Tag Archives: students

Building bridges among lab groups

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Joan E. Strassmann

Some of the comments on lab group separation, mostly on Twitter or Facebook, not here, hoped for an explanation of the reasons for separation, or thoughts on the fixes for this. Here’s an effort in that direction. We might think … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaborating, Collaboration, Department politics, Managing an academic career | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Make sure your prospective Ph.D. adviser is taking students!!!

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Joan E. Strassmann

Grad school applications are very different from applying to college. It is nearly always the case that in ecology and evolution, you only get admitted if there is an adviser who will take you. This is true even if there … Continue reading →

Posted in Graduate school | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Thoughts on easy and hard test questions for undergraduate students.

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Joan E. Strassmann

No this is not going to be a post on Bloom’s taxonomy of questions memorized or conceptual, useful as that is. Here I’m talking about the kinds of material students struggle with. If ever there was a clear book surely … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching, Undergraduates | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Communication up is better than communication down

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Joan E. Strassmann

A research lab group is a complex mix of partly independent individuals of varying research levels attempting to do something new. There is usually a power and information inequity because the laboratory leader controls much of the funding, has more … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaborating, Experimental design, Group leadership | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What not to do on your first day of class

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Joan E. Strassmann

Are you about to teach your first class of the semester? Is your syllabus ready? Have you picked just the right texts, balancing content with cost? Are you a few PowerPoints ahead? Have you thought about how this semester you … Continue reading →

Posted in The joy of teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments