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1500 questions
228
votes
21 answers
Failing students when it might cause them economic ruin
The issue has crept up on me slowly over the last several years. I am increasingly aware of the massive debt that many of my students are taking on, debt which is far beyond the sort of debt that I incurred as an undergraduate in the 1980s. Because…
John Coleman
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224
votes
13 answers
Female students coming to office hours in overly revealing clothing
[because this is potentially relevant, I'm a 37 y/o male]
Being the end of the semester, I've had a bunch of students come to my office hours to ask questions about things I'm responsible for. Among them, there have been a small number of female…
Koldito
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220
votes
13 answers
How to avoid being falsely accused of harassment by a student?
I am a junior faculty member and as part of my work I have to supervise students. I am required by the University to have one-on-one meetings with them every week to check their progress and give feedback. I usually have these meetings in my office…
electrique
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218
votes
11 answers
Have I embarassed my supervisors by solving a problem that a PhD student in my group was working on without success?
I'm a bachelor student in mathematics writing my thesis at a small university in the US. A PhD student that has the same supervisor has spent a very significant amount of time working exclusively on a theorem which he hasn't been able to prove, so…
horsestaplebattery
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217
votes
5 answers
University rank/stature - How much does it affect one's career post-Ph.D?
What I'm trying to understand is, to what degree does the status/rank of the University (where one completes his/her Ph.D) matter while shaping his/her career after graduation? I would like to know the weight given to one's school in both the…
TCSGrad
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216
votes
9 answers
Professor creates assignment making students advocate for a bill being presented to Congress. Is this legal?
I attend a public university in Kentucky (USA). My professor has assigned an advocacy assignment that requires students to write three letters of support for a certain House bill that will soon be voted on (H.R. 592 / S. 109).
The professor has…
kbc
- 1,363
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- 8
214
votes
9 answers
How can I recover professionally from being a crank?
Three years ago I got kicked out of graduate school in physics. I was suffering from mental illness, which led me to believe I made a huge discovery in physics. But my advisor kept saying that what I was doing is nonsense and that I should focus on…
user128572
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213
votes
14 answers
Writing a recommendation letter for a student I reported for academic dishonesty
A few years ago, I reported a student for academic dishonesty (in a graduate-level mathematics course, they were copying solutions off the internet, nearly verbatim). After acknowledging their wrong-doing with the Academic Integrity office on…
Anonymous_professor
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212
votes
22 answers
What to do when your student is convinced that he will be the next Einstein?
As an adviser, I have found it to be a detrimental motive for a student to focus solely on surpassing Einstein in achievement, for many reasons. One student in particular has busied himself with the deconstruction of relativity and strives to break…
Advisor6
- 1,767
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199
votes
4 answers
Rediscovery of calculus in 1994: what should have happened to that paper?
There's a well-known paper in academic circles that features a rediscovery of the trapezoidal rule for numerical integration by a medical researcher:
“A Mathematical Model for the Determination of Total Area Under Glucose Tolerance and Other…
F'x
- 73,069
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198
votes
11 answers
Postdoc overwhelmed by incomplete work
I take on more than I can handle and everything is left incomplete. Constant reminders from my previous supervisor, my current advisor, and colleagues, increases my anxiety level and sometimes I end up entirely avoiding work. I haven’t completed a…
SpatialP
- 1,281
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196
votes
13 answers
Can I add a baby as a co-author of a scientific paper, to protest against co-authors who haven't made any contribution?
Can I put the name of my baby as one of the co-authors of a scientific paper?
I know it sounds disturbing, but it's a way of mine to protest against co-authors that haven't made any contribution (they haven't even read it or are part of the research…
teter
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195
votes
9 answers
Why would an academic write a textbook for free?
Recently, I became aware of a Java programming textbook
Introduction to Programming Using Java, Seventh Edition
which is to my surprise, free as in:
The most recent version of this book is always available, at no charge, for downloading and for…
I Like to Code
- 19,300
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193
votes
15 answers
How to stop hopping the learning chain and actually begin somewhere?
Here is what I feel whenever I find something interesting and feel like pursuing it :
Oh so I like X (Computer Graphics), let me read up papers/books about it.
Ok let me begin with reading up Y (OpenGL)
But Y needs W (Linear Algebra)
Well reading…
Amit Tomar
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193
votes
15 answers
How to deal with an advisor who wants a "friendlier" relationship with me than I do?
I work as an assistant at a university in Australia. I joined the team consisting of my current advisor and his two PhD students. The other group members are men and they have a co-worker-like relationship with him. At first it was good, my advisor…
justme
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