Academia
drorzel | June 17, 2013The other big event of the weekend was Commencement at Union. I didn't make it in time for the academic procession and all that, but I did hear John Lewis's speech, which was great. More importantly, though, I was there to see our students graduate, and congratulate them in person.
As I told my thesis student, I'm not always the best about praise and positive reinforcement-- I tend to react to progress in the lab with "That's great. Now, the next thing to do is.." But this year's class was a good bunch of students, and it's been a pleasure to work with them over the last four years.
So,…
jtoney | June 12, 2013This post was co-authored by Ali Arab, Ph.D., an assistant professor of statistics at Georgetown University.
We are living in a global society driven by innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Success depends upon free access to information and unfettered research by scholars. Yet targeted academic boycotts are increasingly common, throwing more and more roadblocks on the way to progress.
Earlier in May 2013, the decision by the world-renowned British cosmologist Stephen Hawking to withdraw from a major academic conference in Israel reignited discussions among scholars on whether or…
drorzel | June 11, 2013I saw a bunch of people yesterday tweeting approval of John Hawks's complaint about academic timidity when it comes to blogging:
The bottom line is: People need to decide if they want to be heard, or if they want to be validated. I have long been an associate editor at PLoS ONE, and once I edited a paper that received a lot of critical commentary. That journal has a policy of open comment threads on papers, so I told disgruntled scientists to please write comments. The comments appear right with the article when anybody reads it, they appear immediately without any delay, and they can form a…
drorzel | June 11, 2013As previously noted, I spent most of last week at the 2013 DAMOP meeting, where I listened to a whole bunch of talks. At some point, I was listening to a talk, and said "I bet this guy hasn't given a lot of these before." What was the give-away? The fact that he almost never said "Um."
To the dismay of many students entering science majors, public speaking is a very significant part of being a professional scientist. Scientists are expected to give talks of a variety of different lengths-- 10-15 minute "contributed" talks at big meetings, 25-30 minute "invited" conference talks, 45-60 minute…
drorzel | May 31, 2013I mentioned on Twitter that I was thinking of proposing a Science Online program item about the professionalization of blogging, throwing in a link to post from a couple months ago. That included a link to this SlideShare:
Talking to My Dog About Science: Why Public Communication of Science Matters and How Social Media Can Help from Chad Orzel
And that was re-tweeted by Chris Chabris, kicking off a gigantic conversation about the whole idea of scientists communicating directly with the public (most of which took place after I went to bed last night, so I only saw it in my Twitter…
kbonham | May 21, 2013Two weeks ago, the Heritage Foundation (a conservative think-tank) released a position paper based largely on the academic research of one Jason Richwine. The conclusion (roughly paraphrased): Hispanic people have lower IQ's than white people, so an overly permissive immigration policy will drag down the US economy.
Ethically, this conclusion is a deep affront to my liberal* sensibilities. The idea of basing our public policy on racism and bigotry is abhorrent.
Politically, this is dangerous territory. This is especially true after the 2012 election, when republican politicians were making…
drorzel | May 14, 2013One of the perennial problems of teaching intro physics is getting students to do their homework, so I was very interested to see Andy Rundquist on Twitter post a link to a paper on the arxiv titled "How different incentives affect homework completion in introductory physics courses." When I shared this with the rest of my department, though, I got a link to an even more interesting paper from the same group, on the effect that doing homework has on student performance. This has an extremely surprising conclusion: for the weakest students in introductory physics, doing more homework actually…
drorzel | May 10, 2013The book-in-progress (which is coming along, albeit slowly, thanks for asking) is built around making analogies between scientific discoveries and ordinary activities. This necessarily means telling a lot of historical stories, which is both good and bad. The bad part is that actual history is way messier than the streamlined version you get to use if you're primarily trying to explain the science, and I feel some obligation to do this right as much as possible, thus making work for myself. The good part is I'm reading a lot of narrative history of science stuff, which is kind of fun. In…
catdynamics | May 4, 2013They were amateurish videos, often black and white, sometimes just a disembodied hand writing simple equations on a blackboard as a quirky voice from off screen gave well practiced short lectures highlighting the essential learning elements.
The pedagogy was revolutionary, university level material freely accessible by vast, unimaginable numbers - set to revolutionize education.
Yes, The Open University was a revelation when I discovered their late night television broadcasts as a callow teen, bored with O-level chemistry. Here was real learning, advanced material presented much better than…
catdynamics | May 3, 2013Just read a series of interesting articles on inquiry based science:
Inquiry Science rocks: Or does it - David Klahr tries to test the efficacy of discovery learning (APS News 12. 2012).
Direct Instruction rocks: Or does it - Richard Hake takes issue with Klahr's inferences.
To be contrasted with:
The Efficacy of Student-Centered Instruction in Supporting Science Learning - Granger et al Science 338 105 (2012) [sub]
The amount of data on the efficacy of the different teaching methods is still pathetically small.
I am inclined to believe that student center instruction or inquiry science is…
jdupuis | April 29, 2013A note for my Toronto area friends, Blogfather Bora Zivkovic will be giving a talk at York University in Toronto on May 6, 2013 from 2:00 to 3:30 pm.
Here's the info:
Science and the New Media Ecosystem
Bora Zivkovic, Blog Editor at Scientific American
Monday, May 6, 2013, 2:00 – 3:30 pm
Paul Delaney Gallery, Room 320, Bethune College
York University, Toronto
Map
Abstract:
The whole media landscape is shifting and changing – newspapers on the decline with blogs, Twitter and YouTube on the rise.
Science is no different. Come listen to one of the pioneers of online science communication talk…
jtoney | April 23, 2013It was an unexpected journey, from the George W. Bush Shake, the Barack Obama Hug to the Harlem Shake.
Appreciation from the President of the United States is one of the highest honors any American can receive. No, it wasn't me, but the best part is that it was one of our students.
I have been very fortunate in my own education having learned from two mentors awarded the National Medal of Science (Prof. Tobin J. Marks and Prof. Stephen J. Lippard.) Each received a hearty handshake from President George W. Bush. Perhaps some of my work in their labs helped get them there, along with a…
aardvarchaeology | April 17, 20132009. University of Lund publishes the PhD thesis Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning in Created Agricultural Wetlands, dealing with biological diversity and ecosystem services in ponds in the agricultural landscape (and commented on here).
2013: Same department advertises a post-doc in the field "Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Services in Ponds in the Agricultural Landscape".
Because in the Scandinavian countries' public sectors, you always have to go through these elaborate charades to suggest that you're really looking open-mindedly for the best candidate for a job, not simply for…
jdupuis | April 16, 2013Since I work at York University, I'm going to refrain from commenting on this lawsuit. However, as is my practice I'll be creating and maintaining a list of relevant articles and resources here to help me stay current on the matter.
I am not attempting to create a comprehensive list.
General
Statement of Claim against York University by Access Copyright
Monday,April 8, 2013: Canada's writers and publisherstake a stand against damaging interpretations of fair dealing by the education sector (Access Copyright press release)
Access Copyright Interim Post-Secondary Educational Institutions…
drorzel | April 16, 2013Nobody's ever going to mistake me for an elite basketball player. I'm taller than average (about 6'6", a hair under 2m in SI units), but I'm not especially quick, or agile, or all that good a jumper. And I'm carrying at least 40lbs of extra weight above what a really good player my size would (in terms of mass, I'm closer to the dimensions of a really good (American) football player, though not nearly enough of it is muscle).
This doesn't stop me from playing basketball, though. I love the game, and I play a good deal, at least for a guy in his forties with a full-time job. I can hold my own…
drorzel | April 15, 2013I was re-reading bits of James Gleick's Feynman biography, and ran across a bit near the end (page 397 of my hardcover from 1992) talking about his relationship with his children, talking about how ordinary he seemed at home.I particularly liked the sentence "Belatedly it dawned on them that not all their friends could look up their fathers in the encyclopedia." It occurred to me that that would be a good line for an obituary.
This is not due to any particularly morbid cast of mind on my part, but lingering blowback from the kerfuffle over the New York Times obituary for Yvonne Brill a couple…
catdynamics | April 13, 2013"I came with all my books, lived in dorms, followed directions.
I worked, I studied hard, met lots of folks who had connections.
I crammed, they gave me grades, and may I say not in a fair way.
But more, much more than this, I did it their way."
Many years ago, I heard this, I Did It Their Way, on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion", originally by Bob Blue.
I still have that rendition on a cassette tape somewhere.
But now, finally, there is an excellent youtube rendition:
"And so, my fine young friends, now that I am a full professor,
Where once I was oppressed, I've now become…
jdupuis | April 13, 2013
Librarians as faculty? It's a red herring.
Why I think faculty status for librarians is (generally) a bad idea
Library employees protest changed title
As Role of Librarians Evolves, Some Colleges End Their Faculty Status
Stratification and losing faculty status
Gender, “thought leaders”, ego, and subversion
Unpacking “faculty status”
Postscript: faculty status and “administrative bloat”
What Is the Business of Literature?
Facebook Leans In
Digital Research, Not Teaching and Ithaka report here.
Free to Profit (Coursera makes some profit)
Systematic Errors of Judgement (bias against women in…
drorzel | April 12, 2013One of the reasons I held off on commenting on the whole E. O. Wilson math op-ed thing, other than not having time to blog, was that his comments were based on his own experiences. And, you know, who am I to gainsay the personal experiences of a justly famous scientist?
At the same time, though, this is one of the big things that makes the original piece so frustrating. He's speaking from his personal experience, but it feels like he's chosen to draw exactly the wrong lessons from it. The relevant anecdotes are:
During my decades of teaching biology at Harvard, I watched sadly as bright…
drorzel | April 12, 2013One of the hot topics of the moment is the E. O. Wilson op-ed lamenting the way math scares students off from science, and downplaying the need for mathematical skill (this is not news, really-- he said more or less the same thing a few years ago, but the Wall Street Journal published it to promote his upcoming book). This has raised a lot of hackles in the more math-y side of the science blogosphere, while some in less math-y fields (mostly closer to Wilson's home field of evolutionary biology) either applaud him or don't see what the fuss is about.
The split, I think, comes from the fact…