It may seem odd to reconnect to this blog, the work related blog, just as summer is getting started. The reality is that summer does not mean three months of vacation with nothing to do. Au contre!
It works like this. I have summer salary included in the budget for two of my grants. Therefore, I need to work on those grants during the summer months to justify the summer salary. Continuing to work on them during the summer had been written into the grant activities plan. Amazingly, I was in the ball park with what will need to be done over the summer months. In addition to the grants activities, I still have Editorship work to do and preparation for class in fall. That's the shortened list.
Fall class preparation actually began while teaching the course last fall. I made notes on what might need to be updated or improved. Over the next month or two, I'll make those changes, and get the Blackboard updated for the students. Interestingly, some students who have signed up for the fall class are already asking for the course syllabus and textbook list. I have a mixed reaction that is equal parts "why are you bugging me so far in advance" and "these must be ambitious students who deserve encouragement." Yes, faculty to do have their moments of ambivalence.
I have reconciled to the need to switch to MS Outlook. Not a conversion that is appealing, but increasingly necessary given the extent to which it is used by my collaborators. If I can get this done before the beginning of August, that would be good. Yes, I realize that this is not technologically difficult. It's more that staying current with the ever-evolving options takes some degree of energy and attention. At least I no longer wish for the DOS days.
25 May 2012
04 November 2011
Brave New World Linked to Big Brother
Facebook. LinkedIn. Twitter. These, and similar smaller options, have become endemic, ubiquitous and pervasive.
But, what is their relevance to science and to professional development? It's a lot more than you might imagine. The obvious connection (pun intended) is the connectedness. Through these social media we can connect with students, alumni, colleagues and track our competitors.
The obvious implications of social media for science relate to their role in dissemination of information. Through social media, we can spread the virtual word. In science, this tends to be viewed as a good thing. Letting others know of our achievements and discoveries (loosely defined) ought to make the advancement of science even faster. We do science for the purpose of creating knowledge and are paid to do so.
The less obvious implications of the full range of social media and message exchange platforms relate to assessing the impact of that achievement or discovery. The use of bibliometrics, mostly through the use of journal impact factors (JIF), has become a standard for assessing whether a faculty member deserves promotion. But, the evolution and development of measuring impact has continued. We now must contend with a future possibility of being evaluated based on the altmetrics of our work. Altmetrics takes into account not just citations, as is done for the JIF, but also the extent to which the article generates conversation and interest, and thus merges the social media with the bibliometrics. Consider that impact might include the number of tweets and re-tweets, as well as the number of Facebook likes and comments and number of times the article is downloaded or bookmarked.
Big Brother, hopefully the good and just one rather than the mean, bullying one, has arrived. As scholars, we need to take as a given that someone will be tracking not only our pebble of knowledge being dropped into the pond of knowledge, but will also be tracking the size, number and duration of the ripples from that pebble.
But, what is their relevance to science and to professional development? It's a lot more than you might imagine. The obvious connection (pun intended) is the connectedness. Through these social media we can connect with students, alumni, colleagues and track our competitors.
The obvious implications of social media for science relate to their role in dissemination of information. Through social media, we can spread the virtual word. In science, this tends to be viewed as a good thing. Letting others know of our achievements and discoveries (loosely defined) ought to make the advancement of science even faster. We do science for the purpose of creating knowledge and are paid to do so.
The less obvious implications of the full range of social media and message exchange platforms relate to assessing the impact of that achievement or discovery. The use of bibliometrics, mostly through the use of journal impact factors (JIF), has become a standard for assessing whether a faculty member deserves promotion. But, the evolution and development of measuring impact has continued. We now must contend with a future possibility of being evaluated based on the altmetrics of our work. Altmetrics takes into account not just citations, as is done for the JIF, but also the extent to which the article generates conversation and interest, and thus merges the social media with the bibliometrics. Consider that impact might include the number of tweets and re-tweets, as well as the number of Facebook likes and comments and number of times the article is downloaded or bookmarked.
Big Brother, hopefully the good and just one rather than the mean, bullying one, has arrived. As scholars, we need to take as a given that someone will be tracking not only our pebble of knowledge being dropped into the pond of knowledge, but will also be tracking the size, number and duration of the ripples from that pebble.
28 October 2011
APHA Prep
The annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (APHA) starts this weekend. I have no qualms saying that it is not my favorite conference. Having 12,000 to 16,000 health professionals running around a conference center and back and forth among several hotels lacks intimacy. (Okay, that's understatement). And, the focus is very much on practice of public health which often lacks an intellectual edge. (Another understatement.) Then, you might well ask, why go?
I go for a lot of reasons. I go to support my graduate students as they make their first national poster or oral presentations. I go to connect with colleagues with whom away-from-home seems to the only opportunity to meet and hug. I go to disseminate my own research and practice innovations, in the idealistic hopes of contributing to the betterment of the world. I go to cruise the huge exhibit hall in search of a freebie I don't need but like and of a new book that will make me sound smarter. I go, sometimes, because I like the city where the conference is being held, such as this year. I consider it a total bonus if I get an idea or insight from something I might hear or see.
Attending and presenting at APHA (or any other conference) is the culmination of very delayed gratification. We submitted abstracts back in Feb, learned of acceptance in May and are finally going to show off our ideas, study findings, and projects. Both academics and public health professionals have to have come to terms with a long wait to see results of their efforts. But, as the saying goes, good things are worth waiting for.
I go for a lot of reasons. I go to support my graduate students as they make their first national poster or oral presentations. I go to connect with colleagues with whom away-from-home seems to the only opportunity to meet and hug. I go to disseminate my own research and practice innovations, in the idealistic hopes of contributing to the betterment of the world. I go to cruise the huge exhibit hall in search of a freebie I don't need but like and of a new book that will make me sound smarter. I go, sometimes, because I like the city where the conference is being held, such as this year. I consider it a total bonus if I get an idea or insight from something I might hear or see.
Attending and presenting at APHA (or any other conference) is the culmination of very delayed gratification. We submitted abstracts back in Feb, learned of acceptance in May and are finally going to show off our ideas, study findings, and projects. Both academics and public health professionals have to have come to terms with a long wait to see results of their efforts. But, as the saying goes, good things are worth waiting for.
21 October 2011
Bonding with students
Some students become intellectual children and stay close to home. Every once in a while, some chemistry happens between a student and a faculty that somehow bonds the two. It's a good feeling, that has overtones of successes and pride and optimism.
Lisa, Michelle, Erica and Jamie are good examples. It's more than us being Facebook friends or connected through LinkedIn. We went through the tough times of working out the research, plugging through the details of writing and data analysis. We shared some sweat and tears. By the time we had reached the graduation side of the mountain, we were friends who had shared a rite of passage in life.
Rite of passage. Graduate education has that potential to be more than getting a degree. It's about becoming someone new, with eyes open, sleeves rolled up, and enthusiasm in approaching the next challenge. This doesn't make either me or the student smarter, but it does make us each more than we were before. And, for that I am as grateful as for the new friendships.
Lisa, Michelle, Erica and Jamie are good examples. It's more than us being Facebook friends or connected through LinkedIn. We went through the tough times of working out the research, plugging through the details of writing and data analysis. We shared some sweat and tears. By the time we had reached the graduation side of the mountain, we were friends who had shared a rite of passage in life.
Rite of passage. Graduate education has that potential to be more than getting a degree. It's about becoming someone new, with eyes open, sleeves rolled up, and enthusiasm in approaching the next challenge. This doesn't make either me or the student smarter, but it does make us each more than we were before. And, for that I am as grateful as for the new friendships.
16 September 2011
Academic Year 2011-2012
Yes, it has started all over again. Such is the rhythm of academic life.
As usual, I am teaching the doctoral course called "Foundations of Public Health Inquiry". I really like teaching this course to the second year doctoral students. Over the years that I have been teaching it, I have come to see the pattern of learning that occurs among the students. They begin so naively, optimistically and earnestly. As they get into the middle of the course they begin to doubt themselves, and then the light goes on. And, they see where I have taken them. I love watching them on this journey.
Let's be clear. Having posted minimally over the summer is NOT an indicator of not having been working over the summer. Yes, I took a two week vacation and went to Iceland (the land of fire and ice, literally). But, the rest of the time I was working on: presentations, manuscripts, course preparation, grant management, hiring new RAs, writing and filing annual reports, writing grants, and editorship. Not such a bad list of work activities. Basically, all things that I wanted to be doing.
As usual, I am teaching the doctoral course called "Foundations of Public Health Inquiry". I really like teaching this course to the second year doctoral students. Over the years that I have been teaching it, I have come to see the pattern of learning that occurs among the students. They begin so naively, optimistically and earnestly. As they get into the middle of the course they begin to doubt themselves, and then the light goes on. And, they see where I have taken them. I love watching them on this journey.
Let's be clear. Having posted minimally over the summer is NOT an indicator of not having been working over the summer. Yes, I took a two week vacation and went to Iceland (the land of fire and ice, literally). But, the rest of the time I was working on: presentations, manuscripts, course preparation, grant management, hiring new RAs, writing and filing annual reports, writing grants, and editorship. Not such a bad list of work activities. Basically, all things that I wanted to be doing.
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