Thursday, November 12, 2009
Time Management
One of the biggest issues we have to deal with as graduate students is how to manage our time. Between classes, personal life, research work, and teaching it is not easy to maintain a balance. For the past two years I have had to balance all of this while also commuting two hours a day between home and campus. When I am asked how I do it the answer I have always given is I just do it, but that answer can be deceptive. Just doing it means actively scheduling and planning what I am going to do and when, and of course it is never perfect as many times things have to change or be adapted based on what is happening each day. I do recommend utilizing all the tools available to you as a means to get some balance in your life. Reserve one day a week that is just for spending with the family, friends or destressing. Use a planner, Smart phone, Computer, etc... and place your classes, assignments, tests, paper due dates, etc... with reminders and warnings to keep you on task and remember that any one of us can mange our time effectively if we just put an effort into do it.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The importance of good advice
Good advice is important; especially in your academic life. Students need good advising when choosing a graduate school, first registering for, at later stages in their respective program, and when they are graduating and looking for a job. Advise may come from your peers, professors, friends, acquaintances, or a random person you meet in the library, so make sure to fine tune your filters so you can choose what is best for you.
During your graduate studies, one of the most important decisions you will have to make is choosing a main advisor for your research. In my previous experience in different academic systems in Colombia and Germany, the role of the academic advisor was minimal and students did not seek much help from them. On the contrary, in the United States the advisor role is key in order to achieve academic success. This is especially true for doctoral programs in which the student and advisor develop a long term working relationship during the program, and in some cases, after the program.
As many of you already know, the advisor can help guide your research and class enrollment, your writing style, funding options, all while being the evaluator of your academic performance. If you are in the process of choosing or searching for an academic advisor, be sure to do your homework. I remember the topic being discussed only informally at the beginning of the program. I encourage you to take your time and use all available resources find more information about the program and potential advisors. The more information you can gather, perhaps the better off you will be in your journey.
During your graduate studies, one of the most important decisions you will have to make is choosing a main advisor for your research. In my previous experience in different academic systems in Colombia and Germany, the role of the academic advisor was minimal and students did not seek much help from them. On the contrary, in the United States the advisor role is key in order to achieve academic success. This is especially true for doctoral programs in which the student and advisor develop a long term working relationship during the program, and in some cases, after the program.
As many of you already know, the advisor can help guide your research and class enrollment, your writing style, funding options, all while being the evaluator of your academic performance. If you are in the process of choosing or searching for an academic advisor, be sure to do your homework. I remember the topic being discussed only informally at the beginning of the program. I encourage you to take your time and use all available resources find more information about the program and potential advisors. The more information you can gather, perhaps the better off you will be in your journey.
Teaching
One of the questions I hear frequently from prospective graduate students is whether or not they will have to teach, what teaching is like, and whether or not it is something to look forward to.
The answer to each one of those questions is, of course, "it depends".
Whether or not you will have to teach depends on (a) your department and (b) your funding situation. Some departments require you to teach at least one semester, whether or not you have funding; other departments (including my own) pay you to be an associate instructor when you don't have other sources of support.
What teaching is like depends largely on what
kind of class you will be teaching, and what your role is. Most frequently, associate instructors are responsible for leading lab sections on Fridays, holding office hours, and/or for grading. This can be rewarding in the sense that you will acquire a very thorough knowledge of introductory material, but it can also be somewhat impersonal if the class is a very large, and if you are one associate instructor among many. Sometimes, you will be assigned to a smaller class, and will have more opportunities for one-on interaction with students. Finally, some advanced graduate students in certain departments get the opportunity to teach their own introductory classes, with or without associate instructors of their own.
So how rewarding is teaching? In my opinion: as rewarding as it gets. I have been in all three of the above situations, and can say that I have learned different things from each. Assisting a professor in a large introductory logic class allowed me to watch and learn from someone with several decades of experience, and to deal with a very wide range of student/teacher issues. Being the associate instructor for a smaller class capped at 25 students allowed me to adjust my teaching techniques to a smaller group of students with which I had a more personal relationship. Finally, for the last two semesters I have taught my own version of the same 25-student class ("COGS Q240: Philosophical Foundations of Cognitive Science"), and have been responsible for all aspects of teaching, including making a syllabus, designing the lectures, leading them twice a week, and supervising an undergraduate teaching intern. Although it has made for a very busy year, teaching at this level of intensity really makes you realize how well you need to know the material in order to be good at explaining it. Perhaps even more rewarding, you learn exactly which kinds of explanations and teaching techniques work (for you) and which ones do not. Finally, realizing that you've just convinced an undergrad that your field is both important and interesting is a feeling that really cant be beat.
Ciao,
--Carlos
The answer to each one of those questions is, of course, "it depends".
Whether or not you will have to teach depends on (a) your department and (b) your funding situation. Some departments require you to teach at least one semester, whether or not you have funding; other departments (including my own) pay you to be an associate instructor when you don't have other sources of support.
What teaching is like depends largely on what
kind of class you will be teaching, and what your role is. Most frequently, associate instructors are responsible for leading lab sections on Fridays, holding office hours, and/or for grading. This can be rewarding in the sense that you will acquire a very thorough knowledge of introductory material, but it can also be somewhat impersonal if the class is a very large, and if you are one associate instructor among many. Sometimes, you will be assigned to a smaller class, and will have more opportunities for one-on interaction with students. Finally, some advanced graduate students in certain departments get the opportunity to teach their own introductory classes, with or without associate instructors of their own.So how rewarding is teaching? In my opinion: as rewarding as it gets. I have been in all three of the above situations, and can say that I have learned different things from each. Assisting a professor in a large introductory logic class allowed me to watch and learn from someone with several decades of experience, and to deal with a very wide range of student/teacher issues. Being the associate instructor for a smaller class capped at 25 students allowed me to adjust my teaching techniques to a smaller group of students with which I had a more personal relationship. Finally, for the last two semesters I have taught my own version of the same 25-student class ("COGS Q240: Philosophical Foundations of Cognitive Science"), and have been responsible for all aspects of teaching, including making a syllabus, designing the lectures, leading them twice a week, and supervising an undergraduate teaching intern. Although it has made for a very busy year, teaching at this level of intensity really makes you realize how well you need to know the material in order to be good at explaining it. Perhaps even more rewarding, you learn exactly which kinds of explanations and teaching techniques work (for you) and which ones do not. Finally, realizing that you've just convinced an undergrad that your field is both important and interesting is a feeling that really cant be beat.
Ciao,
--Carlos
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Time factor
I have come to realize that there is very little time for leisure as a doctoral student. I thought I would have a enough time during summer to write at least two scholarly articles for publication but time went so fast. I barely finished writing one due to multiple academic projects, taking my children out for camping, and moving. I used to talk very lengthily on the phone with friends and relatives when I was doing my Masters. But as a doctoral student, I have learned to close people up on the phone: "Oh! Willy, how are you doing? It's been a while. Okay, I am in the middle of submitting a paper that is due in few hours. Let me call you back in the evening". Despite all the determination to fulfill such a promise, I often end up not calling. Thank God! Most of those friends and relatives know that that it had never been my habit to not return calls. I have just told them to bear with me for this while. I hope I will be able to catch up with all the calls and sleepless nights that I have missed so far when I finish with this program. However by all indications, these sacrifices are going to pay off.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Winter creeping in.
It's a little over a month in to the school year and it's already 37 degrees out. The sun rises at 8am and sets at around 7 compared to 9 during the summer. To top it all off the weather has been rainy or at least gloomy. In preparation my husband and I got new windows installed in our house so that we wouldn't have to put the god awful plastic weather proofing on our windows and we could stay warm without having to make Duke energy rich.
As I only have two classes that I attend per week (not counting the two I teach) life seems ok. However, the wonderful running habit that I so diligently cultivated over the summer is slowly falling to the wayside, wilting and being weathered much like my first attempt at a garden.
Two weekends ago I traveled with my husband and step son back to Niagara Falls for the Native American Music Awards (affectionately known as the Nammy's). I ran that Thursday before we all hopped in the car for the 8-10 hour ride. Then my husband and I ran around the Falls, State side. It was only about a mile but fantastic scenery.
After that I ran again once in the Student Recreation Something Center (SRSC) and an attempt was made to run in the rain last week Thursday. My husband got a stitch and we walked.
Last night after neither having gone to the gym nor run in the morning I decided to run at 9:30 pm to get used to the cold, dark days of winter and work some energy out of the dogs. I wore a pair of sweats, a T-shirt, and a long sleeve shirt. I got the dogs ready and out we went. I debated how far to run and figured I wouldn't get very far but as I ran I felt good. I let the dogs lead where they wanted to go and we ended up running 3 miles. Not bad I thought for not having run regularly for two weeks. It also made me feel a lot better after having eaten all sorts of forbidden foods at IU events, such as chocolate covered strawberries, fried ravioli and the like.
Let's see if I can do it again. Just ate two slices of pizza. MUST RUN!
As I only have two classes that I attend per week (not counting the two I teach) life seems ok. However, the wonderful running habit that I so diligently cultivated over the summer is slowly falling to the wayside, wilting and being weathered much like my first attempt at a garden.
Two weekends ago I traveled with my husband and step son back to Niagara Falls for the Native American Music Awards (affectionately known as the Nammy's). I ran that Thursday before we all hopped in the car for the 8-10 hour ride. Then my husband and I ran around the Falls, State side. It was only about a mile but fantastic scenery.
After that I ran again once in the Student Recreation Something Center (SRSC) and an attempt was made to run in the rain last week Thursday. My husband got a stitch and we walked.
Last night after neither having gone to the gym nor run in the morning I decided to run at 9:30 pm to get used to the cold, dark days of winter and work some energy out of the dogs. I wore a pair of sweats, a T-shirt, and a long sleeve shirt. I got the dogs ready and out we went. I debated how far to run and figured I wouldn't get very far but as I ran I felt good. I let the dogs lead where they wanted to go and we ended up running 3 miles. Not bad I thought for not having run regularly for two weeks. It also made me feel a lot better after having eaten all sorts of forbidden foods at IU events, such as chocolate covered strawberries, fried ravioli and the like.
Let's see if I can do it again. Just ate two slices of pizza. MUST RUN!
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