May 9, 2008
Category: Kids and science
As promised last Friday, today we report the results of our investigation of the solubility properties of an avocado. To get the disappointment out of the way up front, we will not be reporting Ks.p. values.
Since we had some around, we decided to use conical tubes to hold the avocado pieces and the experimental solvents. I didn't want to mark the tubes with Sharpies (because we'll probably re-use them) and we don't have the cool colored tape you find in biochemistry labs, so we used a system of plastic cups to keep clear on which tube held which solvent. (The cups also served as our test-tube rack.)
Read on »
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 1:06 PM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 8, 2008
Category: Academia • Passing thoughts • Personal
I have at least six things I really want to write blog posts about at the moment, but the day job is a harsh mistress.
So instead of a content-laden post, you get a list so you can play along vicariously.
In the next nine days, I must:
Read on »
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 10:28 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 6, 2008
Category: Passing thoughts
I'm still grading, but Bikemonkey tagged me on a book meme and I really want to cross something off my to-do list tonight, so here it is.
The rules: books you've read in bold and books you started but never quite finished in italics. (In that latter category, I'll include books from which I've read substantial excerpts without prodding myself to double back to read the whole thing.)
And now for the books:
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Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 11:38 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Academia • Ethics 101 • Personal • Teaching and learning
More than a month ago William the Coroner tagged me. It is not just that I am slow; this meme is challenging!
Not mush, methodology.
Read on »
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 11:13 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 3, 2008
Category: Kids and science • Passing thoughts • Personal
Captivated by the colors I saw, I took this picture today.
Any guesses as to what it is?
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 9:14 PM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 2, 2008
Category: Kids and science
This Friday we're reporting on one of the experiments we were looking forward to last Friday, the one in which milk is curdled. (We'll report on our experimental attempts to dissolve an avocado next Friday.)
We started with a little over a cup and a half of whole milk, on the cold side (since it was in the fridge until we were ready to start experimenting). Since we don't have glass stirring rods at home, we decided to use a plastic chopstick to do the stirring.
As a control, before we started adding lemon juice, we put the chopstick in the cup of milk. The presence of the chopstick had no observable effect on the milk. We stirred the milk with the chopstick for awhile. This kicked up some bubbles in the milk, but when we stopped stirring and let the milk sit for a few moments, the bubbles went away.
We concluded that the chopstick itself doesn't curdle milk.
Then it was time to bring on the lemon juice.
Read on »
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 1:17 PM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
May 1, 2008
Category: Engineering • Ethics 101 • Teaching and learning
Once again, I'm teaching the relatively new ethics module in "Introduction to Engineering". Today was the discussion of what kinds of ethics might reasonably govern an engineering student's behavior, and how these might be important on the road to becoming a competent grown-up engineer.
So of course, we talked about cheating.
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Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 11:41 PM • 29 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Academia • Communication • Ethical research • Teaching and learning • Tribe of Science
This post is standing in for a lecture and class discussion that would be happening today if I knew how to be in two places at once. (Welcome Phil. 133 students! Make yourselves at home in the comments, and feel free to use a pseudonym if you'd rather not comment under your real name.)
The topic at hand is the way relationships in research groups influence the kind of science that comes out of those groups, as well as the understanding the members of the group have of what it means to do good science. Our jumping off point is an article by Vivian Weil and Robert Arzbaecher titled "Relationships In Laboratories and Research Communities." [1]
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Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 2:05 PM • 18 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 30, 2008
Category: Academia • Teaching and learning • Tribe of Science
Maria has an awesome post about her thoughts upon wrapping up her Master's thesis. It captures the kind of shifts one can have in figuring out what to do, who to be, and how schooling fits into all of that -- and how what's at stake is as much emotional as it is intellectual. She writes:
I have found that clinging too stubbornly to long-term goals is actually bad for me. Not because the goals themselves are bad, but I tend to become emotionally overinvested in them, and then I freak! out! at the slightest threat to my success. Learning to keep things in perspective has meant, for me, appreciating that lots of things can happen between now and the completion of my Five-Year Plan.
Longtime readers know that my career trajectory underwent some pretty significant changes, so I can really relate to this. I'm going to add just a few loosely connected* thoughts of my own here:
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Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 2:08 PM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 27, 2008
Category: Disciplinary boundaries • Philosophy • Scientist/layperson relations • Tribe of Science
Via Crooked Timber, I see that philosopher Simon Blackburn would like to dispel some myths. (He does this in the inaugural article of a Times Higher Education series "in which academics range beyond their area of expertise".) Of the ten myths Blackburn identifies for busting, the one that caught my attention was "the myth of the scientist":
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Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 5:35 PM • 34 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 26, 2008
Category: Blogospheric science • Communication • Passing thoughts • Social issues • Tribe of Science • Women and science
On April Fool's Day, our local Socrates Café had an interesting discussion around the question of what makes something funny. One observation that came up repeatedly was that most jokes seem aimed at particular audiences -- at people who share particular assumptions, experiences, and contexts with the person telling the joke. The expectation is that those "in the know" will recognize what's funny, and that those who don't see the humor are failing to find the funny because they're not in possession of the crucial knowledge or insight held by those in the in-group. Moreover, the person telling the joke seems effectively to assert his or her membership in that in-group. People in the discussion probed the question of whether there was anything that could be counted on to be universally funny; our tentative answer was, "Probably not."
With this hunch about joking in hand, I wanted to take a closer look at a particular joke and what it might convey.
Read on »
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 2:55 PM • 109 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Passing thoughts • Personal
As we're listening to Weekend Edition, the younger Free-Ride offspring asks, "Why don't they ever have weekend subtraction?"
(I think it was the elder Free-Ride offspring, years ago, who asked why Morning Edition had puppet words. It took us a few long moments to figure out the "puppet words" was actually Bob Edwards.)
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 11:09 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 25, 2008
Category: Kids and science
Elder offspring: [Dr. Free-Ride's better half] said we're going to do some experiments this weekend.
Dr. Free-Ride: Oh really? Do you know what the experiments will be, or are you going to make them up as you go?
Younger offspring: One of them will be making milk curdle.
Elder offspring: With vinegar or lemon juice, I think.
Dr. Free-Ride: Ah, that's a classic.
Younger offspring: We're going to curdle the milk before lunch. That will make cottage cheese, which we can eat for lunch.
Dr. Free-Ride: Clever! What else will you be doing?
Younger offspring: I can't remember.
Elder offspring: Maybe we'll make [younger offspring] a zombie.
Dr. Free-Ride: You know my rule: No zombies in the house!
Younger offspring: Awww ...
Read on »
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 10:00 AM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 24, 2008
Category: Academia • Passing thoughts • Personal • Teaching and learning
Do you ever get to the point where if you haven't checked your syllabus within the last few hours, you have no confidence that you actually know what day it is?
Or is it just me?
Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 2:01 PM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 22, 2008
Category: Personal • Social issues
Another Earth Day rolls around, and I still have major qualms about the typical American approach to it (which seems to boil down to "Consumer choices will save the world!"). Possibly, viewing ourselves and each other primarily as consumers explains how we have had such a dramatic effect on the environment in the first place.
Still, while we try to muster the political will and get ourselves together to respond collectively to the challenges to the Earth we all share, it's undeniable that our individual choices do have impacts. Here in the U.S., some of those impacts can be pretty big. So, I'm marking this Earth Day by taking stock of some of the habits I've tried to cultivate to lighten my impact.
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Posted by Janet D. Stemwedel at 12:33 PM • 27 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an assistant professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. Email her at dr.freeride@gmail.com.
