What You Call Yourself is Important
I am a PhD Student, not a candidate… yet.
Research Ethics
The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) oversees and directs Public Health Service (PHS) research integrity activities on behalf of the Secretary of Health and Human Services with the exception of the regulatory research integrity activities of the Food and Drug Administration. There is a location on the ORI website on " Misconduct Case Summaries". There are currently 7 cases for 2016: Case Summary: Cullinane, Andrew R. Case Summary: D’Souza, Karen M.
Some Modest Advice for Graduate Students
Some Modest Advice for Graduate Students by Stephen C. Stearns tl;dr: Always Prepare for the Worst Nobody cares about you You Must Know Why Your Work is Important Psychological Problems are the Biggest Barrier Avoid Taking Lectures - They’re Usually Inefficient Write a Proposal and Get It Criticized Manage Your Advisors Types of Theses Start Publishing Early Don’t Look Down on a Master’s Thesis Publish Regularly, But Not Too Much This is a writeup that’s always worth a read every now and then.
How Learning Works
Susan Ambrose’s book “How Learning Works” is probably one of the best investments for people who teach. The next best (time) investment is reading Greg Wilson’s paper on “Software Carpentry: lessons learned”. I’ve watched Greg Wilson’s corresponding PyCon 2014 and SciPy 2014 talk numerous times, and is well worth the listen.
Teaching and Mentoring
Software-Carpentry 1 has made be a better teacher because of the way we collect feedback during our workshops. When teaching a technical class, we use low-tech sticky notes to signify whether individuals need help or not: Green for no help needed, Red for help needed. This is extremely effective while teaching. As an instructor all you need to look for is a red sticky note and you know someone has a question, or if everyone has a green sticky note, the class is following along.
Where Do I Fit in Academia?
It’s always a good idea to take a break and think about all that’s going on in life in perspective. As I approach the end of the coursework phase of my PhD program, I need to think about what’s next. My preliminary exam… but beyond that, I need to think about the (glorious) life after I graduate. Do I go to industry? or stay in Academia? Currently, my duties are closer aligned to that of a scientific research software engineer.
Communicating Science
The communication science workshop at class reminds me of the various acting warm-up exercise I did when I took an acting class in high school. The drills require individuals to coordinate and communicate with other people in the room, but also serves as an icebreaker by doing ‘silly’ things. One of the first exercise we did in class was to describe our current research. This is a skill that I have refined over the past few years as a PhD student.
Impostor Syndrome: Am I Qualified?
Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon or fraud syndrome) is a concept describing high-achieving individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud”. Wikipedia I really shouldn’t feel impostor syndrome. There are many things I can list that point to my accomplishments, yet, I still fall victim to impostor syndrome. It’s a phenomenon that is constantly talked about and written about.
Accessible Education in the United States
In the United States, higher education aims to be accessible to everyone. Although historically, college and university degrees were mainly for privileged, white males, throughout the years, in order to decrease the socioeconomic gap, more colleges aimed towards local regions and demographics were created. From Historically Black Colleges and Universities, to Land Grant Schools, to Community Colleges, each `type' of College/University was aimed to be more inclusive. This puts things into perspective and I’ve considered teaching at community colleges.
Mission Statements
Mission statements and reflections on higher education institutions (plus one high school) that I’ve attended. Reflection It’s not surprising that the institutions that have a more specific academic focus, will have a more specific mission statement. The Mailman school of public health’s mission is devoted in improving public health, and Stuyvesant High school, is focused on science, mathematics, and technology. For the other Colleges and Universities, the missions are much more general, and the ones located in New York City, mention the city, whereas Virginia Tech mentions the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.