the diffusion coefficients and excess chemical potentials (solubilities) for ethylbenzene diffusion in atactic polystyrene …"
},
{
"page_number": null,
"result_type": "Citation",
"title": "Dissolute Behavior Up North",
"link": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/326/5950/206.1.abstract",
"result_id": "5FXzkE1KrfUJ",
"summary": "C Ash - Science, 2009 - science.sciencemag.org",
"snippet": "… Fritz et al. show that a hierarchical model can be used to calculate the diffusion coefficients and excess chemical potentials (solubilities) for ethylbenzene diffusion in atactic polystyrene …"
},
{
"page_number": null,
"result_type": "Citation",
"title": "Embedded Sensors",
"link": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/326/5950/207.1.abstract",
"result_id": "uJ2gwtehXzgJ",
"summary": "LD Chong - Science, 2009 - science.sciencemag.org",
"snippet": "… Fritz et al. show that a hierarchical model can be used to calculate the diffusion coefficients and excess chemical potentials (solubilities) for ethylbenzene diffusion in atactic polystyrene …"
},
{
"page_number": null,
"result_type": "Citation",
"title": "Pregnancy Can Be Stressful",
"link": "https://science.sciencemag.org/content/326/5950/206.4.abstract",
"result_id": "f6-h2PtpV_gJ",
"summary": "BA Purnell - Science, 2009 - science.sciencemag.org",
"snippet": "… Fritz et al. show that a hierarchical model can be used to calculate the diffusion coefficients and excess chemical potentials (solubilities) for ethylbenzene diffusion in atactic polystyrene …"
},
{
"page_number": null,
"result_type": "Pdf",
"title": "Recent advancements in optical harmonic generation microscopy: Applications and perspectives",
"link": "https://downloads.spj.sciencemag.org/bmef/2021/3973857.pdf",
"result_id": "xHvS7epGUmsJ",
"summary": "DS James, PJ Campagnola - BME Frontiers, 2021 - downloads.spj.sciencemag.org",
"snippet": "Second harmonic generation (SHG) and third harmonic generation (THG) microscopies have emerged as powerful imaging modalities to examine structural properties of a wide range …"
}
]
```
>
> Disclaimer, I work for SerpApi.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 0
|
2018/01/14
| 679
| 2,975
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm an (international) electrical engineering applicant applied to some top-10 graduate programs in US (say, MIT, Caltech, UCB, etc.). As I check the entries of "thegradcafe.com" every day associated with the programs I've applied to, there are many entries which declare interviews with some POIs. So far, I have received no interview requests from any target school. Thus, I'm a little bit both curious about the importance of interview and anxious about the interpretation of such a **lack of interviews** in my case. To be specific, are all admitted students to top-tier engineering programs invited to interview before getting admitted? In other words, should I expect to be rejected if no one invites me to any sort of interview?
PS. If it helps to clear the situation, I'm currently an M.A.Sc student at a well-known Canadian university. So, both my university and my supervisor are pretty famous to the research community of my field.<issue_comment>username_1: After one is accepted to a USA engineering graduate program, it is very common to be invited on "post-acceptance recruitment trips". The purpose of these is to recruit you to accepting that university's offer and begin making connections with prospective faculty advisers. However you should also treat these events as a type of interview in that if you behave inappropriately the offer of support could still be withdrawn and indicating a lack of personal commitment to research could alienate potential faculty advisers from you. For example alcohol (!) could be provided to you in an informal setting and your ability to act professionally with your peers will be judged by current students and faculty.
If you have been accepted to these departments with stipend support, feel free to contact the department's graduate program coordinator and ask specifically about the schedule for recruitment trips.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Not all graduate programs in the US have (official) interviews at all. In particular, **except for Caltech,** I'm not aware of any US computer science graduate programs that regularly interviews applicants before making admissions decisions.
There are a couple of sporadic exceptions, which are almost always handled by phone or skype:
* Departments sometimes interview non-domestic students to check for English fluency, especially if their TOEFL (or equivalent) scores are missing or borderline but the application is otherwise strong.
* Some individual faculty arrange informal interviews with prospective students before deciding whether to offer funding.
Outside computer science, some US engineering departments **do** regularly invite PhD students for on-campus interviews before admission, but I think this is more the exception than the rule. In particular, as far as I know, none of the engineering departments at my university (which is highly ranked in most engineering disciplines) do this.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
|
2018/01/14
| 1,102
| 3,874
|
<issue_start>username_0: I’m a student and I’ve been visiting a collaborator of my advisor to work on a project. The visiting period ends in a few days and it has been productive and enjoyable. We have worked well together, but the professor has no shortage of students or collaborators.
What is a more “refined and professional” way (for lack of a better term) to phrase the following message:
>
> Keep me in the loop in case you have some other projects I may be able to contribute to.
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: "Keep me in the loop" sounds fine to me. It's a pretty standard expression nowadays, and academia typically isn't hyper-formal anyway. I would just add "please".
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I really enjoy working with you. I hope you'll think of me if an
> opportunity arises where I might contribute to one of your projects.
>
>
>
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: ***I really loved working with you. It has been very productive for me. I would love to be able to do it again. Thank you.***
You are this way letting him/her know how much you liked working together, you valued it (it was productive) and you would love to do it again. You are not asking for anything. You are not saying "keep me in the loop" that puts the burden on him/her, or anything like that ("let me know ...", "think of me ...", etc.)
You are making your point clear, no need to say anything else, and no pressure whatsoever on him/her.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I would like to work with you again. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you see an opportunity for our further cooperation..
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_5: **TL;DR**
>
> I really enjoy working with you and if possible I would appreciate the chance to contribute to one of your future projects.
> Would you mind if we stay in contact?
>
>
>
(The answer might be Influenced by culture and heavily depending on the hierarchy of your field.)
If I would receive a letter (or similar) containing a statement like:
>
> I really enjoy working with you. I hope you'll think of me if an opportunity arises where I might contribute to one of your projects.
>
>
>
I would immediately wonder why you plan to maintain a passive role in this (as I stated before might be cultural), since it essentially puts multiple burden on me:
1. I need to keep you in mind (besides all the other stuff)
2. I need to judge whether certain topics would fit.
3. I need to initiate the conversation.
Why don’t you assume a more active role in this interaction.
Not being a native (English) speaker, I am not sure how to phrase it properly (please edit in case).
I would love to read something like the following:
>
> I really enjoy working with you and if possible I would appreciate the chance to contribute to one of your future projects.
> Would you mind if we stay in contact?
>
>
>
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: As noted by [aparente001](https://academia.stackexchange.com/username_3name_3s/32436/aparente001) and discussed by others:
>
> You can weave ["Keep me in the loop"] into a concise thank-you note.
>
>
>
But, *keep me in the loop* is rather vague and leaves your collaborators unsure of what you are offering. Be more precise: mention what you're willing to contribute. E.g., additional experiments, writing-up, proofreading, ...
---
The [OP commented](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/102151/professional-ways-of-saying-keep-me-in-the-loop-in-case-you-have-some-other-pro/102203#comment267085_102152):
>
> I actually wasn't questioning the ["Keep me in the loop"] idiom, but the whole message, which I'm afraid may give the "cold call" vibe.
>
>
>
I'm uncertain what the "cold call" vibe is, I think you mean: "Keep me in the loop" lacks sincerity. My answer is intended to address that.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/14
| 1,369
| 5,708
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD candidate in Physics, and I am applying to some interdisciplinary postdocs that deal with economics/climate science/etc. I have a pretty good academic publishing record, but also own a moderately successful blog that deals with economics, politics, science, etc. from a [Left](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-wing_politics) perspective.
Would it be sensible to include my blog in my CV or research statement to show that I am interested in that sort of interdisciplinary work and that I have good communication skills?
Some of the posts have a couple of thousands reads etc, which implies I have an audience. My issue is that, because it is a partisan blog it has obviously some strongly worded opinions, so I am not sure if it would be professional to mention it. The reason why I want to include my blog is that my PhD is in pure physics, and I want to show I can "work" in other environments as well.<issue_comment>username_1: Although I personally do not agree with the left slant on climate science, I don't think that it should not be mentioned, but with a caveat: check what is the bias of the department you are applying for.
If the lab/department itself is hugely biased or partisan, and values politicization of science they would perhaps love your blog and you would stood better chances of being accepted.
Now, I am not proud of giving you that advice, but we see more and more fields of science being blatantly abused with PR that has nothing to do with science (AI has gotten really bad recently in that respect) and I would expect that such groups **love** people that would be engaged and spread the **faith** in addition to doing research work. Strange times we live in.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: ***tl;dr*-** While a good blog could be a professional asset, the given description sounds like something that probably wouldn't enhance an application.
---
### Blogs can be professional assets, even with political content
A good blog can be a professional asset. Such a blog could even touch on topics that others might consider politically sensitive; for example, it's entirely respectable to write a technical piece on forecasting climate change using data science techniques.
You can even write a heavily political blog in a professional way. [*FiveThirtyEight*](http://fivethirtyeight.com/)'s a great example of this: they're heavily involved in political analysis, but they're quite professional about it. I'd imagine that its writers would generally do well to include a reference to it in their future job applications.
Then there's a grey area when it comes to the interfacing with politics in one's own field of expertise. For example, if a climate scientist were to maintain a blog devoted to their research on climate change, then it wouldn't seem like the worst thing in the world if they occasionally included a political perspective piece in which they maintained an objective tone while expressing personal political opinions. However, it'd be important for such opinion pieces to be substantial in terms of content and analysis.
### Political rants tend to come off poorly
Political rants can cause the reader to think less of the writer. This can be true even if a reader shares some of the same opinions.
I suspect that a lot of factors go into this. As a partial list, in no particular order:
1. Readers get into the habit of filtering content from politically charged sources, so if the writer starts to sound like a source of politically charged content, it makes sense to put less trust into their assertions.
2. Strong political positions can reflect on a lack of political knowledge ([Dunning–Kruger effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)), professional focus, emotional inclination toward objectivity (stability), or/and reasoning skills.
>
> The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.
>
>
> -[<NAME>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_russel), [on BrainyQuote](https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/bertrand_russell_121392)
>
>
>
3. The willingness to engage in political rhetoric in professional venues (e.g., a job application) negatively reflects on one's general professionalism.
As a consequence of factors like these, many'll tend to respect a writer less for their political rantings even if they would tend to agree with the opinions expressed in those rants.
### Overall, probably best to not share this blog
For the reasons given above, sharing a **"*partisan blog*"** that has **"*some strongly worded opinions*"** would seem like a bad idea. While it's not impossible that a reviewer might actually enjoy it, I'd expect it to generally have a negative impact if anyone takes the time to check it out.
In general, folks'll be more likely to think well of your ability to operate in other venues if you're able to conduct yourself with the same sort of professionalism that you'd approach Physics with, keeping a level and objective perspective throughout.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Unfortunately, it's risky for a junior academic to draw attention to a blog which is either (a) not about your discipline or (b) highly opinionated, regardless of topic.
The risk can be offset if it is clear that the blog enhances your professional standing in some way. But that doesn't seem to be the case in this situation--in fact, it seems a little gratuitous to put it on your CV. There are other ways to demonstrate your communication skills and interest in public engagement without potentially alienating a future academic employer.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/14
| 2,808
| 11,625
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm about to write a statement of purpose for graduate admission and my advisor passed along to me the following pieces of advice to keep in mind while writing (based on his style and experience in admission commitees).
I completely agree with every point he has made. However, I'd like to have *further insight and suggestions* and yet another *reality check* on the soundness of these pieces of advice.
>
> **Advice from my advisor:**
>
>
> * Don't try to sell me my own research area by explaining to me how fascinating it is. Do show your interest by showcasing your previous
> experience working on (or studying) related topics (not necessarily
> very closely related).
> * Don't tell me how amazing, prestigious, perfect my institution or research group is. I know more than you do about that. Also, chances
> are that you are applying to a lot of schools and don't have
> inflexible interests yet, which is fine. Just tell me that you may be
> willing to work with a certain research group that seems more or less
> in line with your previous experience or future directions.
> * Don't tell me a cute story about how you fell in love with my field when you were a kid (or high school senior or college freshmen). I
> just don't care. I want to hire a soon-to-be professional to join my
> research group, not a little boy with a cute story. I only need to
> know factual information that show your commitment to the field (for
> example, courses/conferences attended, projects undertaken).
> * Ban ill-crafted, pseudo-literary, flowery, cheesy narrations. Just write facts. Straightforwardly. Succintly. Accurately. I'll draw conclusions for myself.
> * Ban any buzzwords, meaningless adjectives and adverbs. If they don't add concrete information, but are there just an ill-advised attempt
> to impress, cut them!
>
>
><issue_comment>username_1: All good advice. In addition, may I suggest that a statement of purpose should answer the question, what is your purpose in wanting to do this? What will you do if they admit you? It should be future-oriented. What are your goals and how does this fit into your plans for getting there?
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: I'm a current graduate school applicant. I included a short story in my statement of purpose to give a few details of my background and ultimately show how I overcame barriers to be a successful first-generation college student, like receiving a full-ride scholarship based on my status.
To modify point 3, telling a small story about a relevant part of your background to highlight some characteristic of your personality, like dedication, can boost your application. This can include describing overcoming hardships as a first-generation student or a foreigner. Plus, it will add some "personality" or "insight" to your application that can't really be described anywhere else.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: My research adviser and my academic graduate adviser at my undergrad aerospace engineering department provided similar advice as your professor when I applied to grad schools. They dread reading the same "I fell in love with airplanes as a child" opener. Their advice prompted me to write a formulaic but clear statement of purpose that I think served as a breath of fresh air for one my successful "dream program" applications.
My SOP was 1.5 justified alignment (**do this no matter what you write**, so much neater) pages with clearly labeled sections:
1. **Motivation/background, 1/4 page, 1 paragraph**: How a boring internship encouraged me to pursue graduate studies if I wanted a challenging career. This is where you could insert a thesis statement or an actual statement of purpose.
2. **Relevant experience, 3/4 page, 4 paragraphs**: lab experience, publications, etc. This is where you show off that you are a *professional* student as your prof explained.
3. **Career goals, 1/4 page, 1 paragraph**: what do you want to do after school? How will a grad degree help? This is where you can weave in username_1's suggestion of your short- and long-term plans.
4. **Institution selection, 1/4 page, 1 paragraph**: Why are you applying to this department? Why are you applying to this school?
5. **Funding, 1/4 page, 1 paragraph**: How will you would pay for grad school if you don't get a paid RA position? (TA, private tutoring, external fellowships, etc.).
You may have more or less information for each section, but I would recommend this structured and straightforward style. I think anything more than 2 pages is overkill though (except for NSF).
**In summary, make reading your SOP as easy and least-cringe-y as possible.**
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I see your advisor's point of view, and it is safe to say that he is right. However, there are exaggerations which might lead to a nonsensical cover letter. The tone in these advices seem a bit disrespectful to candidates as well.
If you stick to this advice 100% this is what you should write,
>
> To Whom It May Concern,
>
> I am writing this letter to declare my
> interest in the open position a the research team ABC. I have studied on
> this topic for two years, and I have four publications. I am willing
> to work with people from different cultures and countries. This
> research area also fits my future plans. I have attended courses X, Y
> and Z, and passed them all with good grades.
>
>
>
Set aside this information can be obtained by only looking at your CV, the cover letter does not reveal any personal information.
Unfortunately, by giving an advice of not using *ill-crafted, pseudo-literary, flowery, cheesy* words, ironically, he himself uses some *buzzwords, meaningless adjectives and adverbs* that we hear in Hollywood movies, said by the "tough" commander or detective.
The research team that you are applying to is looking for a human being to work with. And chances are, they want to have a wild guess what kind of person you are, before moving onto the second stage.
Explaining why you want to work in that research direction, and how is it going to contribute to the literature is not advertising and "selling" a research area. It is you telling the committee why they should think that you are more ambitious than the other candidates.
Also, people usually want to explain why they are applying to a certain position. This is not a *cute* story. This is called *motivation*. By same reasoning, we might also drop the cute 5-year-old-boy stories from scientific papers, and get straight to the business.
Therefore, I would not 100% stick to these advices, and also not ignore them:
* Your background and ambitions are definitely needed in a cover letter.
* Stating your aims and goals during your employment is very important. More important is to convince the committee that you can achieve a satisfactory amount of them.
* Why do you want to work in that particular research group? Why is that research area important *for you*?
* Consistent formatting is important in terms of readability.
* Remember to explain that you can fulfill all the requirements in the job advertisement. Preferably in a FAQ fashion, first, requirement, than your qualification for that requirement.
Remember, cover letter is the first step that a committee gets to know you, and it should be treated that way. If you cut out all personal details, then better is not sending the letter at all. Just a CV would be sufficient.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: **Reasons this is generally sound advice (and what's missing)**
Professors must read many statements of purpose, so following this advice will make it easy for them to get the info they are trying to find. Honestly, the stories about when a student fell in love with a topic aren't helpful in determining if they will be a productive scholar (and get really boring after reading 20 variations on the same theme). Sticking to the facts will help the reader get the information they need quickly and prevent your letter from being tossed aside.
Additionally, (depending on the specific field) scientific writing tends to be focused on communicating clearly and precisely; good scientific writing leaves out unhelpful digressions and imprecise terms. Following the OP's advisor's advice will tend to make a statement of purpose look more like good scientific writing.
***What's missing***
I agree with the advice that it is unhelpful to tell a potential advisor that their research group is prestigious/perfect. However, as the first point of advice implies, it is critical to communicate your "fit" with the work being done there. Potential advisors want to know whether you understand what you would be getting into, and that the work is a good fit for your interests and skills.
This could mean that you have already worked on related projects, but not necessarily. For instance, I once read a statement of purpose (and accompanying letters of recommendation) that emphasized that the student was not afraid of teaching herself new skills and learning new topics without hands-on guidance. This sort of independence is critical in my area of work (which is interdisciplinary and requires understanding work coming out of multiple fields).
If your key strengths would make you a good fit for the type of science being done in that group, you must emphasize this.
Ultimately, as others have pointed out, professors are interested in hiring potential junior colleagues who will be productive. It is OK to deviate from the specific points in the OP's advisor's advice, so long as you (clearly and succinctly) speak to this main point.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_6: I want to add a note I don't see in the other answers:
The number one most valuable piece of advice for any writing of any kind is the following: get others to read it and give you feedback. Ideally someone like a professor who is interested in helping you, but anyone is better than no one at all. Your friend or mother can still tell you if your statements are confusing to follow or lack a clear point.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Overall I think there's good advice here, but I want to provide the opposing perspective on two points to help you "thread the needle."
1. While you don't want to explain to an expert why their own field is fascinating, it *is* an important skill and impressive in a candidate if you can explain in objective terms why the field is important and how it fits into a broader context. This shows you have done reading outside of any research projects you have done and have a feel for the big picture.
2. One reason the graduate school statements sound the same is that you don't yet have a deep background of work to show your interest in a topic, which is fine! I think people compensate for this background, by trying to use flowery language to convey their interest. Instead, I think the better route is to be concrete. Think about ways to connect the work you have done (even if this is "just" course work) with the work the group you are interested in is doing ("I took advanced course X which will prepare me to study topic Y in more detail in grad school"). I think also saying what kinds of courses you would be interested in at grad school, and what kinds of projects the group does you would be interested in, is valuable information (just look at their website or recent papers and say which of those is the most interesting to you) -- even though this is work you haven't done yet, you are showing you have some ideas and a direction and are not going in blind.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/14
| 1,604
| 6,832
|
<issue_start>username_0: Background: I completed my PhD last Christmas and received it later on in the year.
My supervisor was very absent (there in person, but not at all a mentor)/not very supportive during my PhD. Early on during my PhD I wrote a paper with one of my fields world leading professors, who was a friend of my supervisor.
My supervisor regularly discussed my work with this individual and suggested that I send my unpublished manuscripts and thesis to them to get feed back. The professor also visited the group, where they read my draft thesis. They did give goodfeed back and I considered this professor a friend and a mentor.
During last year it came to my attention that one of this professors PhD students has produced a near identical thesis to my own. They do reference my first paper however, and then go on to tackle the same problem using the same method (devised in my paper). At that time, I spoke to my supervisor, who had a conversation with this professor. They claimed that there was no plagiarism and that it was simply a coincidence. My supervisor was happy with that explanation and said it should be dropped. I'm convinced that it is more than that (even the chapter topics are the same), and I have email proof of sending works to this professor. But have not proof that it made it to their PhD student.
My PhD department was terrible with lots of shady stuff going on (I complained, but it all fell on deaf ears). After landing a job I just decided to put it down as a bad experience and thanked my luckly stars that I was done.
* However I've been recently thinking about this, what is to stop this person of turning this situation around and trying to accuse me of plagiarising them? How do I protect myself?
* Should I bring this up with somebody else at the university? If so, who? Would emails (forwarded on to an auxiliary gmail account) be sufficient
evidence? At no point did this professor state that their student was working on something similar. (nor did I know of this students existence)
* Would they wonder why I hadn't brought this up sooner? (its been several months) It annoyed the hell out of me, but I was just glad be done and focus on my future career. I had complained about other stuff going on in the department, but no one was interested and so I figured that this too would be ignored.
I'm so glad to be away from this toxic group, but am now worried that this could be completely turned around and add insult to injury.
Allow me to clarify: I took the method that I devised in my first paper (with which the professor was a co-author) and applied it to a very specific problem. I then wrote this up and sent it to the professor and asked him to review it (as it is/was quite an important contribution to the field and as stated above, over the years they we happy to review my work. I had also hoped that they would be a co-author again, as it extended our first paper in a significant way). I then completed my thesis (said professor read my draft) and the aim was to apply this method to other specific problems, however it turned out not to be possible (as I proved/discussed with said professor) and so this manuscript (and first paper) became the cornerstone of my PhD. I planned on publishing the second manuscript after my PhD submission was out the way. It turns out that this work is also the basis of his PhD students thesis, which was submitted only a few months after my own. They do however reference my first paper (as, obviously, do I) but then go on to do the work in my second manuscript. When you compare the thesis, it is the same chapter lay out as my own: first paper broken into several topics each forming a chapter. Manuscript broken into several topics each forming a chapter. Each of there chapters covers the same topic (in the same order and very similar chapter structure) as my own. This is what I mean by "near identical".<issue_comment>username_1: Your defense against plagiarism is the records you produced as a graduate student—any emails you sent documenting your work, the record of having submitted it to the professor in question, any work you've submitted since the first paper, and so on.
If you believe that the work you've done has been plagiarized, and you're willing to go through the effort, then you should talk to someone about this. The question is to whom you should talk. I would consider an email to the chair of the department in question, the graduate chair (if you can determine who that is), the advisor of the person whom you feel plagiarized your thesis, your advisor, and the chair of your department. Explain in detail what you believe happened and why you think it's plagiarism. You should have a very convincing case, and will need to persevere if you think it's serious. (If they have published papers based on your work, then you may also want to contact the editors of those papers.)
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Plagiarism is defined as "wrongful appropriation" and "stealing and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions" and the representation of them as one's own original work. (Copied from the first line of the Wikipedia page on the topic.)
This doesn't seem to apply here: The students cites your work and simply repeats what you have already done, but a careful reader would understand (and be able to find out) that you came up with the idea first.
It is not illegal to repeat something someone else has done. In fact, science works through repetition of experiments, for example. It may be dubious that someone gets a PhD -- or a paper published -- by simply repeating something someone else has already done, but it's not illegal nor by itself odious: It may only be a sign of low standards at the other university of by the journal in which it was published. But it's not plagiarism unless the thesis or article claims that they came up with the method without citing your prior work.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: The best course of action would be if you can somehow elevate this to the journal/conference paper level. Was your newer research (the one they have plagiarized) published in a journal or at least at a conference? Is perhaps their (plagiarized) research published in a journal, not only in PhD thesis?
Monitor the student in question and his publications for a while. If he tries to publish that stuff that he lifted from you in a journal, then it is the time to start the action, and simply notify the editor of the journal or a conference about the suspected plagiarism. This way, it will be handled by people not connected to your previous lab and indeed plagiarism in paper is considered to be really bad stuff for one's reputation (often PhD theses are not publicly accessible, papers are).
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/14
| 2,693
| 10,941
|
<issue_start>username_0: I cheated at a language exam when I was eight years old. I finished early and noticed that I had accidentally left a dictionary in my drawer. I double-checked my answers and promptly got caught.
The incident is probably unverifiable at this point: The physical evidence is long gone; the teacher probably retired; the school probably didn’t keep records or has already destroyed it. I might be the only person on the planet who still remembers it.
* Should I mention this incident when being asked about academic integrity in job interviews or similar?
* Should I tell graduate admissions?
I suspect the answer is *no* since it was so long ago and I was eight years old, but I’m afraid I might be rationalizing.<issue_comment>username_1: As noted in the comments, actions committed long ago as a child are (and should be) entirely irrelevant to graduate admissions.
It is well understood that children do not have same ability as adults to comprehend the consequences on their actions. As a result, many legal systems wipe a child's record clean of most or all juvenile offenses upon reaching adulthood.
I would thus similarly argue that any academic offense predating your undergraduate education should generally neither be reported nor considered in an application for graduate school.
Upvotes: 8 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You probably should.
If it bothers you, you should tell them. Our silly childhood embarrassments are a sign of deeper psychological injury that we cannot forget. If you want to tell them about it, that means you decided it's time to grow up from childhood and leave the past behind
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_3: Depending on context, **yes**, I think you *could*.
If it's a box to tick on a form, I'd leave it as 'no'. They're not interested in what you did as a child, it's not relevant, and there's no opportunity to explain yourself. However, if asked in person, I'd be inclined to tell them. No-one is going to hold something you did when you were eight against you and telling them about it gives the impression of scrupulous honesty on your part and builds trust between you and the interviewer.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: The accepted answer is absolutely correct, but I'd like to make a point that I don't see anywhere else. **Do you personally think that the incident in question has any bearing on your current academic fitness?** I'm going to venture a guess that your answer is a solid "No".
Looking at it another way, **were the situation reversed, would you care if an applicant to your program cheated once when they were 8 years old?** Once again I'm going to have to guess your answer would be "No".
Frankly I bet that *nearly everyone* has cheated on a test or homework or something in their youth (I know, I know, citation needed). The *only* way that could have any relevance now if if that one incident became a pattern that followed you throughout your education or other parts of your life. I can personally say that I helped a couple friends cheat on tests in high school, and got caught once, but it never followed me into college because at that point I started taking education seriously and dropped all of my old bad habits like cheating, not studying, etc. When I was young I simply didn't care. As an adult, lack of caring can easily lead straight to unemployment.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: Any legal system has the concepts of prescription, meaning that, depending on their gravity, the crimes are not prosecuted anymore after a specific duration. Otherwise police will still spent resources trying to find who parked illegally 5 years ago. Obviously, important crimes never prescribe, or their prescription period is long enough, while parking violations may be left unpunished if not observed in time.
Think of your probably 15 year old "transgression" as prescribed and move on. It has nothing to do with your character as of today. At that time, you probably observed other colleagues cheating and you tried to imitate them.
I also find the question terribly odd. Why would anybody write there "yes, I did" since the grad school does not have the means to verify. Even if they would, and they would uncover any real dishonest behavior from the applicants, they will be disqualified anyway, no matter their choice on the form.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: *This answer is about the US educational system.*
While the answer for your particular situation is simple --at the age of eight, for a minor offense, no one will be bothered about this-- I'm going to write a fuller answer to cover possible future questions about this general topic. I will include information about the *undergraduate* admissions process, because it is better documented, and because it will be useful for comparing and extrapolating.
There are some situations where a student's discipline record could be scrutinized by an admissions officer, but:
* Students' discipline history is more interesting to admissions officers at the **undergrad level** than at the grad level, since undergrad behavior problems are more of a campus issue than grad student behavior problems.
* Generally, academic and discipline records **prior to 9th grade** are washed away with the tide; generally, only high school records are reflected in the high school transcript sent to colleges (see, for example, <https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/48282-suspension-in-middle-school.html>).
What types of high school discipline records might be a concern for undergrad admissions?
According to [an article in *Education Week*](https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/05/29/most-colleges-weigh-student-discipline-records-in.html),
>
> At a typical high school, a minor offense might result in you being reprimanded by a teacher or told to sit out in the hallway. Repeated minor offenses, or a slightly more severe offense, might result in a detention or an on-campus or “in-school” suspension.
>
>
> If you get in trouble and you receive one of these punishments, it’s generally not something that you’ll need to report to colleges. However, if your offense merits more serious consequences, it’s a different story. This might include off-campus suspension, expulsion, or the involvement of law enforcement. If one of these has happened to you, you’ll need to report that on your [undergraduate] college applications.
>
>
>
College Confidential interviewed undergraduate admissions officers for an [article about the effect of high school suspensions on college admissions](https://www.collegeconfidential.com/experts/). The take-home messages I took from this article:
* If an applicant believes a particular incident will be disclosed as part of an educational application, a separate statement of explanation can be appended to the application.
* As the article's introduction states, "There is life after screw-ups, even for elite-college aspirants, but [...] honesty about an infraction--and the lessons learned from it--is always the best policy."
* As one of the admissions officers interviewed said, "Colleges understand that students are people (just like admission officers), capable of making mistakes or bad judgments."
In a 2016 study, the Center for username_5 Alternatives (CCA), a nonprofit organization in New York State, found (see [summary](http://www.communityalternatives.org/pdf/publications/EducationSuspended_ExecSumm.pdf), [full report](http://www.communityalternatives.org/pdf/publications/EducationSuspended.pdf)):
* 73% of colleges and universities surveyed request the high school disciplinary record;
* 89% of those who request it, use it in their decision making;
* 50% of high schools surveyed disclose disciplinary information to colleges in at least some cases;
* 63% of high schools surveyed don't have written policies guiding them in disclosure decisions.
(Note for undergraduate applicants who might be reading this post: Under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), parents of minors, and adult students, have the right to inspect their educational records. One can informally or formally attempt to get certain records expunged. Also, the CCA published a helpful [guide](http://www.communityalternatives.org/pdf/publications/Criminal-History-Screening-in-College-Admissions-AttorneyGuide-CCA-1-2013.pdf) in 2013 for handling disclosure of criminal records when applying for college.)
Bottom line:
Administrators at educational institutions are aware that young people's brains are immature, and they know that if they tried to restrict admission to people who have never gotten in any kind of trouble for anything, campuses would be sparsely populated.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Clearly, the answer is a no.
I hope this doesn't sound too harsh, but a graduate admission committee would probably be more surprised that you felt the need to ask this question on a public forum instead of reasoning it out yourself. It shows a lack of understanding of conventional social norms.
What's next? Asking if it is necessary to ask permission to pee during someone else's presentation?
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: No. Reasons:
1. Most of the people don't even remember things that they did or happened to them at that age. So it is quite extraordinarily that you remember this. Some people have extremely good memory (**I am one of them, unfortunately**, so I can recall details of some things from decades ago). So, average person would probably not have an issue like this, because simply they would not think about this. It's something I learned during my life, it was sometimes difficult to accept that I was the only one holding a grudge, for example. So, the **"I don't remember"** is not only a good excuse, for many people it would be a fact!
2. People change. There are reasons why there is different set of laws that apply to juveniles even when serious criminal acts are involved. This is also the reason, why court records of juvenile offenders are sealed or destroyed. The issue of you cheating at 8 years of age is immaterial for your admission, however you think of it. If it is immaterial whether you robbed a bank or seriously wounded a classmate, why would be cheating in 3rd grade be an issue? Be serious.
3. You were a child at the time. Not only that juveniles are subject to different rules, children are in most jurisdictions exempt from any criminal punishment for all but the most serious crimes (e.g. murder, and even that for the purpose that they can be mentally evaluated in a correctional facility). The fact that you stole a bubble-gum from a store when you were five does not count either, just to be blunt & clear.
4. You **really are overthinking this**. Perhaps, just like me, you are cursed with detailed memory. Get used to forget such things, life will become much more pleasant.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: After I received referee's comments, I revised my manuscript a lot. The referee actually made one major comment, and I addressed that in one paragraph. But I also changed other parts of the paper in several places. Now, I am going to reply to the editor, and shall I list all the changes I made for the editor and the referee?
Thank you!
Drakemarqius<issue_comment>username_1: Usually, the journal's guidelines should state *what* has to be done for the major revision and how to report on it. In the absense of such information, in my reply I would address the referee's comments *only*.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally, you want to make the editor's and reviewers' job as easy as possible. As a reviewer I appreciate if the authors simply copy the reviewer comments and answer each and every of them while also helpfully pointing out related changes to the manuscript. Personally, I'd even address referee comments that point out typos (e.g., by answering them with "corrected"). At least, that demonstrates due diligence. It also doesn't require defining a threshold for a comment requiring an answer.
Of course, you should also write a short introduction and summary to that list of answers and changes.
So, yes, list all changes, but integrate that list into your answers to reviewer comments.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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<issue_start>username_0: The website [sciencealert](http://www.sciencealert.com/pregnancy-baby-brain-mumnesia-cognitive-function-meta-analysis) writes the following in one of their entries:
>
> The new meta-analysis of 20 studies updates the body of research regarding the phenomenon by including studies conducted more recently than 2007...
>
>
>
While I do see the value in a meta-analysis I am a bit unsure how it can **add** to the body of research since no new information/data is obtained.<issue_comment>username_1: It depends on how you define the "body of research". If you see it purely as a collection of all raw data, then no, a a meta-analysis would not contribute to it. However, I would argue that most people use the term "body of knowledge" much more widely, to mean all research that has been conducted and all *knowledge* that has been generated and published in a field.
In order to be publishable, a meta-analysis should produce new knowledge (e.g., through new experiments or analyses, or by increasing our confidence in previously-published analyses through comparison over a larger sample size), and in that way contribute to the sum of all knowledge in the field, even if no new data points have been collected.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: A meta-analysis could be considered useful if it provides one or more of the following:
* **Synthesis:** A research domain may have tens or even hundreds of papers. A meta-analysis could provide a synthesized summary by providing classifications and catalogs.
* **New perspective:** Summarizing the existing studies from a new perspective could be very interesting. It could be from the technology side (for instance, how a new technology affects the previous results) or from the people side (for instance, how existing methods are seen by a manager vs by a student).
* **Research opportunities:** A meta-analysis may also explain not only how the research domain has evolved (in say, last 5 years) but also reveal gaps in the field.
Upvotes: 3
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a Physics senior, and will be graduating with a BS in May 2018. Couple weeks back when I really got into the application process, I realized that I don't stand any chance of getting into a good physics PhD program.
I have a good GPA in my major and average GRE scores but my application falls short when it comes to research experience. I tried to get involved in research at my undergrad institution, but none of the faculty members were doing research. I only have one summer research experience (at a renowned institute in Germany) but the work was mainly computational and doesn't directly relate to the research programs that I am applying for. For my senior project, I did a little bit of research in physics, but the results were not exciting at all (basically just imaging some quantum dots and finding the size distribution).
It was when I was writing my personal statement that I realized that my application will not be competitive at all. Should I still apply to PhD programs at less-selective schools? I am personally inclined to do a Masters first, not only to get some research experience, but to also figure out which field of physics excites me the most. The only thing that worries me is that most Masters are not funded (although I have found a few in Europe that have scholarships). I really want to do my PhD from a good program and I feel that I am just not ready for it.
I am losing hope and any career advice at this point will be highly appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: My understanding is that only exceptional people can start with a PhD at a highly-ranked university right after the BSc. If you are that good, you would have probably known that by now. So, "good" grades are not sufficient. "Average" scores are a no-go. For normal people like me, and, probably, you, my advice would be to do MSc first. As @Roland said, it is sometimes even a formal requirement.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: I am a PhD in the US and in my field Master's is completely useless, basically, a waste of time. You will still need to take classes in PhD, do TAship and many other things that are basically mandatory distractions and a Master's do not waive any of them.
I would recommend skipping Master's and go with a slightly less demanding university/group for a PhD. In a Master's degree you more often than not don't get a chance to do research. However, Master's also sets the bar higher, so simply doing any research in Master's won't substantially increase your chances of getting into PhD. You can still consider a Master's degree if you can find a research program, not a taught one.
In addition to the previous point, a high-ranked university does not increase your chances of being a successful PhD. PhD is more about your qualities and habits than the rank of your university. What a high-ranked university does, though, is imposing additional stress and competition, often putting you in a situation where you struggle to even be average.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm not sure if this is the right stackexchange.
But i was wondering if there is a way to select a number of journals in your field, and have the latest articles of those journals on your phone, so that you can open the latest articles of specific journals with the tap of a finger.
Given how addictive smartphone apps can be, it seems like its better to be addicted to reading journal articles than to facebook.
Take an analogy with newspapers: A newspaper is an aggregation of relevant new information. When you read the newspaper you're not beforehand specifying that you want to know something about a war in the middle east. Its just that something happened in the middle east that you didn't know about and couldn't have searched for. Essentially I'm looking for a (metaphorical) "newspaper of journal articles on my phone"<issue_comment>username_1: This might be useful for you:
<https://www.researcher-app.com/>
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: RSS (Rich Site Summary) is an open standard that many journals use to deliver their latest tables of content and abstracts.
Quoting [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS):
>
> RSS is a type of web feed which allows users to access updates to online content in a standardized, computer-readable format.
>
>
>
Simply download any feed reader app to subscribe to the RSS feeds of your favorite journals. If you find an abstract of interest, click on the title to be redirected to the respective repository where you can usually read or download the article in pdf or html format with your preferred browser or reader. Or you may want to save the paper from there with a reference management app such as Zotero or Mendeley.
Unfortunately, more and more journals seem to be discontinuing their RSS feeds in favor of e-mail alerts, which I find less useful.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Google Scholar will recommend manuscripts to you: <https://scholar.google.com/scholar?sciupd=1>.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a student in Michigan, in the United States. I've just started a class for which a previous class was the prerequisite. The professor of my current class asked that I give him my grade for that previous class. (This was an e-mail sent to me and all my classmates.) I don't like the feel of it. Does he have any right to that information? Obviously he isn't going through the system to get the information, and I feel like it's because this isn't on the level.
On further research, I found the [FERPA website](https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html). It declares:
>
> Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):
>
>
> * School officials with legitimate educational interest;
>
>
>
There are additional parties/conditions, but this is the only one that even comes close to my situation. Another reference I found is Huntingdon College's [General FERPA Information](http://hawk.huntingdon.edu/FERPA/FSINFO.HTML), which defines a **school official** as:
>
> a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position;
>
>
>
There are other definitions, but again, this is the most applicable to my situation.<issue_comment>username_1: In the US, federal student privacy laws (FERPA) dictate that schools restrict access to student educational records, so that only those with a "legitimate educational interest" can access them. Most universities interpret this such that the student's academic advisor can automatically see their full transcripts in the student record system, but not every professor of every class the student takes.
However, just because access is not *automatic*, does not mean that it is not allowed. If a professor has a "legitimate educational interest" in a student record, then they may request access to that record. (For example, from the student's academic advisor.) "Legitimate educational interest" will be defined in the school's Student Records Policy and in their annual FERPA disclosure. For [example](http://system.suny.edu/compliance/topics/education-and-student-relations/ferpa/):
>
> A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official requires the information for the purpose of fulfilling his official duties, including but not limited to:
>
>
> * performing a task that is specified in his or her position description or contract agreement;
> * performing a task related to a student’s education;
> * performing a task related to the discipline of a student;
> * providing a service or benefit relating to the student or student’s family, such as health care, counseling, job placement or financial aid;
> * maintaining the safety and security of the campus; or
> * participating in or conducting studies, evaluations, or assessments of educational programs.
>
>
>
Finally, as the student, *you* are permitted to disclose your student record to anyone you want. Someone with no educational interest in your record - e.g. your parent - could ask you questions about your educational records, and you would be free to disclose that information or not.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: You said you don't like the feel of the situation, but as someone with hardly any facts I would suggest turning it around and saying something like "*We both know that grades are somewhat arbitrary - what specific information are you trying to get at via my previous grade? If you're concerned that I am lacking a skill or set of knowledge that is crucial for this class, I'd be glad to answer more specific questions regarding my abilities/knowledge, and work with you so I can remedy any deficiencies in my previous coursework that we might discover together.*"
This way, you don't go straight to federal regulations in the event that the request that they're just taking a poll to see who might need extra attention/help (i.e 'don't make a federal case over it [unless it's necessary]').
But obviously if they are demanding your grade, and won't reveal why, then consider reporting it to the department chair/ombudsperson/etc. You can probably do this even if you got a good grade and you decide to share it with the instructor to get them off your back.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: There are very few things, if any, that professors are prohibited from asking. Asking some things (e.g., sexual orientation or marital status) might get a professor in trouble if a complaint is raised and the professor lacks a good reason for asking for the information. While asking for and obtaining previous grades could lead to a FERPA violation (or some other misdeed), I doubt a department chair would ever reprimand a professor for asking.
Now for why the professor might be asking for the grade, sometimes it is easier to ask the student then use the online system or go through the department administrator. Most likely, they are asking about the grade as a potential conversation starter. The issues they want to talk about possibly depend on the grade you got. For example, asking a D student if topic X was covered probably does not make as much sense as asking an A student. Asking a C student if they understand topic X might provide more insight than asking an A student.
I would suggest you just tell them the grade. If you are really worried tell the professor you don't like discussing grades but would be happy to talk about the content of the course.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_4: Have you considered not answering? This is an information you may or may not want to give out, and if he does not have access to it, you do not have to provide your previous grade.
From browsing this SE i have come to the impression that professors sometimes tend to not anser e-mail either, so it probably wouldn't come off as rude.
Like you stated in a comment, he either could be looking for people who need additional help or he might be checking out who is worth his time and who is not.
In any case, if you did score an acceptable grade, it wouldn't hurt to tell him after all ;)
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: When I was taking a class that required a pre-requisite and our teacher asked for the grade we got in that class he was ultimately trying to gauge his students.
He wanted to gauge how well everyone in the class understood the previous material. Based on the grades we gave him became a deciding factor on whether or not he would briefly go over the previous material the first week of class or just jump right into the new material.
I don't know this teacher but typically teacher's like to get a feel for the students that are taking their class. If a teacher can gather a better overall understanding of the students in the class they could use that information to better teach their students.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: To ask such questions in the U.S. is, at least, ill-considered. The obvious possible sense of it, in the best-case scenario, is out of concern whether students are adequately prepared. But, to my mind, knowing prior grades does also have great potential for prejudicing expectations on the part of the instructor. Deflecting the question would be in everyone's best interest. So, no, teachers should not ask this question (in the U.S.). And even their interest in knowing the quality of the preparation of their students, while understandable, is slightly beyond what is appropriate, except as aggregate.
EDIT: in response to one comment, I am *not* suggesting that grading might be unfair. I am suggesting that students often rise (or sink) to expectations expressed (possibly subtly) by teachers, etc.
Further, first, in the U.S., FERPA seems to indicate that current instructors are not automatically entitled to access to their (current) students' prior grades. Ok. Doesn't say they're not *allowed* to ask, but, again, the instructor will know who declined to give the info, and students may worry about that, too, since if they decline, this creates an impression, etc.
Rather than asking for the (anyway, in my opinion, dubious) info of "prior grade(s)", why not do a diagnostic/review quiz or quizzes? This gives better-quality information, and avoids all sorts of potential psychological issues.
Again, even if the instructor's intentions are good, asking for prior grades has too many problematical aspects, and a better quality sort of information can be acquired otherwise.
So, "can they ask": sure, I guess. *Should* they ask? I think not.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: >
> The professor of my current class asked that I give him my grade for that previous class. (This was an e-mail sent to me and all my classmates.)
>
>
>
If the question feels intrusive, you don't need to answer. You might respond
>
> I feel well prepared for this course and I'm looking forward to building on previous knowledge and skills during the coming weeks.
>
>
>
It sounds like the instructor didn't explain his motivation for the question, and if so, I would encourage you to let the department take a look at his email. However, the safest way of preventing administrative bumbling that might result in retaliation would be to wait until the end of the semester.
It's very possible that the instructor made an honest mistake but meant well, and would benefit from some departmental guidance.
However, if the instructor's intention was for students to share their previous grade with the whole group, that would be different. In that case I would inform the department immediately.
By the way, this has nothing to do with FERPA. FERPA doesn't protect you from intrusive questions (you might have been thinking about employment laws that protect job candidates from intrusive, irrelevant questions). FERPA protects you from disclosure of your protected information without your consent. For example, FERPA would protect you from this instructor obtaining your previous grade from a fellow professor, a secretary, or an administrator, and **giving that information to someone inappropriate without your consent** (for example, giving it to another student in the class).
The Department of Education has a page called "[Model Notifications of Rights under FERPA for Postsecondary Institutions](http://familypolicy.ed.gov/content/model-notifications-rights-under-ferpa-postsecondary-institutions)," which says
>
> A postsecondary institution may disclose PII [personally identifiable information] from the education records without obtaining prior written consent of the student to other school officials, including teachers, within the [School] whom the school has determined to have legitimate educational interests.
>
>
>
This means that if your instructor can convince someone on staff with access to your previous grade to give it to him (which I would guess would not be very difficult), then he doesn't need to ask you.
Upvotes: 1
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<issue_start>username_0: I am the PhD student of an advisor who is known within my institution as extremely strict, controlling and prone to temper tantrums, making undergrads cry in lecture halls, etc. I am in my final year of writing, 12 months to go with all of my experiments completed and 60% of my writing done.
I have found my own ways of managing our relationship (i.e. to grin and bear it), but now, in my final year of thesis writing, I am finding it increasingly difficult to cope. He is extremely controlling of my personal time: making it clear that he expects me to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week 'just to keep my head above water'. Though he always cheerfully reminds me that 'deadlines are flexible', on the rare occasion that I do try to take him on his word (this has happened twice in 4 years), he completely flips out and makes me work to the deadline (even when this has meant me working 20 hour days). This happens even though the events are out of my control (a problem with an experiment, the death of a friend) and though I have never asked for more than 7 days extension. The death of a friend thing happened recently and is the straw that broke the camel's back, I just can't understand how I couldn't take a week to deal with that (it was over Christmas, when I was still 'supposed to be working'...).
I would almost understand his behavior if I were a terrible PhD student in need of a kick up the backside, but by all objective accounts I am on track to finish well before schedule. My advisor tends to go through periods of bombarding me with compliments and praise for my work, teaching, etc. until I feel totally great about our relationship, only to completely flip and treat me like a child in need of chastisement. What disturbs me about this is that he will often make me agree that he is in the right, and that he is 'not a horrible advisor, just has my best intrests in mind'. Two friends of mine have left our research group because of difficulties working with him, telling me personally 'I don't know how you are able to work with him, I feel sorry for you.' A friend's advisor has said: 'I hope Anon is OK and has someone to talk to, their advisor is really tough'. I'm including this context because I consistently doubt my own perception of this situation, and need to justify my feelings to myself (and anyone reading this) by remembering that others corroborate my perception of my advisor. I am also extremely paranoid about him finding out about this (hence not using my usual SE account).
Usually, I would make my feelings clear and ask for a mature discussion about our needs, but I think my advisor will take that as confrontation and I don't want to jeopardize my thesis or my job prospects in these final stages. I am too apprehensive to talk to other staff in the institute about this in case somehow word gets back to him.
At most, I'd like to get a good reference and bounce out. At least, I want to survive with my sanity and happiness in tact (I have self-esteem problems and am feeling increasingly awful about myself - I see a therapist so I'm accountable to someone and don't plan on hurting myself etc.).
**TL;DR**: Overbearing advisor, I feel increasingly bad. My strategy at this point of is to continue my mantra of 'grin and bear it', keep a low profile and ride out the end of my PhD. Please could you share some strategies for doing so in a non-confrontational way?<issue_comment>username_1: Seek out avenues for addressing your current situation outside of your relationship with your supervisor:
1. Within your faculty, seek out options for additional support, such
as an advisor or another supervisor who can provide counselling,
advice, or mentoring from an inside point of view.
2. Within the university, seek out student support services to provide
similar assistance to your situation.
With some additional assistance, this might tip the balance in your favour, making the final 12 months manageable.
Within your relationship, you can take steps to establish your independence as a researcher, and this would be part of your professional development. For example:
1. Tell the supervisor that you are taking time off (a certain number
of days) during which you will not be doing any work at all. Make it clear that this is a separation of personal and academic life, and it's not a matter for discussion.
2. When the supervisor provides a deadline, take the step to negotiate a different timeframe, from the point of view that you are an equal in this relationship when it comes to discussing time frames.
You need to be able to establish your own boundaries, and create the space in which you can work effectively, and with appropriate regards for your own health. You'll need to be assertive to have a successful research career, beyond just surviving the PhD.
Your approach to accessing assistance should always be phrased in terms of "I need assistance in my final year" and not "I have a problem with my supervisor".
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Well, the key here will be support from the department/the university. Once an administrator is aware of the situation, and has indicated to what extent the department (or university) will back you up, you'll be able to quietly assert yourself.
I would make an appointment to speak with the director of graduate studies or the department chair, to make him or her aware of the situation. (You could print out your question here and bring it to the appointment for the administrator to read.)
In the U.S. I would expect the administrator to say that yes, of course you can take a week off when someone close to you dies, and also that a certain number of weeks of vacation per year are perfectly reasonable, as long as you work out the when with your advisor. (But there is no need to get permission to take a week off when someone close to you dies.)
Once you know where you and your advisor stand with regard to rules, expectations, and unwritten customs, at your university (i.e. once you have your ducks in a row), you'll be able to assert yourself with quiet confidence. For example:
>
> (email) Dear Prof. X,
>
>
> I too want to move forward with the project as quickly as possible. As soon as my two-week [for example] period of mourning is over, I will be back at work. I will send you an update halfway into my first week back, on (date).
>
>
>
If he blows his stack, you immediately inform the administrator you checked with earlier.
Obviously, only draw a line in the sand in this way when it really matters. As much as possible, avoid conflict with him as you've been doing.
Note the lack of emotion in the sample email. That will be your emotional shield.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> My advisor tends to go through periods of bombarding me with compliments and praise for my work, teaching, etc. until I feel totally great about our relationship, only to completely flip and treat me like a child in need of chastisement. What disturbs me about this is that he will often make me agree that he is in the right, and that he is 'not a horrible advisor, just has my best intrests in mind'.
>
>
>
Your advisor is abusive, and this is classic gaslighting. It can really do a number on your confidence, and "I consistently doubt my own perception of this situation" is exactly what this behaviour is designed to achieve. It is very difficult to keep/regain perspective within that situation.
Recommendations:
* Minimize face to face interaction as much as possible. With e-mail, you can go back and re-read the past conversation, and confirm that things were like you remember them.
* In the same vein, document all your verbal interactions, the positive just as much as the negative. Keep a journal or an advisor log. Re-read what you wrote during the last 'nice phase' when your advisor is being nasty, and vice-versa. This will help you keep some distance from both (giving you a better perspective of the whole situation). It will also be very helpful in case the situation deteriorates and you need to argue for yourself against your advisor with the administration or others. People like this are extremely good at convincing others that you are the crazy one - so good, they can even make you believe it yourself.
* Read up on the patterns and techniques of abuse. There are few resources for abused grad students, but it fundamentally all works the same way, so looking into husband/wife or parent/child abuse you will recognize many facets. I highly recommend <NAME>'s "Why Does He Do That", it's an incisive analysis of abuser mentality.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/15
| 821
| 3,432
|
<issue_start>username_0: I just started my second year of grad school (this spring) in a quantitative field. I have already chosen an advisor.
My advisor is a full professor and extremely busy, but has a ton of resources. I knew this going in, and I chose their lab for a variety of reasons (I have no regrets). One of my committee members is an assistant professor, and they meet with me for an hour every week to help me with projects. I've even started various additional projects with this committee member.
**Question:** Should I ask the committee member to be an official co-advisor?
I feel bad that the committee member is essentially putting in more time than my official advisor, but not getting much "credit" for it. I know assistant professors need to mentor a certain number of grad students to get tenure, and I want all the time this assistant professor spends mentoring me to actually "count" towards their own career goals.
However, I don't want to make my official advisor upset, or insult them, by asking for this other person to be a co-advisor. (Note: the reason I didn't just ask both of them to be co-advisors at the very beginning of grad school is that the committee member was working *within* my main advisor's lab, and wasn't even an assistant professor yet.)<issue_comment>username_1: No you should not ask them to be a co-adviser. You personally have nothing to gain but do have something to lose (upsetting your current adviser or other unforeseen issues which I can already think a quite a few more).
Every university/department handles these things differently (advisers, committee membership, tenure, etc...). I would venture that as a second year you probably don't have enough experience to know what is or isn't appropriate for your situation. But, your committee member does (or should). Thus I would say that the responsibility falls on him to initiate this if his work does indeed warrant the title, co-adviser.
If your committee member decides that they would like the "credit" of being a co-adviser and asks that you do this, then you can approach your current adviser as a neutral party and mention to him/her that you have been working closely with "Dr. Committee Member" and he has request that he be considered a co-adviser.
On a more personal note...I had a surprisingly similar situation during my Ph.D. I joined a well-known, well-funded lab, with a high profile adviser who was very busy. So I largely worked with a less senior individual who was an aspiring advisor/PI. How it resolved itself was in my 2nd year, they both decided between themselves that he should be appointed as my co-adviser. They then both approached me with their decision and asked if I would be ok with it. Naturally I said yes, everyone was happy, and it was a complete non-issue.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: The question may be 'should I change advisors' rather than 'should I have a co-advisor'. Whether the original adviser takes offense or not, 'distribution of effort' may apply. With a second adviser on board, the PI you wanted more attention from will have less incentive to do so, moreso if he/she takes offense.
Look for examples within your department. If it's common, maybe go ahead. If not, consider the potential consequences carefully. If doesn't sound like anything will be lost by simply continuing to have conversations with that individual.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/15
| 1,628
| 6,848
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have a friend who’s an undergraduate at university. I believe myself to be fairly proficient in TeX/LaTeX; I’ve seen some of the assignments that he’s received back, and we both agree they could look more professional.
Is it ethical for me to typeset his work to look more like a paper before it's submitted for grading? I would not be adding any new information to the assignment and I would not correct any mistakes that I think I see, but it still seems to me that perhaps it could be against the rules.<issue_comment>username_1: I think that the best favour you can do to your friend is to teach him how to use LaTeX, so that he can improve the look of his work by himself.
In this way, you won't go against any rule and you'll teach your friend a new skill.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_2: I think this is probably not appropriate. You could ask the professor, but if it were me I would say no.
An important part of learning math at the undergraduate level is being able to write math clearly, and this includes the low-level yet essential skill of being able to handwrite or typeset math notation. If you're typesetting the assignments for your friend, the professor is not getting an accurate view of their proficiency at this skill, which could factor into the grade.
There could be an exception if your friend has a disability that makes it unusually difficult for him to write clearly by hand. But again, you would need the consent of the professor (and possibly also of some university disability service office).
(If your friend doesn't have a disability but just has particularly atrocious handwriting, the professor might agree to this, simply out of self-preservation; reading bad handwriting can be really frustrating.)
I agree with username_1 that in the long run, the best thing would be to help your friend learn to typeset the assignments himself. You could of course typeset some of his *previous* assignments for him as an example.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In my department, any homework/assignment etc. ends with a declaration which includes the claim that the author(s) did all of the work themselves unless mentioned otherwise.
My opinion is that typesetting is a process that is included in the assignment and while not explicitly stated is work you should do yourself.
I do agree with username_1 that showing someone the ropes with a typesetting system is a good way to handle the situation though.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: How much the look of the assignment/paper affects the result?
If the key value is the content (proof, research results, etc.) and the look is just the icing on a cake I dare to say your help is acceptable. At least your friend realized that the outcome he produced can be improved and you showed them how it can be improved.
If the graphic outcome is the key value, your friend's topic is graphics, for example, then your help - typesetting it for them - is unethical. Teaching them to use (XxLa)TeX is, on the other hand, completely different case.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: From personal experience in the UK, both the Undergraduate course (completed in 2013) and my current Masters programme have had various stipulations on submission presentation.
I can recall a particular assignment in the final year of my undergraduate degree where the marking scheme required submission in IEEE format with appropriate referencing. It was constructed such that if you followed the format and referenced correctly you would attain 30% of the marks, regardless of content.
The module leader allowed us to peer review the submissions as it was his (rather clever) way of teaching us to critique. You would be amazed how many failed to read the marking scheme and didn't submit in a format that you [can download from the internet](https://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/templates.html).
Your friend needs to learn that in the real world presentation, together with spelling and grammar are often as important as said content. If you can proficiently enable him and have the time and patience, he can go away and do it for a lifetime.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: As pointed out in the comments, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, students (and others) routinely hired typists to type their papers. There was nothing wrong with this then, and there's nothing wrong with it now, although I haven't heard of anyone hiring a typist in decades (except in the case of disability).
LaTeX, unfortunately, tends to occupy a different place in many professors' minds than typing does. In principle, having someone else TeX your work is no different from hiring a typist, and in fact in the early days of TeX the only people using it were professional technical typists. However, many professors, especially in mathematics, believe that "learning TeX" is an integral part of the course if they specify that assignments need to be LaTeXed. So it is probably not acceptable to typeset your friend's assignment if the professor requires LaTeX.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Why do you want to do this work for him?
Is it because he is your friend and you want to help him? Why don't you help him *learn* LaTeX then instead of doing all the work of typesetting yourself? ([Give a man a fish...](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/give_a_man_a_fish_and_you_feed_him_for_a_day;_teach_a_man_to_fish_and_you_feed_him_for_a_lifetime)) You can help him learn by guiding him through typesetting a non-graded homework assignment.
Is it because you believe that he is likely to get a better grade if the typesetting is better? If *your* work directly influences *his* grade, the answer is clear: it's inappropriate. He should be graded solely on his own work.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: I agree with a lot of the other answers and comments: I think ultimately it should be the professor who makes this decision.
That said, I've occasionally had students ask me if it was acceptable to do similar things. Many times – assuming I didn't feel it was a matter of academic integrity – I've answered by saying it would be okay if the student got formatting help, but I wanted them to **acknowledge the help openly in the assignment**.
In other words, an assignment such as the one you are describing could include footnote with an acknowledgement, something to the effect of:
>
> This assignment was typeset in LaTeX by <NAME>
>
>
>
That way, everything is above board, and the student isn't passing off someone else's work as their own.
One other idea that might be considered or proposed is handing in a copy of original work along with the LaTeX document, so the professor can get an idea of what the original work looked like before the improvements.
Upvotes: 3
|
2018/01/15
| 851
| 3,614
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm looking for information on the criteria that could be employed in the development of a social sciences (including economics) academic journal open access website. What visible (front-end) functions do academics prefer to use when looking up research content on an academic journal website?
For example:
1. Listings by year, author, publication type.
2. Search that allows you to modify the variables ("advanced search"), vs. search that lets you narrow down the results after a basic search ("faceted search").
3. What criteria do you usually (or would like to) use to narrow down search results?
4. Any examples of research content (academic journal) websites that work well?
5. Any functions that you wish were available to make searching for research content easier?
**Background:** I'm a communications officer with a research institute that publishes its own research via its own website. The website was redeveloped two years ago, with the aim of making the content more relevant, but lost some functions more relevant to academics in the process. In an effort to redress this I would like to establish some criteria for evaluating functions that are needed in an academic journal website.<issue_comment>username_1: I don't know about others (also I'm in mathematics where things might be different), but I almost exclusively use journal websites as follows:
1. Type the title of the paper and the authors in a search engine;
2. Click on the journal link if it appears;
3. (Optional) Log into my institutional account through something like [Shibboleth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibboleth_(Shibboleth_Consortium)) or [OpenAthens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAthens);
4. Download the PDF and read it.
My other use (in case I'm not looking for a specific paper) consists of typing keywords in an popular scholarly search engine and then proceeding from step 2.
If I encounter any hindrance in this process I give up and download the arXiv version (even though I typically prefer the journal version in case I need to make a precise citation...). So:
1. Have your papers indexed by popular search engines. This includes authors, keywords, abstracts.
* 1bis: If your journal is in mathematics, get it indexed in MathSciNet if you can. If it's not in mathematics, I believe there are other, subject-specific databases.
2. If the papers are not open access, let the reader access them easily. If possible, match the reader's IP to the university and automatically allow access to readers from subscribed universities. Otherwise, do not make the reader jump through hoops to be able to login and read it.This includes showing the reader a "403 Forbidden" page, forcing the reader to go back, search the tiny "Login" link and sift through a lift of 10,000 universities before finding the correct one.
3. Let the reader download a PDF without any obstacle. None of that fancy-schmancy web-based PDF viewers laced with DRMs.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I would also not worry about search functionality (as you probably can't beat other engines in the long run), but I one more point:
Besides making the access to the pdf easy you should also
make access to a correct and complete bibtex entry easy.
--------------------------------------------------------
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: One more thing: provide access to the current and most recent issue's tables of contents and abstracts through an rss (or atom) feed. This way, readers can stay up to date by subscribing to the feed using their favorite feed reader.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/16
| 1,897
| 8,135
|
<issue_start>username_0: At the end of the semester,
after the grades have been determined and released to the students,
I will receive emails from multiple students appealing for higher grades.
A few years ago, my colleagues developed a large course (> 600 students)
which is offered across multiple sections.
They chose to adopt a "semi-closed gradebook" policy
where the grades for the quizzes are released to the students,
but the grades for most of the other assignments and the project
are not released to the students.
When I asked my colleague about why she adopted such a policy,
they stated that the reason for this policy is that the class is large
and she didn't want to waste time dealing with
[grade grubbers](https://academia.stackexchange.com/q/9014/8802),
i.e., students who complain that they should get a higher score
for this or that assignment.
After a year, I inherited this course from her,
and as the course leader for this course,
I am able to make changes.
In the last two years,
I have maintained the "semi-closed gradebook" policy
introduced by the previous course leader.
However, I am wondering if I should adopt an "open gradebook" policy
where the marks for every assignment are released.
One benefit of such a policy is that if we make a mistake,
e.g., a student submitted an assignment,
but we gave the student a zero by mistake,
the student can notify us of our mistake and it can be corrected.
In addition, giving students some feedback
about their performance in the course
can help them to feel less worried and uncertain about how they are doing.
**Question:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of an open gradebook policy?**
### Response to comments
**Question in comment:**
Do you give students other individual feedback on these assignments, and just hide the numeric grade? Or do they get no feedback on them?
In the past,
we do give the students their numeric score for some of the assignments.
I would like to give the students some written feedback on their assignments,
however, the graders are not very motivated,
and I am unsure how the logistics should work for given written feedback.
For example, should the grader send an email
to every student individually to give feedback,
which is more than 600 students?<issue_comment>username_1: Before starting with my answer, let me say that I would never use a semi-closed gradebook in this setting. With over 600 students and multiple graders, chances are just way too high that there is a mistake. Can you really claim that you are able to enter over 600 grades into a table/system, without once skipping a line, entering it in the wrong field, etc? Can you claim the same for every last one of your graders?
---
Now for the answer:
You are in a classical dilemma here. On one side, you want to be a good teacher, fair to the students and giving them all constructive feedback, on the other side, you have other 600 students and not enough time/manpower to do it and to deal with all the grade grubbers.
At my department, the common way to deal with this problem is to have exact dates set for "grade grubbing". For example, say an assignment is returned graded to the students on Monday. Then you tell them that everyone who has a question about the grading should come and see you in your office on "insert date and time here". That could be right after hading it back, some days later, etc. This way, someone who got unjustly graded has a chance to speak up, but has to come see you in person for that. Thus, grade grubbers will think twice about it, because it is much harder than just writing an email.
Another important point is that grubbing at the end of the term is not possible anymore. Most grade grubbers I have encountered look at their final grade and then try to get some more points in every single project and assignment, hoping that they will add up to a better final grade. If you make clear times for every single assignment, asking for more points on that later is no longer possible.
Of course, you don't need to do all the work yourself. Your assistants could, for example, deal with the discussion with students, and only forward the cases they see as justified to you to decide.
On a side note, you should of course consider students that are not able to make it to this date, e.g. because they are sick. Here, you need to come up with a system that is still fair towards these students, while at the same time not allowing others to ask for points at any given later time they want. Possible ways to do so would include students authorizing others to speak for them, or students handing in a doctors note.
Regarding your edit:You should definitely give feedback and not only a numerical grade. Otherwise you invite lots of "why?" questions that could be avoided.
As you are grading with multiple graders, you should have some rules on where to give points, how much points to take off for what mistake, etc. Otherwise it would be nearly impossible for different graders to grade in the same way, i.e. the grading would not be fair. If you have such a guideline, then why not share it with the students after handing back the assignments? Tell them how you expected them to do it, tell them what gave points and which errors took of how many points, tell them about common errors that were made (without giving names, of course), etc. This will also reduce the number of people asking for more points. Depending on your preferences, you could either write these comments to every single student, or you could make a lecture out of it.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Case study: The biggest upwards bump I ever got in student evaluations was when I started making all course and assignment grades available on the school's digital learning management system (accessible 24/7 online by student login). Previously I'd noticed that my lowest score was in the category of "Instructor keeps me informed as to how I'm doing", and using the LMS to make all grades visible immediately fixed that.
I would argue that more transparency is always better in cases like this. It serves to clarify policies to the students, allows both sides to double-check, and reduce student anxiety (all of which are good things to model). My opinion is that this is the direction that reduces student inquiries about grades.
I have had some colleagues who argued the same "Don't release grades so students can't argue about them", and I've never understood that. The whole situation feels more tense and high-stakes. The only downside I can think of is that open grading gives somewhat less flexibility to the instructor, in that it forces them to be honest and not goose scores in either direction for extraneous reasons.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_3: I cannot fathom a "closed" or "semi-closed" gradebook - make student grades open and accessible, and put boundaries around challenging grades that discourage the reflexive "I want more points" grubbing. username_1's suggestions about setting deadlines for when students can come challenge grades, requiring students to come talk to you/someone in person, and sharing grading guidelines with students (preferably before the assignment is turned in) are all great.
I've also found that allowing rewrites/redos (with similar boundaries and structures - due dates, guidelines, etc.) and asking students to make the case for what grade they think they deserve (with specifics, no general "well I thought I did well" or "I made the changes you told me to, I therefore deserve an A") work really well. I promise that all 600 students will not take you up on these offers - the vast majority will not, in fact. But rewriting/redoing and having the student make the case for a particular grade reinforces what you're trying to teach in the first place, because you have to understand what you're doing in order to talk about how it's being evaluated. You're not letting them off easy with these kinds of policies either, since a real rewrite and a real argument for a given grade take real work that (bonus!) help with real learning.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/16
| 797
| 3,185
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm a computer science student at Stony Brook University. As the undergrad final project next semester, I am to do a research project under the supervision of a professor, whom I have to find this semester.
I have not yet taken any classes with professors whose research I am interested in, How can I show that I'm "competent enough" for them to spend time on me? It feels like standards for computer science are different than say, biology. I also currently don't know a lot about the area I'm interested in (data systems/mining), though I will be taking the database course this semester. Would this be a major negative factor?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> How can I show that I'm "competent enough" for them to spend time on me?
>
>
>
In short, you cannot. You can inform yourself roughly about their area, but you won't be able to impress them by knowledge in *their* area. Let them choose the topic.
>
> Would this be a major negative factor?
>
>
>
It would be a negative factor. Whether it'd be a major one, depends very much on the topic. There is still a lot of low-hanging fruit in the area, so, deep knowledge might be simply not as necessary as programming skills.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Research means diving into the unknown.
Committing to work on a research project with a mentor is also diving into the unknown.
What I can reassure you about is that
1. Professors are used to undergraduates signing up for research projects with less preparation than would be seen in grad students
2. The stakes will not be as high for this as they would be as a grad student. If you don't have any original findings to show for yourself at the end of the project, that won't be a disaster.
This is a chance for you to get your feet wet, to ask, I wonder... and then figure out how you might start working on an answer.
Give it a try!
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Self-doubt is important. Shutting down and doing too much of self-doubt is quite harming.
While at the post-graduate level I recon the most important researcher quality to be *having new ideas*, this is of lesser importance for you know. You might not know enough to get good new ideas or might happen to rediscover things people already did.
To take a short digress: a famous marvel of Soviet mathematical school was *"the ability to solve problems"*. Some even describes this as the prime task of a mathematician. While we might go aside and discuss in length if this is generally the case, this fits your current stage.
So, to put in in a succinct manner: As a undergraduate doing research, **you need to be able to find solutions to the problems** your advisor assigns to you. Most of them would be of the sort "implement *this*" or "find which one of known methods to do *that* better works with our current data". Of course, if you find a yet another method not listed/mentioned by your supervisor, it's a plus. If you *invent* a new one, if a huge plus. But do not aim too high for now.
tl;dr: Convince your professor, you are good at problem solving. As this is CS, most of problem solving would involve coding.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/16
| 695
| 2,759
|
<issue_start>username_0: How to cite papers in my statement of purpose? The interview panel has asked me to cite the papers from which I have taken a general idea about my statement of purpose. Kindly guide me through the process?<issue_comment>username_1: >
> How can I show that I'm "competent enough" for them to spend time on me?
>
>
>
In short, you cannot. You can inform yourself roughly about their area, but you won't be able to impress them by knowledge in *their* area. Let them choose the topic.
>
> Would this be a major negative factor?
>
>
>
It would be a negative factor. Whether it'd be a major one, depends very much on the topic. There is still a lot of low-hanging fruit in the area, so, deep knowledge might be simply not as necessary as programming skills.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Research means diving into the unknown.
Committing to work on a research project with a mentor is also diving into the unknown.
What I can reassure you about is that
1. Professors are used to undergraduates signing up for research projects with less preparation than would be seen in grad students
2. The stakes will not be as high for this as they would be as a grad student. If you don't have any original findings to show for yourself at the end of the project, that won't be a disaster.
This is a chance for you to get your feet wet, to ask, I wonder... and then figure out how you might start working on an answer.
Give it a try!
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Self-doubt is important. Shutting down and doing too much of self-doubt is quite harming.
While at the post-graduate level I recon the most important researcher quality to be *having new ideas*, this is of lesser importance for you know. You might not know enough to get good new ideas or might happen to rediscover things people already did.
To take a short digress: a famous marvel of Soviet mathematical school was *"the ability to solve problems"*. Some even describes this as the prime task of a mathematician. While we might go aside and discuss in length if this is generally the case, this fits your current stage.
So, to put in in a succinct manner: As a undergraduate doing research, **you need to be able to find solutions to the problems** your advisor assigns to you. Most of them would be of the sort "implement *this*" or "find which one of known methods to do *that* better works with our current data". Of course, if you find a yet another method not listed/mentioned by your supervisor, it's a plus. If you *invent* a new one, if a huge plus. But do not aim too high for now.
tl;dr: Convince your professor, you are good at problem solving. As this is CS, most of problem solving would involve coding.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/16
| 764
| 3,035
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a French citizen who is interested in a PhD in the US, Canada or Australia, in the field of geography, water management and protection, environmental problematics, land management...
But it seems really hard to find PhD offers, especially when you are a foreigner. I wonder if this is because we are in a bad period, where most of the offers are closed at the beginning of the year?
I get the feeling that most PhD candidates are recruited internally. Any advice is welcome.<issue_comment>username_1: >
> How can I show that I'm "competent enough" for them to spend time on me?
>
>
>
In short, you cannot. You can inform yourself roughly about their area, but you won't be able to impress them by knowledge in *their* area. Let them choose the topic.
>
> Would this be a major negative factor?
>
>
>
It would be a negative factor. Whether it'd be a major one, depends very much on the topic. There is still a lot of low-hanging fruit in the area, so, deep knowledge might be simply not as necessary as programming skills.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Research means diving into the unknown.
Committing to work on a research project with a mentor is also diving into the unknown.
What I can reassure you about is that
1. Professors are used to undergraduates signing up for research projects with less preparation than would be seen in grad students
2. The stakes will not be as high for this as they would be as a grad student. If you don't have any original findings to show for yourself at the end of the project, that won't be a disaster.
This is a chance for you to get your feet wet, to ask, I wonder... and then figure out how you might start working on an answer.
Give it a try!
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Self-doubt is important. Shutting down and doing too much of self-doubt is quite harming.
While at the post-graduate level I recon the most important researcher quality to be *having new ideas*, this is of lesser importance for you know. You might not know enough to get good new ideas or might happen to rediscover things people already did.
To take a short digress: a famous marvel of Soviet mathematical school was *"the ability to solve problems"*. Some even describes this as the prime task of a mathematician. While we might go aside and discuss in length if this is generally the case, this fits your current stage.
So, to put in in a succinct manner: As a undergraduate doing research, **you need to be able to find solutions to the problems** your advisor assigns to you. Most of them would be of the sort "implement *this*" or "find which one of known methods to do *that* better works with our current data". Of course, if you find a yet another method not listed/mentioned by your supervisor, it's a plus. If you *invent* a new one, if a huge plus. But do not aim too high for now.
tl;dr: Convince your professor, you are good at problem solving. As this is CS, most of problem solving would involve coding.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/16
| 594
| 2,289
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am a non EU PhD Student in Germany in Global Studies. I am now in my 8th year of a PhD program, which is quite dysfunctional. However, with a lot of difficulty, I am about to complete the PhD and hand it in.
I am looking at post doctoral opportunities but am worried that the long time I took to complete the PhD would affect me negatively. I have published quite widely, presented work at international conferences, and am in my late 40s now. I began my career as an academic (masters in 2008) after a long career as a journalist.<issue_comment>username_1: The fact that you took 8 years for your PhD, the fact that you barely managed to finish it and also the fact that you are in your late 40s influence your chances of getting a post doc.
However, from the given information alone, it is not possible to tell how strongly.
If we assume about 5 years of study for bachelor/master/other and 8 years for PhD, there are still 15-20 years missing here to get you in your late 40s. What you did in this time might play an important role on your job search.
Furthermore, it is important if you just wrote down something that was barely accepted as a PhD thesis, or if you took 8 years to work everything out properly and write the perfect thesis. I think the quality of your thesis will play a bigger role than the time you needed to finish it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In Germany you can [by law](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz) only be employed for 12 years as a PhD-student / PostDoc. So this leaves only 4 years to either land a professorship or move from one third party funded project to the next. Also a professorship typically means "verbeamtung" which gets harder the older you get.
The academic market in Germany is very unforgiving and you have to be careful not to end up in an impossible position where you are basically kicked out of academia, but at the same time have been in academia too long to be attractive outside academia.
I am not saying you shouldn't pursue your dreams. I am certainly not saying that the current situation in Germany is right (it is not). But I am telling you to be careful, and to at least have a plan B ready and not wait too long to activate that plan B.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/16
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<issue_start>username_0: One of the Reviewer comments for a paper that I sent to a journal is the following:
>
> The authors claim that they are the first to use subjective
> questionnaires to develop predictive models. This is not accurate, there
> are many studies on the literature that use questionnaires and some of
> them even compare PQ to objective data coming from sensors in order to
> find correlations.
>
>
>
Now the problem is that I have done a thorough check and have observed that this paper indeed is first to use questionnaire to develop predicitve models for the particular disorder. Now how do I handle such a comment?<issue_comment>username_1: It may be the case that your paper is the first to use this method for a very specific area/field/subject/topic. If so, it may be unclear to the reader that it is the first in *that* sense.
You may try to argue that, if there is a rebut option; if not, try to make it clearer on the text for the final version if it gets accepted.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I think there's no contradiction. The reviewer said "...first to use subjective questionnaires to develop predictive models", while you said "...first to use subjective questionnaires to develop predictive models *for the particular disorder*" (emphasis mine).
I would just write in a response what you said, and ask for clarification - something like "I have done a thorough check ... the particular disorder. If the reviewer is aware of a previous paper has also used subjective questionnaires for this disorder, please point it out".
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/16
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<issue_start>username_0: Is it rude to ask another faculty member if you can reuse their slides, notes etc? I am new to teaching in a 4-year college and I am not sure if I can even ask my new colleagues this question. It pops up when they help me and add me to their course pages they have taught a previous semester. I see that their material is good and prompted to ask if I can reuse them.<issue_comment>username_1: **tl;dr**: It depends on your University practices and regulations.
There are (at least) two questions to consider:
1. **Who owns the materials?** In some Universities, the teaching materials produced by academics as a part of their contract belong to University, so when you inherit a course from another academic, you also inherit the materials. In some Universities, materials remain the property of academics who created them, but you still can ask nicely.
2. **Can you teach with their materials?** Some courses are very standard, but some are based on specific expertise of particular staff. Some materials may be easy to reuse, and some really tailored to a particular teaching style of a staff member. If the course ran well with these materials in hands of another staff member, can you also make it work for you? Simply saving your time on preparation may result in confusion during the class because you did not design these materials and don't know how to use them efficiently.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: The culture in different departments is different. I've been in departments where the expectation is that everyone develop their own teaching materials. I've also been in groups and departments where if you asked whether you can use someone else's material, the answer would be "of course".
In general, reusing someone's materials without their consent is poor style. But I would suggest to all young faculty that they ask older colleagues what the culture of the department is. If the answer is "Yes, of course we help each other", then if you want to reuse someone's materials, the right approach is to ask them whether they'd be willing to share their materials.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: >
> It pops up when they help me and add me to their course pages they have taught a previous semester.
>
>
>
If you're already getting this kind of help and access from a fellow teacher, then it sounds totally fair (and perhaps expected) to request using their other materials (slides, etc.). I find most of my colleagues fairly flattered when I want to borrow their materials -- less a "get your own" mentality, more "glad to help".
If you get to borrow materials, you'll undoubtedly find yourself altering and adjusting them to fit your particular needs. If you add to them in some way, be sure to offer the updated files to the original author. Then voila -- you're the one sharing that great thing!
However, be prepared for a "no" from some. That's fine, though, and you should decide in advance to not take it personally.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/16
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a TA for an undergraduate Signals and Systems class (Electrical Engineering). As part of this, I lead a lab session, where we teach students how to code up various signal transforming operations in MATLAB, and visualize the transformed signals (for example, time-scaling, time-shifting, etc). So far it has been just basic stuff (it's only week 3), but the complexity *will* scale up quite a bit.
One of my students has some kind of "code-fright". She understands the theory (because there's a pre-lab in which you write down the theory of what you *will* be coding in the lab, and she does well here), but when it comes to coding, she just can't get started; her editor is blank till the very end, and she doesn't ask for help when I go to her; eventually, she's on the verge of tears, and is clearly very, very upset.
When I try to talk to her about what the code should look like, asking questions, and trying to get her to answer, she just remains stuck on the line, "I'm not good at programming". I repeatedly tell her that she has the theory down, and she simply needs to write it up in MATLAB, and reassure her gently that she can do this. But it doesn't help at all.
How do I help her out? The lab has 20 students, so as much as I wish, I can't spend more time with her. But I don't want her to forever think that "she sucks at programming".
EDIT - I forgot to add, this lab has teams. But she refuses to work with her partner (presumably because she wants to be able to do it on her own?). The partner does manage to get her code to work on her own.<issue_comment>username_1: About her not wanting to work with her team mate -- she may have some fears such as:
* that she'll feel embarrassed in front of her team mate
* that she'll rely too much on the team mate's competence
* that her phobia and/or incompetence will be contagious
Here's what I think would help:
* She needs a tutor to work with her outside the lab, one on one, several hours per week, ideally for 30 - 40 minutes per day.
* The professor should be brought on board and she should be allowed to turn in pseudocode on a temporary basis.
* In each tutoring session, the tutor should pose a programming exercise and ask her to write pseudocode, since (if I understood right) she's comfortable doing that.
* Next, to produce Matlab code, the tutor should scribe for her (write from her dictation), using pencil and paper, away from the computer -- ideally not in a computer lab.
* When she gets stuck on syntax, the tutor should allow her to look at an easy-to-use syntax cheat sheet (if one doesn't exist, the tutor should create one).
* As much as possible, the tutor should help her fix errors before they get to the computer.
* Once the program has been written completely with pencil and paper, they should sit in front of the computer together, but with the tutor in the driver's seat. Initially, the tutor should do all the typing and clicking.
* She may continue to be tearful and she may continue to say she's not good at programming. The tutor should not waste any time with pep talks and should not argue with her. At the end of each session, the tutor should give brief positive feedback, with eye contact, but without gushing.
* After several sessions, the tutor should say, at the end of the session, "Next time, you're going to type the second half of the program."
* At the next session, when they're moving to the computer, the tutor reminds the student, "Today, you're going to type the second half of the program." Next, the tutor types the first half and then hands over the keyboard and mouse. Now, the tutor needs to be as cool as a cucumber and just wait. The tutor may solve a Sudoku while waiting if desired.
* The next session, the same, but at the end, the tutor informs the student that next time, she will type the whole program.
* The next challenge might be to move toward composing at the computer -- but this stage might not be needed.
This is a bit like exposure therapy. The tutor should provide occasional positive feedback, but very businesslike. You know, and I know, and the tutor will know, that the student will be going through hell. But it is most respectful to just let her go through it, without making a big deal about it.
If she takes the initiative to speak about her feelings, the tutor should not interrupt -- but the tutor should keep the focus on programming (not talk therapy).
It might be helpful for the student to see a medical doctor to discuss possible pharmaceutical support for this project before beginning. That part is optional and the decision is very individual.
I don't know how you could help arrange for this. One obvious option is to find a private tutor who could do a good job with this type of tutoring, and propose that she pay the tutor out of pocket. You could ask in your department to see if there are any other options.
---
Edit: I glanced at the Wikipedia article's Solutions section that Daniel linked to, and it made me realize I should have explained where my outlined intervention came from.
It came from my experience with my son, who has Tourette Syndrome, OCD and anxiety. Specifically, from tutoring him during several key difficult periods, and from assisting with home exercises in his treatment for OCD.
Scribing during high-symptom periods has allowed him to progress academically. We were able to move from a place of high emotion and a lot of homework refusal to a place where I would start the homework session by scribing, until he would grab the pencil and the clipboard from me, and eventually to a place of independence.
Exposure treatments work on the principle of exposing the person to the thing that's very distressing, but in a controlled way, with increases given in small baby steps. It takes patience. The body can't maintain its alarmed state forever, so in each session you apply the stressor in a small amount and wait it out. Eventually the fight-flight-freeze response goes away. You do the exercise repeatedly. That's a very simplified explanation but I hope it helps.
This student's problem is a bit like the classic phobias, e.g. fear of flying, fear of spiders, etc., but it's a bit different, and that's why I used my experience scribing for my son as a model.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: When you tell her that she doesn't suck at programming, all she hears is that you don't understand how bad she sucks. The psychology is the important thing here, not pedagogy. If I were in your situation, I would say something like, "Yes, you do suck at programming. In fact, most of us suck at programming. (Heck, have you ever noticed that Windows doesn't work???) But by doing some of these exercises, we get a bit better at programming. Likely, you'll never be World's Greatest Programmer, or even a programmer, but by struggling, even unsuccessfully, with some of these exercises, you'll make yourself a stronger thinker. And therefore a better person."
I've gotten a lot more mileage out of "We all suck, so let's do what we can" than pretending that everyone's a genius.
Upvotes: 8 <issue_comment>username_3: I wasn't familiar with MATLAB, so I looked at some code samples on a page called [Getting Started with MATLAB](https://www.mathworks.com/examples/matlab/community/19664-getting-started-with-matlab). If your own introduction to MATLAB looks like this, that may be the problem. Even those extremely basic operations assume a lot of knowledge that programmers take for granted, like what variables and functions are, first conceptually, and then in their general appearance in code. The thought underlying "I suck at programming" may be, "What the hell *is* programming, anyway?"
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_4: I teach math and programming to life science students, so I've seen students like this, although maybe not this extreme. Here's what I would try.
1. Start interacting with her in your usual way. Wait until she says, "I suck at programming".
2. Don't contradict her. Instead, say "OK, let's suppose, just for the sake of argument, that you suck at programming." If you feel you can pull it off, ham it up and see if you can get a laugh. "In fact, you might just be the worst programmer who ever lived!" If this doesn't fit you, just do the first line.
3. Turn it around. "I bet that even if you really are the worst programmer in the history of humankind, you can code this line." Point to something very simple from her pseudocode. Provide support if necessary and be enthusiastic when she gets it. If she freezes, type an answer with an obvious mistake into her editor. Let her fix the mistake.
4. Go to the next simplest line. At this point, you're not going for a fully working program, just incremental development.
5. At this point, tell her to work with her partner for a few minutes and say you'll check back soon. (Repeat a few times.) It's also good to make an announcement to the whole class about how much time professional programmers spend debugging.
Also, encourage her to come to office hours. That can be a good way to work with a student individually without spending extra time.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_5: Programming is a complex skill that you can't pick up that quickly. So telling her she can do it when she may have an accurate assessment of her abilities won't help in any way. If I would attend a class and find out it is given in Chinese, then no amount of telling me "no you can actually understand Chinese, just try it" will help. There is this mindset of "We can do whatever we want if you just want it enough" but what gets forgotten is that some things need years of training.
What she needs is to attend an introductory programming course, where she learns basic concepts and assumptions, for example that there is a CPU and it executes instructions in sequential order and there are variables and so on.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: Have you ever heard of Imposter Syndrome? My coding bootcamp introduced it to us at the start of our development training. It essentially sums up the feelings of inadequacy, especially in the face of peers. Learning code can feel like an insurmountable task. This video helped myself and my fellow students when we felt like we were in the wrong place:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqhUHyVpAwE>
It may seem a bit silly but for the mind of a student, I think it is suitable.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_7: I've had some of these cases over the years, and they always end badly. To me, the "she doesn't ask for help when I go to her" is the worst signal here. A student in that situation cannot get better, in my experience.
This sounds a lot like math anxiety, which is an incredibly deep problem, and likely beyond your ability to fix as a TA. My understanding of the literature is that [classroom-based interventions do not work](http://www.madmath.com/2016/02/hembree-on-math-anxiety.html); the student needs one-on-one treatment; so perhaps you should direct them to a school counselor, if available. You could also peruse the suggested solutions [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_anxiety#Solutions), but they are mostly aimed at school-aged children, and frankly even the top few items run counter to research as I understand it.
In the long run, you'll find that if a student doesn't want you to assist them, then you simply cannot be of use to them as a teaching assistant.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_8: Since no one suggested this before, simply **ask her *why***. 3 minutes after you give out the exercise for everyone to do, go to her and check her screen.
If she keeps repeating the same phrase, break the "brain freeze" pattern by asking a sequence of questions similar to:
1. "why can you not start?" (nod and ignore if she repeats the same phrase)
2. "did you study the last classes exercises code?" Or simply, "did you study the basic syntax of a MATLAB program?"
* if not and if the reason is because she did not have the code, ask her why she did not study from her partner's code?
* if she did study, why can't she start by trying out a similar structure to the code in X class or from what she has seen in Y book/tutorial?
3. More importantly, remind her that this is a group exercise, that both of them seem to understand the logic behind the exercises, so she needs to work with her partner. Then ask her: "why are you not cooperating with your partner?"
* if she replies that "her 'programming level' (whatever that is) is too advanced for me", then say to her: "what matters here is that the group implements the logic, if you both understand parts of it you can ask each other about certain issues, like which set of conditions would be better in this case, what expression would satisfy them better, etc."
* if she comes up again with the "I want to do it on my own" line, *be blunt*, tell her that this is a group exercise for a reason and that the group (not her) needs to deliver the code at the end. You may suggest to her that she can try to do the exercise by herself after the class, but if she still decides not to contribute, consider that dismembering the team and evaluating each one individually is an option. Ask her partner first how would she feel about it.
From this sequence at least you'll be able to address the real problem, which some here have speculated about (freeloading may be implicit), but if you ever discover the true reason, adapt your strategy in order for her to either start writing something down (even if the interpreter does not run, at least there will be a debugging process to do) or to start working with her partner.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_9: I think their problem is the initial barrier to "programming". They think a "programmer" is genius that thinks in code, loves in code, breathes in code and knows always everything.
If they can do it manually on a paper switch the computer down and ask them to instruct *you* to do all the steps on the paper.
Start with a blank page and ask them to feed you with the signal draw the signal input or ask them how to draw the graph.
Then ask what to do next and why. "Apply fourier transformation" is good instruction here.
in the end you should be instructed to draw the output graph. Assure them that it is That Simple.
Then start again with a blank page. Explain them, that now you are more dull than earlier and that you understand simpler tasks only. Explain them that one instruction from previous example must be divided in several steps following each other. The instructions here should be complex as well, but a bit simpler. Assure them that it is Still That Simple.
Repeat untill the instructions you are asked to do are exactly the instructions written on one line in the computer code.
Now they wrote the actual program in language they understands. Assure them it is That Simple and that you were dull enough to be considered a computer and they can get results from you anyway.
Then start the computer and write "Hello World" function. Assure them it is that simple.
Show them how to translate short part of the instruction they fed to you to the code MATLAB understands. Something like "go through X and append every value greater than Y to Z" translates to:
```
Z=zeros(0,1);
for ii=1:length(X)
if X(ii)>Y
Z=[Z;X(ii)];
end
end
```
Explain them every single command and assure them they actually used that command, but with slightly different name.
Let them write slightly longer code based on the simple example you have just explained.
I think there is only one lesson they need to learn: Everything is build up from simple parts. All they need is to know about those simple parts and how to connect them to build something more complex.
Also do not hide `help` and `doc` functions from them.
Avoid something like "It is simple, all you need to do is [write advanced code]". This will prevent a lot of people from even thinking about whatever you do.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: I would like to add that some starter code / basic infrastructure can go a long way in helping a person who isn't very familiar with programming start typing stuff into the editor.
For example, in c++, a blank `fourier_transform.cpp` may look terrifying, but one with
```
... doFourierTransform(...)
{
/*
Input : This function takes as input ...
Output : This function should return ...
*/
//==== PUT YOUR CODE HERE ====
//============================
}
```
suddenly makes it much easier to start with.
Forgive this slight piece of personal opinion... but Python might be an easier language for beginners than MATLAB
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_11: I don't work exactly as a *programmer,* actually I am a professional *software developer,* hence my perspective might be a bit different. Moreover, I studied computer science so I really don't know much of the engineering side of academia (I just know it is different).
However, I did study a lot of programming (it is just a small part of software development after all) and from what you wrote I think there is something that can and should be fixed or at least **can help this student a lot.**
In particular, you mentioned that:
>
> She understands the theory (because there's a pre-lab in which you write down the theory of what you will be coding in the lab, and she does well here), but when it comes to coding, she just can't get started
>
>
>
I might be wrong, but it seems to me you are first doing a pre-lab when they write something and then you get them right in front of a screen with MATLAB opened.
This is dangerous (and not productive) for professionals, let alone for novices.
**Starting to write code without having figured exactly what your *goal* is and what *structure* it will have is like leaving for a 2-year long journey with no luggage, no money, no means of transportation and no idea of where you are going.** You can probably do it but you rather wouldn't.
I can't recall how many times we were taught this when I studied programming in high school and in my BSc. Actually, they even forced us to do so. Not much during the MSc, probably they figured we wouldn't be there if we didn't already know it.
By starting directly in front of a screen one:
* spends a lot of time fixing syntax while still thinking about how the solution will work
* writes messy code which lacks a clear vision
* feels the frustration and the pain of not having precise ideas
This can be fixed by applying the **Correct Way** (:P) of:
* starting with a list of: provided input, output we want to get / effect we desire
* writing down a step by step process detailing how the problem will be solved, or how the main function will behave, etcetera (plain English, then pseudocode as a second step)
* (if it is a larger program) designing a list of different functions and or data structures, thinking firstly just what they will do, then how
* finally copying the things written on paper into actual code, step by step and only at this point thinking about syntax/bugs
For small programs or scripts, professionals can usually handle designing all the code structure in their minds before starting, however it is quite hard (if not impossible) for novices or people who think they "suck at programming". I usually write down stuff for anything that will take more than 2 hours of work.
**Pen and paper** are the first tools that should be used for programming and also for software development especially by beginners. This approach should be pursued instead of having the students write code directly.
---
Side note
=========
A different approach is usually good for becoming familiar with the syntax of a language, especially in a REPL environment. That is starting from code provided by someone else (small chunks) and trying to change the values of parameters to see what happens.
But this approach should not be confused with learning how to program. This method makes sense only in an "exploratory mode" not aimed at writing a particular piece of code.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: Emphasize bravery for new programmers
-------------------------------------
When I was preparing to tutor a 13-year-old girl in programming, having only helped undergrads before, I did some light research to see what tone I should set. I came across this TED Talk:
[Teach girls bravery, not perfection | <NAME>](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC9da6eqaqg)
(<NAME> is the founder of [Girls Who Code](https://girlswhocode.com/).)
Saujani's thesis is that girls are socialized to be perfect, whereas boys are socialized to "play rough and climb to the top of the monkey bars". One study she cites found that grade 5 girls encountering material that was too difficult gave up whereas boys redoubled their efforts, despite the girls' overall superior academic performance. (In fact, the smarter the girl, the higher the chance she gave up.)
Now consider that **programming requires a huge amount of trial and error both in writing and debugging**, not only for learners but even for most professionals.
A scenario she describes at Girls Who Code sounds very much like your own student's:
>
> We immediately see in our program our girls' fear of not getting it right, of not being perfect. Every Girls Who Code teacher tells me the same story: during the first week when the girls are learning how to code, a student will call her over and she'll say, "I don't know what code to write." The teacher will look at her screen and she'll see a blank text editor. If she didn't know any better, she'll think that her student spent the past 20 minutes just staring at the screen. But if she presses Undo a few times, she'll see that her student wrote code and then deleted it. She tried, she came close, but she didn't get it exactly right. Instead of showing the progress that she made, she'd rather show *nothing* at all.
>
>
>
She also mentions a pattern that reminds me of your student's "I suck at programming" comments:
>
> When the guys are struggling with the assignment, they'll come in and they'll say, "Professor, there's something wrong with my code." The girls will come in and say, "Professor, there's something wrong with *me*."
>
>
>
Not everyone may agree with this assessment (the disheartening YouTube comments are evidence enough), and generalizations have exceptions. There's no guarantee that these observations apply to your student's case. But at a minimum, I think it would be a promising track to follow.
### Applying this
Let her know that mistakes are necessary steps to mastery and that progress is only made in this field by trial and error. The mistakes she'll make won't do any harm or damage the computer. But showing them to you will allow her to get past them.
Focus on the process, not the result. Praise growth, not (perceived) ability.
Throw in stories of your own history getting over these humps. Many students love to hear that their teacher wasn't always "all-knowing". They see that you're human and had the same problems as them. Ergo, they too can surmount them.
You can also do something like "[My Favourite No](http://www.collectedny.org/2015/03/my-favorite-no-a-great-way-to-celebrate-student-mistakes-in-math/)", where you invite attempts from the students. You then identify the mistake whose correction is most likely to help everyone and go through it with the students. These days apps like Padlet would make it easy to do that anonymously.
### Theoretical connections
As Kevin comments below, there are connections with growth vs. fixed mindsets and mastery vs. performance outlooks. There are also connections with attribution theory ("Whose fault is it when I fail? Who gets the credit when I succeed? Why did I fail or succeed?"). We know, for example, that helping students attribute success to effort rather than innate intelligence is a good predictor of willingness to take on new, harder tasks (itself a prerequisite for succeeding at them).
---
Appendix: filling in the air pockets
------------------------------------
This doesn't mean a diminution of rigour. You don't need to say that mistakes are fine or can be ignored. Quite the contrary: Students have to make them because it's important to identify them. The mistakes aren't good; making them is.
I'll illustrate. I have another student, a 10-year-old boy\* I'm teaching French. For a long time, he seemed to hate reading, even though he was pretty good at it. During one lesson he happened to make a remark that revealed the problem: "I'm not gonna read. I'll just make mistakes."
"So?" I said. "That's what I'm here for! I'm not here to listen to you already reading perfectly!"
I then made this impromptu drawing:
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MZgYH.png)
"This box is your understanding of how to read French," I said. "When we completely fill it in, you understand everything. But right now there are little bubbles — air pockets. Those are the gaps in your knowledge."
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9iMMO.png)
"Whenever you read, we're scanning this box. Every time we find a bubble, we 'pop' it. We talk about the mistake and practice till you get it. By the end, this is what we have."
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/4W3Xy.png)
I don't know if it would work with everyone, but it worked with him. He got over his fear of reading.
\* Those who read this episode as proof that boys have the problem too can feel free. The pedagogical point is the same.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_13: Your student will probably not be able to pass the course this time - she is already far behind, and will be unlikely to catch up. So she may prepare for passing next time.
The problem isn't anything intellectually, it is plain and simple fear. She *absolutely* knows she can't program, so she needs to start without programming, or without thinking she does programming. In the end, "programming" means you type a program, the computer does what the program says, and if you type the right things, the computer does what you actually wanted.
So to try her to do this in the simplest possible way, ask her to go to <https://www.w3schools.com> which teaches html. It starts *really* easy. They show a program, you change it a bit, you click on a button and it shows the result of your changes. It doesn't look like programming ("real" programmers will say it isn't programming, but it's close enough), so the hope is that she can do this without being overcome by fear, see little successes, and improve from there.
And at some point, MatLab will not induce fear in her anymore. I hope it is possible for her to get the course materials, so she should be able to get started on her own, and then do the course next year.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_14: I'm getting here late but I want to contribute a different angle. Most people are saying "tell her something and she will change" or "change her": this will not work.
Think what if they were your family. What would you do then? Like if your son refused to fold his laundry? I think there we would just have to fold the laundry together until he got the hang of it. I could do it for him every once in a while so they don't get frustrated but eventually they will have to learn to do it by themselves or it doesn't get done. Some people just don't fold their clothes, like some people just don't like computers.
It's hard to understand from our perspective but it's no less unique or special. Certainly a tough lesson for any teacher and shows the importance of a positive attitude. Even if they don't learn if you can keep a positive attitude it was still a success for the student. Hope my perspective sheds light on the situation and best of luck.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/16
| 1,546
| 6,633
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a visiting assistant professor at a selective liberal arts school for psychology, first year post-grad. I have five publications but probably won't get any offers for tenure track positions without an additional postdoc. I also am trying to find a position in which research is an element, but not the first priority of the job (which is a really narrow path, it seems).
I haven't been able to find a lot of information specifically about "lecturer" positions in US universities. I know they can come with some security and focus mainly on a lot of teaching. I enjoy teaching and would be happy to make it the focus of my career, but I am still holding on to the ideal of the tenure-track line. If I did take a lecturer position at a high-ranking school, I figure I can depend on potentially a better starting salary than a tenure line at a smaller or lower-ranked school- while it would be at the cost of career growth, would it be incorrect to assume I could just make a living that way and possibly get some job security down the line? (For example, I know there have been "senior lecturer" designations and such that seem to indicate security of employment). Or even if there was stability but no growth?
Can anyone speak to maintaining a lecturer position as a kind of permanent position? I know that they are generally term to term, or are on some contract every x years (for example one of the positions I applied to is renewable on a 3 year contract). I know that lecturer positions are not really helpful to transition to tenure-track lines focused on research, but what about teaching-focused schools? Or, even, if one just stops at lecturer?
I feel at the moment that taking a lecturer position would sort of end my tenure-track aspirations on paper, but also I don't want to end up doing term positions or adjuncting for 10 years (true stories about this have been told to me). I could do a postdoc but the return rate on those is generally later in the year, which comes at the expense of current opportunities if I get any offers. Additionally, although I'm young in my career I am already feeling myself fatiguing and I don't want to go through years of moving, instability, financial insecurity, etc. I started grad school initially thinking of the classic tenure track position, focusing on research, etc. but I didn't really enjoy the research aspect as much as I thought, so I shifted my focus to teaching (apparently not a good move). Since I don't actually know anyone who's gone in for a lecturer position or what kind of growth there is there, can anyone weigh in on their stability, enjoyability, growth etc?? And if I take it and do want to try to pursue a tenure track line somewhere else, could it ever be useful?<issue_comment>username_1: The context here is clearly the US system. I'm responding based on my own experience working with people in such positions at my institution and elsewhere.
This is ultimately a personal decision. There are certainly many institutions where instructors have been employed for decades and even reached retirement. Having a stable job is better than having an unstable job or no job at all.
However,
1. Lecturer/instructor positions are not generally tenure-track positions. You won't have the protections of tenure, and if your institution comes on hard times, you'll be one of the first to be laid off.
2. Although some institutions have "senior" instructor or lecturer job titles, there isn't nearly the same scope for advancement as for a tenure-track faculty member. In particular, tenure-track faculty can advance from assistant to associate to full professor and ultimately into department chairmanship or higher administration. In terms of salary, you're likely to be stuck at a level below the tenure-track assistant professors for the rest of your career.
3. Instructor/lecturers seldom get to teach any but the lowest level (remedial, developmental, and first year) courses. You probably won't have the opportunity to teach advanced undergraduate or graduate courses.
You may not have much control over the syllabus, textbooks, etc.
4. Teaching loads can be very high in these positions. There just won't be time for any professional development.
5. Taking one of these positions for a year or two might help your chances of getting a tenure-track position at a teaching-oriented institution (because you'll have gained some teaching experience to balance with your research background), but after you've stayed in such a position for a while (say five years), your chances of being able to move into a tenure-track position at even a teaching focused institution will decrease substantially (because at that point your research will have stopped, and even teaching-oriented institutions want some research from tenure-track faculty.)
In short, it's a deprofessionalized dead-end job.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't think this is especially common in the U.S., but I do know of some R1 universities that have a position known as "Lecturer with security of employment", where the salary, difficulty of getting dismissed, and sabbatical opportunities are all comparable to that of a tenured professor, but you aren't expected to do any research but only to teach. Pretty good job if you can get it.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: This is going to vary widely between fields and institutions. There's a very prominent example of someone making a (partial but non-trivial) career as a lecturer, however: <NAME>
He was a Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992-1996, and then a Senior Lecturer from 1996-2004. The University of Chicago happens to be a top-tier institution that makes extensive use of lecturers. The junior positions pay very well, but do not involve any administrative or governance elements. The senior position does.
To answer your question as generally as possible, **it's my impression that a lecturer position like this will lag behind a tenure track position within the same department, but can easily meet or exceed the pay and benefits of a tenure track position at a smaller school.** If anything, the lecturers seem more likely to be teaching in specialized areas, since they often have professional experience as well as academic. The full-time version is nothing at all like temporary adjunct positions, though UofC does also have part-time lecturers who are closer to that.
So while Brian's blanket answer that it's a "deprofessionalized dead-end job" is wrong, it is very true that the real answer will vary widely by institution.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/17
| 290
| 1,157
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<issue_start>username_0: I’ve earned an MDS (Master of Dental Surgery) in public-health dentistry in India. My thesis and other research projects focused on developing a module for dental students on tobacco cessation counselling.
Now I am in Australia, currently with an Australian spouse visa.
1. What qualifications are required to work as a research assistant in Australia?
2. Is it possible for me to work in research field as a research assistant or as a public-health professional without clearing the Australian Dental Council exam?<issue_comment>username_1: Generally, research assistant is **not** a regulatory job in Australia (I work with many!). I've seen RA coming from all different background. As long as your boss is happy, there's nothing stopping you working as an RA. However, I have never seen an RA without a university degree, it's hard to convince anyone for your research potential if you don't even have a degree.
Of course, you won't be able to work as a dentist in Australia as dentist is regulatory job.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: You are better off clearing the Australian Dental Council exam anyways.
Upvotes: 0
|
2018/01/17
| 703
| 2,770
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<issue_start>username_0: Currently, I am doing a PhD and I want be a guest speaker at one of my previous universities. The topic of my PhD is very similar to what I studied at the university and therefore, I want to give a small talk to the students there. How can I ask the authorities at my previous university to do the same?<issue_comment>username_1: 1. **Find out who organizes the relevant seminar**. Often there is a website listing talks and a contact person. If you can't find this information, just pick someone from the faculty who is likely to be interested in your talk.
2. **Either email that person yourself, or get someone (e.g. your advisor) to introduce you.** Introduce yourself; say you are interested in visiting the department and/or giving a talk; indicate what you would like to talk about; and specify what dates work for you. The following email is a good start.
>
> Dear So-and-so,
>
>
> I am visiting Madeuptown the week of Sextember 47th and would be interested in visiting the University of Madeuptown underwater basket weaving department.
> I am currently a PhD student in underwater basket weaving at Fictitious University advised by <NAME> and I have been working on the use of new wicker weaving materials, which may be of interest to the students in your department.
> Please let me know if you would be interested in arranging something.
>
>
> Best,
>
>
> Das
>
>
>
I have been the organizer of a computer science group seminar (in the US) and I regularly received such emails. Indeed many of them were much more direct than this.
Most likely, you'll be invited to speak. However, it is possible that they are unable to schedule something suitable at the time you specify. (If you don't get a positive response, then leave it at that. I.e., don't pester them.)
It's worth a try if you are interested in giving a talk. The worst thing that could happen is that your email is ignored.
If you are lucky, they may offer to cover some of your expenses. However, don't bet on it if you are "self-inviting."
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: This answer assumes that you wish to give a talk at a different institution than your current one. The fact that it's one of your earlier institutions is only mildly related.
Usually, giving a talk at a seminar is not a problem. Simply find the relevant ongoing seminars and their organizers: they might have a free time slot. If you see no seminars online, contact the researchers corresponding to your interests, and take it from there.
However, asking for the reimbursement of the travel costs is or might be a problem for you: it would require substantially more time or effort on the part of the organizers. Why would they give themselves an ulcer?
Upvotes: -1
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2018/01/17
| 1,231
| 5,645
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a TA for undergraduate Introduction to Programming class at freshman level. I usually have around 30 students per semester who have two hours of lecture earlier during the week with their professor then the applied three hours of lab hour with me. The labs start from how to compile and run code to variable assignments and arithmetic operations, flow control, arrays and very brief introduction to object oriented programming.
My problem stems from the fact that my university does not admit students into particular departments. They start as engineering students and select a diploma programme at the end of their freshman year. Furthermore, only computer science has a class for freshman year, all other departments start their department courses after students have picked their programme. This creates a bias for students who will pick other majors, such as civil engineering, mechanical engineering, even electrical engineering. I often get asked, "Why am I taking this course?"
During my lab hours, I have a quarter of the students who are eager to learn and want to discuss programming with me, mostly composed of those who will pick computer science programme. The rest feels like they don't even want to be there, will get vocal when the assignment challenges them, disrupting the entire class (they are in the majority anyway). A lot of cases of cheating happen regularly which is automatically handled and they get a zero grade, after which they find ways to cheat the similarity detection by altering the shared code. My solution, which I am not definitely happy with, is giving into their demands, spelling out or sometimes typing the solutions. While they distribute the code among themselves and alter it to avoid cheat detection, I have enough time to tend to the first portion of students who actually benefit from the lab sessions.
* This is my third semester, all of which were almost identical regarding this issue
* As a TA, I have very little control over the content of the course itself, I do prepare lab material but according to guidelines set by the lecturers.
* The professors are aware of the issue, I have brought it up numerous times. they are not happy with the universities policy either but the problem is often brushed away
* It feels like discrimination towards students, which is a concept I don't want to have in my classroom
* I know what I'm doing is not ethical and I'm not happy with it, yet there doesn't seem to be a better solution.
My questions then would be: how can I approach the class and handle this issue. I really would like to reach the majority of students who think programming is not beneficial to them as well as help the minority of the students to prepare them for the upcoming (and much harder) classes.<issue_comment>username_1: You could take a different approach by lowering the bar. Create a course that is adequate for the students that do not want to go to Computer Science. However do discuss with them that, regardless of the chosen course, they will need programming skills because all the engineering fields will end up using tools like MatLab or Octave and they need programming for that.
To be fair with the Computer Science students-to-be you can provide a set of *optional* tasks, challenges and study content. This way only the really interested students will go through this and, being optional it wouldn't need to be graded so they would take this in a more light way which could make the learning experience even more powerful. Of course you will have to discuss with this students that if they plan to take Computer Science they shouldn't think of this part as *optional*.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> I often get asked, "Why am I taking this course?"
>
>
>
There are some courses that are required regardless of major. Similar questions could be asked of mathematics faculty. However, it turns out that not only math majors are obligated to attend calculus courses.
I come from a institution that is similarly organized, namely, the first year is the same for all engineering students, which afterwards chose their respective major. This common year contains introductory courses: math, physics, computer science and electronics.
The school's curriculum is as it is, it can be good, it can be made better, but neither you or the students are in a position to influence it, let alone change it. So, stop thinking badly about you or your course, there is nothing wrong with either (at least nothing deducible from the question).
My advice to you is to stick to a medium curriculum, i.e. one that upholds the criterium of the course but is of reasonable difficulty for the average student, and, if required by your TA agreement, make yourself available for (again reasonable) office hours, where struggling students can find help. And by help, I don't mean that you solve the problems for them, but to help them understand the material.
Students that are on a more advanced level can be motivated with additional assignments, projects or literature, while those "dissatisfied" need to provide the bare minimum effort for passing the course or fail. The same as with any other course.
The same approach is applied to cheating. The fact that someone doesn't want to attend a compulsory course does not entitle them to cheat and such behavior should be reported to the proper authorities.
In short: Don't give in to guilt or sympathy, you have a course to TA and nothing to be sorry about. Uphold the institution standards in teaching, grading, helping and maintaining discipline.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2018/01/17
| 1,102
| 4,786
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am the first author of a paper where the first two authors (me and Y) have contributed equally. (Yay, thanks alphabet! Hopefully I won't have to collaborate with some Dr. <NAME> in the future.) Of course, Y will put an equal contribution note on their CV, and prominently so.
Do I have to?<issue_comment>username_1: It is only fair (and truthful) to mention the equal contribution because it is part of the information of the authorship of the paper. For example, you would not change the author order of the paper or omit authors when listing a work. Why would you remove the equal contribution then? Not to mention it is generally a faux pas to misrepresent your contribution to a work and probably would not leave a good impression to your current and future colleagues.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Let's be clear: You are trying to claim more credit than you are due by omitting information. Phrased like this, does this sound ethical to you? If it does, you may want to re-consider your standards. If not, you got your answer.
As a general rule in life, of course, you want to be treated the way you treat others. That means being generous in your praise, and modest in your claims. In the current context, you can't reasonably be expected to only put the "equal contribution" asterisk only next to the other author, but you'd probably be annoyed if your coauthor reversed the order of first and second author in their CV. So don't do the equivalent on yours.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Yes, you can. **No, you shouldn't**, both because it is unethical and because it is not in your favour.
There's obviously nothing to stop you doing this. However, from an ethical point of view it's dubious because you are misrepresenting your role in the paper in an attempt to make yourself look better. This, quite apart from anything else, should stop you doing it. Perhaps you've heard that you should present the best possible view of yourself in your CV, and I guess this is true, but it's missing a word it should be best possible *honest* view of yourself. It's fine to paint a rosy picture; it's not fine to be dishonest.
But perhaps you don't care about ethics. Consider this: it is more likely than not that those hiring you will *look up some of your papers*, they may even ask you about your contribution to them during the interview. What kind of impression do you think this will make? There are essentially too possibilities here:
1. You're the kind of sloppy individual who didn't care to correctly represent themselves on their CV.
2. You're the kind of reprehensible individual who would play down others contributions in order to make themselves look better.
Would knowing either of these things about someone you're considering hiring make you more likely to hire them? I think that's very unlikely. So really there are only two circumstances under which it could help you to do this:
1. If those hiring you are to busy (or too lazy) to check your publications before hiring you.
2. You have so many publications that they're not going to check down to this one.
The former case, I would say, is unlikely - publications matter and for any worthwhile job, they'll take at least the passing look it takes to realise you've misrepresented yourself - and, in the second case, why are you being so petty to misrepresent this publication anyway? It really doesn't matter.
Finally, in my opinion the difference between first author, and joint first author, is unlikely to be the deciding factor between being hired and rejected *anyway* so any gain you imagine you could make is very slight.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I agree with the previous answers if you're in a field where "first author" indicates a more significant contribution to the paper than other authors, but, since you also mentioned the alphabet, let me be more explicit.
If you're in a field (like mine) where authors are listed alphabetically and, therefore, being the first author is information about your surname, not about your contribution to the paper, then you need not mention equal contributions. Indeed, in such a field, authors later in the list might have contributed much more than you, and everybody knows that.
If, on the other hand, "first author" means something in your field, so that people would get the impresssion, from your first-author status, that you are the main contributor to the paper, and if that impression is incorrect, then the ethical thing for you to do is to correct it, by mentioning which other author(s) contributed equally with you.
More generally, you should not have things in your CV that mislead readers into thinking you've achieved more than you actually have.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/17
| 1,188
| 5,214
|
<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently applying for a PhD at my institution. Part of the application requires an academic CV, however I have no professional experience that is not retail work (I have volunteered as student support at my university but don't think that's very relevant), and as I only recently graduated from my undergraduate degree and started my masters, I do not yet have any publications and have not spoken at or attended any conferences apart from attending a postgraduate conference at my university last year.
Are there any ways of getting around this? I received a very good grade for my undergraduate dissertation and have a good idea of what my masters dissertation will be, and I am trying to use those to my advantage.<issue_comment>username_1: It is only fair (and truthful) to mention the equal contribution because it is part of the information of the authorship of the paper. For example, you would not change the author order of the paper or omit authors when listing a work. Why would you remove the equal contribution then? Not to mention it is generally a faux pas to misrepresent your contribution to a work and probably would not leave a good impression to your current and future colleagues.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Let's be clear: You are trying to claim more credit than you are due by omitting information. Phrased like this, does this sound ethical to you? If it does, you may want to re-consider your standards. If not, you got your answer.
As a general rule in life, of course, you want to be treated the way you treat others. That means being generous in your praise, and modest in your claims. In the current context, you can't reasonably be expected to only put the "equal contribution" asterisk only next to the other author, but you'd probably be annoyed if your coauthor reversed the order of first and second author in their CV. So don't do the equivalent on yours.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: Yes, you can. **No, you shouldn't**, both because it is unethical and because it is not in your favour.
There's obviously nothing to stop you doing this. However, from an ethical point of view it's dubious because you are misrepresenting your role in the paper in an attempt to make yourself look better. This, quite apart from anything else, should stop you doing it. Perhaps you've heard that you should present the best possible view of yourself in your CV, and I guess this is true, but it's missing a word it should be best possible *honest* view of yourself. It's fine to paint a rosy picture; it's not fine to be dishonest.
But perhaps you don't care about ethics. Consider this: it is more likely than not that those hiring you will *look up some of your papers*, they may even ask you about your contribution to them during the interview. What kind of impression do you think this will make? There are essentially too possibilities here:
1. You're the kind of sloppy individual who didn't care to correctly represent themselves on their CV.
2. You're the kind of reprehensible individual who would play down others contributions in order to make themselves look better.
Would knowing either of these things about someone you're considering hiring make you more likely to hire them? I think that's very unlikely. So really there are only two circumstances under which it could help you to do this:
1. If those hiring you are to busy (or too lazy) to check your publications before hiring you.
2. You have so many publications that they're not going to check down to this one.
The former case, I would say, is unlikely - publications matter and for any worthwhile job, they'll take at least the passing look it takes to realise you've misrepresented yourself - and, in the second case, why are you being so petty to misrepresent this publication anyway? It really doesn't matter.
Finally, in my opinion the difference between first author, and joint first author, is unlikely to be the deciding factor between being hired and rejected *anyway* so any gain you imagine you could make is very slight.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I agree with the previous answers if you're in a field where "first author" indicates a more significant contribution to the paper than other authors, but, since you also mentioned the alphabet, let me be more explicit.
If you're in a field (like mine) where authors are listed alphabetically and, therefore, being the first author is information about your surname, not about your contribution to the paper, then you need not mention equal contributions. Indeed, in such a field, authors later in the list might have contributed much more than you, and everybody knows that.
If, on the other hand, "first author" means something in your field, so that people would get the impresssion, from your first-author status, that you are the main contributor to the paper, and if that impression is incorrect, then the ethical thing for you to do is to correct it, by mentioning which other author(s) contributed equally with you.
More generally, you should not have things in your CV that mislead readers into thinking you've achieved more than you actually have.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/18
| 5,008
| 21,020
|
<issue_start>username_0: Yesterday I had a tearful encounter in office hours with the most avid participant in the math class I teach, in which she related the following situation.
She is an international student whose parents are well off by local standards but have made significant financial sacrifices for her to study abroad at the university where I work. Part of the plan was that she should have a scholarship, but it has recently been denied on the grounds her grades are not strong enough, and as a result she will have to switch to a nearby university in the fall. Part of why her grades aren't strong is because she is a very specifically focused student: professional mathematics is all she really wants to do with her life. She already knows. When she is able to do what she wants, she just studies math. She works extremely hard, but at end of the day she couldn't care less about her other courses and views the struggle to get good grades as a distraction from what's important to her.
Her parents disagree that there is any future in math for her. They tell her it's not worth it and that she's bad at it. They're medical doctors in a country where teachers are treated poorly, viewed as people lacking the talent to do anything better, and are worried that a career in math would be both unremunerative and undignified—which might be the case in her home country, but my student also doesn't hope to return home. Nevertheless, for because her parents are footing the bill and because she's not willing to openly defy them, my student will finish a pure CS major when she enrolls in her new university, and won't be allowed to enroll in any future math courses during undergrad.
I watched her just crumble as she told me this, weeping and apologizing for it, unable to make eye contact. She's about to embark, without any choice in the matter, on a course that's going to make her miserable for years, if not longer, and moreover, from what I know of her, **she is just the kind of person who should be in math**.
I've told her there's nothing anyone can do to stop her from learning on her own, and that absolutely no instructor would refuse to let her sit in on whatever math course she wants, so that at most this will be a hiccup resulting in her getting a sort of bachelor's degree she doesn't really want at the expense of what she'd rather do, and that at the time she's financially independent, she can really study what she wants, but one could tell she's not completely buying this. She's devastated, and I can hardly blame her.
What can I (or anyone) do to help in this situation?<issue_comment>username_1: Well, life is hard.
I think unless you're able and willing to directly fund her, you can't help her and she'll have to help herself. The main ways to do this would be:
1. Persuade her parents. It sounds like she's given up, in which case you'd probably have even less chance of being successful.
2. Get a loan of some kind, or another scholarship. Your institution (or the new one) might have some scheme to help students facing financial difficulties. Alternatively, there might be a scholarship out there for mathematics students. I did a quick Google search and found [this](https://www.waikato.ac.nz/scholarships/s/mathematics-fees-scholarship); something similar might be available for her.
Having said that there're some caveats. If she breaks with her parents to fund her own education, she'll likely be facing lifelong consequences. This might be culturally acceptable in some countries, but in others, their relationship could be permanently damaged.
The other issue is that if she's completely convinced she wants to be a mathematics researcher, her career path won't be lucrative for quite a while - perhaps until she gets a permanent position. She might have difficulty paying off loans. This is also risky in the sense that if she later realizes how hard it is to get a permanent position in mathematics and / or how different graduate studies is from undergraduate, she might get depressed looking at the student debt she's accrued - all for naught.
On a personal level, I'd suggest she follow her parents' wishes. The risk of permanent damage to their relationship is too high, and besides they have her best interests at heart. She can still have a fulfilling and possibly better-paying career outside of mathematics. You could even show her the compound interest chart and how fast exponential growth is, and suggest that she start saving money after graduation. Eventually, she can fund mathematics research directly. She might not be able to do it herself, but she can still have a direct positive impact on the field.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Some thoughts:
* **Suggest counseling**. They are much more likely to be able to help support her in expressing her goals to her parents, understanding their position, and perhaps in negotiating some sort of compromise with them. Family relationship issues are likely to be a pretty common concern for college students, and a university counseling service will have had lots of experience with them.
* **Suggest talking to the financial aid office.** They may be able to explore other options for funding if she decides to go on without her parents' financial support, though admittedly there may not be a lot of options for international students.
* **Talk to your contacts at the other university.** See if you can connect her with someone who may be sympathetic to her situation, and who might be able to help her with some of the other things mentioned here.
* **Help her explore degree and course options.** Is there some other degree offered by the institution that might represent a compromise between what she wants and what her parents are willing to pay for? Are there ways for her to take more classes that she's interested in?
* **She needs to be able to succeed at things even when they don't interest her.** You write "She couldn't care less about her other courses and her grades". Regardless of the degree she pursues, this is a recipe for disaster in US academia, where breadth is considered essential and degree requirements are designed accordingly, and overall GPA is widely used as a metric of success, e.g. for graduate schools and jobs.
(I am guessing from your terminology that you are in the US. If not, please correct me.)
She doesn't have to like all her courses, but she does have to be able to push through and do her best work even in those she dislikes. That's a necessary academic and life skill, and as a faculty member you may be able to help her develop that skill. Counseling services may also help with this, if she has some emotional resistance to get past.
* **She might find these courses more interesting if she gives them a chance.** Even pure mathematicians can benefit greatly from knowledge about other fields, and you or other faculty members might be able to help her see connections with things that interest her more.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_3: This is obviously a very difficult situation that raises tricky issues to do with psychology, parenting, and the sociology of the unnamed country the student is from, which are far above my StackExhange pay grade. I feel rather at a loss to suggest any concrete measures that would tip the scales in the student’s favor in a situation involving such powerful forces of adversity and delicate sociological factors.
However, one thing that I feel may be worth exploring is the student’s parents’ actual state of knowledge regarding the value of a higher education in mathematics. Are they aware that Forbes magazine [declared](http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/04/15/the-best-jobs-for-2014/) “mathematician” to be the number 1 job in the U.S. in 2014? Or that the American Mathematical Society has [a web page](http://www.ams.org/profession/career-info/math-work/math-work) listing many examples of industries employing mathematicians? That page has links to many additional resources touting the virtues of mathematics as a career - for example, [this web page](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/math/mobile/mathematicians-and-statisticians.htm) on the US Bureau of Labor Statistics website, which taught me interesting statistics and facts, such as:
>
> * The median annual wage for mathematicians was $105,810 in May 2016.
> * Employment of mathematicians is projected to grow 29 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations.
>
>
>
Thus, the one concrete idea I can think of is for either you, the student, or maybe a senior professor at your university (if you are not one yourself) to communicate some of this information to the student’s parents, in writing or over the phone or Skype or maybe even a face to face meeting (if that can be arranged). I would be a bit more understanding if they wanted to discourage their daughter from pursuing an educational track with poor employment prospects (though that would still be sad and tragic from the student’s point of view), but as it happens, math is actually an extremely useful and even lucrative profession these days — so I’m wondering if by giving the parents some actual data about how attractive math can be as a career it just might be possible to persuade them that a comfortable life and their daughter’s personal happiness are not mutually exclusive goals.
In any case, good luck to you and to your student.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_4: I have had a small number of students in the same situation over the decades.
My first rule is: Don't get between the student and the parents. That's a complicated and stormy dynamic and I can't do anything but harm there.
My second rule is: Advise the student to cede to the parents for the undergrad degree. To the student, the 4 years of undergrad study seems like a lifetime, but it's really just dust in the wind. I say, "Suck it up for a couple more years. In grad school you'll get tuition waived and a stipend and you won't need your parents' support. Do what they want now. Do what you want in grad school."
But mostly, don't mess with parental authority. It's a nuclear volatile area.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_5: Depending on her mathematical interests, it might be worth looking for career options at the intersection of mathematics and computer science - there's a lot happening there, and some of it even pays quite well ;-)
[My father](https://cecs.anu.edu.au/people/richard-brent) has been a "Professor of Computer Science" for most of his career, but to a large extent he's a mathematician who uses computers as a tool and who applies mathematics to getting more out of computers.
Areas like operations research combine computing and mathematical concepts, and there's high demand for people who can master both.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: The main problem here is what is going to happen in the new school. If she doesn't study and do well she might as well be defying her parents.
1. She could talk to her parents about taking say 1 extra course in math at the same time as she does her main course. Offer to pay them back after she graduates. However, this will likely fail as she blew off her other courses and her parents have learned she can't be trusted. If she had established good faith with her parents by completing the existing courses with good grades this would be an easy sell.
Maybe if she succeeds in the new school this can be revisited.
2. Get a part time job somewhere and pay for her own math classes. Danger: She has to do well in all her classes or this will back fire. Her parents will see she failed again, and probably cut her off and bring her home. Where she will have to take up a terrible job in her own country until she is old enough to strike out on her own.
**Your only hope of changing things is to prove math is a viable career field. Using actual job listing and a significant body of evidence.**
Another issue is "doesn't hope to return home". The big question here, is does her parents know,understand, and accept this fact, because it is critical. Their main argument is that in their own country her math skills will be wasted. If her parents were to accept this, then she could produce articles from countries she is thinking about moving to on how math and/or teaching is highly valued in that country.
However, "doesn't hope to return home" I am assuming she is there on a student visa or some such permit. After that expires then what? Will she have already applied for citizenship in the new country? Otherwise she will be forced to return to her country. The citizenship process can be multi-year process, hope doing her homework on this process now.
---
Maybe its time to impress on her how badly thing can get if she doesn't temporarily do what her parents want. Then if she turns her grades around maybe her parents will be receptive to what she wants.
**We aren't give hardly any cultural information, so I am just making up a worst cast ending.**
She fails, or does not succeed to her parents expectations, they bring her home. Then what probably no math jobs, and she will be forced to take another job, maybe even a house maid. Maybe even forced into an arranged marriage, have children and never do math more advance than the math needed for cooking dinner.
I am not a fan of scare tactics, but if she does badly another semester her parent are going to be mad. They may take action that make her life 10x more miserable than they are now.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: I'm assuming this is a US question. I would suggest the student a double major: math and economy, CS and economy, for instance. Also, I would suggest to try biasing the subject of the other major towards math applied in economy, which is something banks and overbearing parents love.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: 1. Computer Science and Math are close already, especially if she chooses specializations like theoretical computer science. Tell her that many of the subjects can be seen as applied mathematics. And later in work she will probably need at least programming anyways. Other subjects like set theory, logics, signal processing, cryptography, automata and formal languages, complexity theory either contain large amounts of Math or can be useful for a mathematician. I think Math is even one of the biggest reason for CS students to drop out at my University. If she for example takes a Bachelor Thesis topic like cryptography she can do Math for half a year.
2. She can still do a PhD in Math with a Master in CS.
3. She can still study Math after studying CS.
4. She can still study Math in parallel to CS and also online during semester break.
5. In Germany we have a main subject and a "subsubject" ("Nebenfach") where you can take whatever you want with a much smaller amount of hours, is that possible there as well?
6. If all that doesn't help and she really wants to change the subject and it is to expensive to pay for studying on her own she can try to come to Germany where studying is nearly free (around 200 € / semester). There is a "Studienkolleg" where foreigners learn German for a while and then they can attend University.
So I would not try to convice the parents, it sounds as if they have their fixed opinion, but instead try to sidestep the issue and give CS a chance while choosing as many Math or Math-like courses as possible. If you want to support her more, can you give her a job as a teaching assistant or something similar? Also for the relation with their parents I would refer her to student counceling, they will be better trained to help with this sort of problem.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_7: Theoretical Computer Science (and issues like finite automata, formal grammars, complexity theory, graph theory) are mathematics-laden to a degree where they prevent a number of people from making careers in that area.
Many courses labelled "Computer Science" are instead glorified programming courses particular in undergraduate tracks. If your student focuses on the right kind of courses, she'll have a career in Computer Science involving a whole lot of heavy-duty mathematics. It may not be kind of "Computer Science" with good job prospects in her home country but may fit the currently prescribed course of action.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_9: Seems clear that the relationship between parents and daughter is a major factor, and some answers are missing the fact that this is a bigger thing with her and with her home culture than it would be in USA or Canada.
Her parents may be rightly, or erroneously, trying to do what’s best for her. Or they may be trying to protect themselves from the embarrassment of having an unsuccessful daughter.
However, **IF** she is willing to risk a break from her parents, might there be someone in Canada who would vouch for her to obtain immigrant status? My parents are far from wealthy, but their “sponsorship” was enough for a young lady from an Asian country to be allowed to stay. That’s USA, though, and her parents were not opposed.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_10: Hopefully I can provide a different outlook here as I’m a CS major trying to get into software development, not an academic. But this question touched me so much I had to answer.
It’s less common, but certainly not impossible to get a job as a software developer as a math major. So she may be able to sell that to her parents. She should tell them that employers will like to see that she did so well in such a hard subject and it will give her an advantage over CS majors (this is probably stretching the truth a bit, but not a complete lie).
I’ve also heard that medical schools and law schools like math majors. But I don’t know enough about either of those to verify if it’s true.
So I would say plan A is for her to try and convince them that there are other things she can do with a math major besides academia.
Plan B would be to find a compromise. Maybe applied math or statistics. From what I understand those are heavy on the math, but a little more practical than pure math.
And if all else fails, CS involves a lot of math too. Especially when you get to the more theoretical side, such as algorithms and language theory. If she’s going to get a masters or phd, that’s even better as she can focus more on the mathematical side and less on the hardware side. Find out if she has any interest in machine learning, data science or artificial intelligence. She may enjoy it more than she thinks.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: I just read the question and realized that it could be quite a specific case if your student is from China. If she is from China, do NOT try to convince her to go against her parents will. I've been teaching thousands of Chinese students and majority of them study what their parents chose for them, not what they want. Their family culture is very complicated. Parent-child bond is pretty much sacred and maintaining it is essential for the child happiness in life.
What I do is usually find a way they can use their passion in the profession that was chosen for them. Math is easy actually, it is used everywhere. She can apply math to any profession. Give her some ideas, examples, advice on math applications in her field. Chinese parents choose professions for their children mostly using two criteria: expected income and lifestyle suitable for their culture. It's not that bad if you think about it.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_12: I'd council not getting too involved in family conflicts.
However it sort of sounds like they're of the belief that math can only lead to a job as a math teacher and are trying to push her into a "safe" major.
Perhaps giving the student some tables of income projections by major along with the kinds of jobs they open up might give her something to reassure them with.
Math does pretty well on that score and in her shoes I'd probably be asking "why are you asking me to step down into a (likely) slightly worse-paid, slightly lower status career path? If I was training to become a doctor would you demand I step down to nurse?"
<http://www.naceweb.org/job-market/compensation/physics-projected-as-top-paid-class-of-2016-math-and-sciences-major/>
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_13: With all due respect to her parents and difficult situation, it is she that must do the academic work, and later, practice in a field she finds rewarding. I'd hope her parents wish her to find happiness long term, yet they believe she 'doesn't know what's best'.
There's no easy way to combat this, but here is one potential route:
1) Student states unequivocally her desire for a different path
2) Student proves sincerity by applying for (but not necessarily accepting) financial aid to render her independent of the parents support.
The parents can then either double down and allow her to incur debt, or back down and let her follow her interests.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/01/18
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<issue_start>username_0: A couple of weeks back I sent an email to a professor in a University in my home country with whom I have never known on any personal or professional level. My intention was to seek potential collaborations with him as a recent graduate with a BSc should I return home.
He did replied and to which I responded. One of his question to me was whether I am happy to collaborate without being paid to which I replied, "Yes, I am happy but I am only able to work on any project outside of standard office hours due to foreseeable industry commitment".
Since then, I have not received any replies.
Would it be appropriate for me to ring him up?<issue_comment>username_1: I don't see any problems for you to call him.
If you want answers quick, this is the best way to achieve it. If you feel a bit uncomfortable calling him, then I suggest that you "ping" him by re-sending your last email, or that you ask him if he can reply to the previous message.
Teachers at my university, some have their phone number or numbers (both private and work, though private is not mandatory) listed at the university website so that students can reach them outside of working hours if it's urgent.
So having students call them is nothing new and shouldn't be a problem.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't quite agree with the [other answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/102403/93303), even though the author certainly had good intentions when writing it.
The answer to whether or not it's appropriate to phone a professor, when you've only briefly communicated with them in the past, will depend on where you are and the culture in that region, ***but in most countries it is not a good idea anymore (in the year 2021).***
In the past, phoning people (perhaps including professors) was much more acceptable, but things have changed and nowadays even some of my closest friends won't answer my phone call if they don't recognize my phone number, because of the increased prevalence of spam phone calls these days. Occasionally [some of my students add me on LinkedIn](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/149916/93303) or other social media, but the vast majority of them do not even contact me electronically, and contacting me by telephone is absolutely unheard of nowadays.
In your specific case, based on the reply this professor gave to your email, and the fact that he had made his phone number available in a place that's publicly visible, phoning him *could* be okay, ***but the risks outweigh the benefits*** because it may be seen as being very unusual, and not all professors will be happy to find that a student it phoning them. It's a risk I personally would not recommend for you to take, if the gain that you get from it is simply a chance at a faster response to your email.
**The best course of action is to:**
* send follow-up emails,
* ask mutual connections (such as friends of yours who are already working closely in this professor's research group),
* visit the professor's office (if the university isn't in some type of COVID lockdown!),
* (specific to your case): find alternative professors with whom you may wish to do your research project, because if this one is not replying several emails in a row, maybe they are not very interested in taking a new student right now, or perhaps they're not very good at communicating via email (my ideal supervisor would be one that responds to emails in a *reasonably* timely manner when compared to others in the same industry).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: #### You can ring him on his *office* phone if that is helpful
Unless you already have a close pre-existing relationship that would make a phone call to a personal number appropriate, you should avoid contacting a professor on their personal phone number. However, you can contact the professor on their *office* phone if you want, since that is a general line appropriate for enquiries. (Most professors will have a phone number listed in their email signature; you can use this number to contact them.) I see no reason to avoid contact by office phone for any enquiry relevant to this professor --- that is a standard method of contact for professionals.
Bear in mind that many professors pay less attention to their office phone than to their email, especially if they are working away from the office (e.g., due to COVID). Phone calls to the office phone will often go through to voice-mail and some academics take a long time to respond to this. (Some never check it at all.) Partly for that reason, phone contact in academia is actually quite rare, but you can certainly give it a try.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/18
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<issue_start>username_0: Recently I received a plagiarism report on my accepted manuscript. It is highlighted that total 25% text appeared in other sources though they are cited properly.
When I checked the report, I found ~20% text appears in references only and another ~3% text is due to the use of a long phrase "The tropical cyclone wind speed climatology". This phrase was actually very frequently used in one of my another paper. The rest ~2% text appears in introduction and methods. In methods, I had used some well known mathematical equations and related descriptions e.g. which variable denotes what.
So how to deal with this situation? How can I convince to the editor?<issue_comment>username_1: 25% similarity is low. Similarity in references should also be discounted. I suspect it's either a mistake or something you don't have to pay attention to - you mention that your manuscript's already been accepted, and they might just be sending plagiarism reports with the acceptance email as a matter of course.
If the editor also said something like "please correct these plagiarized text", I'd write back saying that the similarities outside of the bibliography are minute, and ask for clarification.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: As an academic who uses Turnitin in the classes I teach, one of the first things I looked at was what Turnitin itself says about the similarity index:
<https://guides.turnitin.com/01_Manuals_and_Guides/Instructor_Guides/Feedback_Studio/19_The_Similarity_Report/Interpreting_the_Similarity_Report>
They specifically tell us : "The similarity score simply makes you aware of any problem areas in a student's paper; you can then use this *as a tool as part of a larger process*, in order to determine if the match is or is not acceptable." (emphasis mine). The link goes on to talk about references among other issues.
So, the number itself is a lazy way to judge plagiarism. One has to look into the report, find out what shows a similarity and judge by the content.
Frankly, in my field, journals are not adopting any such policy yet, but using the index to blindly decline manuscripts sounds flat out wrong.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: IIRC, Turnitin has a configuration option to ignore matches in the reference list. You could suggest that the editor switches on that option.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/01/18
| 686
| 3,084
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<issue_start>username_0: I developed a survey and my study using the survey is still under review for a publication. However, my friend wants to use the survey and data for her study. I collected the data only in my school; she wants to collect additional data from a different school.
My concerns are:
* If her study is published before mine, my study could be meaningless.
* Also, the two studies could be very similar.
Is it okay to allow her to use my survey as well as my data?<issue_comment>username_1: I assume that your supervisor already know that you already submitted your work:
If your targeted publication venue allows you to publish pre-print than you may submit your work at arxiv or any other similar public library and give reference to you work in extended work conducted by your supervisor.Otherwise, you can give reference to your work in extended version with status "Under Review".
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: If this person is using your data as one part in a larger project, then this is great. You should strongly encourage this as it will lead to a citation and more visibility for you. Indeed, that's the whole point of research.
If this person is simply going to repeat your test with larger statistics, then I think you should discuss the publication arrangements now before agreeing to this. It may be worth combining your papers into a single paper (with you as first author), or this may be significant enough to write a second paper with the larger statistics. The second paper can reference the first one even if it is under review, so the timing is not necessarily a problem. In any case, you should be clear now on what your authorship will be. Send an e-mail summarizing what you agreed on after the meeting so you have it in writing.
Finally, if you are a PhD student, then the correct answer is to discuss this with your advisor; they will know the specifics far better than anyone here.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_3: If your friend uses your work, **academic ethics compels her to cite you**, even if it is only as *personal communication* or similar. Currently, the typical type of citation would be *unpublished* or *under review* and this should be updated to your paper once it is published (the details may depend on field, citation style, and journal). Thus, it should be clear to everybody that your friend’s work fundamentally builds upon yours, and it would be absurd to consider your publication irrelevant due to your friend’s one. Of course, some reviewers and editors out there make absurd decisions, but that’s nothing I would consider likely and take into account.
You have to decide yourself how much you trust your friend to adhere to academic ethics (and cite you). At worst, you can contractually stipulate that any publication based on your work must cite you (or make you a co-author in the event that you do not publish). Either way, it is usually a good idea to have a discussion with everybody involved to clarify this and arrive at a common collaboration and publication strategy.
Upvotes: -1
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2018/01/18
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<issue_start>username_0: I had submitted a copy of a reading-cum-review project to arXiv in my undergrad sophomore year without really thinking of the consequences. The paper was announced and eventually moved to the General Physics section.
The issue with the paper is that it does not contain any new research and the review is far from being exhaustive. Besides, it was typed in a very unprofessional manner with too few references for a review paper.
Now that I am a grad student and need to associate a real journal paper to my arXiv account, I was wondering if having such a paper on arXiv hurts reputation in the long run. Is it usual to have casual reports uploaded on arXiv, or is it advisable to withdraw it and start afresh?<issue_comment>username_1: Unfortunately after article announcement you cannot remove full record from arxiv. Further information can be found [here](https://arxiv.org/help/withdraw).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: You're actually asking several sub-questions:
1. Can I withdraw the paper?
2. Should a paper containing no research be un-published/withdrawn (regardless of venue)?
3. What should I do with this specific paper?
### 1. Papers can't quite be removed from ArXiv
You cannot completely remove a paper from ArXiv once it's been published there. The [ArXiv withdrawal policy](http://arxiv.org/help/withdraw) says:
>
> Articles that have been announced and made public cannot be completely removed. However, you may submit a withdrawal notification for your article.
>
>
>
You can definitely submit such a notice if you decide you want to withdraw; here's an [example of a withdrawn paper](https://arxiv.org/abs/0812.0848) - where you see the withdrawal notification. But, again, the paper is still accessible, forever.
The example is taken from [this answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/72170/7319) by @ff524
### 2. "No new research" does not make a paper unworthy of publication
Many papers offer a different view of existing research findings; or consolidate, compare, contrast or compile other pre-existing results, hopefully making them more accessible to the reader.
Your other reasons for withdrawal seem more pertinent.
### 3. What should you do?
For the paper you described, you could write up a withdrawal notice; however - don't be too harsh on yourself in phrasing it. Mention that this was an undergraduate research project and that, in hindsight, it isn't sufficiently exhaustive.
But rather than a complete withdrawal, you could just change the description on the paper's web page on ArXiv, indicating the same thing, as a sort of a [caveat](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/caveat).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: You can update the file, so the problems with the typing at least could be fixed. At the same time, add a note saying it is an undergrad project.
You cannot completely remove it, as mentioned in other answers. Withdrawing it suggests it's actively wrong, rather than simply not as good as it should be.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: I can't imagine that this paper can hurt your reputation big time. Why would anyone bother as long as the paper is not wrong or obviously stupid? People frankly have better things to do than even read papers that are (apparently) not particularly interesting, not published, and of hardly any impact. I'd probably add a remark in the abstract that this was an undergraduate project and the review is too limited by your own present standards (not as a withdrawal note, just as information for people who read it if there are any), and leave it at that.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/01/18
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<issue_start>username_0: This semester I am teaching a course.
Due to the fact that the students differ in their abilities,
I decided to create a few "extra credit" questions
for some of the assignments
to stretch the thinking of the more capable students.
However, at the same time,
I don't want to stress the less capable students
and make them feel that they need to solve problems that are difficult,
but not so essential to getting an adequate mastery of the material.
Unfortunately, I am not sure how to compute the scores
for assignments with extra credit.
Suppose the assignment has 100 marks, with 10 marks extra credit.
Suppose a student completes all of the regular questions
as well as the extra credit questions correctly.
1. Do I give this student 110 marks for the assignment?
2. Or do I cap the max score of the student at 100 marks?<issue_comment>username_1: It only makes a difference on a combination of multiple assignments. If you grade on a single exam, presumably you can't give them more than an A in the class. Effectively, giving a 110% then means they can make up a lower grade on a different assignment, while capping at 100% means they have to show mastery on each assignment (presumably on a different topic each) to get the top grade. So I would choose based on how important you think it is to show consistency in this course.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: My experience with American grading systems has been that the extra credit typically means an effective higher percentage is possible, i.e., 100% + 10% extra credit = 110% max on the assignment. And if a student gets 110%, then that's what they get on the assignment, and great for them!
Most students will balance extra credit with mistakes elsewhere, meaning that extra credit effectively ends up acting as "forgiveness" for mistakes. Usually, however, the students getting a lot of extra credit don't need as much forgiveness as the ones who don't, so I actually don't think that extra credit shouldn't be thought about as really being about grades.
Instead, I think it is important to view extra credit questions as places where the instructor encourages engaged students to additional exploration of the course material. The extra marks are then just a means of acknowledging that exploration within the formal incentive system of the course.
Given this, and the fact that some unusually excellent students could end up with more than a 100% overall, I would only recommend that all the rest of the students still be graded as though 100% were the maximum in the class. That way, a student going above and beyond gets acknowledgement, but other students are not affected negatively by that fact.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The policy that I have used on extra credit problems is that they allow students to "earn back" points they have lost (or will lose) in that particular *category*. For example, suppose I had four homework assignments worth 50 points each, and the last assignment had a 10-point extra credit assignment. Suppose my students got the following grades:
```
Anna Elsa
----- -----
30/50 50/50
40/50 50/50
40/50 45/50
60/50 60/50
```
Then when I calculated the students' final grades, Anna would get 170/200 = 85%, while Elsa would get 200/200 = 100%. Elsa "earned" 205 points in all her homework assignments, but I cap the *category* at 100%. This is basically for the reasons stated by [username_1,](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/102416/35514) but applied at the level of the grading categories (homework, labs, tests, etc.) rather than at the level of individual assignments.
This system works best when you have a large number of similar assignments over the course of the semester, for which the work necessary for each assignment is well-correlated with its point value. In my case, these assignments are usually problem sets with something like 10 points per problem, so that fits the bill.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_4: It's perfectly fine to have grades above 100%, and I do that myself. So I recommend that you do whatever is logistically easier for you. For example, it's probably an extra step for you to calculate a minimum function *min(score, 100)* when computing grades, so feel free to skip that. Likewise, the common learning management system will compute grades above 100% in the case of extra credit, without any obvious way to set a ceiling on the total, so it's most straightforward to just let it do the same thing.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/18
| 539
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently writing my master thesis and I am also running a popular blog about my research area. Some people asked me about certain topics and if I could write about them on my blog to make them more understandable to newcomers in our field.
Now it is tempting for me to just copy parts of my yet uncompleted thesis and mash together into blog posts. This will help me to save time writing them (I usually do not have the time) and it will benefit others. However, I worry that people see that as self-plagiarism. In particular people on the thesis committee might say I copied parts of the thesis from the internet.
What would be the right way to save me from trouble here. Shall I cite my unpublished thesis, or should my thesis cite my blog posts? Should the blog posts have clear indications that I copied verbatim from my unpublished thesis? Will I get into trouble if people see that in my thesis I copied verbatim from my blog posts (if I cite my blog posts rather than the other way around).<issue_comment>username_1: You should do two things:
1) Discuss this with your advisor. He/she will know the regulations better than we do.
2) Make it clear on the blog that you the blog-writer and you the thesis-writer are the same person, e.g. by using your real name.
Another issue, that you didn't yet consider but that surely needs consideration is the copyright for your thesis. At some universities, the department/university library wants at least some rights on your thesis. If they then find parts of said thesis copied verbatim to an online platform, you might get into trouble. It might well be that this is not the case at your university or that they don't care as long as you cite your thesis, but this is something you need to clarify before posting stuff.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Self-plagiarism in your thesis from previously published work during the course of degree program is totally acceptable. Even you don't need to cite your published work in thesis. However, this applies to work published in established journals and conferences, for blog posts you must check rules and regulations of your university. I my school it is not allowed to write a blog post before registering a patent or publishing work in Journal, conference or thesis.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/01/18
| 1,446
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<issue_start>username_0: A few months ago, I contacted a person who conducted research in a topic that could easily be combined with my own work.
For this reason, I sent him an e-mail exposing my research and why it could be interesting to collaborate, taking into account his results.
He answered me and showing interest in the work (that is what I read between lines). Furthermore, he recommended me some literature.
When I read about half of the documentation, I sent him a mail with the insights I got and several of my publications, justifying my points.
He answered me again, discussing some points and glad to have my work pending to read.
I finished his readings and I sent back my impressions. He continued the discussion and excused himself because of not having read my papers.
After two months, I have no reply from him. What should be my next step towards the collaboration?<issue_comment>username_1: Presumably your prospective collaborator expects something more tangible than email discussions to come forward soon. So far, what you describe sounds fairly typical - material and ideas are exchanged, and papers are read (or not). However, at some point this needs to move into a more concrete direction than "discussions". That is, you are now in the phase where the pedal needs to hit the metal - somebody, presumably you, now needs to come forward with a concrete action plan or at least steps towards such an action plan.
Otherwise, if the discussions still remain on an abstract level even after multiple months and many emails being exchanged, I could understand that your collaborator fears that they may be wasting their time in this.
So the next step if you want to go forward with this would be to set up concrete next steps: arrange a planning call or even a visit, and then come up with concrete research methods and a methodology to address them. Particularly, be explicit about what you expect from the collaborator - the fact that they were not able to read your papers until now suggests they will be unable to contribute a lot of time, and it is better to clarify how they can contribute early rather than mid-way through the project.
---
I feel it is important to understand what the power and group dynamics are in such a collaboration. Why is everybody in the project? Who expects to get what out of it? Who is pushing / leading the project? Who has how much time to contribute, realistically?
These questions are all fairly different depending on whether you and your collaborator are students or senior academics. That is, if you as a student cold-mailed a senior professor the collaboration will ultimately have different dynamics than if both of you are students, or both of you are similarly-senior academics.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Meaningful collaboration requires a serious investment of effort. In interactions with a colleague, there is a massive difference between:
>
> "Your work is interesting enough to spend 15 minutes skimming materials and providing feedback, and another 15 minutes looking through your eventual publication for useful nuggets."
>
>
>
versus
>
> "Your work is critical enough to the progress of my work to spend 100+ hours working together on a collaboration leading to a new publication."
>
>
>
From what you have reported so far, it sounds like this potential collaborator is more at the first level and not the second. Remember that most people doing significant research are approached quite frequently by potential collaborators, and simply cannot work with most of the people who might be interested to work with them (or who they might be interested to work with!).
I think that you need to stop and ask yourself not, "What would I gain from working with this person?" but "What would this person gain from working with me?"
Moreover, are you sure they wouldn't get nearly as much value just from reading and incorporating results from a publication you make on your own? If there isn't a clear and valuable answer to these questions, it might be that there won't be a collaboration at this time. You could even ask that question (politely) directly and with a concrete action attached, something like:
>
> "Based on our discussion so far, do you think it makes sense for us to try to work together on a project at this time? If so, can we set up a time soon to talk about specific plans?"
>
>
>
This is a hard question to ask, because you might get a "no," but that "no" will be valuable because it will let you move on. Worse, you might also get a "yes" from somebody who has a hard time saying no, but then they don't actually invest in the collaboration, and you also need to be able to recognize that and move on.
Finally, it's important to realize that even if you don't get the collaboration that you hope for, lower levels of interest and interaction can also be quite valuable for your career: even if this person isn't collaborating with you, they may well be genuinely interested and read your work, cite you, pass your work to others, become a good contact in your professional network, etc.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: The way I know these folks, he is a writer type, not a reader type. In other words, **nobody is going to read your junk unless there is a damn good reason to do so**. Find this damn good reason and communicate it or you won't get anyone reading your papers. After he reads your work, take it from there.
Before he says he has read your papers, act as if you don't have any collaborator.
The step after his confirmation - if it ever occurs - could be setting up a plan including the responsibilities of you two and the deadlines.
Now, if you are a PhD student, and the other part is a *senior* professor, don't count on him reading anything: he is more on the level of managing research and less on the level of doing research. (Exceptions exist, and I know some, but they are not prevalent.) Instead, say that you understand if he has no time to read your papers. Then, ask him to suggest a potential collaborator who does have time, perhaps from his environment. A PhD student who is at the start of his career and has not decided about the direction could be a better match. Another choice is someone who badly needs publications.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/01/18
| 920
| 4,083
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<issue_start>username_0: I am teaching some programming topics to university students (some 300+) including python, sql etc. I would welcome some tips on what's the best way to assess the students and also avoid giving them the chance to copy each other.
So far the major piece of assignment, e.g., in SQL, is to give them a scenario describing an information system, explaining what are users, types of data, relations etc. And they are asked to use sql to implement a database, populate some data, and perform some queries.
The problem with this is that the correct solution is quite standard, so it is often the case that students submit same or very similar solutions. This itself may not be the problem, but combined with the factor that the large majority of the cohort gets very high grades (>70%), I fear that they are copying, but I cannot think of an easy way to find out, or address this.
Does anyone teach similar technical subjects and if so, how would you suggest to fix this?
Many thanks!<issue_comment>username_1: This depends also on the effort that you are willing to put on correcting. You could create a database of questions and randomly select the questions (of the same topic) to the students. This will give a set of correct answers that will have to be validated.
EDIT:
You can also always indicate that any test may be have to be orally explained. Once clustered as the other answer suggested you may ask for comments on the solutions.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: In general, it sounds like your problem is not to find out how to assess whether plagiarism occurred, but rather how to make tests that are harder to plagiarize. I will try to answer to both:
**Plagiarism reduction** can be achieved building a database of questions to be leveraged to create "individualised" tests. To elaborate further, you could:
* build a database with a number of questions larger than the one you intend to submit to students (as suggested in a previous answer)
* build personalised tests by pulling questions randomly from the database above.
* randomise the input values of the questions (making up a trivial SQL example: "what is the n\_th most likely value in m\_th column of table k?" where n,m and k are randomly exctracted).
Existing e-learning platforms (Moodle for example) contain all three features abobe, and allow you to collect the student responses in a centralised manner -
so you don't need to reinvent the wheel.
**Plagiarism detection** becomes easier if you receive the test answers digitally. For humanities, text analytics would be needed, and I would recommend using off-the-shelf tools. For quantitative subjects, you can cluster students according to the submission time and score received in each test, and see whether some groups of students cluster too closely together (in small classes, no actual clustering algorithm is needed). This will not suffice to trigger punishment, but you can use it to focus on scrutinizing the student's thought process that led to the solution in a face-to-face exam.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: >
> So far the major piece of assignment, e.g., in SQL, is to give them a scenario describing an information system, explaining what are users, types of data, relations etc. And they are asked to use sql to implement a database, populate some data, and perform some queries.
>
>
>
You can ask them to come up with their own scenarios or pick from an available pool of scenarios. As new concepts come up, you can assign them to implement new functionality into their existing projects.
I have personally seen this approach work best on database and game programming classes since both can have projects that can be iterated upon. Students also get a sense of attachment to their projects which increases motivation by a lot.
However, it does introduce a grading overhead since you have to keep track of the progress of individual projects. We have done this to groups of ~40 students but I can see it working with proper preparation to 300 students.
Upvotes: 0
|
2018/01/18
| 499
| 2,308
|
<issue_start>username_0: I was wondering whether it is possible to cite information from the abstract part of another scientific paper.
Let's say that you read something interesting in the abstract of a scientific paper and that you want to cite that information.
Is it normal to use that specific research paper as a reference source?
The question arises because normally the abstracts of scientific papers don't contain references, but still the abstract would reflect what the authors of that paper conclude/claim.
***EDIT***
To further ellaborate:
My question is relating to scientific papers in general.
I know that the abstract normally does not contain any citations like: [1].
The abstract is like a summary of the scientific paper.
When I quote or cite from the abstract of a certain scientific paper, I would be citing as if that scientific paper is the source.
As a result if assuming that the abstract of a scientific paper contains the conclusions of authors that wrote the abstract. Even though these authors partly or not partly based those conclusions on external sources.
So my question is whether that specific abstract/conclusion would be a valid source to cite from, making the scientific paper containing the abstract the source of citation.<issue_comment>username_1: As a general rule, I would advise against it. It can be tricky to separate what constitutes original work of the authors and what they themselves cite from elsewhere.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If you go through the actual article, you should be able to disentangle the authors' sources from their original work. Then you would know whether what they say in the abstract is their own and therefore attributable to them.
But why would you cite the abstract instead of the article itself?
Because it seems to say something the article does not? Double-check, but then it probably originates from another author.
Because it contains a particular wording that the article does not? Then either paraphrase as you like (and still cite) or verify that the wording can be traced to their own work (or that you trace and cite the originator).
Because you can't get access to more than the abstract without a different subscription? I would hesitate to cite in that scenario.
Upvotes: 2 [selected_answer]
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2018/01/18
| 974
| 3,788
|
<issue_start>username_0: I submitted a paper to a journal, after 2 months and some days of review I get a rejection with a referee report "I find the paper not suitable for the journal", without any further comments and without explaining the reason of the rejection. However the journal publish articles in the topic of my paper! I find it unfair. How could I react to it?<issue_comment>username_1: Submit somewhere else.
The accept/reject decision is made by the editor, based on the recommendations of the referee(s). In this case, the editor felt that the referee's opinion of unsuitability, even without any explanation, was sufficient to reject. Maybe the editor felt that the unsuitability was self-evident upon inspection. Maybe the editor trusts the referee's judgment so implicitly that they didn't feel the need to ask for any explanation. Maybe there were other referee reports that the editor decided not to share with you. We don't really know. But in any case, whether this decision was made well or poorly, I don't think there is anything you could say that would be likely to change the editor's mind.
You could of course decide not to submit to that journal any more, and you could share your experience with colleagues. You could also try to have your paper looked at informally by colleagues in the field, to see if it has severe flaws that you haven't noticed. You could even complain to the editor-in-chief that you don't think the editor is giving due consideration to the papers they handle (though this if the editor-in-chief agrees that the paper is self-evidently unsuitable, this will only annoy them).
But don't try to pursue publishing this paper in this journal - it's a waste of time.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree with previous answers, but I like to add another explanation.
A couple of times I had to review manuscripts that where very preliminary. In Spanish we say "está muy verde" (as if it was an immature fruit). At the time of writing my concerns I had realized that if the reviewers provide too much guide for further work, in fact his/her contribution will deserve to be listed as one of the authors, since he/she played a role in the study design, analysis or whatever.
In this scenario a bunch of lazy (lost) researchers just can throw incomplete pieces of investigation to some of the many journals and harvest a lot of "free" guidelines, mentorship, name it as you like.
Although I have never done it, the best option for a reviewer that suspect that it is the case, is to reject without many details (to the authors), but writing his/her concerns to the Editor. In this way the Editor have the option of disclose the reasons of the rejection if he/she think that it is fair.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Looking at your original question and at some of your comments here, I wonder if it wouldn't be worth having a native speaker read through your paper, and make sure it's not rife with grammatical gaffes.
>
> no my paper a good one
>
>
>
should be:
>
> No, my paper **is** a good one.
>
>
>
and:
>
> Not a high level journal in my fields.
>
>
>
should be:
>
> Not a high-level journal in my **field**.
>
>
>
and:
>
> I submitted a paper to a journal, after 2 months and some days of review I get a reject
>
>
>
would be better as:
>
> I submitted a paper to a journal; after **more than** 2 months of review I **received** a **rejection**
>
>
>
You don't mention any co-author, so I assume you wrote the paper yourself. It could be that your findings are solid, but there are so many grammatical errors that some reviewers thought the work was unfit for publication. Perhaps they felt awkward saying that outright, so they didn't comment any further.
Upvotes: 3
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2018/01/18
| 667
| 2,902
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<issue_start>username_0: I need some grad school advice and I will try to be brief. School A and School B have invited me to a grad visit weekend on the same dates. I booked the trip with School B before I knew there was a schedule conflict. At School A I have secured an RA position and a good relationship with the professor offering the position. School A is also considering me for other scholarships. School B hasn't given me an indication of whether I will be admitted or not. I have spoken to a professor there who reviewed my application, but they did not say much more than I am a good candidate and they look forward to meeting me. School A is ranked higher than B in my field, but B is a top 20 overall while A is top 50. I'm interested in the research areas of both schools.
I asked the professor at School A if I should cancel my plane trip (I didn't mention the other visit conflict) and go to their visit to maximize my chances at the other scholarships that they are considering me for. They told me to email the visit coordinator and explain my situation: that I can't make it, but I want the scholarships and will visit the campus on my own to meet with everyone.
Even with that advice, I'm conflicted. I'm not sure how important this decision is or what the best choice is. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.<issue_comment>username_1: The decision is probably not that important, so don't stress too much (or, which is basically the same, it's pretty much impossible to figure out what the effect it will have). Remember that this feels very high stakes for you but for the people on the other end, it's just another day at the office. I would focus on which trip will get you valuable information. In an ideal world, I would say go to school A for the weekend, and try to visit school B some other time, but I don't know how much of an issue the expense of the tickets is for you. It would be a different matter if school B had admitted you; you might want to push them a little harder on getting details (have they admitted anyone).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: If you have already scheduled and booked a visit to School B, and that school remains of interest to you even after you have been admitted with an RAship to School A, then I would go ahead and attend School B's visitation day.
With regard to School A: I would go ahead and tell them the whole truth: that you have already booked travel to School B for their visitation day, but you remain very interested in School A and would like to attend at some other time. In my mind (I am the graduate coordinator of my department, by the way) your reason for not attending their visitation day is *the best possible one* (both in terms of being understandable and reflecting well on you). If you are active in scheduling an alternate visit, they will read you as being interested in their program.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/18
| 763
| 3,061
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<issue_start>username_0: Yesterday, I sent a "cold" e-mail (i.e., an unsolicited email to someone I do not know) to inquire about whether a professor has open research positions. Today I got the reply as shown below. Obviously, it is not positive.
>
> Thank you for your interest in my lab – unfortunately while your skill set looks to be ideal for the lab – I currently do not have any positions available.
>
>
>
The answer is not very surprising. But how should I respond positively? Because we are in the same city, and probably one day I would have a chance to work in that lab.<issue_comment>username_1: There’s no need to respond.
An (uninvited) question has been asked and (kindly) answered. Answering required the professor’s time. There’s no need to follow up, because that will require more of the professor’s time.
---
>
> Obviously, [the answer] is not positive.
>
>
>
I don’t know whether you mean “the professor answered that the lab has no open research positions” or the professor does not see you as a promising candidate or similar. Regarding the latter, you should not be concerned. The professor probably receives many such requests and simply doesn’t have the time to provide lengthy replies. (That’s why I recommend not to respond.)
---
>
> Why would a professor waste their time with evaluating the suitability of a candidate if there are no positions available
>
>
>
The professor might not have even read the email, let alone evaluated the suitability of the candidate. Indeed, the professor might be using canned responses, which can be sent almost as quickly as an email can be deleted/archived and are perhaps better than non-responses.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I don't agree that one should not respond. It's always good to respond and appreciate the time that was spent to review your CV. I wouldn't write the email in a way that needs to be answered. But a nice email can save your CV for feature opportunities.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: That's a great answer *because he answered*.
As others said, it is a good idea to provide a concise positive answer, stating your interests in future openings: he may remember your availability in 3/6 months.
There are no opening, correct, but are you looking for a research positions? opening comes with funding, and funding come with proposals.
If I were you, I would offer to give a presentation to the group about your work done and your interests, to explore potential future collaboration (to the professor say explicitly "I can/am interested in cooperating towards applying for fundings").
Regarding your expectations (if I read them correctly)
>
> Because we are in the same city, and probably one day I would have a
> chance to work in that lab.
>
>
>
That has almost zero value in the Academia world, it may give you a bit of edge, but do not count on that. It would surely help you in visiting the group investing little time&money, maybe getting some helpful connections to other people in the professor's group.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/19
| 538
| 2,359
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<issue_start>username_0: I am applying for a position in a state where my spouse is. Would it be a good idea to mention this fact in the cover letter so that they know that I am really interested in the position? I just want to make sure that it doesn't go against me.
Thanks.<issue_comment>username_1: Yes. Search committees are very sensitive to what are called "two-body problems".
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: Failed searches waste everyone's time. Anything that suggests you may not accept an offer might be a warning sign for the department. This could be your spouse, because 1) people turn down jobs if their spouse doesn't want to live in that location (or can't find a job), and 2) two-academic households, they might only accept if offered two positions.
Your situation probably makes the department think you are more likely to accept. It doesn't sound likely to hurt your chances. However, there could also be some old-school sexism, etc., ("oh, your spouse works?") depending on the people and genders involved. I don't know the odds of this being a problem, but worth thinking about before disclosing.
Will this matter a lot? Probably depends on the type of school and how attractive the location is. If you are applying to a less prestigious university in a smaller city, departments might really appreciate the evidence that you want to be there (and won't move at the first chance). When I interviewed at a less-fancy school in my home state, I'm pretty sure that came up as a plus. If it's Harvard, I wouldn't expect it to matter at all.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: In every department I've ever been in, a candidate having a spouse already employed somewhere within commuting distance (or any family connection to the area) would have been regarded as a big plus. Of course, "big" has to be viewed in context here, since obviously, it's quite small compared to the quality of someone's research and teaching. It will only make a difference if the department was seriously considering you already. But every department is worried about whether candidates will accept and retention after someone comes (Harvard included! the sort of people Harvard would hire have lots of other institutions falling all over themselves to make them offers), and the way humans make decisions is complicated.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/19
| 1,072
| 4,800
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm currently a senior undergraduate student that has a couple publications where I've been 3rd author on conference papers. I've been conducting research in the field for around 3 years.
I got a call for reviewers from a conference that I've submitted and been accepted to before. I am unsure on whether or not I should answer the call as I don't know how much experience I should have before I can review papers.
I know it would be good experience for me to get and something I am looking forward to doing in the future. However, I don't want to take this on without knowing what is expected of me.
Some questions:
1. How do journals verify your expertise for review?
2. Can I work with someone else to conduct the review (advisor)?
3. Are reviewers usually faculty?
4. Should I tell the conference leaders that I am an undergraduate and ask if I can still review papers?
Thanks and let me know if you need any extra info!<issue_comment>username_1: Normally a PhD (in my experience) will conduct their first peer-reviews with their supervisor or another academic. An undergraduate may (rarely) have the technical expertise, but reviewing is also a skill (that doesn't take long to pick up, but requires a bit of guidance). Poor reviews can waste time of committee members or, worse, harm scientific and academic output, and even harm your own reputation. On the other hand, if you contact a member of staff that would be an opportunity to learn how to do it properly and maintain or even advance your reputation at a very early stage in your career.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: When you submit a paper to a conference, you normally get signed up to also review other papers. When you are first author, you are normally obliged to do so, irrespective of your 'level'. Always best to clarify with the conference. At the PhD level, it is done, at the undergrad level, not so sure.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: My default advice in your situation is **no, don't offer to review**.
Aside from your technical expertise, an important qualification for a reviewer is that they have worked in their subfield for long enough to have a broad view of existing work and the state of the art. When reviewing a paper, you want to be able to think about how it fits in with what's already been done, and how important an advance it represents. You'd want to be aware of important related work, and looking up the paper's references is not enough, because the authors themselves may not know about all the important related work.
In general, I wouldn't expect that an undergraduate would have that level of experience, and thus they wouldn't be qualified as a reviewer.
If you really feel like you do have that level of experience, then I would suggest that you next talk with your advisor and/or your coauthors, and ask for their honest opinion. A more common way to get started would be to ask if you can help with reviews that have been assigned to them. (They may need to ask the editor's permission for this.) That way, you get to see what's involved, but the final responsibility for the review would stay with your advisor.
As to your specific questions:
1. Editors evaluate reviewers mainly by looking at their previous publications, and deciding whether they demonstrate sufficient technical knowledge and experience in the field. However, there's also an "honor system" component: when a reviewer is invited, they're implicitly expected to honestly evaluate whether they have the qualifications to review the paper properly, and decline the invitation if they don't.
2. When a reviewer is sent a paper, they are expected to keep it confidential and not share it with anyone. (Some people feel that there is implicit permission to share it with the reviewer's graduate students, if the reviewer feels they are trustworthy, but that would not apply to you.) So if you are a reviewer, you should not work with anyone else, unless you ask the editor for permission to work with that specific person, and the editor agrees.
3. Yes, in most academic fields, the majority of reviewers are faculty. Postdocs are usually also considered qualified, and in some cases graduate students might be. In some fields you might also get a significant number of researchers from outside academia, but they would typically have a similar educational and publication record as faculty.
4. Yes, I think that if you do decide to review, you ought to disclose to the editors that you are an undergraduate. I think it's important information that the editor needs to know in order to evaluate your qualifications, especially since they probably don't get very many such offers from undergrads and wouldn't by default think of that possibility.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
|
2018/01/19
| 803
| 3,152
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<issue_start>username_0: My question concerns terminology in computer-science MSc/BSc education in universities. Let us consider the following terms:
* course
* module
* lecture
* seminar
in the US and the UK.
Which terms denote one-off events, which events last a term, and which events denote a whole BSc/MSc program? (Yes, I've read [the Wikipedia entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_(education)), but it seems controversial.)<issue_comment>username_1: US usage
--------
A course is generally the main unit of instruction. You will register for a course that lasts a term--which could be a semester or a quarter depending on the university.
There could also be a year-long course but it would actually be two or three courses that you would have to register for each term.
It's also possible to hear the term "course of study" which is the set of courses that you need to take to fulfill requirements for a degree.
The term module is not very common in the US, but it would be a themed subset of a course. I've seen it used in professional development courses.
A lecture is one meeting of a course.
A seminar could be a one-off lecture or meeting but a seminar course or a course using a seminar format would be designed for a small group, likely under 20, with more discussion rather than lecture or every student presenting on various topics over the term.
UK usage
--------
Course is used for the entire set of topics to be covered for the degree, so corresponding to course of study in the US.
A module is a themed subset of the course, what would be called a course in the US.
A lecture has the same meaning as does a seminar.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: In the US, the terms you've listed generally have multiple meanings. However, the most common usage of the terms are as follows:
* Lecture or seminar: Can refer to an individual meeting of a class, or an individual talk. Can also refer to a set of meetings, as in a lecture or seminar series. It can also refer to a mode of instruction, such as in a lecture or seminar course.
* Course: Primarily the main form of instruction, usually including some combination of lectures, laboratories, seminars, recitation or discussion sections, and so on, usually focused on one theme, that may or may not be part of the "major" a student is concentrating on. (An important exception in the US is at MIT, where "course" refers to a program, and "subject" refers to what is normally called a course. Also, Harvard refers to a one-semester course as a "half-course.")
* Module: Generally a subset of a course.
As for the UK, I will defer to others, as I am not as familiar with the usage there.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: If I guess correctly, I would think there is a desire for understanding the hierarchy of a education learning? (I could be wrong?)
My take on the hierarchy:
Curriculum -> Course(s) -> Lecture(s) -> Module(s)
A curriculum is a list of courses, while a course can contain one or more lectures.
Each lecture can have one or more modules. A module can be further broken down to contain content, assignment(s), quiz, etc.
Upvotes: -1
|
2018/01/20
| 665
| 2,862
|
<issue_start>username_0: How uncommon or weird is it to put my citations in a powerpoint slide at the title ? I really want to put the citations in the slide and not only at the very end.
[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cMKOJ.png)<issue_comment>username_1: I would prefer if the reference is in the first line of the slide (perhaps after a definition) instead.
Putting the reference in the title does not seem very aesthetic.
Also, it seems that this page of the slide does not contain a definition, which is definitely needed.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Slides are different beasts from papers and the style should match the medium. For example, we usually enumerate equations in papers, but shall we do it on slides? Clearly, readers can not go back until the presenter himself does it, so why wasting space on numbers in the first place?
Applying it to your example: why would you need `[1]`? Simply put reference if you feel it's needed. Or symbolise, `[Kingma et al 2015]`.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: It would be better to introduce that reference giving to it some seconds of your talk. If it is in title, that should be the frame or the motivation of the work. Nothing wrong but I find it bit weird. However it will surely attract the attention. But nowadays everyone will start searching it instead of listening to you.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_4: For a presentation, such citations are entirely useless. The very structure of presentation means that the audience cannot move around in a presentation and scroll into the future to look up what something refers to. As username_2
points out, references on the slide like (A.N. Person 2016) gives some partial information that might be of use to informed audiences or introduce other characters of the story of research. They do have the advantage that they can be viewed at the appropriate time in the presentation.
Now I was discussing presentations, not slides. Some people distribute slides as handouts and handouts can be read in a nonlinear way at the time and convenience of the reader. Putting such citations in the title might well make the slide into a better handout- but certainly into worse presentation slides. Slides are generally suboptimal as handouts. Since you are using LaTex, it should be easy for you to make proper handouts out of your slides if you want handouts, and if you are willing to put in the effort, you can use the advantages of ordinary written communication there. If someone is stuck in using something like PowerPoint and wants handouts, but is too lazy to produce handouts, one should at least have two sets of slides, with the one for presentations not containing useless references the audience cannot access at the time of occurence.
Upvotes: 3
|
2018/01/20
| 467
| 1,925
|
<issue_start>username_0: Let’s say a journal has many editors. I tried submitting to one editor (the journal uses an email submission) and he replied:
>
> Dear Authors,
>
>
> This submission is not in my area of expertise. Therefore, I regret to inform you that I will not be able to handle it.
>
>
>
Is this a subtle rejection from the entire journal?
Do I still have chance if I submit to another editor from the same journal?
Thanks.<issue_comment>username_1: Unless you have strong reason to believe this is an important journal for your field, I would be extremely dubious about having anything to do with a journal with such a lack of organization.
Every reputable journal that I have dealt with has at least some sort of process for tracking and handling manuscripts, which includes the ability to transfer manuscripts to the editor best able to handle the manuscript. Thus, no manuscript would ever receive the sort of uninformative and unprofessional email that you report: either you'd be transferred to a more appropriate editor or you'd be clearly rejected.
The "dead end" email that you've received certainly leaves it open that you might email other editors at the journal to see if they will handle your manuscript. I am not, however, convinced that this would actually be a good idea for you to do, and would suggest shifting to a more reputable and professionally run journal.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: No, and you can submit to another member of the editorial board.
I wouldn't jump to conclusions about how professional the journal is as well. It sounds like the journal is not using an editorial management system, which could be for a variety of reasons (e.g. the editor-in-chief is not willing to learn a new piece of software). It's also conceivable the editor you wrote to is a new member to the board, and is unfamiliar as to how to transfer it.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/20
| 1,055
| 4,508
|
<issue_start>username_0: This may be a dumb question. I would like to improve my presentation skills.
So should I rehearse my presentation at least 5-10-20 times? Or should I memorise my presentation and practice it enough?
When rehearsing, I make my presentation in front of a mirror and observe that I deliver the same messages in a different way in each time, while if I memorise what to say for each slide of my presentation, then I deliver the same messages in same way very confidently each time I practice in front of a mirror.
So I am getting confused which one is the better method to deliver an effective presentation?<issue_comment>username_1: It's not "either rehearse or memorize". Also, your sentence "In rehearse, every time I make presentations in front of mirror and observe that I am delivering same messages in a different way in each time." got me thinking that you probably rehearse inefficiently.
The purpose of rehearsal is to improve your presentation. So after every rehearsal you should reflect about your performance, think about points that did not come across right, and about ways to improve the presentation. If you just start over again without reflection and without a new, improved plan, you do a weird mix of "not really rehearsing" and "not really memorizing".
I'd say, a good rehearsal includes quite some memorization for the crucial parts. However, if you rehearse long enough, you may get to some point where do not even memorize your lines, but where the presentation has a natural flow such that your previously memorized phrases come out naturally.
I'd say, bare memorization is ok, but may be dangerous if you don't know the story line of your presentation as a whole. Imagine that you loose you lines and get stuck in the middle of the presentation. So also rehearse to speak freely but memorize some lines that you find particularly good at crucial points. A good structure of the presentation and a good story is very helpful here (and for a badly structured presentation, neither memorizing nor rehearsal will lead to a good presentation, anyway).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Prepare on your own first and then -- this is the key -- **give a practice talk** to a small group. Ask a friend to jot down notes from the feedback people give you at the end. Make sure the people you invite to listen to your practice talk know how to give constructive feedback in a supportive way.
If you are fairly inexperienced, you may want to do some rinsing and repeating -- but don't overdo it or the talk will lose its freshness.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: There's no right answer here.
I had a colleague who would rehearse her presentation to the point of memorization. (Important detail: this was in the days when transparencies were still used in preference to laptops.) During her presentation, she discovered her slides got messed up in traveling, and had a very hard time recovering from the problem. So the problem with memorization is that you may or may not be able to deal with it if you're thrown off your script somehow.
However, some people get so nervous about the idea of a presentation that they can't handle it without memorizing what they're going to say. The reason why this works for them is that recitation uses a fundamentally different part of your brain than normal conversation. (This is why people who stutter in normal life don't stutter when acting.)
Personally, I try to just have a list of major points for the slides, and then work "with the audience" to get my points across. (For instance, if I'm talking to a room full of chemists, I'll give a different talk than when I'm presenting to an audience of chemical engineers or computational scientists.)
But you just have to experiment and find what works best for you.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: I cannot memorise and so would always rehearse. At first I was very nervous and practiced many times, but over the years I learned to care less. These days, I am confident enough in my knowledge of a subject to trust that the slides will queue me to say what is needed to get the message across. Anyhow, I do not know if this applies to you, but I would recommend that you sometimes talk without preparation. The quality of the presentation will suffer and it becomes more difficult to manage your time (so save this for an informal presentation), but it is a liberating experience and I find that it removes most of the stress involved.
Upvotes: 1
|
2018/01/20
| 679
| 2,151
|
<issue_start>username_0: I am presenting a table in my paper which summarizes and compares data from other papers. I'd like the data to be presented uniformly, with the same number of significant figures for all data. However, some of the cited papers have more significant figures in their data than others.
Here's an example: instead of presenting the table below:
```
| <NAME>. | <NAME>. | <NAME>. | My data |
|---|--------------|------------|----------------|------------|
| X | 1.42+- 0.31 | 1.3 +- 0.1 | 1.314 +- 0.287 | 1.4 +- 0.2 |
| Y | 1.43 +- 0.10 | 1.4 +- 0.2 | 1.421 +- 0.234 | 1.5 +- 0.3 |
```
I'd like to normalize the number of significant figures to make it easier to compare them:
```
| <NAME>. | <NAME>. | <NAME>. | My data |
|---|------------|------------|------------|------------|
| X | 1.4 +- 0.3 | 1.3 +- 0.1 | 1.3 +- 0.3 | 1.4 +- 0.2 |
| Y | 1.4 +- 0.1 | 1.4 +- 0.2 | 1.4 +- 0.2 | 1.5 +- 0.3 |
```
Can I (or should I) remove significant figures from their data, for consistency purposes? If so, can I still use the expression *reproduced from Smith, J.*, or should I use something as *adapted from Smith, J.*?<issue_comment>username_1: You are free to choose how many digits to keep, and whether to do it consistently - although you are advised to use as many as it makes sense.
Reporting 1.314 ± 0.287 clearly does not add any useful information to 1.31 ± 0.29 as there is no meaning in the last digit. As a referee I would have requested the original publication to ignore the last digit.
Keeping <NAME> as 1.3 ± 0.1 together with <NAME> as 1.31 ± 0.29 in a review makes perfect sense, as it shows that Anon's data is actually more precise than Doe's.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: It's certainly a thing you can do, especially if you're simply presenting the data (it might be useful to keep the expanded form to avoid adding any additional rounding error to a meta-analysis or the like). I would simply include a sentence in the Table legend, etc.
*All estimates reported to one decimal place for consistency*. Or something like that.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/21
| 386
| 1,358
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have a class project coming up, the professor asked us to form groups of 6. Everyone in class seems to know each other and have already started forming groups. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone in that class. I would like to know how can I email my professor about assigning me to a group? I am an international student so I am not really sure how to address this.<issue_comment>username_1: Keep it simple:
>
> Dear Prof. X,
>
>
> I'm <NAME> (ID n. 12345), an international student in your class
> XYZ. Since I don't know anyone in the class, could you please assign
> me to one of the project groups?
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
> Hannah
>
>
>
I have international students in my classes and such emails are not uncommon. The important thing is to provide all the pieces of information needed to identify you and the course (professors usually have several).
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> how can I email my professor about assigning me to a group?
>
>
>
Don't seek complicated solutions for a simple problem.
1. Find the professor's e-mail address online.
2. Open your e-mail client and write the letter to him/her along the following lines: "Dear Prof. XXX, I could not get into a group myself; please assign me to a group. Sincerely yours, Hannah \_\_\_\_"
3. Press the "send" button.
Upvotes: -1
|
2018/01/21
| 658
| 2,784
|
<issue_start>username_0: I very recently learned that I will be awarded an NSF postdoc!
And then the US government shut-down.
Should I expect the NSF postdoc to work out once the government starts running again?
Note: The email I received from the NSF is not an official award notice. From the NSF website is says that during this shut-down period “no new grants or cooperative agreements will be awarded”. It does not say anything about whether grants that have been scheduled will be awarded once operations resume. Perhaps I am overthinking it, but I am worried that the NSF postdoc might fall through and it will be to late for me to make alternate arrangements.<issue_comment>username_1: The NSF recently changed its accounting practices, so that money for awards are committed all at once, rather than year-by-year. So, that means that the funding for your award should already have been “available” when you got the notification. Unfortunately, a shutdown means that no further processing will likely take place until it ends, so there may be some delays in the start of your award. But I can’t imagine a scenario where the NSF cancels awards it was planning to make because of the shutdown.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Congrats on the NSF postdoc! As <NAME>' comment indicates, none of us can answer this question definitively, since we aren't the NSF (or the U.S. Congress for that matter). Arrangements for the 2013 U.S. government shutdown (which as you may recall was in October and lasted over two weeks) resulted in submission deadlines being postponed, and in NSF Postdocs (at least in math, and I presume in other fields) not being paid for the duration, which contrasted with NSF graduate fellowships, which are paid to schools in lump sums in advance. (As an aside, this has [tax implications](http://aapf-fellows.org/Taxes) you should be aware of when you accept the award.) Awards (and selection for awards) resumed after the shutdown and back pay awarded for affected individuals. (Excuse the lack of references throughout, normally I'd be linking to the NSF website, which of course is currently displaying only minimal information.)
All the paperwork required for an NSF postdoc to be official takes months (requiring proof of graduation among other things) and it sounds like this shutdown caught you at the very beginning of it; the next steps will probably be delayed with the shutdown, but speculating (as nothing more than a member of the public) unless there is a major change to the NSF budget or a very long shutdown, it's probably not time to panic yet. ;) It is worth understanding that future shutdowns, should they occur after you start your postdoc, could affect your paycheck and when it arrives.
Upvotes: 3
|
2018/01/21
| 2,417
| 10,055
|
<issue_start>username_0: I’m writing a master’s thesis in theoretical and mathematical physics, specifically in general relativity.
To better organize the thesis, I’m using the well-known division in works in mathematics to organize important results in lemmas, propositions, theorems and corollaries.
Outside those blocks there are also equations relating to the overall discussion connecting the results.
I’m quite unsure about the equation numbering. I see several options:
* I number all equations.
* I number only the important ones which I’ll need later.
* I number just the equations on the discussions and not those inside the proofs of the lemmas, propositions, theorems, corollaries, etc.
What are the pros and cons of these approaches?<issue_comment>username_1: Number all the equations, important intermediate steps and final step.
That way it is easier for anyone to refer to exactly the one they want to discuss, including you.
So eq 1, then equ 1.1 as intermediate step etc.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: (Maths/Engineering Copy Editor speaking.) Well, first, I **advocate against these two solutions** (see below for some reasoning)**:**
* Number all displayed equations.
* Number only referenced equations.
So, the solution lies somewhere in between. The basic idea is that you **do number:**
* All referenced equations (obviously).
* All important equations. To measure this, I would say that an equation is important if the reason why you made it a displayed equation is to emphasize it.
* Unreferenced equations "parallel" to a referenced ones. Imagine you have two similar equations in similar contexts in your work; then you should either number both or none.
* Equations you "feel" (whatever it means) someone else might want to reference.
What you in general **do not number:**
* Equations put on display for that they are too large.
* Intermediate steps of computations.
* Equations in abstracts.
* You number a multiline equation only with one number.
Hope this helps. Almost-final words: **Use your common sense.** Final words: **Be self-consistent.**
---
Why I don't like all displays numbered:
* It clutters the page if there are many equations. You also might number things that are basically one equation (think LaTeX's `\intertext`).
* The numbering ceases to function as an emphasis.
* If the equations are long or the columns narrow, it can eat up precious space.
Why I don't like only referenced equations numbered:
* You don't allow anything else referenced than what you yourself decided to reference.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: For a master's thesis, and particularly if it's a field that you will continue to work in at PhD level or elsewhere, I would make the case that you should **number all the equations**.
For my MRes dissertation, I attempted to take the middle road described in username_2s answer, and I only numbered the equations that I thought at the time were more important. (It's available [here](https://arxiv.org/abs/1307.7329) if you want to see the balance for yourself.) As I moved into my PhD in the same field, though, and as I used that dissertation as a reference work for both journal publications and my later PhD thesis, but most often in my personal notes as I developed those ideas further, I very often found that I wanted to reference equations that I hadn't thought important enough to number at the time, so my notes are full of references to "the second equation between 3.18 and 3.19" in the dissertation.
Frankly, I just don't see any reason to think that numbering too many equations is a bad thing. What are the actual downsides?
* That the page looks cluttered? Then it's most likely a problem with intrusive typesetting.
* That it looks like you're emphasizing equations that are unimportant? That just stems from the misconception that numbering must always convey emphasis; it *can* do that if you so choose, but it doesn't need to.
* That the numbers get too big? That's not actually a problem.
* That it's slightly inconsistent in which equations get numbers (as opposed to shorter calculations that can be done inline)? It is indeed inconsistent, which comes from the fact that some equations are shorter and some are longer, and if you remove the association between numbering and emphasis by being consistent with the former, the claimed "inconsistency" ceases to be a problem.
* That you still don't have ways to reference the inline calculations? You don't, but your chances of being able to pinpoint a paragraph as the one above eq. N.nn still increase.
Now, I do see the case that if you're encapsulating material inside theorems or, particularly, their proofs, they do become isolated to a higher degree, and it need not make a lot of sense to number everything in the proof of a minor lemma if it's never going to be referenced in print from outside that proof. However, depending on the ways you're going to use your thesis, you might e.g. want to improve that lemma, in which case your notes will thank you for the ability to reference the proof they're improving on.
This is obviously a matter of taste, though, and it's all subjective, but do give a thought to your future self when taking that decision.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: As you can see by the other answers, this is one of those topics, where opinions differ (and do so sometimes quite loudly). As you mention that you are writing your master thesis, you should also ask your advisor about personal preferences or which style is the norm in the sub-field. This might save you from having to redo everything in the end.
However instead of adding another personal opinion (which naturally differs from the others posted), a general remark:
In general, **referencing formulas by number is distracting**. These references tend to break the flow, as I need to stop reading and find the right formula, somewhere far away, probably even on a different page. (If it is directly above, do not reference it by number, write something like "the preceding formula". Even a short look back, just to see that it is right there can be annoying.)
I agree that those references are sometimes a necessary evil. Still, whenever you use one, try to think about if it is really needed. Sometimes it is just a symptom of a structural problem. If you need a lot of single references, your arguments might simply be badly ordered, as you seem to be not proving things at the point where they are needed. If you are referencing a single formula a lot, why is it just a formula and not a lemma or a definition?
If you still need to reference something, try to help the reader by making it easier to grasp. Some examples that come to mind:
* **Naming formulas**: Often formulas are not only arrangements of symbols but have some underlying meaning or idea, which you can use as a short colloquial name. It does not have to be a global name that is established in literature, just something that helps to understand, remember and identify it. This does not replace the equation number but makes it more bearable. An example would be something like:
>
> [...] From this we have now shown monotony:
>
>
> (1.23) a < b
>
>
> [...]
>
>
> Using the monotony (1.23) we have...
>
>
>
* **Warning the reader**: If you are going to use a formula later on, tell the reader about it. If you tell me that you will need this estimate again in step five of the proof, I can be prepared and will be far more likely to remember it.
* **Referencing with location**: If you really need a formula from three proofs ago, then don't just tell me its number, but that its from the proof of theorem so and so and ideally even from which part of the proof.
* **Repeating things**: It is rarely done, however there is no law against repeating a formula. If you need to re-discus a formula from three chapters ago in detail, write it down again completely. Keep the number from before and tell me, where it is from, but if the complete next paragraph is about it, it really helps to have it written down in front of me.
Of course all of those can and sometimes should be combined as necessary.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: (My experience is in pure mathematics.)
I'm going to take a different view to most: number only the equations you refer to.
The rationale for numbering anything else (other people, or you yourself in subsequent work, might want to refer to other equations) doesn't make sense to me. In the (IMO highly unlikely) case that you want to refer to a specific equation in another work, it is a terrible idea to make the reader go away and look up what it says; you should always write out the equation in addition to giving the reference. Now it doesn't really matter whether the equation has a number; you can just write "we will use the equation [whatever it says], from [theorem, page or section reference] of [citation]" and readers will be able to find it easily if they want to check it.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_6: After reading many printed-out papers, I can only recommend: **number every single equation**. When a paper tells me to look for "Equation (2.3)" and I have to sift through dozens of pages because the author only numbered important/referenced equations and I could find (2.2) on page 6 and (2.5) on page 28, it's extremely annoying. Whereas if every equation is numbered, since there is at least one or two big equations on each pages, following the reference becomes very quick.
The downsides of numbering everything (the only real one I see is that if the equation is too large, things may get ugly, but this is usually fixable) are insignificant compared to this. Besides, what if you forego the numbering because your equation is large, but later on you find yourself wanting to refer to the big equation...? The only equations I wouldn't (and don't) number are single equations in a proposition/lemma/theorem/... statement, as you can refer to the proposition/lemma/... by number instead.
Upvotes: 2
|
2018/01/22
| 344
| 1,450
|
<issue_start>username_0: I have seen in some conferences that they usually put two kinds of templates, one in Latex and the other one in word. The question that I have, and is because I will be on a conference committee in the next couple of months, is how to deal with the differences of fonts between both templates.
For what I know the Latex fonts are usually not found in Word, so how to do when one send the articles to print the proceedings. Should one person convert from Word to Latex or the Latex template should be made in a way that resembles the Word fonts?
Sort of easy question, but I have not been involved in conferences committees before.
Thanks<issue_comment>username_1: Both LaTeX and Word support similar font packages (e.g., Times New Roman). So you could simply ask all authors to use the same font family (or set up the templates to do so).
What happens afterward depends on who's the publisher. If it's published in-house, both versions may just be published "as is." However, if an external publisher is used, both versions will likely be transferred to the publisher's "house style."
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: IEEE provides coherent templates for office and latex available at <https://m.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/templates.html>
You can use them as inspiration or simply use them for your conference. I think they are free to use but you have to check.
Upvotes: 0
|
2018/01/22
| 2,780
| 12,324
|
<issue_start>username_0: A student is asking for an alternative exam because he was "completely exhausted" due to overwork the last month or so of the semester, including the exam day.
He provided a doctor's notice validating the claim and explaining the physical symptoms. He also provided another notice proving he did actually took an excessive number of courses recently and did well.
Should I give him the opportunity to retake the exam?<issue_comment>username_1: Probably not; it would be unfair to the rest of the students, who managed their time and took the final when scheduled. A more likely alternative is a hardship or medical withdrawal. Check with your department chair about policies at your own institution.
**Edit:** I've reconsidered. You should record the grade the student earned, without the final exam, or with the grade earned if the student took the final, and let the institution's policies take things from there.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: From him providing a notice which showed that he took an excessive number of courses and did well suggests to me that it was intended to show that he is otherwise a "good student" and should be allowed to take a substitute exam on that basis, but it also suggests that his exhaustion was self-inflicted and thus he did not manage his time - he bit off more than he could chew.
Perhaps it is normal where-ever you are that a doctor's note which validates a claim of illness or unfitness for work/duty also explains the physical symptoms, and if it is a medical certificate such as someone would provide to an employer to explain an absence then I see no problem with allowing a substitute exam on that basis - unfit for work or unfit for an exam can be taken as the same thing.
Here, and in many other places, a medical certificate to explain an absence says little more than that a suitably qualified medical practitioner has certified that the person was unable to attend work due to a valid (medical) reason, and the specifics are confidential between doctor and patient. The details are covered by privacy, an employer does not need to know and are not entitled to that information.
However, if the note from the doctor is something other than a medical certificate stating that he was unfit to attend on that day, then I would say that his exhaustion was self-inflicted, he didn't manage his time and/or workload with his courses and should not be given special consideration as a consequence.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_3: I don't think you should decide this alone, and here's why. If it's an unusual circumstance -- well, okay, we're all human. But if there's been a pattern -- that's disrespectful of the instructors' time. So check with the undergraduate program director. in the department
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: You should do whatever you or your institution would ordinarily do for a student who brought a doctor's note after missing an exam. You are not the student's doctor and the cause of the student's illness is completely irrelevant.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_5: I come from a background where it is totally acceptable and common to not attend the regular exam just because you want some extra time to study. Any students who missed the first exam or failed it are automatically registered for the make-up exam, no justification needed. So, leaving out the "moral indignation" aspect, unless you have strong practical reasons not to organize a make-up exam, let them take it.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_6: In my opinion, exhaustion is not a valid excuse for not taking an exam, even with a doctor certifying that you are indeed exhausted. By the end of a term, *everyone* is exhausted! I'm especially unsympathetic to a student who admits the problem is entirely of his own making, that he's exhausted because he took too many heavy classes.
Here in the US, most institutions have a student disabilities office that decides what accommodations a student should get based on their needs and the law. Professionals in that disability office review any medical information and may discuss possible accommodations with the student and the instructor, but ultimately, they decide. As an instructor, you follow their instructions. Until you have instructions from the disability office, you should not offer accommodations due to disability because you're not qualified and it's not your job to make that decision and it's not fair to the other students.
What I would do is tell the student that all requests for accommodations based on disability or medical conditions beyond the obvious (e.g., you're in the hospital) must be decided by the disability office. I would tell the student I could make certain accommodations on my own, e.g., rescheduling an exam for a student with another exam in the same time slot upon verification, but that I am not qualified nor is it within my authority to review medical claims. If the student wants an accommodation based on exhaustion, they will need to present approved instructions from the disability office stating what accommodations are to be provided.
Offhand, I don't think a disability office will accept this excuse either, especially retroactively, but I also don't know that it will get that far. Once you tell the student you need an approved disability form, I think there's a good chance they give up and the problem goes away. Otoh, if the student does take it to the disability office and they say the student should get a make-up exam, no problem, you just do it. But now you've followed the rules and let the professionals own the problem.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_7: Many of the answers so far have focused on either the fact that the student did this to himself (by taking too hard of a classload) or that exhaustion is not a valid excuse because it is common at the end of the semester.
This answer does not focus on the medical issue per se or its validity, but I wanted to point out that there are valid opposite side to these two issues.
**Point 1.** The student failed to manage his own time by signing up for so many classes.
I agree that some students fail in this regard, but these failures, around exam time in particular, are not always the student's fault. Example: when I was an undergrad, I majored in both math and molecular biology. My university scheduled exams over a 6 day period with exams for classes not commonly taken together typically scheduled on the same day. This is designed to accommodate most students who have picked one major, but for those of us who had interdisciplinary interests, the result was that we often had as many as 3 or 4 difficult exams crammed into something like an 18 hour window. For a junior or senior taking advanced classes in which the professor believes they know what other classes their students are taking and how difficult they are (because most students follow their department's curriculum), these conflicts can potentially be devastating. Ultimately, It may not be fair to allow two students different timelines for an exam *in the context of the class*, but it is also quite unfair for the algorithm that schedules exams to systematically disadvantage students who have interdisciplinary interests.
**Point 2.** Exhaustion is not a valid excuse, particularly because everyone is exhausted at the end of the semester.
I feel that this sounds convincing on its face, but it makes me uncomfortable. This line of thinking may come from a desire not to give anyone preferential treatment, but the net effect of this as a policy is that students with more resources get preferential treatment on average. Those students whose tuition and living expenses are covered by wealthy parents or who have the option of painlessly extending their degree to 5 years will always benefit from this policy on average while students who must work/raise children during college or who can't afford to spend more than 4 years getting their degree will always be hurt on average by this policy. One can argue that this is the best bias we can extract from a general policy, but I don't think one can argue that this policy is universally fair.
To be clear, I'm not arguing that one should or should not follow such a policy universally; rather I'm arguing that the policy has a non-trivial bias. The OP should consider if the biases implied by such a policy are biases that they are okay with in the context of their class/grades or whether they would prefer the biases carried by other policies.
**Conclusion.** I don't have a direct answer to the question, but I wanted to point out that rigid adherence to a policy position is not more fair just because it is more rigid. In particular, if the OP's goal, in teaching the class, is for the students' grades to best reflect their level of understanding of the topic (rather than to best reflect a standardized test on the topic) independent of other students, then adherence to a rigid attendance policy is probably antithetical to fairness. If the OP's goal is to have a clear paper-trail that shows they did nothing amiss, then the best thing is always to route things through the proper administrative channels. If the OP's goal is to prevent a situation where any *other* student might feel cheated, then obviously they should disallow the makeup exam. But if the OP's goal is to be as fair as possible to the student in question, then the answer isn't going to be found verbatim in a policy document.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_8: Ultimately you will need to consult university policies and applicable local laws.
I think your best option here is to grant the request. In the US at least, this would normally consist of giving the student a grade of Incomplete. Exactly what warrants an incomplete can vary from institution to institution, but [these guidelines given by the University of Wisconsin](https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/page.php?id=21330) are fairly typical in my experience (emphasis mine):
>
> College policy states that Incompletes should only be given in situations where students are receiving a passing grade in the course, have completed most of the course assignments, and are not able to complete their coursework **due to unforeseeable circumstances**.
>
>
> Incompletes should only be given when there is a reasonable expectation that a student can and will complete the work in a timely fashion.
>
>
>
Now my initial reaction to all of that is that your student *does not* qualify for an Incomplete: exhaustion is a completely normal and foreseeable circumstance of overloading and overworking yourself. Any college age student will be familiar with this concept. However, I think there are enough possibilities where this could still be "beyond their control" enough that you should give them the benefit of the doubt. They may, for example, have a mental disorder which drives them to compulsively engage in such behaviors, regardless of their knowledge of its negative impact.
Such things would all be beyond what you should inquire about. You should either give the student the benefit of the doubt that one or more such things apply, or if you fail at that then ask the relevant university office for guidance and if they can independently verify the matter. You probably want to—and in some jurisdictions may be basically legally required—to distance yourself from the medical particulars and let the University handle verification of these things on their own, and have them pass onto you their evaluation of the situation. This keeps the private information of the student out of your hands and helps ensure no one engages in discriminatory behavior towards protected classes.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_9: For me, it comes down to the students overall performance/engagement during the entirety of the course. If the student was generally good, but bombed one test (obvious outlier score) I'm usually willing to give another shot, albeit the test will be harder (which is hard on me, too). If it's too soon to tell, I might say to him/her to prove their resolve through the rest of the course, and if that one test was indeed aberrant, we could work out something towards the end of the semester. But, you have no obligation to do any of this.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/01/22
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<issue_start>username_0: I’ve been MS student and completed all my courses in years 2012-2014, but instead of taking my master’s exam in 2014 (which is requirement for graduation) I took a break. I have defended my master’s thesis and passed the master’s exam this year. During this break out period I wasn’t student, so I am unsure how should I state this on my resume and make it look as good as possible.<issue_comment>username_1: I suggest stating the date ranges during which you were registered as a student, as well as the degree date:
SomeUniversity September 2012 to March 2014 and January 2018, MS SubjectX 2018.
That will presumably match up with the employment section of the CV that will show work during the gap.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: Your date of graduation is the one written on your graduation certificate.
If you want to justify your absence, cover letter is the correct place. Not the CV.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/01/22
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<issue_start>username_0: I will apply for a PhD soon. I would be applying to the Politics department, but there is a professor in a different department who holds really interesting seminars on political topics. However, as I said, he is not affiliated at all with this department. How do I ask him / how could I phrase this best?
PS: My question is not whether I can attend his lectures as a guest -I would love to take these seminars for credit, if I can. I just don't know whether that's an option, or whether students from the politics department will be allowed in these lectures/seminars.<issue_comment>username_1: The answer to your question is easy. Simply ask:
>
> I am very interested by your lectures. Can I attend them as a student in the politics department?
>
>
>
The professor, however, is probably not the best resource to answer your question, especially if you want to enroll in the course. You should enquire at your future department what is allowed and what is not. Rules can vary between departments and programs.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I agree with username_1, and would emphasise first checking the regulations/technicalities with administrative staff who can advise you on that.
My experience (in Germany) is that taking a related class in another department is totally possible, but may require that lecturer's permission, which would be the point at which you contact the lecturer.
username_1's suggested phrasing sounds good. I would suggest to maybe include (very succinctly, in one or two sentences) why you are interested in their course and a bit more specificity regarding who you are (rather than "a politics student"). This just makes it a bit easier for them to remember you, which is helpful if you need to go up to them at the beginning or the end of the first class in order to get a form signed indicating their permission for you to take the course.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/22
| 399
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<issue_start>username_0: I have submitted the paper to [JFA journal](https://ees.elsevier.com/jfa/default.asp) after the stage "submitted to the journal" (14 days ) ,I have received the message that paper is assigned with current stage " Decision in process " in the same time , Is this can say anything about acceptenece or reject of my paper ?<issue_comment>username_1: The answer to your question is easy. Simply ask:
>
> I am very interested by your lectures. Can I attend them as a student in the politics department?
>
>
>
The professor, however, is probably not the best resource to answer your question, especially if you want to enroll in the course. You should enquire at your future department what is allowed and what is not. Rules can vary between departments and programs.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I agree with username_1, and would emphasise first checking the regulations/technicalities with administrative staff who can advise you on that.
My experience (in Germany) is that taking a related class in another department is totally possible, but may require that lecturer's permission, which would be the point at which you contact the lecturer.
username_1's suggested phrasing sounds good. I would suggest to maybe include (very succinctly, in one or two sentences) why you are interested in their course and a bit more specificity regarding who you are (rather than "a politics student"). This just makes it a bit easier for them to remember you, which is helpful if you need to go up to them at the beginning or the end of the first class in order to get a form signed indicating their permission for you to take the course.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/22
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<issue_start>username_0: I got a PhD in mathematics three years ago, and am currently a post-doc. My appointment is due to finish this August, so I am now looking for a new job.
My dream job would be a permanent faculty position in my home country. The problem is that in my home country, the recruitment calendar is considerably later than the international average: if an offer comes, it could be in mid- to late May (most likely) or possibly even June (if I have to wait for people above me in the shortlist to step aside). Also, the competition is very tough; even though my CV (as far as I can judge) seems fairly good, there is a real possibility that I will not get any such position this year.
If I cannot get a permanent position, I would like to do a second post-doc (somewhere in Europe). But the calendar for post-docs, on the other hand, is much earlier: based on my experience so far, it seems that the vast majority of offers that I could get would have a reply deadline somewhere in February.
All of this puts me in a tight spot:
* either I could sit idle until the permanent position interviews; and only if I fail all of them, start looking for a post-doc. But the chances of finding, in June, a post-doc to start in September seem fairly slim. If I did this, I am genuinely scared I would end up as a high-school teacher.
* or I could apply to post-docs now, and accept one of the offers without telling them anything; then quietly go to the permanent position interviews, and if I pass one of them, renege on the post-doc I had already accepted and take the permanent position instead. But this raises obvious ethical issues.
Of course backing out of a commitment on a job A to take a better offer B is usually frowned upon. However I think I heard people saying that the case when A is a post-doc and B is a permanent position is exceptional, and that in this case such behaviour can be forgiven. Still, I would feel more comfortable if I had more opinions about this. If you were in this situation, what would you do?
Anticipating some objections:
* Applying to post-docs now, all while being upfront with them about my parallel permanent position search, seems more or less equivalent to not applying at all. In fact there is already a post-doc position that I failed to get for this very reason (this position actually was in my home country, so I could not hide anything from them).
* From what I have heard, requests to postpone the permanent position's starting date by a year so that I could do my post-doc are usually not granted (since they need someone to teach their classes).
(This question: [Accepted post-doc and have subsequently received offers for full time faculty position - quandary](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/16862/accepted-post-doc-and-have-subsequently-received-offers-for-full-time-faculty-po) is similar, but their exact situation seems somewhat different.)<issue_comment>username_1: First of all, at least in my field (CS) there are no fixed or preferred dates for hiring post-docs or faculty members. Positions are open when someone retires (in case of faculty positions) or an institution recieves funding to finance a post-doc position. But it might be different in your home country and in mathematics. But let's take the situation description as given and proceed from that.
For every institution in academia it is clear, that post-doc positions are for further qualification (as long as you don't have many permanent post-doc positions), so it is very natural for post-docs to leave as soon as they are having a chance for a faculty position. In fact it is even a honour, if someone from your group recieves a faculty position.
On the other hand, there are things to do for a post-doc and it is not helpful, if someone leaves a few month after starting. I would assume that this will be a point in your interviews for post-doc positions! As I saif: people are aware of your situation.
So in my opinion, the best way would be to
1. be honest about your intentions in the post-doc interviews. People want to hire people who want to achieve something and are eager to work hard for a goal - so your ambitions for a faculty position are a strong omtivator to do the job right!
2. Give them a perspective which is longer then 3 month. Offer for example at least one year of your time, and try to postpone the start of the faculty position.
If the faculty position is not offering such flexibility, you will have to have a difficult conversation about why you want to quit earlier, but in the long run, everybody will understand.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_2: I would not say it is a major issue to back up from a postdoc position for a permanent position. It is a job market after all. However, as pointed out above, you have to be honest with a prospective mentor that there may be a possibility that you get a more attractive offer that you would accept.
I was somehow in a similar position after I completed a Phd in mathematics in France. In France, offers for permanent positions are also made in May up to June. I started a two years postdoc in Austria in January, but got an offer for my dream position in May. So, I accepted the offer from France and backed up from the postdoc position in Austria after 6 months. There were no issues at all. They were able to use the remaining funds to hire a new postdoc. In my field, specially if the "postdoc money" comes from a grant, it is easy to reopen a position if a postdoc accepts another offer. However, if the money comes from the University, it may be more difficult for the mentor, hence the importance of being honest.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: Getting a permanent position is the goal of every post-doc. That a post-doc is applying for such positions and will leave as soon as an application is successful (which is a quite rare and lucky event) is expected. No need to delay applying for post-doc positions or telling anyone about your plans to apply for permanent positions. You also won't tell them about that lotto ticket you plan to buy, will you?
Upvotes: 3
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2018/01/23
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<issue_start>username_0: Context: I am an assistant professor of mathematics at a small liberal-arts college in the US.
I am currently teaching an applied mathematics course for about thirty students with business-related majors, and I want to give them the opportunity to use a sheet of notes (a.k.a cheat sheet) on their first exam. I am concerned about the implementation of this policy; specifically, I want to ensure the following:
1. This policy is as beneficial to student learning as possible.
2. I close any loopholes that could lead to unfairness or some other unforeseen problem on test day.
Some things I have already anticipated:
1. I will give the students some starter material that they *should* include on their note sheet—important formulas, critical concepts, examples they should definitely be prepared to see, etc.
2. Rules regarding the size of the notes are precise: Students may have a single sheet of 8.5" × 11" paper (or smaller), and they may write on either side of it.
3. The notes *must* be handwritten as this requires the students to process the material. (See [this question](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/99382/is-it-unreasonable-to-change-the-rules-of-a-quiz-exam-one-week-in-advance) for more discussion on why I believe that ultimately helps my students.)
4. I will not give a student their exam until they have removed everything from their desk except their note sheet and calculator. (I do not want them searching in their bag/book/folders once they have begun the exam.)
That leaves me with the following questions:
1. Should I require students to turn in their notes to me before the exam? After the exam? Is their anything to be gained by me reviewing their notes?
2. Would it be better for me to simply give them a formula sheet that I’ve prepared? I know that this will help the students who are too lazy to bring a notes sheet, but I feel like that’s on them.
3. Are there other problems I should be prepared to confront? I want to do everything possible to avoid difficulties on the day of the exam.
4. Is there research that supports/discourages the allowance cheat sheets? Am I actually doing something that’s ultimately beneficial to my students?<issue_comment>username_1: There is no way to cover every eventuality, but what helps is to have a clear paradigm as to what cheat sheets are supposed to achieve.
Then view every decision you make regarding your exam in this respect.
My paradigm (which may align with yours) is:
>
> I do not want to gauge the students’ ability to blindly memorise stuff and recall it in a stress situation because it is not relevant to their lives and not what my course is about.
> The cheat sheet thus replaces the procedure of blindly memorising certain stuff.
> Moreover, what they write on a cheat sheet is a good emulation of what they have available through Internet searches, reference books, and similar in their non-exam future. (After all, they may just keep the cheat sheet.)
>
>
>
Applying this, I would add to your points and answer your questions and concerns raised in the comments:
* Memorising is your benchmark for fairness.
You cannot avoid slight unfairness to some students (see below for some examples), but as long as your process is more fair than relying on memory, you have won.
* Communicate your paradigm to the students.
This way, you avoid that students use the cheat sheet in misguided way that is detrimental to them.
Moreover, by teaching them the spirit of the rule, you reduce the chance and strengthen your position in case of any rule disputes and allow the students to answer certain questions about the rules themselves (do not rely on any of this though).
* >
> Would it be better for me to simply give them a formula sheet that I’ve prepared?
>
>
>
The most important part of memorising before a classical exam is structuring and reiterating the relevant knowledge as this strengthens the actual understanding of concepts (which is what your exam should be about).
Making the cheat sheet handwritten replaces this.¹
Provided cheat sheets are not good for this.
The same applies to machinally created cheat sheets, as they can simply be created by copying and pasting.
* In a perfect world, restricting the cheat sheet in size would not be necessary – you cannot prevent students from blindly learning the entire textbook either.
However, it does prevent students from wasting their time – before and during the exam – with an overly extensive cheat sheet.
Moreover, it may increase the perceived fairness of the process.
Finally, there will always be some idiot who manages to blindly copy the solution to every exam task ever given for the subject.
On the other hand, make sure that whatever size limit you give suffices for the content the students should need, so you do not inadvertently reward those with a smaller handwriting, better eyesight, finer pen, etc.
Giving them slightly more space than they need is not a problem; giving them much more space is.
* You cannot avoid that some student just fills the cheat sheet with solutions to exercises or previous exam tasks.
However, such a behaviour should not be rewarded:
Make sure that the pool of possible tasks is sufficiently large.
If you cannot do this (e.g., certain parts of theoretical physics have a notoriously low number of exam-suitable tasks), your exam may not be suited for handwritten cheat sheets – but then it is not suited for eliminating the advantages of memorising either.
* Handwritten cheat sheets will pose problems to some handicapped students. (Just like memorising is bad for people who have issues with memorising or anxiety.)
Ensure beforehand that every student can voice such problems so that a reasonable alternative can be found for them.
* >
> Should I require students to turn in their notes to me before the exam? After the exam? Is their anything to be gained by me reviewing their notes?
>
>
>
This does not agree with the above paradigm:
You cannot control what students memorised for the exam either.
It may be helpful to verify and helpful to evaluate your approach to cheat sheeting by collecting the cheat sheets anonymously, but this deprives the students of re-using their cheat sheets².
---
¹ In fact, my own memorising process for exams (that required me to do this) was to write a cheat sheet for everything I had not memorised yet, check my memory with this cheat sheet a few times, write a new cheat sheet with the remainder of what I had not memorised, and so on.
² My cheat sheets¹ are probably the most useful written thing I kept from my own studies, but then I have not revisited them yet.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Why don't you include the students a bit more in the process, rather than just providing a dictum?
Start out by explaining the pedagogical virtues of having them prepare a note sheet. Avoid the word "cheat sheet", as it gives poor connotations. They are, in fact, not cheating.
Tell them that the written exam will be adapted to the length of the note sheet. If the length of the sheet allows them to copy the book verbatim, the exam will essentially be like an open book exam.
Ask, in class, for suggestions: How long would you like the note sheet to be? Write down all suggestions, and set up an online poll with a deadline. Pick the one with most votes by the deadline, no extensions or excuses.
Have the students prepare the sheet a week before the exam, and organize a Q/A session based on the sheets. Have the students prepare sheets, and perhaps bring your own suggestion to how you would make a sheet, but tell them that sheets organizing knowledge are per definition individual. Allow the students to compare sheets (in groups if there are many students) and discuss among themselves.
In this way you will have facilitated a process where the students feel ownership themselves, and they will hopefully also learn a lesson in organizing knowledge.
I have tried the above procedure with success.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: I had one professor who would routinely give open-book, closed-note exams. He also said that we were allowed to (in fact, encouraged to) write whatever notes we wanted on the pages of the book.
His reasoning? He figured that most students would discard their notes at the end of the term, but some would at least keep their textbooks. And pertinent formulas and such would be scrawled inside the front and back covers.
I’ve not adopted this practice myself, but you mentioned the benefits of having students assemble their cheat sheets. This allows them to do so, but in a way that might be beneficial even beyond your class.
Of course, this means your questions will need to be suitable for an open-book test – but that’s another can of worms.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_4: Your students are liberal arts students, they won't gain anything from memorizing the formulas, so I think what you're doing is not bad practice at all.
Even as an engineer, I rarely need these formulas in my life (last I needed a formula was about a year ago), and even when I do, there are sites such as Wolfram Alpha or Wikipedia that will give me a hand.
Anyway, as for your points:
>
>
> >
> > Should I require students to turn in their notes to me before the exam? After the exam? Is their anything to be gained by me reviewing their notes?
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
For what reason? Do you want to increase your workload, just to see if they wrote down entire questions? Taking the papers is somewhat like homework with additional steps, I suggest leaving them with the students. Even if they just throw away their sheets right after the exam.
>
>
> >
> > Would it be better for me to simply give them a formula sheet that I’ve prepared? I know that this will help the students who are too lazy to bring a notes sheet, but I feel like that’s on them.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
Just prepare a bare-bones formula paper, and hand them out (or post them online) a week or two before the exam. If they can't even be bothered to write those down, there's no point in trying to force it down their throats.
Also, just giving them a pre-made formula sheet would be disadvantageous towards the people who can memorize the formulas but can't remember where or how to apply them. Letting them prepare a sheet is better, in my opinion, since they can just write down what they're bad at and come to the exam with that part.
>
>
> >
> > Are there other problems I should be prepared to confront? I want to do everything possible to avoid difficulties on the day of the exam.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
There can always be problems but in my personal experience, people are mostly content with the "you can bring one sheet to the exam" method, and there will always be problems that arise in the moment, no matter what method you use for the exam.
>
>
> >
> > Is there research that supports/discourages the allowance cheat sheets? Am I actually doing something that’s ultimately beneficial to my students?
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
There are more than just a few that you can find by just searching for `cheatsheet on exams research` via your favorite search engine.
Some examples are: [here](http://crpit.com/confpapers/CRPITV123Raadt.pdf), [here](https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/de49/fbaa81c79769b5bc762b5a96a35b078dddb4.pdf), [here](https://www.merga.net.au/documents/RP_BUTLER&CROUCH_MERGA34-AAMT.pdf) and [here](http://www.ncurproceedings.org/ojs/index.php/ncur2012/article/download/238/192).
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_5: Regarding your first question:
>
> Should I require students to turn in their notes to me before the exam? After the exam? Is their anything to be gained by me reviewing their notes?
>
>
>
**Have the students turn in their note sheet with the written portion of their exam, then give it back to them after the exam is graded.**
Keeping the notes with the exam sheet means there is little overhead, but it gives you the option to get a general idea of what students are writing down and may help give context when grading a particular student's exam.
Even if you choose not to review the notes, collecting them with the exam allows the students to eventually keep the notes without giving them the ability to write confidential exam information on their paper and possibly use it to help other students cheat.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_6: In addition to other answers, I would like to point some practical problems with individual hand-written cheat-sheets:
* The rule that only hand-written cheat-sheets are allowed should be very clearly stated and enforced. In my experience, in every test some student show with photocopied or printed cheat sheets. Enforcing the rule means actually forcing them to take the exam without a cheat sheet and it usually amounts to failing them. If that's what you want, you must need to be prepared.
* Some students will bring somebody else's cheat sheet. At best, they will have hand-copied it, at worst they will just have borrowed it from someone on another group or another year. That defeats the purpose of not allowing printed or photocopied cheat sheets.
* On the other hand, if printed or copied cheat sheets are allowed, most students will carry the same model - hopefully a collaboratively made one, but more usually just copied.
At worst, in places where there are academies to prepare exams, students will carry a cheat sheet prepared by the academia teacher, be it printed or hand-copied.
In the end, I think reality defeats good intentions and there is very little advantage on trying to only allow hand made own cheat sheets instead a of providing an standard cheat sheets or allowing any cheat sheet (hand-written or printed) and limit only size.
In addition, for some topics hand written notes are problematic. I remember a statistics lab test where students could bring a cheat sheet with R code but most of them had little formatting errors that rendered the code unusable. Copy-pasting the code instead of copying it by hand would have prevented that problem.
In summary, when I want to allow cheat sheets, my favourite options are:
* Giving them my cheat sheet. I print them to prevent customization, but I publish the cheat sheet in advance to allow students to familiarize with it.
* Allowing full access to the course material or a large part of it. Nowadays, that's easy in computer based tests with computer based material.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_7: In my courses I adopted the option of preparing the formula sheet and providing it. I provide it in advance so students will know what they will have available and need to know how to use, but with the exam I provide a clean copy. My field has a professional certification exam and a formula sheet is provided. I have found the process useful and without problems.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/01/23
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<issue_start>username_0: Crudely, it seems better to study at a big department - one has more peers, more seminars, and is also more likely to find a faculty member with the same interests if one's interests change during the program. However some top-tier departments appear to prefer to stay small, e.g. Caltech as a whole. That seems to imply there's a downside to becoming a big department, which is part of the reason they haven't expanded (I'm guessing they aren't staying small because they lack the funding - they're top tier after all).
For the student, is it preferable to study at a big or small department? What are the pros and cons of each?<issue_comment>username_1: The main disadvantage of being a student in a big department is that the professor can not actually provide in-depth mentorship to that many people: your "real" advisor will most likely be some post-doc instead. The quality of post-doc advice is more variable since they haven't had as long as a professor to prove and improve themselves. (This one bit me personally, and I switched from a largeish department to a small one where I like it much better.)
On the plus side, a big team will likely have several different funding sources, so if your main grant runs out but you don't have enough work to graduate yet, it'll be easier to find you another contract to tide you over.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: **Big department**
*Pros:*
1. More funds raised.
2. More faculty members and students to interact, learn and collaborate with.
3. Possibly more equipment and space for your work.
4. More publications which benefit the department as a whole in terms of rankings and securing additional funds.
*Cons:*
1. Lesser chances of valuable one on one interaction with your supervisor since he/she will have to take care of a lot of students.
2. Relations are usually more impersonal as there isn't enough time or opportunities to interact with everyone properly.
3. May be restricted by goals of senior members of the group since some may require you to play a part in their work as well.
**Small department**
(Here I am assuming that the department is small out of its own limitations and not by choice like it seems to be with Caltech.)
*Pros:*
1. More personal relations with the faculty members and fellow students.
2. Motivation to grow and expand to compete with other bigger departments.
3. You may be asked to participate as a co-author on grant proposals etc.
*Cons:*
1. Funds may be limited.
2. Not enough in-house expertise in the subjects you are interested in.
3. Limited peers to interact with.
4. You may have to build your own contacts from researchgate-like forums. You may also have to out conferences and seminars on your own.
These are some I could think of from looking at my current and past department. I have also read some blogs regarding this. If you are interested in reading experiences of established researchers, search for 'researchwhisperer', 'thesiswhisperer' and blogs of that genre on the interweb.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2018/01/23
| 547
| 2,282
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<issue_start>username_0: In my class, one of my colleagues plays games on computers for about 1 hour each day in class. What should I do? Should I report it to the teacher or should I take matters into my own hands?<issue_comment>username_1: Let him / her be : it's up to them.
Are you required to report it? If you are then do it but dispassionately and, if necessary, privately.
Whatever else, don't take matters into your own hands and don't get distracted - concentrate on the class for your own benefit. If necessary sit somewhere else.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: You said in a comment that the student’s game-playing bothers you, and I think that that’s very reasonable - the classroom is not an appropriate place for people to play computer games in, which is an activity that could well distract the other students and hurt the learning environment. So yes, I think you would be within your rights to complain to the instructor. BUT - a couple of tips to keep in mind when you speak to the instructor:
1. Keep your tone as factual and neutral as possible. Do not accuse the student of “wrong-doing”, which to me sounds very judgmental and sanctimonious, or use similarly accusatory language; just state that his game-playing is distracting you and makes it difficult for you to focus on the material. That ought to be enough to get the teacher to act.
2. Do not talk about “taking matters into your own hands”. You may not realize it but that phrase carries a certain connotation of a threat of violence, and obviously creating an impression that that may be your intent is a very bad idea.
In general, your goal should be to get the student to stop playing games in class rather than to get him punished for “wrong-doing”; make sure that your motivation in complaining is pure and that you are not acting out of vindictiveness or malice. And keep in mind that there is always the option of having a quiet word with the student directly, pointing out that he is being inconsiderate of you and the other students in the class, and asking him to stop. That may be more awkward than going through the instructor, but probably will be a more mature way to resolve the situation. If that approach fails, you can still talk to the instructor after that.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/23
| 1,343
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<issue_start>username_0: Following on from my previous question, can the authors/acknowledgements section of a (review) paper be edited once the paper is submitted? Specially adding on people to the authors/acknowledgements.
If yes, how should this be done? I'm assuming it requires the permission of the people already listed as authors on the paper?<issue_comment>username_1: Generally, yes. For details, check the author guidelines of the respective journal.
As long as the paper is under review, it should be fairly easy to add someone to the acknowledgements: just do it. Adding an author is possible, however, might require you (the corresponding author) to contact the editor, explain the situations, and possibly submit a letter signed by *all* authors that they approve the changes.
Once the paper is published, you would have to submit a correction. Again, adding (or removing) an author will require approval of all authors as well as an explanation. You might have to convince the editor that you are not just adding someone you like, but that this person actually contributed. The same can work for adding someone to the acknowledgements, however, it might be seen as insignificant, and therefore not get accepted.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Generally speaking, adding to the authors or acknowledgements **after publication** would be very unusual.
* I can imagine it might happen for **acknowledgements** ("terrible oversight, very embarrassing, we didn't mention XY, please could you change..."), but even then, it would not be surprising if the journal says no.
* However, I am finding it very hard to imagine it happening for **authors**. The editor will ask - if this person had already contributed enough to be an author, why weren't they listed earlier? And if they hadn't contributed enough at the time, why are you trying to make them an author? I can't think of a good answer to either of those without imagining a very unusual set of circumstances.
**After submission but before publication**, however, things are a little more flexible.
* It should not usually be a problem to add to the **acknowledgements** during the submission process - note [the enormous number of papers](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_ylo=2018&q=%22thank%20the%20two%20anonymous%20reviewers%22&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5) that acknowledge the help of the peer reviewers, which of course couldn't have been known at the time of submission! Many publishers even [explicitly recommend](https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/how-to-make-your-article-anonymous-ready-for-peer-review/) that you do not include acknowledgements in the submitted paper, as this can be a problem for double-blind peer review.
* Adding an **author** at this point would still be pretty unusual. You *might* be able to persuade an editor that there was a simple administrative error that meant you missed off an author from the original submission, but this would still be seen as quite strange; in theory everyone who contributed to a paper enough to be an author should have seen it before submission and been able to notice that their name was missing.
The one plausible circumstance I can think of where it would be reasonable to add an author is if the paper has changed *and they have contributed an appropriate amount to the new version of the paper*. For example, perhaps the reviewers concluded that your work needed some particularly specialised statistical analysis, so you went off, found a statistician with the relevant expertise, and incorporated their work into the revised paper. The statistician has now done enough work to be considered an author, so you add them to the authors list (and explain very clearly to the editor why you've done this, because they *will* ask those questions above...).
Finally, **minor clerical changes** should usually be fine before publication - changing a name because you've written <NAME> rather than <NAME>, etc. After publication, this comes down to journal policies - some will permit it, some have a hard line against it, some are vague.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: Generally, you cannot change anything after publication. At that point the hardcopies might already be printed, the electronic versions will already have been distributed, and so on. If you must make changes, you'll have to issue an erratum or corrigendum - see the journal's website on their policies for this.
After acceptance but before publication (as well as after submission but before acceptance), then it's still possible to change. The difference between the two scenarios is that after acceptance you're probably liaising with the publisher, while before it you're probably liaising with the editorial board of the journal. However practically speaking there should be little difference: both are likely to accept acknowledgements changes without much thought, while requesting an explanation for author changes.
To change the acknowledgements after acceptance, just request the extra text when the publisher shows you the proofs. To change it before acceptance, do it if the manuscript receives a decision of 'revise', with a small note on the change in the response to reviewers. If your paper is accepted without revisions, then just change it during the proofs stage. Changing authors is similar, but be ready with an explanation. You might also be asked for a letter signed by all other co-authors, per username_1's answer.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Yes, authors can be added after submission but before publication. Yes, additional people can be acknowledged after submission but before publication. Moving somebody from author to acknowledgements or vice versa after submission but before publication might raise a red flag with the editor where you have to explain the rationale but might not as well.
After publication any edits require a formal correction to be issued, see for example, pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/ma102771k
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/23
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a 31 years old software engineer at a big technology company in Silicon Valley. I have a master's degree in computer science and moved into working full time right at the time of my graduation. During those ~6 years in industry, I always tried to work a few hours during the day on my personal passion which is studying mathematics. Ultimately, every time I want to study a specific topic, I made so little progress because of my full-time job that I got frustrated. I figured just a few weeks ago that something needed to change and I should pursue my passion, which is research, and then got into my head that I must do a PhD. Now, the principal reason of doing a PhD for me is to be able to work full-time on maths. Something I am dreaming about, just thinking about it makes me very happy. On the other hand, at the same time, I know that I am taking a major pay cut (from 6 to 5 figures), and my lifestyle will dramatically change.
EDIT :
Question has been put on hold so I will try to narrow down my questioning to a specific concern.
Considering that I have no demonstrable research experience, no real recommendations by academia people ( 7 years out of college, my teachers will likely had forgot about me ), no good grades in my masters ( average ), and a degree in computer science vs a math one, is it really possible to get accepted in a pure math phD program ?
Note : the only math experience I had is high school ( grade 18/20 ) and my personal experience ( which is not demonstrable )<issue_comment>username_1: I did my PhD in my fifties, after a computer science industry career. I am also a permanent resident alien. I can see two problems you are going to have that I avoided:
1. I didn't start my PhD until after I had my retirement fund saved up, so my standard of living did not change.
2. I continued in computer science, so my industry experience helped. I could read current computer science papers without too much difficulty.
One approach to the standard of living issue is to rehearse by trying to live for a year at a graduate student spending rate. That will let you find out if you can do it, and build up your investments with the money you are not spending.
The biggest problem I see is the transition to Mathematics. You could perhaps use the Mathematics GRE subject test to evaluate where you are relative to what you will be expected to know. You might do better doing a computer science PhD but specializing in theory. There are some fine open problems, including the great P=NP question.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_2: Here are some things to think about.
Have you considered a PhD program that is in applied mathematics? This might not be as sexy as theoretical, but it might be a good way to combine your passion and a reasonable way to make an income.
If you work in academia as a researcher or academic it might leave you time between semesters to make extra income consulting.
The data mining/science industry is hot right now. Yes, knowing the software is good in that industry, but it is the math and statistics that is the root of most things in data mining. This would be another way of supplementing your income.
Best of luck!!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_3: As to question 5, which is closely related to the title question, there are some very practical things to consider here.
Your time spent as a graduate student in math may actually be the most satisfying period of your life when it comes to pursuing math as a passion. This is true for almost all the people I know from grad school (and for me too, so far in my career). The academic job market is such that most people I know who pursued a career as an academic mathematician have wound up at mainly teaching-oriented colleges. Teaching 3 classes per term is *very* time consuming. Added to this is service to the department and the college, and professional development as an educator. There is simply not a lot of time in these jobs to sit around thinking about math and working on (research) problems. In contrast, I could do this for 6 hours a day in grad school! If you happen to wind up working at a teaching college, you may feel that once again your passion is something you must pursue on your own time.
As another anecdotal point, I have many friends from grad school that went to work as software engineers after getting their Ph.D. in (very pure) math. In fact, every single Ph.D. I know from my (50th-ish ranked) program is either at a teaching school or in some kind of industry.
Your salary as an academic mathematician is also likely to be lower than as a person working in the computer science industry. The American Mathematical Society collects data on that and other things each year: <http://ams.org/profession/data/annual-survey/annual-survey>
This answer reads as more pessimistic than I really wanted. My personal opinion is that you should go for it if it makes you happy and you have no life obstructions to the pursuit of a Ph.D. in math. But since you asked what your future will look like, and there is no way for anyone to actually know that, I figured a description of what I have seen may be useful information.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Here is a successful story. Similar to you, [this guy](http://www.srl.inf.ethz.ch/raychev.php) also worked 6 years in industry (at Google, as Tech Lead). He then quite his job for an extremely successful PhD, then started a company with his PhD supervisor, based on the ideas in his PhD thesis (code mining).
Back to your questions.
1. Instead of determining which area to choose, perhaps determine which school you can admission first.
2. That's not uncommon. After starting PhD, you will often have several months to do literature review.
3. Of course, of course.
4. Yes, academic positions are very competitive. You need to be at least as good as the guy I mentioned above to stay at Silicon Valley as an assistant professor.
5. I do think you are making a really bad choice. As you don't have a clear goal in mind, and don't know what a PhD can bring to you. Did you have kids? kids cost a lot, a lot of money.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/01/23
| 357
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<issue_start>username_0: I got my paper back with remarks of the copy editor. One annotation counts the number of characters in a line. I have been told to ignore it, but I am still interested to know what it is for.
On the bottom of the page, the copy editor wrote: "73 × 39 × 27 → 25p.". 73 is the number of characters, 27 is the number of pages of my manuscript. 39 is the number of lines per page minus 1. It seems to be a calculation for the final number of pages (judging from the "p.") but I don't see how that figure would be calculated by multiplying these values.
I am using a template provided by the journal.<issue_comment>username_1: 73 x 39 x 27 would give an estimate of the total number of characters in your manuscript. They presumably have some standard estimate for the number of characters that fit on one page in the final format, and they've divided by that number (not shown) to get 25 pages.
I can't think of a good reason to subtract 1 from the number of lines per page (unless one line is obviously a header or something) so I'd wonder if they just miscounted.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: A common rule of thumb is 3000 characters per single-spaced page. Applying that to the numbers you've given would work out at 25.6 pages, consistent with the CE's estimate depending on how you choose to round.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/01/24
| 8,999
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<issue_start>username_0: I'm a female student studying computer science (CS). Some of the male CS students have given me a physical ranking compared to other female CS students, and it has me really upset, but I don’t know what to do about it.
One of the students in particular enjoys telling me when he finds another girl in the vicinity more attractive than me. For example, a girl friend of mine told me I looked pretty today; and the one male student then jumped in and said I wasn’t as beautiful as the actress on the TV show we were watching. Another time, an attractive girl walked in to the computer lab, and he said: “And you thought *you* were the hottest girl in the lab!”
He’s not the only one. When we are in other settings (not male-heavy, CS classes), I often hear that I now have “competition” since there are other pretty girls.
I’m not sure what to do. I am friends with some of these men (or so I thought) and have committed to working on software projects with them that I can’t back out of. In addition, the school is very small so I can’t avoid them.
**What do I say?** How do I explain that I’m very upset by this, and not because I’m jealous of the other women? The men I’ve told have said not to worry because they think I'm pretty – they don’t seem to get it. I’m not sure I’m explaining it right.
Please help. I am starting to cry during class.<issue_comment>username_1: You don't say where you're going to school but if it's here in the US, I would report the problem to the university and demand they do whatever is necessary to fix it. Title IX requires them to provide an inclusive environment free of sexual harassment. If you are unsatisfied by their response, I would report the school to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. You'll find additional helpful advice [here](https://www.equalrights.org/legal-help/know-your-rights/sexual-harassment-at-school/) at equalrights.org.
**Added:** Several comments express concern that reporting the harassment might result in retaliation. But it's worth noting that retaliation for filing a harassment complaint is also against the law and cause for a new complaint. The school has to do *whatever* it takes to fix this, even if means expelling the perpetrators. It is not sufficient for them to claim they did the best they could.
**Still more:** Having conducted some other disciplinary actions, even if not any that were exactly like the one described here, I would expect the result of complaining to the university is that the Title IX conduct officer will call the students to a meeting that might go something like this: You start by asking the students if they know why they're there. After the usual squirmy they-can't-think-of-anything denials, you describe their offensive behavior and ask if the reason they can't remember any of this is because they think it's such completely ordinary behavior. You point out that in a workplace, it would get them fired and might subject the company to a lawsuit and an expensive settlement. You explain that university has an obligation under Title IX to maintain an inclusive environment free of sexual harassment.
You then ask, *"Do you think you should be allowed to stay at the university?"* Typically, the students' lives flash before their eyes as they realize the seriousness of the stakes and they decide they will never do this again. There are lots of ways to make this even more, ahem, *memorable*, e.g., by asking if they have a backup career in mind if this computer science thing doesn't work out or by making them wait a few extra days to hear the disposition of their case (especially if you expect to let them off lightly). It may seem a little like pulling the wings off flies, but trust me, the problem behavior will end, hopefully for the entire rest of their lives, in which case they will have learned something far more valuable than yet another algorithm.
Upvotes: 9 <issue_comment>username_2: As anyone in any CS program knows, for some reason, this field of study tends to attract people with low social awareness and low social intelligence. I know some might think it's a bad stereotype of us, but there's much truth to it. Rates of autism are higher than in other fields, and in the words of my not-so-tactful TA, "Everyone in this major is at least *somewhere* on the spectrum".
There's no doubt that what they're doing is intolerable and unacceptable, and I'm sure you'll get much good insight from users on this site as to how to proceed. My only point is that it might help you to know that these guys are likely completely oblivious that they're being harrasing/abusive because of low social intelligence. They might even think that by doing this they're being social, and winning your friendship/affection.
Speak to them frankly, and ask them what they think they're accomplishing by saying these things. Ask them why they say it - answers might surprise you. Then enlighten them with how wrong their actions are. If they comprehend that it affects you but nevertheless think it's ok/continue to do it, involve the higher ups in your department. Just a warning if you do this, the department will be relentless against these guys, so do it after all attempts at communication fail
Hope the best for you
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_3: If there is a local Women in Computing or Women in Science and Engineering group you may be able to get face-to-face support and advice.
Failing that, I suggest joining [Systers](https://systers.org/). Even if you get suggestions you find helpful here, it may be a better forum for discussion with others who have handled similar problems.
I don't have direct experience because women were taken for granted in computing in the late 1960's and early 1970's, when I was a young woman. By the time it became a "Girls keep out" field, I was far too senior for immature males to risk harassing me.
Telling them how upset you are may be counter-productive. Some boys, not men, feel threatened by intelligent, competent women and want to make them uncomfortable and even try to push them out of the field. It is a specialized form of bullying. The students who are doing this are not your friends. Treat them as formal colleagues when you have a shared project, and try to avoid social contacts with them. Look for the ones who keep quiet or even seem uncomfortable when inappropriate remarks are being made. They are the ones who are more likely to be worthy of your friendship.
---
Some of the comments have suggested that the behavior may be due to extreme social cluelessness, rather than intentional demeaning of women. Even if you think that is the case, you are neither their mother nor their elementary school teacher. You do not have any responsibility for teaching them basic etiquette, no matter how much they need it. You can, if you feel so inclined, attempt to explain the unacceptable nature of their behavior. On the other hand, you can still just work with them on a formal basis when necessary, and pick friends from among those students who do not participate in the objectionable behavior.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_4: I will just give you three possible cases and their possible consequences
Passively Sucking it up
=======================
This just requires you to passively wait for the list to be forgotten by everyone.This requires a lot of patience not something I would advise but there if don't like confrontations.This may result in people thinking you are a pushover.
Confronting the guys
====================
This is a method that should be meticulously thought over such that you don't insult the guys but still convey your message.It's especially important not to insult people while confronting them as it may lead to counter-productive effects such as the list being immortalized or you being ignored/avoided by others.It might be helpful to bring along a female friend or senior who is supportive. The confrontation should be done in the following method
1. Conveying you don't like the list clearly.
2. Reasons you don't like the list and find it demeaning.
3. Conveying to them that you don't wish to hear anymore about the list.
(Step 4 is only if they don't take steps 1-3 properly)
4. Convey that you will not be able to continue being friends if this behavior continues and that you may go to the authorities.
Go to the authorities
======================
This should be your last resort as from what I believe a large chunk to the male population of the college was involved in making of the list and if this is the case it may result in the guys who are hurting you being left of with a slap on the wrist and you facing the same consequences as the previous method if not worst.If not then confronting the authorities may not be such a bad idea but it's still advisable as a last resort and not the first go to.
Hope this helps.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_5: I had a situation comparable, but instead of my classmates saying I was the most favorable looking, they ranked the chance of all the girls to succeed the bachelor on time.
What I explained the guys that I saw as my friends, is that these girls were also my friends and that I don't like to be compared to them. I don't like to be compared to anyone especially on basis of something irrelevant as my gender. I would make this very clear. Use an example if you can, so if the guys are part of any minority, tell them how the would feel if you compare them with all the other in this minority in the class. They will understand it better then.
This is something you will have to say multiple times. For some reason it is often seen as normal to compare different girls to each other in computer science (or probably any minority in any study. I guess guys also have this problem in women-heavy studies). Distance yourself from people that don't understand that this is very annoying. Remind yourself that a lot of people just never have been in a situation where they were the minority, so they just don't know any better. It's quite stupid that they don't understand, but it's probably mostly stupidity and most of them are not trying to hurt you on purpose. If any of them are and they don't listen to you at all, go to a teacher you trust.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_6: I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. You don't mention which country you're in; [username_1's answer](https://academia.stackexchange.com/a/102699/52346) gives great US-specific advice; this is intended to answer the question from a UK perspective.
Given the situation you describe, I would strongly recommend making a formal complaint. If you [search Google for "report sexual harrassment" and limit the results to sites ending in ac.uk](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=report%20sexual%20harrassment%20site%3Aac.uk), you will see the reporting process for many universities.
However, if you don't feel up to that, then here in the UK (where [this is also recognised as a major problem](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/05/students-staff-uk-universities-sexual-harassment-epidemic)) many universities and departments are now signed up to the [Athena SWAN charter](https://www.ecu.ac.uk/equality-charters/athena-swan/) which covers (among other things) the provision of a supportive working environment for female students. If your university or department is signed up to the charter you will have an Athena SWAN committee and a university-defined pathway to contacting them; they should be able to give you support and advice on how to proceed.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_7: First of all, acknowledge for yourself that what you're going through is 100% not OK, and you have every right to be upset and looking for a fix ASAP. I start saying this because very often, with any sort of bullying/harassment, people will say "you're overreacting" or "wow, it's not such a big deal, come on", but in fact they are completely wrong. It's unfortunate how many people underestimate the impacts of "little" bullying/harassment events. So don't be afraid to fight for a solution.
Secondly, in a situation of bullying/harassment, either the perpetrators are aware that they're doing it (and keep doing it on pure evil) or, by lack of social awareness, simply don't realize that they're doing what they're doing. This does NOT make much a difference on how bad the situation is, but does make a difference on how hard it might be to solve it. And from your description it seems to me (an outsider that isn't really there to see everything, though), that it is the second case, i.e., those guys are completely unaware of how bad what they're doing is. In fact, it might even be a very weird, convoluted and absurd attempt of flirting (inappropriate, regardless), guessing from the kind of phrases they're saying.
>
> What do I say? How do I explain that I’m very upset by this, and not because I’m jealous of the other women? The men I’ve told have said not to worry because they think I'm pretty – they don’t seem to get it. I’m not sure I’m explaining it right.
>
>
>
Indeed, they don’t seem to get it, which is unfortunate... My suggestion:
>
> Listen, [person's name], this has to stop. It doesn't matter how attractive you think I am. ANY mention, direct or indirect, of my attractiveness, is bothering me for real; it is harassment, it is not appropriate, this is not a place for this, and I am serious, this has to stop, and I am about to escalate this to the university.
>
>
>
Be **firm** and **assertive**. Hopefully they will be shocked with the reality of the situation and won't ever do it again. You might want to say this separately to each one of them, and repeatedly if necessary. And actually, feel free to be angry about it as well, you have my full support. Note the high amount of commas I put in the sentence; feel free to raise your voice after each one. Your situation is not to be treated lightly.
And you don't even have to wait to see if it will work, proceed to escalate the situation anyway, and seek help from the places/groups suggested by username_1 and username_3.
Good luck!
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_8: @username_1's answer is unreservedly the correct one. If you're in the U.S., make use of your Title IX coordinator and file a complaint.
Let me add some further thoughts on that. Frankly, the cascade of comments here that using the official channel for this are "too drastic" or that you should participate in this abuse on an ongoing basis, are absolutely appalling. Neither is there any need for you to spend the rest of your academic time and energy trying to "educate" a legion of Neanderthals around you.
Strategically speaking, it may be useful to consider the poker strategy I know of as going ["over the top"](https://www.pokernews.com/pokerterms/over-top.htm) or ["dropping the hammer"](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=drop%20the%20hammer). In the face of a large number of repeated minor aggressions, responding with similar low-level aggressions is not beneficial (particularly if you're outnumbered by aggressors). Dealing with each one in the series on an equitable level is going to wear you down. A better option is to find the opportunity for an asymmetric response in terms that are favorable to you, and to communicate a message that cannot be shrugged off or taken as ambiguous.
Moreover, as <NAME> points out in a comment: "I was a department chair at a major US university, and people here need to understand that filing a title IX complaint isn’t really as drastic of a measure as they think, at least in the context of the immature behavior described in the question. It simply sets in motion a process of having the harassment investigated and responded to in a civil, fairly efficient way by trained professionals. The harassers will be invited for a chat with a department chair or other university official, then receive a written memo advising them of university policies and cautioning them to cease the offending behavior. If they are sensible and heed the warning, no further action is likely to be taken, all will be well and everyone can get on with their lives."
So in conclusion, you don't deserve to have to take this on alone, in the face of a large number of abusers. You deserve to have friends, allies and a support system to give you at least equal leverage on your side. The institutional system for the Title IX coordinator is exactly designed to give you this support, and you should feel entirely justified in using it. If having other students go with you at the same time makes you more comfortable, then by all means do that as well.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_9: I think there is a lot of great advice here on how to deal with the harassment situation itself, but I have a feeling there is one aspect of your question everybody seems to be forgetting: you have committed yourself to work on joint projects with some of these people, any any kind of reaction might put your academic success on those projects at risk or at least postpone your academic progress
*What they are doing is not okay and not acceptable*, and you have the right to make it stop. Let me shortly summarize some of the good reactions on how to deal with this harassment from the other answers:
* Get support and surround yourself with understanding people (posting here is a good start, but also talking to your close friends, family, support groups).
* Tell the people in question, *firmly* and *clearly* that their behavior is not acceptable, neither by social standards nor by your personal judgment. Tell them that it is bothering you, even more so in a University environment where you all come to learn.
You might or might not *mention* that you will escalate the issue to the appropriate services - I don't think it's your duty to explain the consequences of their negative actions and should be enough to state how bothered you are and how inappropriate their behavior is.
* *Escalate the problem* by talking to the appropriate services (these might depend on the country and the University organization, and several answers go into detail of it for several different settings).
There will likely be a service provided through the University, student support center or something similar, and even if there is nothing in place (not sure if my Croatian university had anything like that), find the appropriate channels to escalate it to the University level.
* *Don't back off if somebody tells you you are overreacting.* If you are having second thoughts about whether you are able to proceed, go back to your support, friends and family to get a gentle reminder that *what they were doing is not okay*.
However, any of these actions except the first one are likely to generate a response and there is no guarantee that it will be a good one. In the ideal world, as soon as you escalate the situation to the proper services, they should take steps to help you out (or rather, remove them!) from the situation in which harassment occurs. In reality, you might be somewhere where the services are not good, not well in place and this kind of things are still typically swept under the rug, and any course of action might take time to fully implement and be in full effect. So, **if any of them try to retaliate by sabotaging your participation in group projects**, and you either see or suspect that they are not treating you equally or like a full member of the team, here are **some suggestions to protect yourself**:
* Document everything. Keep a diary mentioning specific dates and names of the team activities (especially document anything I suggest be done through e-mail but due to circumstance, you end up doing in person).
* If you feel like they are keeping you from contributing by not assigning you a fair share or work, write an e-mail to your project team asking about the division of tasks. Say that you are capable and willing of doing more than you were assigned.
* Keep track of your own contributions (code, research, etc). If you have a feeling they are trying to ignore your contributions, this will be your proof you have done the work.
* Keep track of any inappropriate conversations or exchanges (about how they are behaving towards you in shared projects).
* If it seems like somebody from the team is preventing you from collaborating within your team, contact the professor in charge of the class (sooner rather than later) with an e-mail explaining, briefly, that you are eager and willing to contribute but your teammates are not giving you a chance, and you would like a chance to demonstrate your abilities like everybody else. If asked for clarifications, will have everything documented and ready to show.
I don't want to come off as insensitive for my reply focused on the academic side of things rather than your actual problem of harassment, but I have a feeling like taking a first step with situations like this can often be quite scary, especially if dealing with it might effect other areas of your life, e.g. your academic success. So if you have a plan to minimize this negative effect, (even if it does require an unfair amount of extra work), hopefully it would give you enough courage to deal with the problem at hand actively.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_10: >
> *I’m not sure what to do. I am friends with some of these men (or so I thought) and have committed to working on software projects with them that I can’t back out of. What do I say?*
>
>
>
You could try something along the lines of:
* "*You do know that a remark like that would probably get you fired in the workplace, right?"*
Hopefully that would turn the tone of the conversation much more serious. Then you could add:
* *"Maybe now would be a good time to start practicing acting like a professional."*
If something like that doesn't get the message across, you could consider reporting the problem to your professor, if you think you'd have an advocate. If it still doesn't get resolved, go to the dean, or seek out whatever support structures exist at your university, as others have mentioned in other answers here.
One other thing I would advise: Each time you have a confrontation like this, write down the date, time, location, and what was said (what they said, along with how you responded). This way, if this does escalate to a formal harassment case, you're not relying on vague memories to recall what happened.
Upvotes: 7 <issue_comment>username_11: I would like to add to the already good answers that there is a middle way between taking on the responsibility all by yourself to make these guys think and stop their rude and harmful behaviour and making an official complaint to an authority.
Do you know someone in an authority position but whose opinion will also be respected on the basis of their social position? Maybe a PhD student, or a higher year student or a young lecturer? Someone who could sit down with these guys and point out to them they are being jerks, they are embarrassing themselves, and those around them and not cool at all. Maybe include that that particular kind of behaviour could lead to sanctions if reported.
For example, you could take a stepped approach. First you tell them firmly and clearly their behaviour is unacceptable. You could try to make them empathize: what if one of them had a girlfriend, how would they now feel if the rest of the class would be making jokes about their relationship and discuss if other guys would be better boyfriends?
Then you recruit other females, and case the guys fail to apologize and stop being douche bags, *together* you complain to a lecturer or TA and ask that person to step in. The lecturer or TA now not only feels a moral obligation to do something but will also be motivated to 'keep the peace'.
Lots of luck, I really feel for you. My fellow students were all well behaved but I did once tell off a group of 12-year-olds for cat calling after me when I was at university. They were genuinely surprised: they didn't think they were doing something inappropriate.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_12: >
> The men I’ve told have said not to worry because they think I'm pretty – they don’t seem to get it.
>
>
>
A small disclaimer before everyone jumps in: some of what you are experiencing is **harassment** (particularly the guy who "enjoys telling me when he finds another girl in the vicinity more attractive than me"). **This is something you should consider reacting to a way or another** - there are very good answers already.
Now, a reality check. I am a male and used to be a student in my '20s. I did look at girls and did compare one to another. We even mentioned this between us. It was all kind and everything, but still.
We were not very good at woman-man interactions. We made mistakes. We were laughed at or we upset others. Retrospectively looking at the younger me I am sometimes shameful (with some "oh god why?" situations as well).
This is to say that some men, when they are 20-30, are not the most mature people on earth (recently the age of adolescence was raised to 24). Some of the things they do may be dumb but possibly not "harmful" (for a lack of a better word). They also may not realize that this is hurting you.
**My advice: talk with the one who seem to have the most optimal mix of empathy, brains and eloquence and tell him to help you.** If you asked this to me at that time, I would have understood and explained to my dumb friends that they behave like sheep. The ones you would like to be around would have understood. I would even say that you would have helped us to realize that some were true douchebags, worth kicking out of our circle of friends.
Again: some of the guys you describe are assholes and even someone who is hormone driven as I was should have been there to explain him that he should fuck off (and by explain I mean explain in a way he understands). My answer is not trying to say "you are over the top, men are men", or "this is normal". No. I am just trying to show that what you perceive can be different from their perception, and that may just need to be correctly told what to do.
Upvotes: 5 <issue_comment>username_13: First of all, follow the good advice in other answers. This is not okay, and "boys will be boys" stopped being anything but enabling of harassment a long time back, its not acceptable in the slightest.
The question "what do I do/how do I react" is best guided by "what do I actually want". At a guess what you want is:
* harassment to stop - of you for sure, ideally across the board.
* harassers to take seriously that its not okay, gets a social clue update, understand it is not "innocent fun" or "ribbing", and generally come away soberminded about it.
* Not to have attempts to quell it met by covert or overt maliciousness as a result - no bullying, no snide remarks, no social isolation.
* and what else?
You need to decide what you want, to stand a chance of getting it. Then you can approach your school, and when you've talked, give it to them as a bullet list on paper: *these are the things I want as outcomes. I'm coming to you to make it happen.* Then say nothing and see what they say next. Don't apologise for wanting what is your right, your teacher's right, and the right your fellow students take for granted when they act out this way: the right to feel safe emotionally, in the place you choose to learn.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_14: Unfortunately, as you are aware, women are often put in the position of needing to be polite to guys who are acting inappropriately out of fear of repercussions.
If you think that asking these guys to act like civilized human beings will jeopardize your grades on shared projects, you can invoke a hypothetical third party:
>
> Be careful, if the wrong person overhears you saying stuff like that you might get reported for sexual harassment, and that kind of stuff can go on your permanent record.
>
>
>
There's no hint of "you make me feel like a piece of meat", there's no hint of what they might hear as "I'm so prudish I can't take a joke", there's no hint of "you are destroying the educational environment for at least half the class", there's no hint of anything personal in it at all. You are just a nice person who has their best interests at heart.
If they don't take the hint, then you might want to arrange for said "wrong person" to show up, or at least listen to a recording of what goes on in the classroom.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_15: Many years ago, in 1st year university, some wits on my residence floor decided to print up 100 ***Why Not?*** buttons in black on gold (Engineering Faculty colours), with the subheading ***Barefoot & Pregnant***, at a price of $1.00.
Initially outraged, a floor in Women's residence decided to get even instead of angry. Having an economics major on the floor, they astutely noted that with a market established, value increased as supply diminished. So they promptly retaliated by printing up a measly 75 pastel blue on pink (Nursing School colours) buttons ***Why Not? - Henpecked and Impotent***; at a price of $2.00.
Needless to say, the second batch of buttons sold out even faster than the first.
Revenge obtained, with good hearty laughs all around.
So, while you certainly have the right to resort to "the nuclear option" and engage university officials. may I politely suggest that perhaps there is a better *first* resort. You see, the ability to engage in friendly banter is an essential social skill in the workplace, and this is typically a verbal skill that women are actually better at than men.
Meet privately with your female colleagues, and rate all the men on a scale of 1 to 10. Then the next time anyone rates any of you, rate them back with a comment such as:
"Why thank you; my friends and I figure you for a \_\_\_."
You always retain the right to escalate to greater authority; but you might find that fighting fire with fire instead of gasoline builds a truly solid rapport with your male colleagues.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_16: First of all, the amount of people here who want to pull the "go to the authorities" and "sexual harassment" cards out is positively insane. Under no conditions go to anybody with talk of expulsion or official reprimand. To be completely honest, it's not their job to protect you. It's your own job. What happens the next time, if the relevant authorities aren't around? You shouldn't rely on people like that, **especially** when borderline harmless banter is being talked about as grounds for "sexual harassment" or "expulsion" (neither of which are true, and both of which would be grounds for retaliation, not necessarily to yourself, but to the school, for draconian punishment, and general over-reaction. I, myself, will be fully supporting the parties who would be treated like sexual harassers over a few comments about how pretty or not pretty somebody is).
I found the following phrase very troubling:
>
> How do I explain that I’m very upset by this?
>
>
>
What do you mean "how"?!?! You say to the person that he's being a "dick", which is the technical description of his transgression (and not Sexual Harassment), and tell him to buzz off and to stop being a pain in the posterior. Generally, if you use certain words from a certain section of the vernacular, people will get the point.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_17: I see two routes to take (sorry, longish answer):
As you can see by the answers and upvotes, (threatening) to cry is a strategy that has its effects — as a woman. Especially in STEM, in which women are still seen as discouraged and excluded, and at universities, in which people and policies are in place to care for them. It is likely that these people will jump on the chance to tackle this issue, which will then lead to serious consequences for the male students. It might even end their education at that school. In this sense, this route — as suggested by other posters here — is a route that will likely work, esp. short-term. And it will likely feel good.
Question is, should you pursue this route?
Despite a strong tendency to ostensibly protect and care for women, there is probably nothing worse for personal growth and the development of competence than paternalistic overprotection. You are not a little child anymore, and one skill you should learn in school and college/university is how to work with diverse groups. And some of these groups develop their own norms and interaction styles, and, yes, some groups even have — for a lack of a better term — assholes in them.
The group you describe doesn’t strike me as bad, though. Esp. when you take gender out of the question, which likely skews the issue, and see it as normal banter. There are behaviors which should immediately lead to a call to the police — the actual police, not the campus authorities. Issues like physical and sexual assault. But here it’s words and in messy social contexts, words are interpreted. You see it as annoying to harassment. I doubt it is intended as such. Looking back at my youth, this banter, teasing and bullshitting was used for bonding. And in a group of technology-minded people that included bonding with women. Yes, this behavior *may* actually be a sign they accept you as part of their community. (Nobody said that geeks are particularly skilled socially, but hey, they brought us social media, incl. stackexchange.)
Don’t get me wrong, I can totally understand that you do not like these comparisons, and given how negatively you see them, they will feel worse and worse. And if it’s actually bullying, then yeah, this sucks. But that’s your interpretation of what they are doing, and before you ascribe intention there are some questions you might ask. For example, how do they treat each other? Do they tease and bullshit each other as well (not about beauty, but about other issues)? How do they treat other women? What do they enjoy talking about? And yeah, it could even be a — bad — implementation of negging (xkcd explained it well and might provide a role model: <https://xkcd.com/1027/> ), or simply being at a loss for words if other topics don’t lead to a conversation. BTW, I’m also skeptical that it would not make a difference if they were to compliment you.
No matter the reason, how can you deal with this situation? You can call a paternalistic authority. It will work in college/universities, it will work later on the job when you call HR, it will even work in private contexts if you shout on social media (sometimes even with work-related consequences). But at least given these situations, I think it’s important to learn to deal with these situations on your own. Become a competent person who is able to deal with bullshitting and social teasing on her own. After all, banter within a community is common, esp. in difficult jobs. It actually does have an important social function (again: banter, not bullying).
As for how, have a look how others deal with this teasing. It is possible to learn how to spar verbally, to parry and strike some (verbal) hits. To return a joke, a tease, and even an insult and verbal attack — and ensure a) to send a clear message that you can deal with these things, verbally and emotionally, and b) that you give back as good and bad as you receive. If there is a serious skill deficit, there are courses, and there are assertiveness trainings — which will pay out in other areas as well (like salary negotiations).
This later route is not a short-time «delegating-the-issue solution» like going to a paternalistic authority. But is has huge benefits long-term and will likely lead to better interactions overall. You might find that other people aren’t as bad as you first think, and you’ll be able to more effectively weed out the assholes and keep them at bay.
And looking at the bigger picture, it would be a pretty bleak world if every social interaction — no matter how benign or misunderstood — becomes the issue for a paternalistic authority. It might curb the (subjectively or actual) bad for a while, and take with it the misunderstood as collateral damage, but in the long-term, it would lead to the peace of the grave. And that’s not what college is for, nor social interaction in general.
Upvotes: -1
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2018/01/24
| 562
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<issue_start>username_0: I have just learnt about the details of this platform, located below:
<https://www.peerageofscience.org>
I am interested in trying out but none of my colleagues has experimented this platform. I am worried whether this would delay my publication process or end up limiting my options of journals (my 1st choice journal is not in their list but I could appreciate trying out one of their options). Or even if this is seen with good eyes by my peers.
Please anyone here who has submitted a paper to this website, or followed such a submission, could you please share details of your experience?<issue_comment>username_1: Peerage of Science received 102 submissions in 2017. Some submissions get zero reviews, but those that are reviewed have a decent chance of getting publishing offers from participating journals: 60% received at least one publishing offer, some got 4 or 5 offers. The other submissions - probably - got negative reviews and then of course do not attract journals either.
But as an author your options are **not limited** to participating journals; you can always choose to decline offers, and also "export" the review to any journal of your choice (= create a link that you can give to any editor of any journal, giving them access to this one process reviews in Peerage of Science). It is then of course up to the receiving editor if and how they want to use those reviews, but Peerage of Science makes them available and trustable (it's not a PDF author gives them, but password-protected link to content on peerageofscience.org website that author can not modify).
So give it a try! I can't promise your work will get reviews, and **certainly** shall **not** promise you will get positive reviews - Peerage of Science is about doing peer review rigorously and well, not quick and easy. But there's little you can lose, as it is free, you get to stay anonymous as author, and **you** define the deadlines.
Full disclosure: I am the founder of Peerage of Science.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I have submitted some mathematics articles for review there. The website was poorly made for this purpose (one needed to submit an editable file, rather than a PDF, and there was no integration with Arxiv such as a possibility to simply submit an arxiv link) and I got no reviews. A biologist would likely have a better chance and experience.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/24
| 1,075
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<issue_start>username_0: I am currently writing a paper which is partly based on the unpublished work of a known mathematician. The "unpublished work" is basically a memo that has not appeared in any journal, but has widely circulated since its release and is available on the "Publications" list of the author's homepage.
I would really like to use this article in my paper, but I am usually against referencing an unpublished "memo", for obvious reasons. Since this is a different case (a high-quality paper from a known mathematician), how do I proceed with including it in my paper?<issue_comment>username_1: Referencing such a document is a well-know proof technique, often stated as follows (cf. [proof techniques](http://web.mit.edu/humor/Incoming/proof.techniques)):
>
> Proof by reference to inaccessible literature:
> The author cites a simple corollary of a theorem to be found in
> a privately circulated memoir of the Slovenian Philological Society, 1883.
>
>
>
In your case, the quality of the work seems to be a non-issue due to the reputation of the mathematician, but what is an issue is the long-term availability of the document.
I ran into references to unpublished works a few times. For a particular example in my mind, everyone could find it, apparently, several decades ago, but now the document is gone. I must say I really hate it.
So, *provide the reader with all the information you can find that would help them to get the manuscript.* E.g.:
>
> <NAME>, *On the importance of being published*, 1883, Slovenian Philological Society, unpublished technical report, retrieved from the author's Web page <http://www.example.com> on 2018-02-30.
>
>
>
or
>
> <NAME>, *On the importance of being published*, 1883, Slovenian Philological Society, unpublished technical report, available from the library of the Slovenian Philological Society, street house-no, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
>
>
>
or
>
> <NAME>, *On the importance of being published*, 1883, Slovenian Philological Society, unpublished, retrieved from jstor.org/... on 2018-02-30.
>
>
>
etc.
In addition, as @darij-grinberg says, you may ask the author to store his/her paper with an independent service for long-term archival purposes.
If you reference hard claims with their proofs, you might wish to copy the material to the appendix of your document to make your document self-contained. Of course, get the permission from the original author first, acknowledge him or her properly, and mark the corresponding part as a citation.
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: 1. You can help save the preprint for posterity. For example, in the [Internet Archive's Wayback Machine](https://archive.org/), if you try to access a page that has not been archived, it will automatically ask whether you want the current version to be archived. This isn't fully bulletproof (future owners of the website may make the archived versions inaccessible through robots.txt, which a few universities unfortunately do), and it's sub-optimal for preprints that undergo changes (because you can force the Wayback Machine to archive a non-archived page, but you cannot force it to update an already-archived page if the archived version is obsolete); but it's better than nothing. Another service is [archive.is](http://archive.is/). Sure, these services may disappear one day, so it's best to [put your eggs in as many baskets as you can be bothered to](https://alternativeto.net/software/archive-is/).
2. Sometimes, just mailing the author and asking them to post their preprint on the arXiv will work. If they consider it not sufficiently fleshed out for the arXiv, there is also the [Zenodo repository](https://zenodo.org/), which from my understanding is less restrictive (although the widespread opinion that arXiv is just for submission-ready preprints isn't true: it's good for everything that is readable, interesting and correct to the authors' knowledge; this includes technical reports, lecture notes and expository work).
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/24
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<issue_start>username_0: I have an MS in a scientific field and have published several papers in the peer-reviewed literature in that field. Three and half years ago, while still working in that field, I began a side-project (unfunded, to be worked on in my spare time) and asked for assistance on that project from a faculty member at a nearby state university and a graduate student. They saw and commented on early drafts of that manuscript and indeed, the faculty member had the initial idea for the unfunded side project, though neither the faculty member nor the graduate student (now post-doc at a different university) did any data collection nor analysis.
This manuscript has sat untouched since June of 2014. Neither the faculty member nor graduate student has asked for an update in the 3.5 years since.
I am no longer employed in the scientific field in which I received my MS, however I have continued to publish (albeit sporadically) in the peer-reviewed literature as an "independent researcher," mostly with extant data from previous projects. I recently picked up the above-described manuscript and began working on it again, changing significant portions of the methods, results, and text. Because of the changes I have made to the manuscript, I am considering dropping the faculty member and graduate student from authorship of the manuscript and including them in the acknowledgements.
Do I owe authorship to the faculty member and graduate student that were initially coauthors but have not contributed anything to the recent development of this manuscript? The manuscript isn't groundbreaking in the least (even in my field) but does advance the available knowledge.<issue_comment>username_1: I recommend you look to this article I found in PubMed:
<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4548569/>
They recommend: "In designing a study, first of all a hypothesis is put forth, and plan, and the project of the study are prepared. Then this hypothesis is tested using various methods, and data obtained are analyzed. Lastly, the results acquired are written. As far as possible the optimal approach is to include the names of the researchers who effectively took part in these steps."
Since the other PI/faculty had the original idea, they should be included. Since the graduate student seemed to only provide comments or ideas for new experiments, I would include them under acknowledgements.
If you used any funding/supplies from that PI/faculty then I believe they should definitely be included with authorship.
As well, you may reach out and ask their opinion. They may feel they didn't contribute enough and would feel wrong to add their name to your publication.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: I agree with the answer by @BrookeMcKnight.
I would add that, importantly, even if you have made substantial changes, it is your responsibility to reach out to your coauthors and afford them to opportunity to contribute further to the updated manuscript, otherwise you are somewhat stealing the authorship from them.
They may prefer to substantially edit what you have done, to provide minor comments, they may disagree entirely with publication and ask for major revisions or for their name to be dropped, etc - the key is that your responsibility is to give them the opportunity to participate and make those decisions. Their initial contributions did not expire over the 3.5 years the manuscript sat unworked on.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]
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2018/01/25
| 563
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<issue_start>username_0: so I've applied to be a teaching assistant for System Fundamentals (undergrad course) and am meeting with a Professor tomorrow.
I did well in the class, but I'm not sure how "smart" one has to be in order to be a teaching assistant. I'm not the geeky and super-smart type that knows computers/programming in and out. I suppose you could say I'm "textbook smart," having studied a lot, but I can't solve problems on command.
My question is, how much above the students' knowledge of the subject should I have in order to be an adequate TA? Insights/experiences on anything related is appreciated. Thanks.<issue_comment>username_1: Well it depends on your institution. But at mine the minimum requirement is to be a third year. When multiple students have applied, graduate students are prioritized firstly, and then the students course and grade history secondarily. When there is only one applicant for a role the bar isn't set particularly high to take them on.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_2: Parts of the answer to your question vary wildly based on your university, and some are universal.
For the first kind, some universities/departments exclusively offer TAships to graduate students. In my university, the minimum requirement to apply in the CS department is to have completed the course.
As for the second kind, there's a kind of truism in teaching: to teach someone, you only need know more than them. So, really you just need to know what's being taught in *that* course well. Sure some curious students might ask beyond that, and if you don't know the answers to more advanced questions, that's perfectly OK - you're not a prof, you're there to help them understand the material in that course. Tell them what you know then direct them to where they can learn more.
Of course knowledge isn't enough to be a *good* TA, teaching is it's whole other science. To be able to explain things in basic terms to novices in a subject is an extremely underrated and rare skill. If you're gonna be a TA, you should work on this and things of this nature.
Overall, don't fret about if you have sufficient knowledge to be a TA - if they accept you, you can rest assured they won't hire someone who doesn't have the sufficient mastery of the subject. That only happens when they're forced to give grad students TA positions :)
Upvotes: 4 [selected_answer]
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2018/01/25
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<issue_start>username_0: One of my former supervisors is upset about student feedback for her lectures. There are two problems:
1. If she provides complete slides with information, students complain that she reads from the slides.
2. If she doesn't provide complete slides with information, students complain that her slides are incomplete.
And
1. If she provides webcasts of her lectures, students don't turn up to lectures.
2. If she doesn't provide webcasts of her lectures, students complain she's a bad lecturer.
I know she's upset + it's directly impacting her medium-term happiness based on what she wrote on social media. However I have not talked to her about it. Should I? If so, what can I say? Both problems look generic enough that other lecturers must've dealt with them before. How?
EDIT: Thanks for the advice. Since there's little I can do, I liked her post and left it at that.<issue_comment>username_1: This is called "being between a rock and a hard place"...
All of those strategies are valid : complete slides / incomplete etc But the direction chosen has to be made clear on day 1 and kept to.
So, information is available X hours / days before the lecture for those who want to read up etc.
Webcasts : well if it is an online course then fine, if the course is not online then it is up to her but not always necessary : the idea of turning up to lectures is to have the opportunity to ask questions (sometimes).
And, as for feedback, some students will say "great", others will not - I find that there are always some students who show maturity whose opinion you can ask for, and get, valid feedback : positive or negative but what they say you can discuss with them. If they say that X is good but can you do Y? you can find out why they want Y and then offer something that suits your goals and theirs.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: *Some comments about the situation first (even though you have not explicitly asked about this):*
Let me rephrase what you wrote slightly: if the teacher gives the students all relevant infos beforehand they see no need to come to the lecture anymore; the only way to get students to come to the lecture is by explicitly holding back information, and then the students (rightfully) complain.
There is an uncomfortable truth hidden in these items of feedback - perhaps the lectures as they are given now *are* useless? Note that this does not necessarily mean that your collaborator does something wrong (although this may be the case), but I have found some materials are just not optimally taught in lectures. If the lectures are perfectly replaceable by podcasts or just reading the slides, then what's wrong with that? Give the students the material in advance, don't do a lecture, use the in-class time for exercises or quizzes, or re-structure the entire course and have less in-class time in general.
---
>
> I know she's upset + it's directly impacting her medium-term happiness based on what she wrote on social media. However I have not talked to her about it. Should I?
>
>
>
That really depends on how close you are, what your relationship looks like, and if you are in a position to give advice on teaching-related matters. If you only know her situation from social media I would venture that the answer is probably "no".
>
> If so, what can I say? Both problems look generic enough that other lecturers must've dealt with them before. How?
>
>
>
Something based on what I wrote above. However, as I said, this can come across as somewhat patronising and offensive, so I would not suggest giving her any feedback unsolicited, especially if you are not close or already a mentor to her. Especially note that there are a number of people who just like to use social media to vent - don't take a few random social media posts as ground truth that there is something terrible going on in her professional life that you need to help her fix.
Upvotes: 6 <issue_comment>username_3: Assuming webcasts are something desirable, a technical solution to the latter problem may be:
1. Provide webcasts protected by a **temporary** (or better yet limited use) password
2. Explicitly announce that to get access to webcast, a specific student registered for class must contact the instructor and provide valid reason to need the webcast (e.g. they were sick that day in class).
3. Explicitly note that webcasts are limited to such use; and if someone abuses this by disseminating the password to other users (as detected via different IPs using same login/password), the webcasts would not be provided again to anyone, with offending student being publicly outed as the reason.
4. Offer webcasts with open access with meaningful delay (4 weeks after the lecture?), this way people can refer back to them if they need to revise material for tests; but can't use that as a crutch to help avoid attending lectures.
(a weaker form of #3 would be to protect webcasts with students' university login/password if that's an option the university systems offer - but that is likely to be abused - people even share login/password in workplaces, never mind college).
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_4: >
> What should **I** do?
>
>
>
Honestly? I suggest that you **sympathize courteously, but do nothing else**:
* She's a grown woman and an experienced academic, she doesn't need you to handle frustrations from student feedback.
* You (likely) no longer work at the same university as her.
* You're not a close personal friend of hers.
* You don't have a good idea of what actually goes on in her classes these days, nor what the student body is like overall.
* It is generally the case that students don't complain repeatedly and en masse about a course just for the sake of complaining and regardless of anything else. There's probably something that's wrong with the course (perhaps not even with her behavior) that you just don't know about.
An alternative to doing nothing would be: **Suggest that she ask a relevant question here on `academia.stackexchange.com`**. We could obtain more information which you don't have rather than help her via a third party.
Upvotes: 7 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_5: This one is a piece of cake.
Have her create two sets of slides.
1. Lecture slides - slides with less info so she doesn't read from her slides and with more graphics for the spacial/visual learners out there
2. Notes slides - slides with everything that she talks about on them that she can read off in front of the class.
Upvotes: 4 <issue_comment>username_6: **Should you talk to her about it?**
The answer to this depends very much on your relationship, her personality and the nature of the social media post. It is probably advisable to err on the side of caution and to assume that the post was simply letting off steam rather than a serious attempt to solicit advice and to not say anything, unless advice *is* explicitly being asked for or you know her well enough to be sure that it would not be taken in a negative way.
That said, if you do feel able to talk to her about it, I think there is some useful advice that can be given.
**What should you say?**
Different students have different preferences and learn in different ways, so it is not uncommon for their aggregate feedback to be highly contradictory. You cannot please all of the people all of the time. However, that does not mean that this feedback can be ignored and there is still usually an optimal path that can be taken which will somewhat satisfy both extremes.
Ideally, slides shown during a lecture should present the same information that is being spoken about, but *in a different way*. There are several reasons for this:
* Again, different people learn in different ways and will respond differently to two different explanations of the same topic - you thereby increase your chances that at least one will be understood and retained.
* The spoken word and visual media each have their own strengths which can be played to (for e.g. spoken explanations can be more verbose and rely more on nuance of emphasis to get the point across, while slides can include illustrations and diagrams).
* Simply reading out what is on the slides can be actively distracting and annoying as it is typically much faster to read something to yourself than out loud. Students will be spending half of each slide waiting for the lecturer to 'catch up' with what they have already read and so will become bored and disengaged.
I can certainly empathise with her displeasure at students not turning up to lectures - it can feel like something of a personal affront! However, it is typically not *meant* that way by the students and provided they are indeed watching the recordings it is not necessarily a problem. If the ultimate reach is the same then it doesn't matter if the live audience is five people or a hundred people or no people!
However, she may feel that this is sub-optimal for her students and that their preference for this could simply be laziness to their own long-term detriment. In which case I would say she is under no obligation to provide webcasts of the lectures so long as she does provide some other form of reference material and can safely ignore the complaints. An intermediate option would be to record the lectures, but only release the videos after a suitable period - perhaps only at the end of the term. This will emphasise that these recordings are only for reference and that attendance at the lectures is still expected. I would especially recommend this approach during the second year of running the course - that way the students will have access to the previous year's recordings in case of emergencies, but will be aware that they are not getting the latest material and so will feel more inclined to turn up to the live show.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_7: Only she can solve her own problems, not you. If she's aware of that feedback then she needs to use it to make improvements to her courses.
First of all, she needs to always provide slides with complete information and train herself to stop reading from them.
Second of all, she needs to find a way to provide webcasts for student review without giving them the benefit of using it as a replacement for showing up to class.
Option 1: Grade on attendance
Option 2: Don't post the webcasts until a week after the date they occur or the very last minute before an exam
Option 3: Give a short 5 or 10 question quiz at the beginning of every session based on the material covered in the last session.
Option 4: Some combination of all of the above.
Upvotes: -1 <issue_comment>username_8: From my experience as a student, I recommend what my favourite lecturer (who has also won the department award of favourite lecturer several years running).
Use slides to backup your lecturers but do live examples. Sometimes reading from them is appropiate but it shouldn't always be like that. Then provide a set of comprehensive notes covering all the topics on that module. This way students can focus on listening instead of trying to quickly write down everything that is said. This also means that student won't fall behind if they miss a lecture.
Provide webcasts if you like, there is nothing wrong with more options. However I would say that a good set of lecture notes should be a must have. If the lecturers themselves are not monotone then students will show up (I know most of us did). The lectures should be dynamic, live examples, oppertunity to ask questions, not scribbling down notes before the slides change.
Upvotes: 0 <issue_comment>username_9: It's perfectly possible to put up slides with the information on them, and then talk ***about*** that information. You don't have to read the exact sentences from the slide. In the corporate world, that's the biggest reason for death-by-Powerpoint. You bullet-point the information on the slide, but you fill in the details, justifications, implications, and help people to understand that information.
As for the webcast versus not - if she's delivering a series of lectures and students are expected to attend, then why webcast at all? The answer to that complaint is simple. This is a university, and you attend courses to learn. If you cannot be bothered to attend courses, the lecturer is not obliged to spoonfeed you with webcasts to let you watch the lecture from your bedroom.
A key thing to remember in all reviews is ***reviewers can be wrong too***.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_10: Okay, given this situation it's really not clear whether *you* should do anything except offer sympathy and support, and other answers have this covered. This answer is assuming that you are interested in how it might be possible to address the students' complaints.
These are the four problems you list:
>
> 1. If she provides complete slides with information, students complain
> that she reads from the slides.
> 2. If she doesn't provide complete slides
> with information, students complain that her slides are incomplete.
> 3. If she provides webcasts of her lectures, students don't turn up to
> lectures.
> 4. If she doesn't provide webcasts of her lectures, students
> complain she's a bad lecturer.
>
>
>
One potential solution to at least three of these (possibly not #3) might be to use a [flipped-classroom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipped_classroom) approach. In other words, she provides recorded seminars with complete information but at the same time makes it clear that the students are expected to watch them at home before attending. Classroom time will be used for discussion, taking questions and other organised learning activities. I have not yet had a chance to try this myself but know several people who have and feel it has gone very well.
The only issue that this might not solve is poor attendance, so some thought will need to be given to how the benefits of attendance can be made obvious to the students. I would also recommend discussing this with the course organisers and checking that they are supportive of it, but in this case showing them the current feedback might help make the case.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_11: There are not just 2 problems. There are 2 problems reported (in social media).
She is upset and a bit of a rant. What she posts is the inconsistent feedback.
If you had access the actual feedback I suspect there is a wide range of praises, complaints, and suggestions.
I don't think you should try and help her based on this limited second hand information. For sure don't try and help via social media.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_12: About five years ago, I saw a video where a professor at Stanford University said that after developing his first [MOOC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course) he realised that **his previous 28 years of "teaching by lecture"** had been ineffective. (I think he said "**a waste of time**" or something similar.)
The professor was talking about what he had learned as a result of using the "[Flipped Classroom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flipped_classroom)" - teaching method where students study "the material" on their own before they meet in a classroom. The classroom session is used to ***discuss*** "the material" - **no lecturing**.
Sorry but I could not locate the original video, but here is a [57 Second extract](http:///https://vimeo.com/253036446/1325f0bcde) from [a 1 hour video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mNXSwNg8uuY) produced by the same group at Stanford.
My Stanford MOOC experience in 2012 and 2013 (organisational analysis & databases) caused me to research the question "**What is learning**". After several years of research, I have concluded that "learning" is just a name for the process of "creating new synaptic links in your brain".
Furthermore, the learning process may require that you have to actively suppress "old" synaptic links that could be said to represent "**Fake knowledge**".
So, my working hypotheses are:
(1) The popular belief that:
*"Long lectures (whether supported by PowerPoint or not) are effective in helping people to learn."*
**is false** - in today's terminology this belief is **fake knowledge**
(2) Learning requires action - passive listening is not effective.
If my hypotheses are true, then a lot of today's "PowerPoint lecturers" are going to have to go back and study modern pedagogical practices so that they flip their thinking before they flip their classrooms.
So my answer to the question about the "upset professor" is **"Send her back to (modern) pedagogy school!"**
As a milder social response, you could try to engage her in an open discussion about pedagogy.
Upvotes: 0
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2018/01/25
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a mid-career mathematician. I have had a long-term collaboration with a well established, influential, and recognized senior mathematician. We wrote many papers together for the last ten years and the first papers have been the fruits of a real collaboration and exchange of ideas. However, in the last papers, there was no collaboration anymore and I have been the only one to work on the problems and solve them, even though the papers were cosigned.
About 3 years ago I sent a note to this professor with our two names on it, proposing a project and proving a result in a given framework. She/He has been sitting on the file since then, without any kind of input.
One year ago, during a discussion with other collaborators, this project resurfaced and we, the new collaborators and I, obtained a series of very interesting and deep results in another framework. We developed methods which were completely different from what I sent to the professor. With my new collaborators, I eventually posted a paper on Arxiv in the summer 2017.
A few days ago, the professor to which I sent the file 3 years ago came back to me with insulting emails and threatens to tell the mathematical community and my new collaborators that the project originates from her/him (which is not true) and that I have been deceitful.
I made the ethical mistake of not informing this professor of my new collaborations and my new collaborators of the existence of this file that I sent to the professor. However, the intersection between the note sent to the professor and the final paper is very small and I have often felt bullied by this professor and wanted to distance myself from her/him. Since this professor is influential, the situation is very distressful.
What would be the best way to handle the situation now ?<issue_comment>username_1: Before you do anything else, first of all, secure your full independence from the prior professor. It includes funding, reference letter, community work, committees, etc. Don't answer any of his e-mails in this period; answer only some else's questions regarding your relationship.
Second, save the proof material: the old copies of what you did with him, e-mails, etc.
Third, only then reply to the old guy. Insist on your viewpoint and threaten him back, telling him that in case of claims from his part you'd issue the counter-claims from your part. Remind him that false accusations can be legally prosecuted. If he did issue false claims, actually check whether you are right from the legal viewpoint and perhaps proceed with the help of the attorney.
Fourth, proceed with publication as you wished.
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_2: Right now, given the lack of details (and maybe you don't want to add more), it's hard to say what to do. One thing that would be good to know is: what are you actually worried about? If you are tenured (I guess mid-career means this), you don't need to worry about that. What sort of influence does this person actually have? Disputes happen from time to time, and if your collaborator is a jerk and people know this, they may not pay much attention to their rantings.
That said, my suggestion is to reply with something along the lines of:
>
> Sorry we neglected to mention my preprint with you. That project came about independently, and I should have told you about it earlier. I've added an acknowledgement and a reference to that preprint. See attached. Other comments welcome. By the way, what do you want to do with our preprint?
>
>
>
From my point of view, it makes sense to mention your preprint from 3 years ago in your newer paper, and being generous with acknowledgements costs you nothing. (Presumably you've had discussion about related things, which, even if your colleague did not actively contribute to your understanding of things, may have been helpful in some ways. Though again, I don't know the specifics, so you have to decide this.)
Even if you can win, no one wants to get into some big fight about who had what idea when, so if there's a reasonable way to mollify your colleague, it's probably worth it. Admittedly, your colleague doesn't sound reasonable, but if you add an acknowledgement and reference to that preprint, I imagine most people would think you behaved ethically even if your colleague goes on a rant-page.
You should also discuss this with your present coauthors before doing anything.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: This is an interesting question to me as I can easily see myself in the same situation in the future, in case I actually stay in the academia. Currently I am a postdoc, considering using my skills in a different way. I grew tired of the feudal organisation pertaining modern academia.
I belong in a completely different realm (biology) but essentially I see the core issues in my sphere. I believe this is a growing widespread problem, and that significant conflicts will be inevitable to anyone seeking a truly scientific (=unbiased and independent) career. I elaborate below with my proposed line of action.
There has been a steep increase in the number of academics. That meant comparatively few established professors had to advise numerous younger academics. In many institutions most of the oldest professors had a straightforward entry to their departments, and became local political figures. For numerous reasons, funding and career pressure has shifted to productivity scores, thus in order to stay at the top most established professors had devised strategies keep up with the ever-growing number demands. They use their influence to attract (artificial) productivity numbers which further increases their influence. This generated a feudal system where so numerous are the vassals paying toll to 'lablords' in order to have a place to work.
Finally, anyone willing to become a 'lablord' needs to be nominated or somehow shoulder his way into this aristocracy. Most of the academic vassals are trying to buy their way into aristocracy over extended years of subservience. The main problems are (i) not all aristocrat professors can or will nominate one of their 'loyal vassals'; (ii) because of the channelling productivity goals are ever-increasing far beyond the reach of many of the most invested young academics; (iii) most a true scientist cannot remain loyal to biased practice, e.g. stick to some clan doctrine or etiquette. The result of such feudal system is a bubble, which is bound to lead to a general revolt (a PhD cannot be unmade).
Now I believe you find yourself in this uncomfortable moment where you've been paying loyalty for so many years, feeding the very influence sphere which you did not foresee as your future enemy. Because if you wish to grow as a scientist, you must free yourself. Unfortunately there are currently too few young academics at war against the established aristocracy, so it'll be hard to obtain allies. My advice to you is that you make a fundamental career choice:
(a) You remain loyal and lower scientific & moral standards to enjoy some academic peace for longer. In such case you must see what to openly sacrifice to hopefully please your 'lord' while offering something else to reestablish the political support. You must know this person well enough and would know where to press. Mind you that it might be just too late, and there is no true obligation of the other part to reward you or even really stop a defamation campaign after you make your sacrifice(s).
(b) You accept the inevitable conflict head-on and think of a strategy to rid yourself of your ancient master. You have put yourself in this position over years and there is probably no friendly way out of this. Likely you'll lose the support of anyone who sides up with the other part, which may include people you consider as friends. For at least a couple of years, expect this professor to seek to destroy you (you'll be an example), which may easily cost your current career plans. Do you consider joining the industry?
Personal advice: (a) could lead to humiliation followed by depression, but may well be the only way to save your current projects. I think the best strategy in (b) is to generate further revolt against said professor so this person suddenly finds itself with too many political enemies and thus cannot focus on you. Be assured that there is a bubble and this person is scared of it crumbling, as illustrated by the overreaction; so if you're lucky (a) could buy you time until (b) is embraced by others and you can backstab with a->b.
I do not think there is any intermediate path, as not clearly abiding to (a) tends to be perceived as (b) by the other part.
Sorry if too long or philosophical.
Upvotes: 1
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2018/01/25
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<issue_start>username_0: I am a PhD student directly employed by a German university, this means my salary is paid directly by the federal government.
In Germany, the salary of PhD students is (often and in my case, definitely) determined by the TVöD. This is the tariff negotiated between public sector workers and the state. The tariff contract deals not only with salary levels, but also on salary increments. These take place automatically after a fixed amount of years (one, three, six years, etc). Everything is practically set in stone.
It appears my advisor forgot to take into account the TVöD and the automatic salary increments when making the personnel budget for the grant for my research project (which is kind of funny since he is also subjected to them, and they are a big deal in Germany).
I will be shortly starting my third year. The matter came up after he reviewed the project finances and noticed the automatic and mandatory (please correct me if I am wrong) salary increment after the first year. In his own words: “you are earning too much money”. Just to be clear, all PhD students at our chair have the same salary level (E13, 100%) and are subjected to the same TVöD. This is in no way a surprise or something unexpected. The personnel budget was calculated as if my salary remained unchanged for the entire project duration.
This miscalculation means that the funds obtained form the research grant for personnel costs will not cover my salary until the end of my third year.
I have a contract directly with the German government up to the end of my third year, and I am outside my probation period (Probezeit). I have had no problems at all, and the chairing professor of my committee (not my advisor, these are two different persons) seems pleased with my progress.
I am looking for any legal and practical advice:
* Is it possible for them to “demote” me to a lower level, part time, or similar?
* This was an error from my advisor. I can imagine that eventually I will have a meeting with the chairing professor and my advisor to discuss this. What can they ask from me? What can they *legally* ask/demand from me?
* If I have learned something in the past two years is that just as in companies, academia is a boy’s club (not in the sexist sense) in which you do not want to rock the boat. I do not want to burn bridges or have unnecessary legal confrontations. But I also refuse to being taken advantage of, specially since PhD students already work a lot of unpaid overtime, and this would set a terrible precedent for future colleagues. How should I go about dealing with this?<issue_comment>username_1: Your advisor will surely acknowledge fault; there seems to be no other option. Money will surely be found (begged, borrowed, ...) to pay you; again there seems to be no other option (there's a legal obligation to pay you). There is no need for you to act and the situation should be resolved without your input.
Upvotes: 1 <issue_comment>username_2: >
> Is it possible for them to “demote” me to a lower level, part time, or similar?
>
>
>
In my experience, it is much less complicated (legally and bureaucratically) to transfer the required money from other sections of the grant such as travel or publication costs.
>
> How should I go about dealing with this?
>
>
>
There are usually many culprits in such a situation (and you are not amongst them):
* The funding organisation should have noticed that the alloted personal costs do not suffice for a PhD student (assuming that 100 % is the standard for PhDs in your field).
In fact, I have heard that some funding agencies explicitly fund a PhD position with a certain part-time level or full-time (depending on the field) for a certain period of time – as opposed to funding a certain amount of money that exactly suffices for this.
This way, the detailed sums (which not only depend on your level, but on many other factors such as location and similar) are left to the bureaucrats to determine and to move and scientific personnel (such as your supervisor) should never have to worry about this.
* When issuing your contract, your university’s administration should have checked that they have the required funds to pay your salary for the duration of your contract.
* Your supervisor may or may not have had the responsibility to check this.
So, even if your supervisor made a mistake, so did the others.
However in contrast to your supervisor, those are trained bureaucrats whose job only exist to do things like these and who do this on a daily basis. Hence, I suggest to try to unite against these with your supervisor. Not only do they have no real power over you (not being members of your “boys’ club”), but they also have access to general funds to cover for such mistakes¹.
---
¹ I witnessed a case where a PhD student got paid too much over a year due to being assigned to the wrong level (i.e., a situation similar to yours) and they did not have to pay back more than legally required (the past few months) nor was this money deduced from the grant that paid them.
Upvotes: 6 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_3: I think this issue should not be solved on the legal layer, thus, this is no legal advice here.
>
> Is it possible for them to “demote” me to a lower level, part time, or similar?
>
>
>
As far as I know: NO. However, you should have a look into the contract between you and your employer. Usually, it says something like payment according to TVÖD and full-time employment. So they cannot change this simply without your agreement, as far as I know.
>
> This was an error from my advisor. I can imagine that eventually I will have a meeting with the chairing professor and my advisor to discuss this. What can they ask from me? What can they legally ask/demand from me?
>
>
>
It's not about "who made an error". The error has happened and you should try to solve it together. How it can be solved depends largely on your institute's financial situation.
>
> [...] But I also refuse to being taken advantage of, specially since PhD students already work a lot of unpaid overtime, and this would set a terrible precedent for future colleagues. How should I go about dealing with this?
>
>
>
You should not have to bear large disadvantages, that should be your goal.
However, you could end up with something like: You work on your project as long as funding is available. After the money has run out, you are (forcefully) shifted to another project that is not even barely related to your research (e.g., some industry project). If that is the only option due to financial shorts in your institute, there might not be much you could do against it.
BUT: Talk to your advisor, talk to your professor, etc. etc. Try to find a solution together. Your main goal must always be to advance in your research and to finish your PhD. In many cases, there may be additional funds available. In some cases this might not be possible, unfortunately. So if your advisor is very satisfied with your research and money is available, he might continue funding your work with other money. If have seen these cases, where the original funding has run out but the professor and/or advisor made it possible for the PhD student to continue and finish the topic. Be prepared to present good results of your work and show that investing additional money is a good idea!
Upvotes: 2 <issue_comment>username_4: Let me summarize the key points of your situation:
* You have an employment contract over the full period of the project at a German university.
* The tariff you're employed under (which should be defined in your contract) stipulates a salary increase after a certain number of years in the same position.
In that case **neither you nor your advisor can prevent** that you get the salary rise that the tariff agreement stipulates here. The contract can not be changed against your will, and the salary increase can not be ignored. The staff administration of your institution will automatically adjust your salary when it's time to do this, and it will be up to the financial department of your institution, potentially in coordination with your advisor, to find additional money to pay your increased salary. Remember, it's not your advisor who pays you, it's the institution that is employing you.
In fact, while you interpret this to be your advisors fault, the **final responsibility is with the financial / personnel department of your institution**. They should have verified that the project has enough budget before giving you the contract they have given you. In my experience, all universities I've worked at in Germany were very careful (sometimes overly careful) in getting these things right. Apart from this department having made an error, another reason I can think of is that your advisor might have proposed also another budget for this at the time your employment contract was being prepared, and then they will just make use of that.
My advice for further action would be **to do nothing at the moment** and to not worry about this. When it's time for your salary increase to come into effect, check that this is indeed adjusted. If this should not be the case, communicate to the staff administration, and ask them why they didn't adjust it. There's no need to get into a discussion with your advisor about this - it's not an issue between him and you.
Upvotes: 4
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2018/01/25
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<issue_start>username_0: I’ve been working on a research project, and we have some findings that we are now writing a paper. However, I am unsure about one section of the paper.
We have done some experiments (related to images and videos), and after quite a lot of reverse engineering, we discovered something related to how cameras take pictures and videos. Later, we read a lot about camera internals and found out our finding is already there. So, there is nothing novel about it.
However, previous research/other researchers in my field don’t know it and due to that the performances of similar experiments were around 70–80 % whereas ours is 96–97 %. I wonder if our discovery is a valid to include to a paper. Or what is a good way to add it to the paper and make it look fancier than it is?<issue_comment>username_1: You've advanced the state of the art (from 70-80% to 96-97%), so your result seems publishable in that field. Moreover, you could publish a review of that field in your own field, by explaining how it is relevant.
Upvotes: 3 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: Taking an approach to one problem and translating it to another problem is a valid scientific contribution and can be a considerable creative achievement.
I know a handful of important papers that essentially do this.
If you actually achieved an improvement and it was a very obvious thing to do, why didn’t people do it before?
As you have already noted, the crucial point is how you sell your insight.
The first step is to identify the level on which you actually solved an unsolved problem (in a broad sense that captures performance boosts).
For example, you may not have developed a new method to track the movement of fast-moving objects, but you have found a new approach to study the movement of arrows by translating established techniques for studying the movement of sparrows.
This should be the leitmotif of your paper (or the respective part thereof).
Also, do not forget to cite previous studies which could have been improved by your insight.
The only thing that probably nobody cares about is your reverse engineering (unless you developed some new reverse-engineering methodologies or similar).
But as a scientist you are in company when spending a considerable amount of time on something that you could have achieved easier.
Science always looks simpler when it’s finished and nicely wrapped.
Upvotes: 2
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2018/01/25
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<issue_start>username_0: You write a PhD thesis, in the acknowledgments you thank a series of people from collaborators, to friends, to peers, to professors. Many of these people will never read the thesis so what is the point to acknowledge them? It seems more an exercise for myself. *This is different than the acknowledgments in a paper because PhD acknowledgments tend to be more personal and might include friends or people with a non-working relationship that helped in a way that it is not strictly related to the thesis.*
Should I send them a copy of the thesis AND mention that I have acknowledged them, or simply let them know in some informal way that I acknowledged them, maybe next time I meet them or sending them a quick email?
It seems a pointless message if they don't know they have been thanked.<issue_comment>username_1: Ask yourself, which message do you want to send them?
You do not want to simply inform them about the acknowledgment, you want to THANK them! **It's not about your thesis, it's about their help!**
How you approach them depends on several factors; do whatever you feel is right.
If it is possible to meet people in person, I prefer this, especially if they have contributed much. If they are further away, perhaps do at least a phone call. You should offer to them send your thesis via email or maybe even give them a printed copy.
In my personal experience, people are always very happy about a "thank you" and it also gives you the chance to stay in contact afterwards.
Upvotes: 5 [selected_answer]<issue_comment>username_2: I’ve been acknowledged in a few dissertations, and didn’t see until I read their dissertations while looking at format for my own! I wasn’t mad they didn’t tell me, but I wish I could've been able to express my happiness to collaborate with them in person and not a text, since they already have left the institution. I vote you let them know! Maybe email them the page where they’re mentioned.
Upvotes: 3 <issue_comment>username_3: I handed over a copy of my printed thesis to every friend I mentioned in the acknowledgments. In addition, I wrote a kind of thanking latter or dedication to the recipient thanking for their support or whatever. When handing over the thesis copy, I verbally thanked them and told they were mentioned in the acknowledgments.
Upvotes: 2
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