One of my colleagues in biology just finished his Comparative Vertebrate anatomy course. For the final class projects, he has teams of students make little videos presenting the results of their research into some aspect of vertebrate anatomy. Such as, for example, this Sesame Street episode on flying snakes: The full set of videos are… Continue reading Watch Your Back, David Attenborough
Category: Academia
Why Cheaters Should Be Reported
The Female Science Professor has been having a hard semester, and recently caught some students cheating on an exam: In the situation I had to deal with recently, I saw one student glancing repeatedly at another student’s exam. I kept the two exams separate when they were handed in, compared the documents, saw the same… Continue reading Why Cheaters Should Be Reported
Martin Rees Against Fundamentalism
There’s a really good article from Martin Rees in the latest issue of Seed, on the scientific challenges that won’t be affected by the LHC: The LHC hasn’t yet provided its first results, the much-anticipated answers to questions we’ve been asking for so long. But they should surely come in 2009, bringing us closer to… Continue reading Martin Rees Against Fundamentalism
Notes Toward an Improbable Result: Grade Points per Pound
Inside Higher Ed has an article on grade inflation this morning, which reminds me of my improbable research theory. Academic scolds are always talking about grade inflation, saying that the average grade years ago used to be lower than it is now. Medical scolds are always talking about the obesity epidemic, saying that average weights… Continue reading Notes Toward an Improbable Result: Grade Points per Pound
Academic “Branding” and the Guy Who Does the Thing at the Place
Via FriendFeed, Daniel Lemire offers a suggestion on “branding”: Stop saying you are “John from school X”. Say that you are “John who works on problem Y”. Don’t rely on your employer to carry your message! Of course, this is only the second of the three possible options. You could also be “the guy who… Continue reading Academic “Branding” and the Guy Who Does the Thing at the Place
Atomic Physics Gordon Conference
The Gordon Research Conferences are a great program, if you’re in a field that offers them. These are mostly in New England in the summer, and involve a lot more down time than most professional conferences, to allow for more informal interaction between attendees. At past Gordon conferences, I’ve played soccer with a Nobel laureate,… Continue reading Atomic Physics Gordon Conference
Numbers of Order Unity
Over at Unqualified Offerings, Thoreau is bemused by his students’ reaction to unusual numbers: [I]t is fascinating how we condition people to be used to numbers in a certain range, and as soon as a number is either very big or very small it becomes disconcerting. On one level, I’m glad that they are able… Continue reading Numbers of Order Unity
The Open Laboratory 2008
The much-promoted science blogging anthology is now complete, and available in paper or electronic format from Lulu. If you’re dying to have dead-tree copies of the best science blog posts of last year, here’s your chance.
You Can’t Get To DAMOP From Here
I’m looking travel arrangements for this year’s DAMOP meeting in Charlottesville, VA in May, and, boy, do the options suck. Flying into Charlottesville itself involves at least one stop, and undoubtedly one of those ridiculous little prop planes that require me to spend the whole flight in something close to a fetal position. Driving would… Continue reading You Can’t Get To DAMOP From Here
Best and Worst Interview Questions
I spent a few hours Sunday afternoon interviewing students for positions in the Minerva House program, a student life initiative that I’m involved with. The interviews were don by a panel– me and four students– and we tried to mix in a few oddball interview questions with the serious stuff. The most successful of these… Continue reading Best and Worst Interview Questions