Anyone want a general chat?

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

By which title I mean, of course, that I am procrastinating and if I can't rise above it I'd love to drag you all down with me.

What are we all doing this term, and how's it going?

I'm trying to kick my book proposal into shape after yet another set of comments. I've lost track of how many times it's been 'nearly there' but I think it really is nearly there. Honest.

Oh dear, this has reminded that I forgot I've got some assignments that I need to get back - by tomorrow! I think I had planned to do it on the day my brain didn't work. And when the planned day passed, it just didn't happen. Well, thanks for the reminder. :) I've got 1.5 hours tomorrow AM before my first meeting (assuming I get in promptly at 8), so will try to do as much as I can. I really worry when I find things like this - stuff that I 'nearly' miss. Because it happens so often I wonder what thing I have missed and am completely unaware.

Luckily no fires in email today! But, wow, I've forgotten how hard it is to generate a lecture completely from scratch. Don't know how long it's been - actually, I might have never done it, as I've always had whoever-taught-this-last material to use as a base. But this is an entirely new module, so everything is brand new. (Actually not true - I have done it before... I've added a few new topics to old modules, but it's been years). I got about 1/2 the way through the first lecture. I spend a ridiculous amount of time searching about for good images to illustrate ideas -- I'm thinking I'm going to try to speed things up by just writing text with placeholders. Then once I see what goes in the lectures, I can get the practical done and get it to the people who need it, and then I've got time to search for images to enhance the slides later.

A week of intensive seminars for one of my modules. Now, what does one do when the entire group have clearly not done the reading and expect you to go into lecturer mode? I was actually quite annoyed that some made it obvious they expected me to tell them all about their readings whilst they made notes. That's not what seminars are for.

Even taking it back to basics (e.g. asking for a definition of a concept in the reading) resulted in lots of blank looks. I did state I was not simply going to lecture them about what they needed to know. This resulted in 5 minute silences until one or two came up with an example. I was happy to sit in silence, but I suspect some were annoyed at my reluctance to tell them all about the paper.

Do you just write these ones off as the fault does not lie with you? I'm a bit annoyed by the complete lack of preparation, so deliberately didn't do what some were expecting.

You're not allowed to tell them all to go away?

I think a five minute silence is certainly in order. I'd be tempted to hand round the reading and ask them to read it, TBH.

The ones I really hate are when they clearly haven't prepared, but refuse to admit it, so you can't get them on it.

I wish we could tell them to leave! Waste of my time, and theirs, to come to seminars not even having attempted the reading. I post a long list of Q's on the VLE a week in advance. Most hadn't even brought them. Allegedly, these are adults capable of independent thought.

Yes to those who pretend to have done some work but obviously haven't. They ask Q's like: "explain to me" and act all thoughtful despite not having a clue.

One even said to me: "I thought I'd find out what I needed to know in the seminar"!!

I've taken seminars for years. These are my first as a lecturer, and it seems there is a level of expectation (from some) that I haven't encountered before.

The unprepared seminar was painful in parts. But they can only avoid a repeat of it if they do the work!

Yes, I find it really disrespectful when they do the 'thoughtful act'. Come on. You've not read it. You know I know. Don't pull this shit.

I had a group (thankfully, long past now) who put in a complaint about me which said, in essence 'she accused us of not doing any work and we hadn't done any work, but we didn't feel it was appropriate of her to notice that'.

Luckily, they did get their arses handed to them, but it can't always end that well.

I am procrastinating like mad here. I really should get my arse in gear and fill in the second proposal form I've got, and crack on with my lovely article.

Oh dear, godstopper, that sounds painful and annoying.

You're totally not going to want to hear that I did my marking, and then had to ask for some moderation because I'd given everyone firsts! I just wanted to make sure I wasn't imagining things and I had a whole class of such good students (a small class, but you still usually get a range). But the moderator agreed my marks were appropriate. So now I'm ready to defend them to the external, if needed...

LRD, how incredible about that complaint! Wow!

Still haven't gotten any further on my lectures as 'urgent' things have taken my time. I just really don't want to be doing these at the last minute... Well, maybe after I get finished with today's urgent stuff, I'd have a moment.

Well, it was dressed up in a lot of verbiage and I am not absolutely sure the students realised they were admitting to not having lifted a finger.

They weren't, ahem, the most motivated and able bunch I have every taught.

Good luck with your lectures! Hope the urgent stuff is not too painful.

I am trying to write today, and I am SO TIRED I honestly am not up to reading The Hungry Caterpillar.

Just wanted to swing by and offer support on the whole student feedback front. The thing I find most frustrating is the absence of any kind of application behind the whinging. I don't mind spending considerable time with a student who is really trying but who doesn't get it, but when the problem is that someone hasn't really made an effort, and the essence of the complaint is that they should be able to get 68 without effort, I get exasperated.

It goes up to all levels, too. I spent 2 hours with someone this week who has just finished their PhD, trying to help them with their first paper, the draft of which is a dog's dinner. At the end, I realised that the problem was that they didn't actually want to put work into revising it, but wanted me to do it for them (uncredited), while they whined about how hard it was. Considering it was a session I put in as a favour (not my student), I was peed off.

That complaint made me laugh, sorry! There has been a definite change now fees are what they are: some don't quite grasp the concept of independently working through stuff and then blame you for their inevitable poor marks.

Just came from a seminar in which everyone turned up and everyone had done the reading! I do wonder why some groups are really engaged whereas others (doing the same module) just don't gel no matter what you do.

We're now v. big on taking student feedback seriously, and there is a 'softly softly' approach. I'm not sure that's always in their best interests.

Very cheeky complaint indeed! It is irritating in the extreme when students have not done the work in advance of a seminar. Most annoying!

Can I please ask a slightly odd question? Someone who is not based at a uni but does research (allied to uni) has asked me about no of expected pubs and grants in a year. I have said it is v variable across institutions and even within institutions but felt I ought to offer something as a benchmark. I owe them favours!

It's HSS/health area. Would 2 papers per year be reasonable do you think? Grants are way harder. I don't think I could put an expectation on grant income received but poss grant income applied for if that makes sense. With few research hours then you have to be realistic and I am not sure I would even go for something like £100K applied for.

It's really hard to be objective as it changes so much according to circumstances I think. Any comments or pearls of wisdom?

shovetheholly I have moved from a discipline in which people work collaboratively a lot on papers (so with supervisors, colleagues) including PhD work and all would author, to a field where sole authorship from a PhD is very common. My issue with this is that I think it does inhibit some students from publishing, or at the very least, their supervisors are expected to contribute time and energy to helping them by editing/contributing thinking, which I am not keen to do for no acknowledgement at all.

I now offer students a choice: you are welcome to publish without me/as a sole author if you really need nothing more than a quick read through and some superficial comments (similar to what I might provide for a quick review) and the intellectual work/presentation is all done already. If what you want is me to contribute intellectually, help rewrite and edit like a maniac, then I would need to be an author and we can work on the publication as a joint enterprise. This seems to be working well, with students choosing the joint enterprise to start with, and then gaining confidence to move forward to sole authorship on subsequent papers.

It is different in different disciplines though!

foureyes - YES! Brilliant strategy. I am starting to do this now, as I have had certain people really take the piss in terms of acknowledgement of substantive intellectual contributions.

This individual isn't one of them - to be totally honest, the work is really poor and I wouldn't really want my name associated with it. I guess I was just surprised at what I felt was a fairly teenage attitude in a woamn in her early 30s! I think it's something to do with the revision process, though - it really sorts the people who care about their work (who are prepared to delve right in and reshape things fundamentally) from those who are really just in it for instrumental reasons (I've seen the most nugatory attempts at revision on academic papers). It does make you feel shit to have to rework what you've written, and I see it as a kind of badge of commitment, I guess - is the person prepared to put their ego through that beating in order to get the better end result? This particular student didn't even want to listen to the idea of revision, really.

I wish we could tell them to leave!

When I first started teaching during my PhD, a senior mentor said to me that if my tutorial groups (I taught groups of around 7) hadn't read the assigned reading it was fine to just tell them to go away for that week.

I've done it a couple of times. The ones who had read the set text came to another seminar, and the others turned up the following week, eager to demonstrate they'd done the reading.

In your situation, I'd have made them spend the bulk of the seminar time doing the reading.

Whoops! I forgot to watch this thread, and lost track of it.

How is everyone doing?

We've just had our new HoD announced, and I'm so pleased. I was worried because of the informal arrangement for flexi work I have with our current Head, and was thinking about how I'd have to ask him if he would speak with the new head, or if I should, to make sure I could continue it, and then the inevitable embarassment of sharing my health problems with yet another work colleagues. Turns out our new Head is the very first person I ever revealed my health issues to, so no worries there, and I'd feel absolutely comfortable directly heading to her (although I think I will still ask if something will be said, but also plan on a meeting). Also just really pleased about the decision-making process at my Uni, where one of what I consider to be the kindest people in our dept has been advanced to the Head. I hope that this continues to be reflective of what is considered 'good' here.

That's great murmuration. And I hope that your Department supports your HoD.

I think that it's sometimes we forget that these types of jobs are very onerous. Academics - in the humanities anyway - tend to be resistant oppositional types. I think we have to remember that often (at least in my experience) academic leadership is tricky and hard work, and often means giving up one's own research & "advancement" through that research, in order to step up to do the right thing.

Good leaders should be supported, particularly good women leaders.

That sounds really positive murmur, glad that this has worked out so well!

Hi all. Still feeling really ambitious and determined at the moment and chafing at how my childcare is holding me back (I finish at 2pm four days a week to collect from school - necessary for one of my children atm). I need to stop watching Tv in the evening and work properly. First step setting up my desk at home so it's comfy and fully arranged.

Hey all!

Swinging by with a question about writing, a kind of academic AIBU if you like.

I'm trying to write a book, currently dealing with some difficult shit that is at the limits of my ability to understand it (Hegel). However, am finding myself repeatedly blown off track due to lift-sharing with DH (who, as Head of Department, is very exposed to unpredictability). I'm finding it REALLY hard to write because I can't predict when a day is going to finish/end - I can't plan when to take sensible breaks, or whether I'll be trying to hack through something for 2 hours or 4. Would you guys also find this difficult, or am I being utterly precious here? The problem is VERY easily solved - I'm going to get in under my own steam in future - its more that I'm curious whether others would also find this open-endedness of writing time an issue?

I would, yes. I would schedule two hours of writing every day then do emails / grant planning or something for the remaining time. I need a strict structure to my writing!

Glad I'm not the only one. I am almost ritualistic about the structure and it really throws me off if I don't have clarity. I end up feeling very low!

I'm starting a writing regime with a friend later in the week. We're going to meet in the library and write separately but next to each other. Moral support in avoiding social media and FOCUSING!!

I love the idea of policing one another!

I also agree to writing two/three hours a day on a good day, and aiming for a lot of them in a row. I can't write all day and find by about 1pm my writing brain is shutting down, although I can edit/review other's work after that time.

I always under-estimate how long it takes to write, edit, then rewrite the whole blinking thing when you realise it's just not ok. You would think after many years, this would be finely honed art. Instead you are trying to outwit yourself, bribe yourself, or get your friend to check up on you. Some people must find it easier (although I don't know if I actually want to hear from those people).

foureyes - One thing I know from managing a journal is that people vary radically in the revisions they do. Some people do an absolutely minimal job that barely engages with what reviewers say. Others do a belt-and-braces rewrite that moves their paper up a gear or two. But here's the interesting bit - overall, the first type tend to produce work that is noticeably less good than the second. It really made me realise that the ability to go to that horrible psychological place of recognising the limitations of a piece and fully trying to overcome them is, in many cases, the difference between a great paper and a merely solid one. I don't think anyone enjoys being there, though, it's absolutely horrible!

Shut Up & Write

Just saying ...

Wow, there's a whole organised movement!

It's a good idea. I've often thought about some kind of writing takeover in the summer, a couple of weeks where a room is set aside by a department with coffee on tap, and everyone drops in and out...

Well, teaching has ended (still contracted until July), so I have Spring/Summer to write 1-2 papers. That's do-able right?

I received an expected rejection yesterday for the very reason I've come to dislike my own paper. Whilst some of the comments were fair, others were bizarre, e.g. "The author discusses x who doesn't do research on y, so I am concerned about the view's significance" - author x does research y 'cos I'm working with them on it!! I don't even know how to respond to stuff like this. I know people more seasoned than me can brush this stuff off, but with this being my first time sending stuff out, it can be ... dispiriting.

Another paper survived a journal's internal screening (70% don't!) and has been sent to a referee.

Mentally, I can't face looking at the first one again - dunno if I should just write it off as a bad first attempt and move onto a new project. I suspect my time might be better served doing that.

I really, really hate that everything hinges upon publications for me right now. Of course, people should be getting stuff out there, but time pressures mean it might not be the best stuff ...

And back to work ...