A recurring problem in academic science is trying to correctly identify a single author. For example, I was reviewing a grant that made reference to a group, but not a specific paper, and needed to sift through a few pages of search results in order to determine which of the people with that surname was… Continue reading Academic Poll: Uniqueness
Category: Academia
Academic Poll: Person and Voice
Over at Faraday’s Cage, Cherish has had a Huck Finn moment with regard to paper writing style: I know that I’m not supposed to use the first person plural when writing papers. Frankly Scarlet, I don’t give a damn. I am going to say, “we did this” and “we did that”. This made me blink… Continue reading Academic Poll: Person and Voice
Positive Job Market Developments
Sabine Hossenfelder from Backreaction has landed a job as an assistant professor at NORDITA. That’s good news any time, but especially in the current climate. And going Sabine one better, Mary at View from the Corner has both defended her thesis and gotten a job at the same company as her husband. Way to solve… Continue reading Positive Job Market Developments
The Process Is as Important as the Answer
Over at the First Excited State, the quasi-anonymous proprietor laments the tendency of basketball replays to focus on the shot rather than the play that set up the shot, and compares this to a maddening student habit: Students in introductory physics classes inevitably place too much focus on the final numerical answer of the problem,… Continue reading The Process Is as Important as the Answer
Up for Adoption
The spring round of the Adopt-a-Physicist outreach program will begin soon. I did this in the Fall, and it was a good experience, so I’ve registered myself again. The program pairs volunteer physicists with high school classes, and provides a web forum in which students can ask questions about physics and careers in physics. Back… Continue reading Up for Adoption
Course Report: Solid State Physics in Three Classes
In the last course report post, we dispensed of atomic and molecular physics in just three classes. The next three classes do the same for solid state physics. Class 25 picks up on the idea of basic molecular potentials from the end of the previous class, and uses that to introduce energy bands in a… Continue reading Course Report: Solid State Physics in Three Classes
Course Report: Atoms and Molecules in Three Classes
I got way behind on my reports from my Modern Physics class– the last one was over month ago, and the class has since ended. There’s enough material left to be really awkward as a single post, though, so I’m going to take my cue from Brandon Sanderson and split it into three parts. The… Continue reading Course Report: Atoms and Molecules in Three Classes
Academic Poll: Mind Like a Steel… Thingy
Today is the first day of Spring term classes, which means there’s one obvious question to ask: What am I forgetting? I’ve spent the last few days alternating baby duty with frantic class prep, and I think I’ve got everything ready. I’m bound to be forgetting something, though. So what is it? What’s the thing… Continue reading Academic Poll: Mind Like a Steel… Thingy
Opinions on WebAssign?
I’m teaching the intro mechanics course next term, starting on Monday, and my colleagues who just finished teaching it in the Winter term used WebAssign to handle most of the homework. They speak very highly of it, so I’m probably going to use it next term. I’m curious to know what other people think, though.… Continue reading Opinions on WebAssign?
Academic Poll Results: Drop It Like It’s Hot?
A few days ago I asked people’s opinions regarding drop deadlines for students who decide they no longer want to be in a class. As usual, I forgot a few qualifiers, and nobody used the categories I gave, but after sorting the answers into roughly the categories I gave, here are the results: A drop… Continue reading Academic Poll Results: Drop It Like It’s Hot?