February 2014 – ORGANIZING CREATIVITY

“Teaching” at the university, or: I am neither a, nor your, private teacher

2014-02-28

Clearing up a misconception in university teaching. At least in Germany, the ones in front of the class are not teachers, nor are they rewarded for teaching. Making this and a few other issues clear is really helpful. I think it led to students still knowing they could ask me, but stop wasting time on irrelevancies.
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If you cut off the spine of a book to digitize it, keep your legs out of the way

2014-02-28

Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle. James Russell Lowell Personally, […]

A very good article on time management in science

2014-02-27

Read a very good paper on time management. Love the ways you can say no, without coming off too negative (two-page table!).
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Why not to trust in-department data storage

2014-02-19

A third point against local storage of research data: Professors are not forever — it only seems this way. Not meant as offense, but read yourself.
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Being an Adult, or: Life is Not a Song

2014-02-17

Ah, princesses. Nice that Disney and other companies try to celebrate self-determined people, but shouldn't they be competent as well? Shouldn't they, I don't know, start learning or something after they have finished singing?
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Using HemingwayApp Offline

2014-02-16

Hemingway is a cool website that evaluates how well you write -- okay, at least gives you some feedback. If you do not want to use it online, there is a way to use it offline ... a fairly easy way.
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Dealing With the Plagiarism Plague Among Students

2014-02-15

Some ideas of dealing with plagiarism among students, dealing with the facilitating skill development and changing the mindset of the students. Applicable for instructors and universities -- and even students who want to prevent plagiarism.
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Let’s Not Wait for a Panacea to Ensure Good Scientific Practice

2014-02-14

Comment on a presentation about good scientific practice and what can be done to ensure that science keeps its integrity (including pre-registration of studies and data sharing). Also: Social Media.
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Write like Hemingway — no, not drunk, but better.

2014-02-13

Hemingway is a cool webapp that evaluates your writing in terms of complexity, used adjectives and adverbs, and more. All it takes is a quick copy & paste.
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The Fear of Making Mistakes

2014-02-12

Do you have something to say, but fear that others will criticize you for it, especially if you make a mistake? Scared of the vitriol online? This posting is for you.
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A comment for those seeking to use this site for personal gain: Given the increase in requests, let me be clear. I write on this blog because I want to. It’s my hobby, my playground. Sometimes people point me to interesting products/services and I write about them. But any request regarding ads or sponsored placements ends up the trash without a reply. And if you think something would be of interest, differentiate yourself from the spammers by referring to a posting — in an intelligent way. (I get enough auto-generated mails to identify them immediately.)

BTW, posts can get updated after I published them if I spot spelling errors (not a native speaker) or think a different wording might improve precision and clarity.

ORGANIZING CREATIVITY

How to generate, capture, and collect ideas to realize creative projects.

Month: February 2014