The experiment gods are against me.

Have you ever had what should be a simple, simple experiment just NOT work.  No matter what you do, the experiment gods just seem to be against you.  And by this I don't mean, you're not getting the result you predicted (or even want) but that you're not getting ANY result.  That has been my fight of the last 2 weeks.   And right, I'm at the point where I would rather get the opposite result than I really need just so I know the damn experiment is working.

(sigh)

Its times like these, that I think its just best to put that project aside, and deal with something else for a little.  Thankfully, I have enough on my plate that there are many, many other things I can deal with, experiment with, toy with, design, while I wait for the experiment gods to decide to shine upon me.   And at least I am not at the point yet where every thing I touch crumbles in front of me.  Some things are still working, and for that I will count my blessings.

Telling the Boss

So due to the nature of some of my experiments in the lab, I felt I needed to let my PI know that I was expecting and thus wouldn't be able to fool around with some of the more nastier stuff we work with.

Keep in mind, I'm currently only 10 weeks along, not even done with the first trimester yet and hadn't initially planned on telling anyone until we passed that milestone.

Anyway, my PI (who I think I did previously refer to as pretty damn amazing) was actually excited when I told him I was pregnant.  I wasn't quite sure how it would go over (though there is another post-doc in the lab who had a baby 2 years ago so I wasn't the first in the lab to have to tell him such news), but he pleasantly surprised me.   Suddenly he was giving me all this advice (taken from his wife's experience, but of course) and telling me how the birth of his daughter was one of the best moments of his life.

(sigh)

And yes people, I count my blessings every day that I managed to find a lab that..

a) works on something I am very interested in

and

b) is run by such an awesome person.

Now, I just have to figure out how to tell him that I plan on taking 3 months off once the baby is born....  :)    But I think I'm going to wait a little for that announcement.

The best answer to an exam question

I do have to share this one, wonderful comment I got as an answer to a short answer question on the exam. It was from my favorite student, Mr. J. Mr. J has given me a barrel of trouble over the entire semester. This is his first college class ever, after 15 years out of school (facts that I only found out towards the end of the semester) and he has been full of great comments. Let's just say the guy is not my number #1 fan.

To sum up some of Mr. J's comments over the course of the semester:

"I'm supposed to be learn everything I need to know by just coming to your class. I shouldn't need to put in any other time outside of class."

(In response to my suggestion that he might want to start reading the assigned chapters and doing the suggested problems)

"I didn't know I was supposed to be a mind reader"

(In response to an exam question where he was asked to name the 5 major differences between two scientific processes, and he named just one. He thought he deserved full credit for the question.)

And finally.. the humdinger of them all. Written on his final exam. In answer to the exact same question that he previously answered wrong and responded with his "mind reader" comment. (Note- this was a very important topic, so I did use the SAME question again on the cumulative final. It was also stressed in the study guide for the final. How much more help can I give them???)

And here is Mr. J's answer to the question to name 5 major differences between subject X and Y.....

"Due to your critique of my previous answer to this question, I have chosen to completely forget anything I knew about these two subjects. Thank you for your helpful instructions."

My comment to that answer? A large red X and a big fat ZERO!  

Gotta love some of these students....

(though the last laugh is mine... cause he needed an 80 on the final to pass the class, and unfortunately even with the curve, he only managed a 71. So looks like Mr. J will be someone else's problem next semester. Should I warn them?)

Done

with Spring semester of 2009.

The final exam is graded (with a tiny curve) and all grades have been entered.  And I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.  One course done... many more to come in the future.

Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy teaching, I won't be teaching next semester.  I had a course (Baby Bio) all lined up for Fall, but I had to ask the Dean to remove me from the schedule.  You see, Mr. TempProf and I recently found out we are expecting our first child.  And I don't think I could handle an evening class, 2 nights a week, at 8 months pregnant.   (Especially when you add to that working a full-time post-doc job)

So, as I started this blog to talk about my adventures in teaching, and won't be teaching for a year, this blog will probably not be too active.  I definitely plan to bring it back though as soon as I re-enter the teaching world.  Which will happen.  Cause despite the difficulties I had this semester, I think this is what I'm meant to do.

-TempProf

The Home Stretch

I can see it.  I can hear it.  My weary body is beginning to breathe a sound of relief.

Only 2 more lectures to go and then a final exam.  I can do this. 

Lab is finished with.  They had their final the other night, and I've already graded them and tallied the lab grades.

Now just to get through the remaining 3 classes, and then I will have time to devout solely to research.   

I'm on the schedule to teach again come Fall, after a much needed summer break.  We'll see if my class fills.  Registration hasn't started yet.

Read My Mind

Do you know I expect students to read my mind?

Hm-mmm.

Or at least that was what I was informed of yesterday by a student.

He had an issue with his last exam.   I should say he had multiple issues with the exam (mainly stemming from the fact that he got a 62% on it), but I will spare you the details.  Instead I will focus on the fact that apparently I expect my students to read my mind.  Heaven forbid that the information asked about was not only in the book but was also in my lecture powerpoint and was extensively covered in class.

However, this particular student, when asked a short answer question to provide all the major differences between Topic A and Topic B, thought that providing just one difference should have been enough to get him full credit on the question.   He didn't understand why he got less than partial credit on the question and he argued and argued with me.   He kept coming back to the same statement, "I didn't know I was expected to read your mind."

How does fully and completely answering the question require any mind-reading?   I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, that it simply requires actually reading the material, paying attention in class, and studying.

But apparently that is too much to ask, and I should just give everyone full credit if they throw the words DNA, RNA or protein into their answer.

Too many e-mails?

So how many e-mails are too many from one single student?

I have one student who e-mails me (give or take) 3 times a day.  Always has a question on the readings, has questions on assignments, has questions on homework, etc, etc, etc.  I have reached the point where I  just plain don't feel like answering her back.  I ultimately do, but I've lost the need to e-mail her back ASAP.  I doubt many other professors  constantly and continually respond to their students, at all hours of the day and night, weeknights and weekends.   

Maybe that was my mistake.  By starting out with a good response time, I doomed myself.  Now she expects an answer right away, hence the constant deluge of e-mails.   

So I am weening myself off.

Well, weening from just responding.  Don't think I could ween myself off checking my e-mail.  But thats a topic for another post.

Evaluations

So yesterday I had to hand out the "professor evaluation" forms.  Or actually, my designated student handed them out and collected them, placing them in a sealed envelope, which I then deposited on the administrative assistant's desk.

Do I wonder what they say?   Yeah.

Am I nervous about what they say?  Yeah.

But thats a good thing, right?  'Cause if I didn't care at all about being a good professor or teacher, then I wouldn't care what the evaluations said, right?  Right?

I don't expect to get perfect scores, since really I am a new fledgling teacher just learning to spread her wings and fly.  There is a lot of room for improvement and the rationale side of me knows that.   But the other side of me just wants everyone to like me and think that I'm doing a good job.

Unrealistic, eh?

Especially the everyone like me bit.   Outside of the classroom everyone doesn't like me, so why would all my students like me?  Especially those that are currently failing.

 Apparently the assistant dean reads through the evaluations and will talk to me about them at my end of year review.  Will there be anything useful to help me become a better instructor in those evaluations?   My gut says no.

So has anyone ever benefited from student evaluations?

Also, and this is kinda related.... has anyone ever looked themselves up on Rate My Professor?  'Cause I have.  And I think I'm going to wait awhile before doing it again.

Dealing with job and outside stress

So my question for today is what are some ways other people have found that helps you deal with still being productive while working (bench work and teaching) while you're dealing with non-work issues.

I'll save everyone the current drama in my life except to say it deals with an extremely ill relative and an even sicker doggie family member.  For those who don't know me, I've mentioned at the very beginning of this blog that I have 2 fur "babies".   Right now, they are our children.  And one of them just got a horrible diagnosis so we have some major decisions to make regarding his care.

The reason I ask this question is because I'm sitting at work right now (post-doc work, in the lab) and I can't think about my experiments.  My notebook is open in front of me, my organisms sitting on my bench ready to be experimented on, and nothing is happening.  My brain can not function.  Honestly, I'll be amazed if this post makes sense to anyone besides me.

Add to that, last night I tried to work on my lecture for this week (genetics and inheritance) and I couldn't do a thing.  I spent all of my time googling potential treatment options (which only made me more and more depressed).

So now I have to teach a lab tonight that I haven't done any prep work for at all.  Have to lecture on thursday and just have the bare-bones of a powerpoint presentation ready to go, nothing else.

Do I just shut my brain off to everything non-work related and delve into work?  Unfortunately, I don't think I'm the sort of person who can do that.  So I guess the only option is just push through it all.  'Cause the world doesn't stop revolving just because you've been dealt a shitty hand.

I don't appreciate the tone

Is it just me, or are students a lot less respectful than they used to be?  

I don't remember ever talking back to my teachers or professors.  But it seems like every class now, I have someone coming up to me with some smart aleck remark or comment.  Is it just that I wasn't that sort of student so I didn't notice other students doing it?  Or has the attitude of students actually changed?

They seem to want As just for showing up, never mind they haven't put an ounce of effort in to the class.  They want to hand in assignments days or even weeks late, with no explanation, and expect a passing grade on it.  And if they don't get their way, they argue.   And boy oh boy, can they argue.

Maybe they should just all get degrees in debating... and leave the science alone.

 

Currently Unfunded

That's my funding status.

I finally got my review back from ACS (after they took their good old sweet time... see here).   Apparently I am a "very strong candidate" whose "mentor is a well established and highly regarded researcher in field X", however my research plan suffers from being "overly ambitious and not focused enough."

Hmmm... though both my 2 reviewers did say I should resubmit.  So I guess I have some revisions coming my way and attempts to focus the research down.   The next time I can submit is October 15th, so I have a while to deal with it.  (Technically the next time I could submit would have been April 1st, however since I only got the feedback on April 1st, that wasn't really a possibility.)

Oh, yeah, and the final overall recommendation was "Low Excellent"

What the heck does that mean?

I think I need to make a sign and post it on my door.

"Dr. Temporary Prof - Low Excellent"

Maybe I should change my blog title to that....

ps- I know this is all part of the process, so I'm really not that upset about not getting a fellowship.  Though it would have been nice...

Tired. So Tired.

I feel like I could sleep for days.... well, maybe just one. But still, the entire day.

Part of me can't wait until summer when the only thing I will have to do is research. The other part of me can't help thinking that if I'm tired now, only teaching one class, how in the world am I going to make it as a full-time faculty member? Having multiple classes to teach and hopefully a lab to run.

I love what I do, but where do you draw the line? When do you just say, enough is enough and for your own sanity lessen the load a little.

Unbelievable student requests

"Can you just scan in the missing pages & send them to me?"

That is a quote from an e-mail I received from a student this weekend.  Apparently their lab manual is missing 4 or 5 pages, so they want me to scan in the pages and e-mail it to them.

Ummm.. how about no.

I told them I was not near a scanner and wouldn't be for some time, so they might want to try to contact a fellow student in the class.  Maybe I shouldn't have even e-mailed them back.

I would NEVER have had the gall to ask a professor to do that for me.  Why does it seem that students these days just expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter?

Exam Time

So that time has rolled around again.   Time to write another exam.   I think when I was a student (eons and eons ago, just kidding!) I thought professors had it really easy.  They just had to pick some random questions, throw them on a piece of paper, and print out enough copies for the entire class.  Then when I picked up the book and instructors CD and realized there was a test bank of questions, I thought how hard can this be?   It's only now, having written one exam previously, that I realize how much work it takes. 

I also think its a lot easier to take an exam than it is to write an exam.  I would much rather spend my time studying a subject, take an hour+ exam and be done, then spend hours upon hours of trying to come up with questions to test the knowledge of the students.  Questions that are interesting and challenging, but not too challenging.  Questions that make sense to people besides me, the writer.  Questions that at least some portion of the class will be able to successfully answer!

Writing a good exam is an art.  And I am not even close to perfecting that art form yet.

Bad Lab Instructor

I got tattled on this AM.

Apparently one of my lab tables didn't completely empty every single drop of water out of their beakers last night after cleaning them.  So the lab this morning had to dry them out.

How do I know this?  I got an e-mail from the "head" lab person this AM requesting that I more properly ensure my students clean up after themselves.

Being in the great mood I'm in.... I sent a very lovely e-mail back apologizing, saying it wouldn't happen again, and if we were informing of equipment not properly maintained, here were my complaints.... And then I proceeded to list the unfortunate things I've had to deal with this semester, but which I just initially shrugged off as an accident.

Spiteful today?  Not in the least.....

The Annoying Ones

I have one student (who in a previous post I've named Sam so we're just going to keep on with that) who absolutely drives me nuts.   

He just knows how to push every single one of my buttons and whenever he talks to me, I find the need to constantly  remind myself to remain calm, and that nothing good will come of strangling him.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that would get me fired.

Last week in addition to the lobster boy question, he came up to me after class and started the conversation with "I have a pet peeve with tonight's class."

Here is our conversation in as much detail as I can remember: 

(S = Sam the student, Temp = me)

S: I have a pet peeve with tonight's class.

Temp: Oh?  And what would that be Sam?

S: You never called on me when I had my hand raised to ask a question.

Temp: Hmm, I think I called on you and you asked quite a few questions tonight Sam.

(thinking to self, will you just shut up and go home!  For goodness sake 

its 10:30pm and I want to go home!!!!)

S: I had my hand raised a ton of times and you called on other people.

Temp:  Well, I apologize if I missed seeing your hand raised, I never intentionally avoid calling on you.  

(thinking- even if sometimes I want to avoid your hand, I never do!)

S:  You should call on me when my hand is raised.

Temp:  Unfortunately Sam, you are not the only student in the class who has questions, and if someone else's hand is raised, I might call on them before returning to call on you.  You did ask a number of questions tonight, and sometimes other students need the opportunity to ask questions too.   Now, was there any specific question you wanted to ask me?

(thinking- You egotistical person, I -must- call on you?  No, don't think so.)

S:  No, they all got answered.

Temp:  You mean, other people asked your question so you know the answer?

S:  Yes.

Temp:  So what is the problem?

(thinking- why the hell are you wasting my time, I'm tired and want to go home!)

S:  You still need to call on me whenever my hand is raised.

Temp:  (sigh)  See you next week Sam.

(thinking- can you just drop my class Mr. Annoying?)

And, just to hit home the type of student this individual is these are some other incidents that all happened in the same class period last week!

- He left class in the middle to go to the restroom (i'm assuming) which the whole class knows its okay to do.  However, when he returned I was halfway down the white board from where I was when he left.  He returned to his seat, and then 5 minutes later raised his hand to ask me a question about the notes that were written WHILE HE WAS OUT OF THE ROOM!   I would have had no problem with him coming up after class to ask me a question about something he missed while he was out... but to take up time in the middle of class?   This guy just thinks its all about him.

- He interrogated me about why I decided to let them work on what is normally their quiz as a group and made it into an in-class assignment.  Once in between every exam, I take what would normally be their quiz and let them work on it together, using their books and notes.   It basically guarantees them a full 10 points on it and they seem to learn that material too, so why not?  However, dear 'ol Sam, took it as a result of how badly he thought they all did on the last exam and said to me, "So, you know now that the exam was too hard so you're giving us extra points to make up for it."   Umm--- an fyi Sam--- the average on the exam was a C and just because you got a D, doesn't mean most people thought the exam was too hard.   And if you remember Sammy boy, I did the same thing one time before the last exam.  Nothing new here.

-----------

So dear readers, how do you deal with those students that just grate your nerves?  Please share with me the methods you have used, because I think I'm in danger of losing my cool with him.

"Is that the same thing as a lobster boy?"

That is an actual quote from my class last week.   

The context?  We were talking about apoptosis (aka- programmed cell death) and how it is an  essential part of normal development.  The example I provided was how a developing chicken foot undergoes extensive apoptosis whilst a duck's does not, hence the remnant of webbing in the duck's foot and not in the chickens.

So my favorite student (that was sarcasm there... this individual is actually the one who drives me nuts and can push every single one of my buttons - story on that to come tomorrow) raises his hand, and that was the question he asked.

"Is that the same thing as a lobster boy?"

I had no idea how to respond and I'm sure my face showed that.   I hadn't the foggiest idea what he was referring to.   So I ask him if he can explain what he means and he goes on to say, 

"You know, the people in carnival freak shows that have lobster claws for hands."

Looking back on it now, I guess I can see where he is coming from, and how the question related to the topic at hand.  But at the time I was just so perplexed all I could respond with was...

"Sam*, I don't know anything about any lobster boys."

*= real name has been removed for sake of privacy.  Not that I seriously believe "Sam" actually reads my bog, but one never knows.

Updates

The quiz cheater was not in lab this week.   

This morning upon checking my roster, I find the student has withdrawn from the class.  Am I bothered by this?  Not at all.   This was the same student who, after receiving a 61 on the first exam, asked me if I could just drop the exam.  Not very likely I informed them in response.

I guess they decided to just take a "W" on their transcript rather than get the grade that would be coming to them.

Now come lecture time this week I need to inform the students of their grades in the class up to this point and let them know that March 26th is the last day they can withdraw from the class without having to provide any reason.  Do I think any of them will do this?   Yeah, unfortunately I do.   The couple of students that haven't attended really any lectures... they'll probably withdraw.  The student who didn't even show up for the first exam (15% of the final grade) and still thinks they can pass...they'll probably withdraw.

Oh well.....  thats the way it goes, right?  If they don't think they'll get a B, some will just drop.  Or am I incorrect in that assumption?

And, I have to keep reminding myself to not take it personally.  Why is that so hard?  All I want to do is teach them.  Get them to learn something in the science department.

OCD. Me? Never.

So I'm waiting to hear about my ACS fellowship.  

According to the 40+ page instruction booklet, they send out an e-mail with your application status in early to mid-March.  And even though they explicitly state that they will send out an e-mail before updating the reviewers comments on the proposalCENTRAL website, I am constantly logging onto the site to see if my comments are there.  And I mean constantly.  Last night I checked at 8:30pm, again at 8:50, once more at 9:40, and then one final time at 10:10 before turning my computer off for the night.

I hate to bother the good 'ol people at ACS (especially if they deem me worthy enough of some funding) but its AFTER BOTH EARLY AND MID-MARCH!  

Last time I checked March had 31 days, which would make the middle of March occur half way through the day on March 15th.  

Today is March 18th.  That would be 3 days after March 15th.

Don't provide me with date information like that and not keep your end of the bargain.  I mean, c'mon!  Your application was due on October 15th, and I didn't try and hand mine in on October 16th!  It was there, in your hands, by the 15th.  Like stated.  So cut me some slack and send me an e-mail.

I don't know why I'm OCDing about this as I'm fully prepared for another rejection letter.  What I really want is the comments they give you.  If I could just see what they thought was wrong with my proposal, maybe I could make some changes and resubmit.  After all, ACS lets you resubmit up to 2 times, I believe.   

Will I resubmit before the next deadline?  Perhaps.  'Cause I kinda want a fellowship.  Y'know?

Not a 100%

I feel like I am not giving a 100%.

Not a 100% that I could give to my research.

Not a 100% that I could give to teaching.

Not a 100% that I could give to my husband.

Not a 100% that I could give to my dogs.

I am capable of so much more.   But there are only so many hours in a day.  And after awhile, to be honest, my brain just shuts down.

Spring Break is over

I teach again tomorrow.  

Which is okay.   Though I must admit, I did rather enjoy the last week of not having to rush and get everything done.  Of actually being able to sit and eat dinner with my husband.  Having the time to take the doggies for walks in the evening.  All this instead of running straight from lab to the college, holding office hours and then heading to class for 3 hours.

Did I accomplish all I wanted to?

Well, lets see....

- got all assignments graded and recorded CHECK

- got 2 powerpoint presentations assembled CHECK

- am half-way through lecture notes for 1st lecture CHECK

and I forget what else was on my list....

Oh well, I'm content with it.  And thats all that matters.

And starting tomorrow I'll have more entertaining student stories to share.  Thats always a bonus.

Information Found

So I searched through my many pages of "adjunct info" and finally came across the section on academic dishonesty.  Such a polite way to refer to CHEATING, isn't it?  Guess everything needs to be PC now-a-days.  (For those who care, I'm copying the exact terminology the college uses at the end of this post.)

Of course, I was right in my belief that both the situations referred to in the previous post are considered examples of academic dishonesty by the college.   Thanks for all your inputs on the 2 situations and here is how I, the naive and newly minted adjunct faculty, handled the situtations.

First Event:  The identical homework.

I pulled both the offending students aside the next class and returned their homework assignments to them with a grade of a zero.  I informed them that while working together on the assignment was acceptable, it was completely unacceptable to turn in the exact same work under their own name.  That was plagiarism.  I said I would be carefully checking all their future assignments and better not come across another such "similarity" otherwise I would be reporting both of them to the Deans.  And added, they should consider themselves lucky that they were just getting a 0 this time and not being reported.

Second Event:  The quiz cheater.

Since I saw this student cheating on their quiz, I felt I couldn't wait to confront them and actually pulled them aside as they were leaving class that evening.  I stated that I watched them take answers from their neighbor's quiz, and that the two quizzes were identical in their responses (including many blatantly wrong answers).  Initially the student denied it.  Said they were just "thinking" even though it might have appeared they were looking at their neighbor's paper.   I didn't buy it.   Told them that they would be getting a 0 for the quiz, and in the future I wanted them to sit in an isolated part of the room whenever there was a quiz or an exam.   And again, I stated that if I noticed anything fishy in the future, I would be reported them to the college.

My knees were knocking dealing with both situations.  Please tell me I'll get better at dealing with these sort of confrontations?   

4.5 ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

When College officials award credit, degrees and certificates, they must assume the absolute integrity of the

work done by the student; therefore, it is important that students maintain the highest standard of honor in their

scholastic work.

Academic dishonesty shall not be condoned. When such misconduct is established as having occurred, it

subjects the student to possible disciplinary actions ranging from admonition to dismissal, along with any grade

penalty the instructor might, in appropriate cases, impose. Procedural safeguards of due process and appeal

are available to the student in disciplinary matters.

Academic dishonesty, as a general rule, involves one of the following acts:

a. Cheating on an examination or quiz, including the giving, receiving or soliciting of information and the

unauthorized use of notes or other materials during the examination or quiz.

b. Buying, selling, stealing or soliciting any material purported to be the unreleased contents of a forthcoming

examination, or the use of such material.

c. Substituting for another person during an examination or allowing such substitution for one's self.

d. Plagiarizing. This is the act of appropriating passages from the work of another individual, either word for

word or in substance, and representing them as one's own work. This includes any submission of written

work other than one's own.

e. Colluding with another person in the preparation or editing of assignments submitted for credit, unless such

collaboration has been approved in advance by the instructor.

f. Knowingly furnishing false information to the College; forgery and alteration or use of College documents or

instruments of identification with the intent to defraud.

The worst experience

So I'm going to throw what currently tops as my worst ever experience out there for the whole world to read about.  Maybe that will help me get over my utter embarrassment at the issue.

Rewind to Friday.  

Yes, Friday, March 13th.  

I am walking across campus to meet a friend for lunch at an off-campus restaurant.  My stomach is grumbling a little.   I chalk it up to hunger, since I didn't feel like breakfast earlier in the morning.  I continue walking.  Get off campus.  Cross the street and am about to hit the "busy" part of Anytown.  When suddenly I don't feel so good.  I stop on the sidewalk and try to calm my innards.   But suddenly I realize it is not working.  And before I know it, I've lost my cookies (to put it nicely) all over the sidewalk.

I am thoroughly embarrassed and try to hide as far away from the sidewalk in a little grassy knoll while my stomach continues to revolt.

After awhile, I feel okay enough to try and walk back to lab.   But our campus is a pretty big one, and my building is at the complete opposite end from where I currently am.   Let's just say it was a long walk back.  Trying to hide the fact that I feel like utter shit from everyone I pass and barely holding it together.

Get back to lab, call Mr. TemporaryProf, who graciously agrees to leave work and come and pick me up.  No way I was going to take public transportation home.

Damn coworkers who come to work even though they feel nauseous and are hacking up a lung.  I'm all for showing how strong and productive you are.  But c'mon people... if you're sick, stay home!!!!!!   And to the one coworker who never washes their hands after using the restroom, you are a scientist!  Don't you know the benefits of being sanitary!?!?!?!?

Thankfully, it was only a 24 hour bug and after spending almost 24 hours in bed today, I am feeling almost human again.

Rejected

Thats how I feel today.

Got my first fellowship rejection e-mail today.  Apparently LSRF doesn't want to fund my outstanding research.  Oh, well.  Their loss. 

I don't know if I feel better knowing that they got 800+ applications and only funded 2%.    That would be 16 awards, for the mathematically challenged.

However, I know this is part of the process and something I'm going to have to get used to.

My fingers are just crossed that someone out there will throw a little $$$$ my way.

Joining the cheating bandwagon

I have just recently had to deal with my first 2 examples of cheating.  

And I don't think I dealt with either of them very well.  

I think mainly because I was not 100% sure what the college's policy was, and I have this fear in the back of my head of some student suing me for damaging their reputation.  May sound silly, but there was a graduate student a couple of years senior to me in graduate school who got sued by a student and their parents, for defamation of character and for some reason this story stays in my mind.

Defamation of character = allegation that the defendant told untruths about the plaintiff, thereby causing the plaintiff to suffer harm.

http://www.attorneys-usa.com/intentional/defamation.html

The first event-  I initially pondered whether this was actual cheating or not, but after talking to many of my coworkers determined that it was a form of cheating.  There was an individual homework assignment in the laboratory class, and the class was told they were allowed to talk about it with their fellow students.   I don't think I explicitly said that the write-up had to be done  by each person individually, but they all knew they were each to hand in a write-up.

Fast forward to the due date.  I am checking off who has handed me in an assignment and notice that two of the students handed in papers that on first glance look identical (with the exception of the name changed).  After class, I look at these two papers in more detail and realize they are exactly the same.  Every word.  Every spacing.  Every spelling mistake.  What is the probability that would occur?  Probably slim to none. (No statistics here as that is one of the things I am the  worst at!  Along with dilutions.. don't ask....)

So what should I have done?  Do you consider this cheating?  It is turning in the same work under the name of two different people.  Presenting that work as your own.... while the other person is presenting the same thing as theirs.

The second event-  The class was taking a quiz and I was at the front just scanning the room.  I noticed one student initially appearing to stare off into space.  When my eyes returned to them, they were staring more in the direction of their neighbor.  Whenever the neighbor wrote something, the potential cheater also wrote something down on their paper.  A couple of seconds after the neighbor rose to hand in the quiz, the potential cheater rose to.  A quick glance at both of their quizzes showed the exact same answers on both quizzes (a number of which were incorrect and completely off topic).

I debated talking to the potential cheater right then or waiting.   Did I have definite proof that he cheated?  Probably not.  Could he say he was just thinking while staring off into space?  Probably.  

So I'm going to wait to post what I did in both cases until I hear back from some of you.  So stay tuned.

I don't get it....

So I gave my lab students an option last week.  I had been hearing grumblings about how unreasonable I am with not accepting late assignments.  So I decided to be the nice guy (for once.. no really, I think I'm overly nice and accommodating, my husband says I'm a softy when it comes to my students) and announced in lab that I would accept one late assignment from them all.  

However, there were two stipulations: 

1) it had to be e-mailed to me by midnight Sunday, March 8th (5 days after announcing this)

2) the grade would be based out of 80% rather than a 100%.   For most of them, this would mean  potentially getting an 80 on an assignment they previously had a 0 on.

The students were all very enthused and profusely thanked me.

Fast forward to Monday, March 9th.  I check my e-mail.  And have 1 assignment in there.  From a student who has gotten perfect scores on every assignment, yet had to miss one class due to a death in the family, and thus needed to make up a homework.

1.  In case you missed that, here it is again.  1.

Out of 31 students.  Each of which had at least one assignment missing and would have to take a 0 for that grade unless they used this opportunity to make it up.

I think I was in disbelief.  Do students these days really not care?  Or is it just this bunch?  I have to believe there are better students out there, otherwise I just don't think I can continue on the academic track.  Am I just setting myself up for only dealing with a lower quality student by adjuncting at a community college?   (That sounds so egotistical and I apologize.)  And if so, does that mean my experience of adjuncting there is not really serving the purpose I intended it to, to give me a realistic view of what its like to teach.

ps- I also got another e-mail this morning from a student complete with their make-up assignment.  (sigh)  What part of "by midnight on Sunday, March 8th" did they not understand?

Productive morning....

I never knew how productive my commute could be.  Nothing like grading quizzes while on public transportation.  Multi-tasking.  I have a feeling I'm going to be getting better and better at this.

How did I end up here?

In one of the previous posts I was asked about how I got my adjunct position.  So here comes a story everyone.  Advance notice for those who only come over here for the rantings and ramblings about students!  Please return in the future for your regularly scheduled program.

As I mentioned previously, I started my post-doc the beginning of 2008 (just passed my year anniversary and now the countdown has begun... just kidding!).   Knowing I also wanted some teaching experience, in the beginning of summer of 2008, I started to think about what some of my options might be.  

My "site-of-research" offers the opportunity to teach biology courses to the non-science staff in order to provide those staff members with a little science background.  However, these classes are normally team taught, say 3-4 post-docs per course, and usually passed down from post-doc to post-doc.  What I mean by that is, if you know a person currently teaching it and express interest, you are more likely to teach the course then if you randomly contact the group that organizes these classes.  Or at least that's how it seemed to occur to me.... Anyway, I wanted a course that was more my own to get a more realistic experience.  My own design, own syllabus, etc.

The other option I came up with was contacting the biology departments of  nearby colleges and universities to see if they might need an occasional lecturer.  My initial (naive) idea was that perhaps I could serve as a "fill-in" lecturer.  For instance, if a faculty member knew they were going to be away for a meeting and needed someone to give a lecture or two.

The first, and turns out only, place I e-mailed was my local community college.  Fortunately, there are a number of community college campuses in my area, so I picked the one closest to my home and perused their website.  Looking through their list of faculty, I hand picked one person to e-mail and ask about the possibility of lecturing or adjucting.  

I will say, I was specific about whom I e-mailed.  I didn't want to waste the time of the Dean of the department just asking a question about potentially adjuncting, so instead I e-mailed the Assistant Dean.  Turns out I picked the right person.   The person who is "responsible for seeking out and hiring qualified adjunct faculty" (their words, not mine).

I was asked to complete a state application on-line, and send/e-mail him (the Assistant Dean) a copy of my transcripts from graduate and undergraduate, in addition to my resume/CV.  I made sure I did that as soon as possible (within 2 days of hearing from him) and 4 days, he e-mailed me back inviting me to campus a week later for an informal interview.  (I realize now, looking back, that they never asked for any letters of recommendation.  Not sure if that is normal or not.)

My informal interview was very very informal.  It was just me and the assistant dean, and we chatted about what I thought I ultimately wanted to do, what I would feel comfortable teaching (ie- bio101 or bio102 or an anatomy class), and what days & times I would be available.  He also mentioned that the textbook they currently use includes an instructor's CD with powerpoint presentations for each chapter, all the images and figures in jpeg or tif format, and a text bank of exam questions.   He stated that many of the adjunct faculty take the book's powerpoint presentation as a starting point and modify it to meet their own requirements/standards.  And then he added that he himself has been known (in a pinch) to just use the provide powerpoint, supplemented by his own notes on the white board.

I left my informal interview carrying the book used for Bio101, the study guide, the lab manual, the teaching CDs, an assigned Fall class (2 evenings a week), and state hiring paperwork to fill out.

 

Yup, I was now officially an adjunct faculty.  

Though I admit, it didn't really hit me as being true until a week or so later when upon checking the course listings for Fall I saw my name listed next to the 2 sessions!  Never would I have imagined it would happen that quick.  Or in a way, that easily.  I thought I was just testing the waters... seeing what was out there for some future date....and then the "oh shit" hit me.  What have I gotten myself into?  Can I do both my research and teach?  Can I teach?  All these questions will come up again, multiple times, and I don't know if I have an answer to them even now.

So that is the story of how I became an adjunct faculty.  Sorry for the length!

For those who might be interested, here is a copy of the initial e-mail I sent with all my personal information deleted and substituted with general information in italics:

"My name is Temporary Professor, and I am a post-doctoral fellow at Site-of-Research in the lab of Dr. Amazing Advisor.  I found your name and e-mail on the Comm. College website and was wondering if you might be able to point me in the direction of whom I could contact to see if your department needs any adjunct teaching help in the future semesters.  I am really interested in getting some additional teaching experience (besides TAing and the occasional fill-in lecture experience I had as a graduate student at Priv. Univ.) and that is not readily available to me at Site-of-Research.  I live in the ____ area and thought that perhaps Comm. College might be a good opportunity to gain some of that experience.

Thank you very much for any help you can give me.

- Temp. Prof"

Decisions about grading

(again, thanks for all the advice received, and please don't hate me if I didn't take your suggestion!)

Okay, so after returning my first ever exam, in which the average grade was just average (a low C for those wondering), this is what I decided to do.

I returned the exam to them and let them correct their answers.

I know, I generated a heck of a lot more work for myself, but I just felt by them going back over their exams, using their books and notes to identify the correct response, that they might actually semi-learn some of the material they initially answered wrong.

These were my stipulations:

- corrections had to be typed (no way I was wasting more time trying to read illegible chicken scrawl)

- for each corrected answer- they had to give a reason WHY that answer was the correct one.

So, for example, for the handful of true/false questions on the exam, if the statement was actually false, they had to say why it was false and rewrite the question to make it true.  If the right answer was actually true, again they had to give a reason why that was true.  They just couldn't simply change their answer from true and false and get credit for it.

What sort of "credit" did I give them?   Partial credit for each answer corrected.  It worked out to be ~1/4 of a point for each correction.  So the person who scored the highest, this would only knock him/her up 5 pts.  Meanwhile, the person who scored a lowest (the 20) would still get an F, though albeit a higher F.   (Not sure if that made him/her feel any better.. but it turns out it was a moot point, because that person did not turn in a regrade.)

As for curving - I decided to hold off to the end of the course.  So I'm going to put up with the incessant whining about the grades, and then make some adjustment at the end.  What exactly that adjustment will be is still up for grabs.   

Though I definitely say that I have no problems failing someone who hasn't put forth any sort of effort towards the class at all.  

Does that make me mean? 

Wow....

I take a week off from my newly started blog (due to having to present lab meeting and scrambling to get some actual data to present) and come back to actual comments!  People have actually found me and are passing along some great advice.  So to all of you who responded to my "curving" post and any of the other posts, thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now I just have to figure out how to get my huge list of experiments done .... and prepare my next lectures.

All I can say, is thank god for Spring Break.   Never would I have thought I'd enjoy Spring Break just for the fact of having 2 extra nights free this week, and not traveling to Cancun or Miami!  :)   (and no, sadly, I never went to either of those places during college for a Spring Break.. though I did hit up Hilton Head one year!   I'm such a rebel)

So during my week "break" from actual teaching, I have huge goals for myself.   And I'm going to write them out here, so the world can see them.  And then hopefully I'll be more likely to accomplish them:

- grade the resubmitted exams (will explain in next post)

- grade most recent quizzes

- grade most recent lab report

- prepare mini-lecture for next lab class

- prepare next 2 seminar lectures

Yup, you read that right.  Two.   Dos.  Zwei.  Dwa.

I don't set low goals for myself, now do I?

The after shocks

of returning an exam started a mere hour after class let out.

The first e-mail rolled into my account.   It began in a great way, an attempt to compliment me on being a good teacher.  However, the compliment failed as the student misspelled my name in the greeting.  And addressed me as "Mr."   Last time I checked, I was very obviously female.  Not even Prof. or Dr.  but Mr.?!?!?!? 

Moving past that little (what the heck) BIG faux pas, the student then proceeded to ask me to drop the lowest "quiz" grade.  I believe he actually meant exam in his statement.... since this was directly after he received the score of his not-so-great exam.  However, due to the massive amount of grammatical errors and misspelled words, I am a tad unsure to the true meaning of his e-mail.  I responded very politely (although I had to resist the urge to write back to Ms. Student) and informed him that if he reviewed his syllabus he would recall that the lowest quiz grade is in fact dropped, however all exams will count towards the final grade.

I don't think that was the answer he wanted.

To Curve or Not to Curve

That is the question tonight.

And if so, what is the best way to "curve" a course?

So any helpful suggestions from out there in the vast (more experienced) internet teaching world would be most appreciated.

My gut right now is telling me to wait till the end to curve.  Not to curve each individual exam.  Curving now might give students false hope that they are doing well.  But curving in the end means they don't know what grade they are going to get.  Though I don't suppose anyone could complain about getting a better grade than expected.   

But then again, these student constantly surprise me, so I shouldn't cross that possibility off the list.

On a related grading note- why do students think it is acceptable to hand in an assignment weeks after it is due and then get disgruntled with me for not accepting it.  Assignments are due the DAY that you are told or that is written in your syllabus.  What part of "assignments will not be accepted late" do you not understand?

Why...

does the copier always jam or break down when you have 10 minutes till class time, need to finish copying enough quizzes for the entire class....and still need to wolf down the crackers that are serving as your dinner?

(sigh)

It's going to be one of those nights.

Understanding Advisor

Do I have an understanding post-doc advisor?    There is only one response to that... hells yea.

When I first thought about adjunct-ing in addition to post-doc-ing, I knew it would be a lot of work, and I'd have a lot on my plate.  But I went in to talk to Awesome Advisor (maybe I should just call him Dr. AA from here on out) and his response to me was....

"If you are thinking of that for your long-term career, then you should definitely jump at the opportunity if it comes your way.  The only thing I would request is that when you are here in the lab, you are doing your research.  And all the prep for your class is done on your time."

Now I think that was a very valid request on his part, and in no way was I ever planning on spending my time in the lab working on lecture prep.  So of course I agreed immediately.  Then when I got offered the adjunct spot, he was just as excited for me as I was.  And he now waits in baited breath as does the rest of my lab (maybe not, but I can pretend they all do), to hear the "stories" of my latest class.

The one unfortunate thing I have to admit... and please don't tell Dr. AA... is that I have worked on my lecture during time I was in the lab.   Sometimes there just isn't enough time in the evenings to prepare entire lectures.  Good lectures.  Lectures that will be informative and entertaining.  And to grade quizzes.  Write new quizzes.   Prep the laboratory experiments we will be doing that week.  Write lab quizzes.  Grade lab quizzes.  Grade lab reports.  Prepare lab lectures.

So I cheat.   

During 5 minute incubations.... I grade another quiz.  During 10 minute spins... I fix a lecture slide or answer my adjunct e-mail.

So please...please... don't tell on me.

Are they learning?

This is the question that is running through my head tonight.

I just finished grading my classes first exam of the semester.  And to be honest, it is the first exam I have ever written completely ON MY OWN.  And let's just say, the grades are not too stellar.

The highest grades were a pair of 85s.   The lowest?  A 20.   Yes, you read that right.  A 20.   

Now some of my thoughts:

- there was not a single question that everyone in the class got wrong.  If that was the case, I would have deemed it either a) a really badly phrased question or b) a topic that I did not teach well, and promptly discarded that question.

- I admit that I took some questions from the text bank provided with the book.  I looked through all the provided test questions, and found a couple that I thought were good.  So I used those.  Turns out the students did worse on the "book" questions than on questions I personally made up.  So either my questions are WAY too easy or  the book's questions are way too hard.

- The student that scored a 20 has only attended one class of the 7 we have had so far (our class meets once a week for 3 hours each session).  This particular individual has also never contacted me via e-mail or during my office hours to ask for help.  Does that mean I think the 20 is warranted?  Not sure.

- I posted a study guide for the exam on the classes website.  On the website, I can track how many people, and importantly which people, downloaded the study guide.  Of my class of 32 students, only 8 students downloaded the study guide.  Now, I know that that does not imply the rest did not get the study guide from one of the 8 that actually downloaded it, but I find it a tad unlikely that ALL remaining 24 students got a copy of the study guide from a classmate.

- The 2 students that scored the 85s did not download the study guide.

So now the questions in my head are:

1) Do I let them correct their exam and offer them some points for the correction?  Say 1/4 point for each correction?

2) Do I change my style of teaching?

or

3) Do I just hang up the "professor"hood and pick a new profession?

(Note- 3 is probably the least likely)

More necessary background

I'll tell you a secret.

I'm still thinking about academia as my career goal.

Well, its not exactly a secret.  Most people who know me, already know that I haven't yet veered off the traditional academic career pathway.   From graduate school I looked for post-doctoral positions and was offered one in the lab of my choice under an amazing PI (PI = principle investigator, aka- lab head or boss).

Don't get me wrong though.  I have attended more than my fair share of "alternative career" seminars*.  Listened to consultants talking about consulting, patent lawyers talk about lawyering, and science policy fellows rave on and on about their work on "the Hill".   

I have considered all of those as potential career options and haven't crossed them off my list (in addition to others, including starting my own business in organizational techniques- yes, I am an anal organizer).  But in the end, the idea of educating and performing research always comes back.

That is why I have thrown my hat into the realm of adjunct professor.  I decided in order to make an informed career decision, I needed to know whether I enjoyed teaching.  I had taught during graduate school, but only as a TA (TA = teaching assistant).   There I had the experience of teaching a short laboratory introduction lecture and grading exams that someone else had written.  But I never planned an entire course, developed a syllabus, given an hour+ long lecture, or written exams.  So if I stayed on the academic pathway, would I actually enjoy being a professor and teaching?   

So in addition to beginning a post-doc position (started early in 2008), I sought out opportunities to teach.  I was amazed at how quickly I found an adjunct position (that story will be told in another entry) and soon I was set up to teach a Baby Bio lecture and its associated lab.

And let me just say, being the professor is very different from being just one of the TAs.

* I'll state it up-front that I do not like the phrase "alternative career".  It makes it seem like there is something wrong with getting a Ph.D. and then choosing to do something other than becoming an academic.  And I do NOT believe that is the case.  

The First Post

I have been debating whether to start a "professional" blog for awhile.  And finally today (during a spurt of procrastination) succumbed to the desire.  I am not sure how witty or entertaining the general public will find my stories, but its worth a shot.  And we will see how this blog develops over time.  Together.

To start off, I need to tell you a little about myself, without giving away completely who I am.  Why the shroud of secrecy?  No real reason... besides the fact if any of my students were ever to see this site, there might be some issues.  So for now, I will be Temporary Prof.    Or, Dr. Temporary Prof to be more accurate and reflective of the 7 years it took me to get through graduate school (and that hard earned title of "Doctor of Philosophy").

Now my background in as little words as possible:

1st) Oldest child (out of 2) born to two non-scientist parents

2nd) Undergraduate at a private university where I got my first introduction to research by performing a summer student internship that turned into a part-time student internship during the remainder of college.

3rd) Graduate student in biological sciences at a prestigious private university.  (Why did I feel the need to add prestigious there?  I guess for my own ego boost)

4th) Thesis lab was thankfully very well funded, so I had (what I now realize to be) a non-average graduate career where money was not a limiting factor and there was no trouble with doing the  $$$ experiments.

5th) Currently employed full time job as a post-doctoral fellow at a site of major research.

6th) Also, currently employed as an adjunct faculty member at a local community college, where I teaching an introductory biology course (hence forward referred to as Baby Bio or Bio101) and its corresponding laboratory.

7th)  Oh, yeah..... and I'm female.   Married to a non-scientist and mom to two fur-babies, that would be of the canine type.

So I think thats good enough for now.   And either later today or tomorrow.... the stories of my first year teaching will start.

Enjoy.