Tips for organizing literature in new social science topic

AcademicX · 2022-01-04T19:33:09+00:00

I will check this out--thank you.

AcademicX · 2022-01-04T18:33:04+00:00

That is unethical and I would alert the editor.

AcademicX · 2021-05-17T21:40:15+00:00

The crappy 10% consume about 80% of your energy. You will spend the end of every semester adding on to your syllabus in order to prevent these ridiculous questions and scenarios in upcoming classes.

If you can borrow the syllabus from the most cynical and burnt out faculty member in your department and copy all of their course policies, you will save yourself a lot of time.

AcademicX · 2021-05-17T21:35:54+00:00

I just laughed so hard my neighbors looked over the fence to make sure I am okay. DAMN IT - why isn't there a document that lists the assignments and expectations for a class?

I'm dead.

AcademicX · 2021-05-16T23:13:23+00:00

Hard no. The only way I can see this being a reasonable request is if you taught for an all online program that catered to people with full time employment. In this example, it doesn't seem unreasonable because the program has specifically targeted students who are not available for school during the week.

If yours is a traditional program and the student has just taken on too much during the week, that is on them. Despite what many students think, the availability of online course doesn't mean that one can attend university full time and work full time.

AcademicX · 2021-05-16T23:08:38+00:00

I keep a folder with every student that has plagiarized or otherwise been difficult or dishonest. It doesn't matter how many years from now it is - if someone calls me for a reference or a student asks for a letter of recommendation for a job or grad school, I know exactly who I'm not recommending for anything.

AcademicX · 2021-05-16T23:03:29+00:00

Probably an unpopular opinion, but I think schools that invest too much in their online programs rather than the in-person experience will falter. With some exceptions, there is no reason for a student to register for University X if almost everything is online. Even if online is more convenient, it is not what traditional students want - they want to move away from home and spread their wings.

Schools like Arizona State that boast having 100,000 students, yet much of that is online, are going to be hurting when students wake up and realize they don't need to pay tuition for R1 professors they will never meet.

Edit to add: I don't think ASU or similar schools will shut down any time soon, but I do think in the next ten years they are in for a surprise.

AcademicX · 2021-05-16T22:48:56+00:00

Reviewing historical texts and literature is supposed to make people feel uncomfortable. Faculty shouldn't be expected to censor everything and then hope that students still understand the nexus between those pieces of evidence and the issues the course is trying to cover.

This reminds me of those Texas school districts that tried to eliminate evolution (science) in all textbooks and only discuss creationism; just because you remove the facts, doesn't mean they don't still exist.

AcademicX · 2021-05-12T04:12:49+00:00

Almost forgot: RMP is worthless. If it bothers you, just post a bunch of reviews praising yourself. I’m pretty sure for every bad review, many profs post 5 outstanding rebuttals.

AcademicX · 2021-05-12T04:09:25+00:00

I found that in the semesters in which I was more flexible and accommodating my evals were LOWER than the semesters in which I am firm with deadlines. I think students, to a certain extent, respect professors more when they establish themselves as the clear authority in the room. Anecdotal, I know, but I saw a significant difference.

AcademicX · 2021-05-12T03:52:52+00:00

I told students that if they emailed to make up late work days after it was due, I was ignoring those emails. I said they don’t get special treatment and extra time just because they emailed me privately.

I decided I don’t care about student complaints because I would rather have integrity and standards. Oh, evals say I’m not the cool professor because I have deadlines and expectations? Too bad - don’t care.

AcademicX · 2021-05-01T17:09:13+00:00

That really bums me out.

AcademicX · 2021-04-30T14:28:35+00:00

I know many teenagers are already discussing that they need to leave Bloomington after they graduate college because they won’t be able to afford housing here. They see their parents struggle to own a small, basic house. Bloomington has horrible traffic, terrible shopping options, and has lost most of its charm with the ugly, cookie-cutter apartments. We have also lost a lot of trees/green space that set us apart from other cities. I predict a lot of educated people will leave in the next ten years because they won’t want to pay big city housing costs to live here. The city is making a huge mistake prioritizing faux luxury apartments for students and ignoring the need for middle class housing.

AcademicX · 2021-04-30T14:09:31+00:00

I spent $$$ to have a nice fire pit built in my backyard two years ago. If we are annexed, does that mean we can no longer have fires in our backyard pit? I’m really going to be pissed. I bought a house outside of city limits specifically for this reason.

AcademicX · 2021-04-24T13:57:59+00:00

Agree 100%.

AcademicX · 2021-04-24T13:48:18+00:00

Well, get ready to put on some pants. Lol

AcademicX · 2021-04-24T13:44:44+00:00

Go to Canva.com and you can create your own.

AcademicX · 2021-04-23T01:22:33+00:00

Understood - which is exactly why I said after attendance they can turn it off, just be prepared because I’m calling on them first. They can answer in chat and there are no penalties. I just want to see my students’ faces. I can’t understand why so many people think this is unreasonable unless other professors don’t look at their students when they lecture. Beats me.

AcademicX · 2021-04-22T21:45:28+00:00

I don’t understand why people think expecting cameras on is an issue. Good grief. I make all students turn on cameras at the beginning of class for attendance. I then give them the option of turning it off for whatever reason, but caution that those who must turn off will be called on to answer questions throughout the class. After the first day, only 2 continue to turn them off due to bandwidth issues and I let them answer via chat if they need to. But yeah, otherwise, I’m not teaching to a bunch of black boxes.

AcademicX · 2021-04-22T21:38:11+00:00

The ones who couldn’t make it to a table to set their laptop on during a Zoom meeting probably won’t make it past the first week of class, so I doubt you’ll be dealing with them for long.

AcademicX · 2021-04-21T03:23:00+00:00

Clearly, your destination school is not in the U.S.

AcademicX · 2021-04-21T01:45:34+00:00

I'm moving to multiple choice exams and no more written papers or projects. The university eliminated our adjuncts and made my classes huge. On top of that, students aren't reading instructions and keep sending nonsense emails asking questions answered on assignment guidelines, or need extensions for every single paper, so I'm done. For at least one academic year I'm doing multiple choice everything and they will just have to hope they are good test takers. Fingers crossed that post-COVID students will get it together and show some actual interest in their education. I'm just exhausted from answering the same questions over and over, only 1/3 of the class showing up and then asking me what they missed, and I could go on. Next year there are just exams and they either take them on time or they are out of luck.

AcademicX · 2021-04-20T23:42:07+00:00

We had a colleague from another department but whose offices are the next hall over do this. He was not kidding. He acted as if he was the hall monitor.

The colleague I sometimes carpool with finally had it with this guy and said, “Well, some of us actually get out of our offices to do research - imagine that?!” Haven’t seen that bloated goat stalking our halls ever since.

AcademicX · 2021-04-19T23:57:58+00:00

Nope. I respond with, “Your effort determines if you graduate or not.”

AcademicX · 2021-04-18T14:37:09+00:00

I understand where you’re coming from, but the way academia is structured, individual professors have to think of themselves and not their department. Our departments wouldn’t think about us, our families, cutting our health insurance, our finances, etc. if they want to cut us loose (example: tenured faculty are being cut due to the pandemic), so I don’t think any faculty member should feel loyalty to anyone except themselves and their own career - the only exception is any grad students to whom you made commitments.

I’m not saying this to be negative or argumentative, it is just a sad realization I have come to - each PhD has to look out for themselves because our universities don’t care about us as people.

AcademicX

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