Janet D. Stemwedel
Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an associate professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry.
jstemwedel
Posts by this author
May 8, 2007
Since many of you were kind enough to suggest questions to ask of Margaret Spellings at SJSU's Founders Day "The Future of Higher Education" panel last Friday, I thought I should report back on that session.
First, the bad (but utterly predictable) news: while Margaret Spellings gave the keynote…
May 5, 2007
Depending on your blog reading habits, you may already have heard the news that feels almost like cosmic justice that a law firm has rescinded an offer of employment from a third year law student whose online activities the firm found troubling. The linked posts will give you some flavor for those…
May 4, 2007
The Free-Ride offspring, talking during dinner:
Younger offspring: I'm not ever going to die.
Elder offspring: You don't know that. You might get hit by a car just before you turn 90.
Younger offspring: No, I will not!
Elder offspring: How can you be sure? Have you gone into the future to see?…
May 3, 2007
I have a couple posts brewing, but they will be delayed by my pile of scut work. Meanwhile, I have a new post at WAAGNFNP with my thoughts about why the (unionized) faculty in my university system took such a long time to feel ready to strike. It's something you can read while you dodge your own…
May 1, 2007
We just hit the point in the semester where my "Ethics in Science" class discusses the novel Cantor's Dilemma by Carl Djerassi. For those who inhabit the world of scientific research -- and for those who don't but are hungry for an insight to how human relationships and scientific activities are…
April 30, 2007
Jake, Chad, and Rob have posted about a newly published study about the benefits of research experiences for undergraduates. The quick version is that involvement in research (at least in science/technology/engineering/mathematics disciplines) seems to boost the student's enthusiasm for the…
April 30, 2007
This Friday, as part of my university's sesquicentennial celebration, there's going to be a two hour session on "The Future of Higher Education". The keynote speaker will be Margaret Spellings, the U.S. Secrtetary of Education. There will also be a "panel discussion with national experts", after…
April 29, 2007
I've been dawdling on this. I was tagged by not one but two of my blog pals for the Thinking Blogger meme. Here are the official rules of the meme:
If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact…
April 27, 2007
I haven't mentioned it here before, but I'm currently working on a project to launch an online dialogue at my university (using a weblog, of course) to engage different members of the campus community with the question of what they think the college experience here ought to be, and how we can make…
April 27, 2007
Dr. Free-Ride: Hey, can you guys draw me a picture with some of the wildlife you've seen in the last week?
Elder offspring: Sure!
Younger offspring: But ... I haven't seen any wildlife in the last week.
Dr. Free-Ride: What are you talking about? We see wildlife every day when we walk to…
April 26, 2007
An important part of the practice of science is not just the creation of knowledge but also the transmission of that knowledge. Knowledge that's stuck in your head or lab notebooks doesn't do anyone else any good. So, scientists are supposed to spread the knowledge through means such as peer…
April 25, 2007
Pencils ready? Here's a quick quiz; circle all that apply*:
1. You're a scientist and you've just published some research in a peer reviewed journal. You want:
a. Scientists in your field to read and discuss your work.
b. Interested non-scientists to get the important bits of what you found and…
April 24, 2007
This tool uses an algorithm to guess whether the chunk of text you enter into the text box was written by a male or a female. What do you suppose it thought about my writing?
It depends on the post. For example this post got:
Female Score: 1616
Male Score: 1380
which is to say, "FEMALE", while…
April 24, 2007
The April 16 issue of Chemical & Engineering News has an interesting article about homeschooling families looking for chemistry curricula. (You need an individual or institutional subscription to view the article; it might be worth checking with your local library.)
I'm far from an expert on…
April 20, 2007
There's a lot going on this week and next that captures the interest and imagination of the Free-Ride offspring. They've been thinking about animals that live in places we do not (like the briny seas), noticing the critters that live in our neighborhood, contemplating the ways a domestic animal…
April 18, 2007
I have some posts gestating on ethical issues in science, but I have to clear a bit more grading and committee work before I can do them justice. In the meantime, I want to pose a set of questions to those of you who teach labs and/or supervise laboratory research:
Have you been asked to adapt…
April 17, 2007
Friend of the blog LO alerted me to The Great Turtle Race, wherein a passel of leatherback sea turtles "race" from Playa Grande in Costa Rica to the Galapagos Islands. The linked website it tracking the turtles via satellite, so you can watch their progress and root for your favorite. (I'm…
April 16, 2007
Today was fully scheduled for me. Prepping for class, participating in a phone interview, teaching, midday meeting with my department chair and a dean to discuss developing an ethics module for an intro class in another department, more teaching, power-photocopying for this week's Socrates Cafe,…
April 13, 2007
Overheard at the Free-Ride dinner table on the occasion of the elder Free-Ride offspring dropping a piece of broccoli:
Younger offspring: Pick it up! 1-2-3-4-- that was close!
Elder offspring: (having retrieved the piece of broccoli from the floor) You're counting your seconds too fast. You should…
April 12, 2007
I'm just back from a committee meeting at which the subject of grades and grade distributions came up, and it became clear to me that academics (even at the same institution, even in the same field) have wildly different philosophies about just what grades ought to mean.
There are the normal-…
April 10, 2007
After I posted on the issue twice and Julie posted on it once (although she might blog further on it), I got a brainwave about what's at the core of our frustration with our students who ditch lots of classes.
At bottom, it's our feeling that we are not succeeding in our attempts to communicate…
April 9, 2007
The responses to my earlier post on an admittedly nutty idea to get students to come to class seem, so far, to hold that the choice of whether or not to attend class ought to rest solely with the college student, and that he or she ought to live with the consequences of that choice. (Also, there…
April 9, 2007
Over sushi last night, Julie and I had one of those "kids today!" discussions so common among people teaching college students. The locus of our old-fart incomprehension was the reluctance of a significant number of students to actually attend class meetings, even when not attending class meetings…
April 7, 2007
PRESS CENTER | UPDATED BRACKET
Janet: Welcome to team coverage of the much anticipated Chair Bracket match between Kuhn and Theory!
Ben: Yes, I think we can agree on our assumptions that this will be quite a battle.
Janet: I certainly hope so, Ben. Otherwise, we're going to spend the whole game…
April 6, 2007
The younger Free-Ride offspring's kindergarten class has been discussing rabbits for the last week or so. I can only hope the high school kids have been discussing the molecular structure of theobromine (the main alkaloid in chocolate) and working out the phase of matter of the interior of Peeps…
April 5, 2007
Those who follow the political blogs more closely than I do were probably aware eons ago that some of the A-list political bloggers significantly trimmed their blogrolls (while dubbing it, strangely enough, a blogroll "amnesty"). Others, like Terrance at the Republic of T (who is as close to the…
April 2, 2007
In case you somehow missed it: tech writer and blogger Kathy Sierra canceled public appearances after receiving death threats. In addition to the death threats, she called attention to some posts about her that were threatening in tone (though probably falling short of actual threats) and…
March 30, 2007
The pregame show has already started on the Acid vs d-orbitals game, but we've just received another set of predictions about this game and the Fossil Fuels vs. Erlenmeyer Flask match (hmm, should I say "match" there?) from the Molecule of the Day guy. Adjust your best accordingly!
Acid vs d-…
March 30, 2007
Yes, the Free-Ride offspring think they have the power to declare today "Dinosaur Day". This is your official notification.
It's not all play on "Dinosaur Day" though. Sometimes a sprog has homework to do.
The elder Free-Ride offspring had a dinosaur project due this week, a model of a dinosaur…
March 29, 2007
You've been waiting patiently. It's almost here!
PRESS CENTER | UPDATED BRACKET
GAMES TO BE PLAYED NEXT WEEK (April 2nd to 6th, 2007)
While the first two rounds of chemistry play were hosted here, Acid vs. d-orbitals will be hosted by The World's Fair and Fossil fuels vs. Erlenmeyer flask will be…