text:
Does a letter of recommendation from a postdoc who's been my instructor carry much weight?
In large universities, undergraduate students tend to receive instruction mostly from recent PhD graduates or post-doctoral fellows. This is especially true during the first two years, when students may also have PhD students as instructors for their classes.
During the application review process, how much weight would you put for letters written from post-doctoral fellows? Is the job title something that people care a lot about?

This related question asks about getting a LoR from a postdoc who's also a research supervisor: Can I ask a postdoc who has closely supervised my research to write me a letter of recommendation?

In some large universities, undergraduate students in some fields tend to receive instruction mostly from recent PhD graduates or post-doctoral fellows

The issue with getting a letter from a post-doc is not their job title; it's the degree of experience they have with different students, and the authority with which they can judge their preparedness for a graduate program.  So, it's not that a letter from a postdoc is unacceptable and as soon as they have an assistant professorship everything is great.  There's a subtle continuum where the more experience someone has, the more weight their letter has, because they have known so many more students.
Also, this is a bit more cynical, but humans are social creatures.  It's well-nigh unavoidable that they give more weight to a letter from someone they know personally.  A postdoc is much less likely to be well-connected and thus able to leverage this for you.

Interesting, because I've taken two graduate level as an undergrad and both I've received instruction from Post-Doc fellows. Even though I have spoken to them and have fully expressed my academic interest, as well as my successful completion of their courses, it seems that they will not be able to leverage this for me. It is good to know

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
What do profs actually think when writing a letter of recommendation for an average student for grad school
Grad school application starts now along with all the anxieties associated with it.
One of the question I ask myself and repeatedly get asked by my peers is that what would the profs think when the transcript and resume reveals that they are just an average student (i.e. 3.3 GPA, at minimum of grad school acceptance requirement).
Of course, the top factor here is that we are being evaluated by people who are exceptionally talented and likely the top students back in their days. And plus we may have built an amicable relationship over a long period, no one wants to appear like a useless person. Lastly, there may exist a significant time period between when an application is sent out to when the letter is received, during this time I find a lot of students will question whether the profs are still open writing the letter for them.
What if a professor doesn't like what he sees in the transcript, or feel that the resume does not reflect any exceptional talent, what would a prof usually do in this case?

Even if you're not Albert Einstein reborn, most professors are not out there to destroy you in LORs. An average student may not get more than an average letter, but if they wouldn't support you at all, I doubt they would spend time writing a letter that will actively sabotage your chances. They'll just say they won't write a letter.

"(...) we are being evaluated by people who are exceptionally talented and likely the top students back in their days." Ahem. @JeffE would like a word with you: http://web.engr.illinois.edu/~jeffe/

@xLeitix likely technically doesn't mean must be :P

Related: What to do if asked to write a letter of recommendation for a weak candidate?

If you want to go to graduate school and think you will be successful, you should apply. Let the admissions committee decide your package.
I've written plenty of recommendation letters for more "average" students and I suspect most other faculty have too.
The only time I turn down a recommendation letter is if the student really did poorly (e.g., sub-3.0 GPA) in my classes. Then I gently suggest students find another letter-writer. This has only happened once.
Plenty of average students go to grad school and most of them get Ph.D.s. The degree is not necessarily an indication of exceptional brilliance. There are brilliant Ph.D. recipients, and there are less stellar Ph.D. recipients. Instead, the Ph.D. indicates a number of factors, including the ability to do independent research, a great deal of learning and advancement beyond a master's or bachelor's degree, and a huge amount of perseverance.
So I will write a letter appropriate to the student. I will indicate the grade they received in my class, or the research work they did in my group (e.g., "top third" or "top half of the graduating majors").
In terms of writing the recommendation letter, I try to stress positive points, but I am also honest to the admissions committee.
On the other side, the admissions committee knows how to read recommendation letters. There are many graduate programs, and not all programs expect the truly top students. So they can translate your application package into an evaluation of how likely you are to succeed in their program.

I have written letters for average students as well, but I consider a few things before doing so. I believe it is easier for me to determine who I will write a letter for or not because I coordinate a tutoring program and have a working relationship with the students.

Did this student make a significant impact on campus?
Did this student contribute something tangible to the program?
Did this student apply training properly?
Did this student maintain their curiosity?

+1 Agreed. To write a good recommendation letter, you need something to recommend. :-)

What do you mean by making an impact on campus?

source: Stack Exchange

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

sort: votes


text:
Relation of lecture mandatory attendance and lecture quality
My university recently made a direction that lectures attendance is mandatory. Now my question is, are there any studies that compare mandatory and not mandatory lectures quality? The university is trying to increase its quality and this was its main step this year.
More description:
As lecture quality comparison I mean, when is it easier to concentrate, study, teach and learn? When lectures are mandatory, there are a lot of students that doesn't have real interest in subject and are disturbing and making noise. That influences all students, as you can't hear what professor is saying, professor is disturbed and interrupted in teaching. So are there any studies that prove this?
Is this in overall a good step of university? I believe that good professors can motivate students to come to lectures, and if lectures are empty, it's a sign of something (not necessarily bad quality of professor) and this doesn't solve it at all, or am I wrong?

It probably depends on many factors, but it would be interesting to see a study of whether this yields an improvement on average. I do suspect that this is a case of treating the symptoms of something more fundamentally broken.

From my anecdotal observation, being mandatory and being important and of good quality strongly anticorrelates (good course does not need people to force to attend + there is feedback mechanism + most people who attend actually care (not a few %)). This is a fallacy of top-down thinking (plus assumption that the only way to educate people is to force them to do so).

What does it mean to have mandatory attendance? How is it enforced? As someone who skipped a large fraction of lectures when I was a student, I would not have been happy with any attempt to enforce attendance....

@MattReece Enforcement of attendance usually happens through the grading system, either by having attendance count towards the grade / absence count against the grade, or having some "threshold" where more than N absences result in a failed/incomplete grade.

See the answers to this related question about how to increase student engagement.

But how can grading be enforced in a university-wide way? Do they actually mandate that professors make a certain fraction of the grade come from attendance?

If you force attendance, you'll end up with a last few rows of students doing something else altogether (playing online games, doing homework for another class, even sleeping).

My university recently made a direction that lectures attendance is mandatory — Did they also direct that faculty enforcement of mandatory lecture attendance is mandatory?

In fact there are many studies undertaken in this topic. Below you may find the link to some of these papers.

Classroom attendance: Factors and perceptions of students and faculty in US schools of pharmacy
Student nurse absenteeism in higher education: An argument against enforced attendance
Student and teacher attendance: The role of shared goods in reducing absenteeism
Why do students miss lectures? A study of lecture attendance amongst students of health science
Does lecture attendance affect academic performance? Panel data evidence for introductory macroeconomics
The impact of charter school attendance on student performance

You can find tons of papers in this topic. Look at this link and her
Hope it helps

I would not compare voluntary attendance with forced attendance (correlation is not causation...).

I did not compare anything either. I just provided some related articles not belong to me for interested readers.

To be fair, I am grateful for a set of links (well beyond just personal opinions what is like standard on this site). Just saying that for a question on mandatory attendance putting papers on voluntary attendance may be not that relevant (and people make thinking "high attendance is important therefore we should force it"). Compare: a usually a healthy bird can fly; but throwing a dead bird into air won't make it healthy. And throwing an ostrich high into air may actually kill it.

My school also has a mandatory attendance policy. While some uninterested students do cause problems there are classroom management techniques to handle that. For example when my students get out of control I warn them. If they continue then I remove them and mark them absent for the day.
While I do understand you are looking for studies I want to make clear that there is not much reason for lectures to drop in quality just because you have a forced attendance policy.
All that said, I could see how in-class activities have lower participation in such a situation and that could lead to reduced learning for the group.

It's a great step for the University. If a student comes to the lecture, they will learn something whether they intend to or not. This should, theoretically, raise the grades of the students in the classroom, which will raise the grades in the University as a whole.
Think of this in a case where you're in a lecture and the professor puts his notes online. Students see this and decide they don't need to go because they can simply read the notes themselves and learn it on their own. This doesn't necessarily mean the prof is bad, it just means that the students are a bit lazy. Even if they do end up reading the notes (which is rare), they're still missing out on critical notes, hints the prof may give, and emphasis on certain topics. Even asking or hearing other students questions. When I was a student, I was in a class that was full and our professor posted his quizzes online, making it so you just had to look up the answers on the internet or take the quiz with a student that did attend class. In the end, I was one of 5 students out of 60. That class had a very low class average.
It's true that students could be in the class that are disruptive, but having mandatory attendance doesn't restrict the prof from kicking those disruptive students out and taking away their attendance for that day. I certainly wouldn't hesitate to remove extremely disruptive students. And if they're there but don't care about the topic, they shouldn't be in the class anyway, or should at least understand that you need to take the class and should make an effort to understand it.
I don't have a study to show you about this, but if you look at it from the view where it's good and think about it, it's pretty obvious there are reasons for it. Schools without the mandatory policy look at schools that have it and see that there's benefit for it, which is why that put it in themselves. No school would put a mandatory policy in without checking into its effectiveness, especially if it's the main step to making their school better.

Showing up to a class does not imply learning. I've seen many cases of students literally sleeping during class. They aren't learning anything, no matter how good the professor is. I've also had classes where the professor goes by a book in the literal sense: Everything in the lecture was written out in the book. Some students just read the book without going to the lecture and did well on the exams.

Sleeping aside, if they're sitting on Facebook and half listening they will pick up something simply by being there. It may not be everything, as intended, but so long as their ears can listen (ie. are not covered by headphones or the person is not asleep), they'll get a little knowledge. And it's true, some professors can go by the book, and students can just read it, but they still won't be there to ask questions or listen to other people's questions. You also need to have the want to read the book; being in the lecture forces you to read it.

@littlekellilee But shouldn't it be up to students to learn? So making attendance mandatory makes people who don't care learning a tiny percent, at cost of people who want to learn but prefer other ways (lecture is just one form, not the only way to get enlightened; for example I, most of the time, preferred to read the textbook or notes, at my pace).

The ones who don't care about learning won't learn if they're in the lecture or out of it. Why be in University if you don't want to learn? If they're forced to go to lecture, it at least helps give them a chance to do better than allowing them to skip. Think about it from the University's perspective, being that they're making the rule. They let people into the school because they expected them to go to class and learn. If someone skips all the time and lowers the school's average, the school would likely have preferred to accept someone else who has more want to get high grades.

Clearly you haven't heard the "joke" about the studnt who pulls out a deck of cards and starts playing solitaire in lecture.  When the teacher confronts then, they say "Sorry, Professor, I forgot my laptop."


text:
Is it possible to get into Psychology research after a PhD in HCI (human computer interaction)?
I'm very interested in psychology research, especially exploring patterns and reason of behaviour, and mechanisms of human mind. During my PhD, I spent considerable amount of time exploring cognitive and neuropsychology literature, and conducted quite a few behavioural and user studies. I'm very confident of my skills in designing experiments and statistics.
My questions are:

Is it possible to be employed by a psychology department merely with
these skills and knowledge?
Should I rather try other types of jobs
which could compromise between my interest and skills?

A little bit more about my background: I did one-year taught master course in psychology, but both my undergraduate and PhD were in computer science departments.

I know of some people who did that in Germany - so the answer is "yes"!

There is a subfield in HCI called human factors engineering. It comes under psych and engineering ,as human factors involves ethnography. You may want to look into that

Here is something what could you do with your CS degree in psychology http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21612114-virtual-shrink-may-sometimes-be-better-real-thing-computer-will-see ?

I've met people who were Computer Science PhDs and actually were part of Psychology departments.
If you did HCI, I think it gets harder to do Psychology, after all is a whole study area by itself, since yours was more specific.
My advice would be to find a laboratory that has both of them, and that way you can get involved in some projects so you can learn other things about psychology
I do not presume to know about the filed, but I'm guessing there are multiple laboratories that might have a psychologist as well as a computer scientists.
Essentially, build up your creed as a Psychologist by going somewhere where there is interaction between the two fields.


text:
United States PhD fast-track
I'm going to finish my undergraduate degree in June and from September I will follow a masters course in the UK. My field of interest is theoretical/mathematical physics.
I had considered applying for a PhD program in the US but I have observed that most graduate programs require following some masters courses and completing an examination before starting your PhD research. If I had known I would have applied for the whole graduate program but all deadlines were around Christmas. So I would like to ask some questions about this.

I guess this will depend on the specific program, but, would there be a possibility of doing some kind of fast-track?, i.e completing the examinations upon arrival and starting your research immediately. Or will I need to spend a year attending to these courses?
I believe this may be a common issue for European students. Does anyone know somebody in the same situation?

This might be a question best asked directly to the departments you are applying to, because different departments structure their requirements differently. In my department, many students that come in with a MA end-up redoing it altogether. The department sometimes waives coursework/thesis requirements for people who did MAs in PhD granting-departments of similar repute/focus, but a lot of MA theses do not "qualify" for exemption if the department considers them not "up to standard" or coming from traditions that are too different.

In most schools worth their salt, you will have no choice but to do the coursework. All European students in our department have to follow all degree requirements with maybe partial waivers of some courses on a case by case basis.

completing an examination Are you talking about qualifying exam? Or admission related exams such as GRE and TOEFL?

@scaaahu I believe that usually there is some kind of examination at the end of the first year of graduate programs, at least in the physics and maths ones. Am I wrong?

@JulioParra you're right, there is, although it may be called a qualifying exam, candidacy exam, or entrance exam, depending on the department. Also it may be at the beginning or in the middle of the first year.

Many departments don't have hard deadlines for the graduate school applications, but they might have some test requirements that you need to take for the school to finally accept your application (i.e., many public universities need a GRE score for all applicants).
In case the departments are fine with it, you can still apply and take the tests in the next month or so, although a lot of departments will start accepting PhD students soon (if they haven't started already).
The tests are usually a general test GRE, a subject test GRE, or the GMAT, but they may vary. Since you're from the UK you don't need the TOEFL english test.
I would suggest to email/call individual professors or departments and ask for more information.
In a lot of cases the graduate student assistants can give you a lot of answers directly since they handle most cases.
Usually departments have a faculty member in charge of the graduate student program. They are also good contacts.
When I applied for my PhD in the states I was still in school in Europe, so I went through a similar situation, although I was done with the standard tests by that December (eight years ago).


text:
Non-English language papers submitted to REF for evaluation?
So this is a little U.K. specific - I'm just curious whether any of you have seen or heard about such submissions. Now I'm completely aware that in many disciplines this seems unlikely, but how about in the fields of Arts & Humanities? What was the value of such submissions, if any?

What does REF stand for?

Research Excellence Framework

Not sure, but I doubt it. They would have to find someone to read and evaluate it in the foreign language.

Non English language outputs are addressed in section 128 of the REF Documentation. Excluding Welsh, for which there was a special system, basically, the output needed to be accompanied by an English language abstract. The abstract is only used to identify an expert capable of evaluating the work and not in the evaluation itself.


text:
Is there evidence of effects of votes of no confidence on enrollment?
Is there any evidence that a successful vote of no confidence on the president of a small college will have a negative impact on enrollment?  This warning is being used by the administration of my college to encourage faculty not to vote no confidence.

Related: What are the repercussions of a "vote of no confidence" made by faculty?

My answer is opinion unsupported by evidence, but I think it's right. {grin}
If your student population is drawn primarily from the local area, then the publicity might dissuade a few potential students from applying.  If the student population is drawn from a wide area (nationally or international) then most potential students will never know about the vote of no confidence, no matter how it turns out.


text:
When and how should you talk to a professor if you think you deserve a different grade?
I recently was returned a midterm I wrote. One question I interpreted differently than what was intended. As a result I got 0.5/3 marks, which isn't a big deal but considering the test was only out of 15, it adds up. Due to timing conflicts I'm unable to meet the prof during office hours, but have scheduled to talk to him after next class.
I'm getting a bit stressed out, I'm uncertain what to say and what to ask for. If I had interpreted the question he intended it to, then I'm sure I could have gotten full marks. Any suggestions? This is the second time it happened but the first was only for 0.5 mark, so I let it slide.
The question had to do with output of a program and asked "what are all possible outputs of the program?" and I wrote down the correct answer, but what he was getting at was if the program was rerun the output may be in a different order so he wanted the answer to have all possible permutations.
Does anyone have recomendations on how many marks to ask for or have a policy on when to talk to the prof when you think you deserve more marks?

Explain the situation to him and listen carefully to what he says.

I'm not certain of the reason for the negative votes.

Are you sure your interpretation of the question made any sense (especially taking into account what this course was about, and what kind of problems you had in the exercises)?

@JukkaSuomela yes. The only thing I feel silly about is after seeing how much the marks were I should have known he expected more and asked to clarify the question.

Does anyone have recomendations on how many marks to ask

Yes, one: do not, absolutely, ask for a specific amount of marks. Explain your interpretation, but leave to the professor to decide whether you deserve more marks or not and, in case, how many.

Agreed. Psychologically, the more the students seems to see the grading as a "negotiation" of sorts, the more likely the prof is to just shut down entirely to the issue.

At my university, office politics are very strong, and instructors see it as a sign of weakness if they give a new grade because it shows they made a mistake and change their mind.

@Celeritas Unfortunately, mistakes happen and politics that deny this don't change the reality: even the best professors make mistakes. Recognizing this, and being able to cope with it, is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength, and actually increases the respect of the students for the professors.

In the situation you described, in principle it seems reasonable to ask for the professor to reconsider the grading, based on what you've written. If you do, here are a few tips:

Be polite.  Take the professor's personality into account.  You don't have to be sycophantic, just be professional.
Be clear about the situation without being verbose. Choose neutral wording - don't insult the exam or make it seem like you are trying to dodge responsibility.
Don't put the professor "on the spot" - don't pressure them to decide immediately, especially if you are talking to them just after class. If it is at all possible, try to meet at office hours instead.  Perhaps give them your exam and ask if they will look at the question and get back to you.
Listen carefully to the response. You can stand up for yourself, but being aggressive is not likely to help anything, so avoid any appearance of that.

That is my opinion about asking. Whether you will receive extra points is a separate question.  Certainly, a few professors may be completely unreasonable.
In my experience most professors want to be reasonable, but they may have other valid concerns about changing the grade, which you would not be aware of:

Whether changing your grade would require changing other students' grades in order to be fair. This might not be straightforward if the exams have been returned.
Whether, in the professor's opinion, you had enough examples of similar problems to know what was intended.
Whether the change is likely to actually affect your final class grade. It it seems unlikely to change your overall grade, and there are other concerns about making the change, this may lead the professor to say no.
Whether many other students are asking for grade changes - which may be less reasonable. There is sometimes a concern that one exception to a policy will lead to many more - so a seemingly inflexible policy may be an attempt to avoid a slippery slope.

These are excellent suggestions.

From the perspective of the marker:
At any time, even the best students might misunderstand a question, and go off the rails in answering it. That's ok, no one exam question or coursework question is a big deal in the final Masters mark. The final assessment, references, and so on, will all be based on the overall course, not one question.
But when a student gets in touch to say they disagree with their mark, and want to negotiate a new one, and they're doing this outside of (or in the absence of) any existing appeal framework, then in my experience that's usually a sign that there are much deeper problems: that this isn't an unlucky incident, this is a problem student.
Bear that in mind.
Don't do any of the things you propose doing. Instead, appoach someone who taught that module and was involved in the marking; tell them that you know you screwed up on that question by misinterpreting what it was asking; and ask how you could have avoided it, and how you can avoid repeating that mistake in the future. Then, if the question genuinely was ambiguous, there's a good chance they'll understand the issue, and take compensatory / corrective action if appropriate. And if it wasn't ambiguous, their answer to your question will help you learn, which is - ultimately - the whole point of the exercise.


text:
Can a professor refuse to introduce any textbook for a course?
In a technical course, our professor refused to introduce any textbook. He officially stated (included in the course syllabus) that all the course content will be discussed in the class, and cover all questions in the final exam.
I think this is a trick to bring the students to the class instead of relying on self-study.
I do not have problem with this method, as I regularly attend the class, but it would be easier to have a textbook.
My question: can a professor do this? Isn't it the essential right of students to have appropriate textbooks for each course?

" Isn't it the essential right of students to have appropriate textbooks for each course?" So, if there is no text book a course cannot be taught?

I'm under the impression that any professor that doesn't mandate a textbook knows the material well enough to teach without someone else's book guiding him, as well as wants to save you the hassle/cost of buying a book.

My most recent teaching gig was as an adjunct in an undergrad Comp Sci program at a local university.  I was given full rein over the course, so long as it fit (like a puzzle) with the related courses in the program.  So basically I made sure to teach into the edges of the other courses, and then designed the rest of the curriculum (for my class) myself.  Although I happened to use a textbook, there was no compelling reason that I had to. It was just easier on me to use the flow of the textbook as a frame for teaching the class.

I've had plenty of technical courses where there really is no good, appropriate textbook. I'd much rather have no textbook than be required to purchase one that does not cover the content well.

Just FYI, I did my entire undergraduate degree with no set textbooks and all course content covered between lectures (classes) and problem sheets (assignments). The lecturers (professors) and tutors (um... over-qualified TAs?) were still happy to recommend books for those who wanted them, but naturally any disagreement in content or notation would be resolved by the lectures, not the book. As you can probably tell by the lingo, this was in the UK, so maybe "the right to a set textbook" is one of those human rights the Americans were so keen to found a republic over and that we never got ;-)

I've had courses with textbooks that were not particularly related to the course material. I've had courses with no textbook. If you feel like a textbook would be useful, you don't need it to be a required book -- you can buy textbooks on your own, and can ask the professor if you want recommendations.

... so you can always ask around other experts in the field, what books (if any) might be useful to you. I'm sure they'll have opinions. It's just that the course you're learning is not strictly embodied by some particular list of chapters in particular books. I'd say it's not so much a "trick" to bring you to class, as putting you on notice that you're taught and examined by the university, not by a textbook author. Anyone who'd rather read a book than attend a university can do just that ;-)

Like Kathy I've had plenty of technical courses where the prof couldn't find a acceptable textbook so we did not have one. I almost always preferred this because its usually a sign the prof knows the subject very well, and the material you learn is a lot more directed and useful, at least compared to examples in textbooks.

I bet that if you asked your professor for some supplemental material, he/she would more than happy to give you some recommendations.

I don't understand how this is a quality question for this site and not just a rant.  What evidence of research does this question show?  My understanding is that this site is intended for professional academics.  Is this really a question relevant to professional academics?

@KennyPeanuts certainly it's ranty and under-researched, but it is also clearly on topic.  It is definitely a salvageable question if edited appropriately.

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the answer depends solely on the policies of the university where the course is taught.

What's a "textbook"?

Why would you want a book knowing its not going to be taught from?  The essential right of a student is have information presented to learn from.  The form is decided by the teacher.

Sorry to be blunt, but you (OP) seem to misunderstand what "studying" means. You are not entitled to any ready-made source material; you are however expected to do what it takes to master the material. (Also, as others mentioned, there may not be a single or even a set of books covering the material. This can be because of an eclectic taste on the teacher's part, or because (some of) the material is too new to have been published in aggregated, polished book form.)

From my perspective as a (former) student, textbooks were a waste of time; simply paperweights that meant nothing in my field of study (computer science), since they were outdated the moment they were written. I never bought any textbooks even if they were required.

@xLeitix He didn't say the course couldn't be taught without a textbook.  Where is your reading comprehension getting that?  He clearly stated he didn't have a problem with the method which is basically an acknowledgment by the OP that it is possible to teach a class that way.

I don't see what is ranty about this at all.  The first paragraph states the scenario, without complaining.  The second is a speculation about the professor's reason for doing this, which maybe could be construed as a complaint or maybe OP didn't think of a better word than "trick".  The third clearly states he doesn't have a problem with the method(very opposite of ranting), yet states it would be easier if there was a textbook(which if someone went to the professor and said "I think having a textbook would be easier" that's more of a constructive suggestion/request than a complaint).

@AaronLS I agree about paragraph 3 and its constructive suggestions. However, in the first paragraph, "refused" is a very loaded way of saying "decided not to"; in the second, "trick" is extremely accusatory. Both of those sound very ranty to me.

I think that, as he gave no textbook for the whole course, you should ask the professor to give advice on further reading for each chapter of his lecture, so you could reread about and beyond his lecture slides.

There is no "right to have a textbook". Students do have a right to pick a different professor, or a different major, if they want. You should assume that the lack of a textbook for the course means that the instructor has evaluated existing texts as not appropriate.

"Different professor" doesn't always work (sometimes a course is only taught by one professor). You can always not take a course, but you generally can't demand that a course be taught by a different professor.

Students do not have the right to pick a different professor or demand a course be taught by a different professor. They can enroll in another subject instead.

... or another university.

Or they can go buy a textbook on their own that isn't "sanctioned" by the course. If you know that reading a textbook is best for your learning style, then buy one. Just understand that it won't always cover everything your professor wants you to know.

I can’t agree with the last sentence. One might feel that a number of available textbooks are appropriate and usable and still prefer to use one’s own organization and not to require students to buy a (probably expensive) book that in principle they won’t need. In practice some will be much more comfortable with a textbook, and the solution then is @DavidK’s.

This actually sounds good! Whenever I met professors like this, I'd look forward to his/her lectures. Most of the time, they have good confidence, experience, and mastery of the subject and can pull off very systematic lectures and discussions. I would perhaps try to see this as a very positive sign and start appreciate the professor.
As for "trick" to get students to attend. What most of us merely want is to have our teaching done in an effective manner (though "effectiveness" can be subjective, and would need to be optimized to fulfill both students and professor. But the professor is the driving force of the teaching process, as a student I'd respect the decision.) If coming to class is the most effective, then we'll make students come to class. There is no trick, for we don't get paid by how many show up in the class. We just want to see you and address your questions.
Think another way, this is a person who would rather deal with more potential questions and varied reactions in class than stuffing you a text and ask you to survive yourself. It's likely a good sign. (Or, he/she may have copied the whole text into the lecture and read each slide out loud, though I tend to think most people are good first.)
As for the text-deprived, they can always get their own text. The syllabus should have provided enough headlines for you to match with the book's contents page, allowing you to make an informed decision when buying or borrowing textbooks. Also, a search for syllabus with similar course title will also get you ample amounts of sample syllabi, most of which probably did suggest a text.
Additionally, just because there isn't an assigned textbook doesn't mean the professor will not recommend any reference book. Perhaps later into the semester you can ask if there are any desktop references or web resources he/she will recommend.
Lastly, some personal experience: good textbooks come by more often due to chance than effort. Sometimes the authors may use different terminology, have different inclusion or organization of the topics, use different software so the examples don't apply to the students, or everything is good but they haven't updated the book for 10+ years, etc. Sometimes there is just not a suitable text.

100% agree with your first point. Lack of a book recommendation usually speaks to the confidence of the lecturer. I'd rather have no book than be forced to purchased an overpriced one from an ethically dubious publisher. Your last point is of course dependent on the field; calculus books have stayed relevant for hundreds of years but a machine learning or software textbook may age itself to irrelevance over the course of a decade.

@Conor Aging to irrelevance over the course of a decade? How about aging to irrelevance over the course of it getting edited, printed, and shipped to the bookstore?

No, there is no mandate.
I taught an introductory course last semester and deliberately decided to not use any textbooks at all -- only journal articles that the students could download from the library database. This was because I wanted the students to learn what my field was  through the most recent, cutting-edge materials available.
My university (I believe it is a federal rule) says that I must list all the required textbook titles and prices before the beginning of the term so that the students can shop classes based on price.  But there is no requirement to have textbooks and the fact that my class was listed as $0 for required texts was a bonus.

If listing texts and prices is a federal rule, it must be a very recent one.

@aeismail, relatively recent; it's been in place for only a few years. See here.

+1 for "This was because I wanted the students to learn what my field was through the most recent, cutting-edge materials available." Textbooks are usually multiple years old. Related: What subjects benefit from textbook editions?

I can't say I see how it is required that a Professor prescribes a text. I have had lots of classes where the only material was that given in lectures.
However, if you want some additional clarification, I would email the Professor and politely inquire if there are any references he considers relevant to the course.  I cannot imagine a reasonable academic would be unwilling to advise you - his notes almost certainly draw from somewhere. In my experience, the biggest problem is that the course material is often concocted from many somewheres over many years. Still, I am sure the course leader could refer you to something, even if it is a list of chapters spread over multiple books.
The thing is, if the Professor has not a set a text, this a sign that focus of the course (read assessment) will be based on the class material only. Hence you risk going down a rabbit hole working off other material, and I would try and be sure that the stuff you look up is in the scope of the lectures.

As an extreme case, I'll mention the Moore method, developed for mathematics courses. In a class taught according to this method, students are given only basic information (definitions, etc) and are expected to derive all the standard results in the subject for themselves (either individually or collectively).
In the traditional version of this method, not only is there no assigned textbook, students are forbidden from referring to any textbooks or other resources on the subject, for the duration of the term.
This teaching method is certainly controversial (no need to post comments saying you think it sounds terrible) but I think most institutions would consider it a legitimate approach if a professor chose to adopt it.
As I've mentioned in a few recent answers, professors generally have wide latitude in making pedagogical decisions for the courses they teach, and institutions tend to avoid creating regulations that would constrain that latitude.

I took a class once where all answers had to be derived from a single formula (fluid mechanics).  The problem that I had was that the teacher wouldn't let us take notes in his class, because 'it's all in the book' (because he wrote the book) ... so sitting there for 75 min per class, not being allowed to write anything meant I fell asleep every class.  It also didn't help that I remember things by writing them down (I can often remember it was on the top of a left-hand page of my notebook, and visualize my notes)

Okay: I’ll post one saying that it can be wonderful. :-) My first topology course was taught modified Moore method, Jim Cannon’s 700-level graduate topology course at Madison too many years ago was taught straight Moore method, and they were the two most enjoyable non-seminar mathematics courses that I ever took.

@Joe not allowing students to take notes sounds like a pretty terrible and self-absorbed professor. I would go so far as to find places online to make recommendations against taking his classes, if he can't understand the simple fact that some people learn best by writing, and that notes can help translate a cryptic bit of a textbook into an idea the student can more readily grasp.

I don't see why should there be such a right. In most places, only things that have been presented on the lecture can be examined. If you are present at the lecture, you take your notes and study from them.
If you miss a lecture, then (first it's your problem and second) you either ask a mate to have his notes copied, or come to the professor, explain your reasons (should be something serious: illness or good family reasons, as always) and ask for references that cover the lecture you missed. The prof (in most places) need not give any, but usually they will.

There is no such requirement that I know of, and there should not be. The professor's job is to teach the material. If they can do it without a book, great!
I taught intro to statistics as a graduate student, and I could not find a book that I really liked. They were too wordy with real life examples, and they provided formulas with little or no intuitive explanation. So, I knew that I was going to rely on my notes from intro to statistics class (which was very good and almost entirely lecture based) that I took myself as a student. Given, that my class would be entirely based on the class lecture and the notes, I felt bad requiring a $100+ book, which would hardly be used.
I "recommended" a book stating clearly that it is not required and I was not super impressed with it.
Many people thanked me for not using a book in their evaluations.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.  If you can't find a good text, and pick a mediocre one that doesn't help, the students won't like you wasting their money.  If you don't specify a text in this case, the students think they're being tricked into attending class.
To answer your question, profs are generally free to do as they choose with respect to texts.  In response to your feelings on the matter, if you work out the math, in the top US private schools, you're paying about $200/lecture that you choose to miss.  The pedagogical approach the profs tend to take work best if you're in class. If you don't mind missing out on that, and don't mind paying for lectures you're not attending, and can accept that you might well grade lower than your class-attending peers, then your approach to class attendance works well for you.

If you don’t specify a text, some students will indeed feel that they’re being forced to attend class, but I found that even more were uncomfortable without their security blanket. And to be fair, some of them really did need one: some students really don’t learn as well in the classroom as they do from books. In any case I don’t think that the per lecture figure means much: what you’re paying for is access to the instructor and the relevant facilities (e.g., library and tutoring programs), and how you weight the various components will depend on you and on the specific course.

@BrianM.Scott One of the things I try to train students to do is to learn to operate without a security blanket, and show them they can function at a high level without one.  My teaching is with upperclass engineers, so they've already been through the mill and I get the survivors.  Where appropriate, I use good textbooks -- though I'm getting less and less publisher support over the years.

Note, though, that as I said, for some people it is not a security blanket: it is a more effective resource than the classroom.

If a student more effectively learns by reading a textbook, then why not ask the professor for a recommendation of a text that one can use to supplement what is taught in the classroom, with the explanation that they learn best through reading? Any professor worth a damn should understand, and be happy to recommend a text that is compatible with their curriculum so as to best enhance the learning experience (as opposed to the student picking a text at random, that might be at odds with the professor's methodology or curriculum).

When not using a text, of course supporting material should be available, and liberally.  Reserve Materials, Source Names, electronic material available on course websites, etc.,

I have taught at universities which did not require textbooks, universities which did require a textbook but did not prescribe which one, and universities which prescribed the textbook. Perhaps the concern is that instructors in future courses should be able to presume student who completed a specific course has been exposed to a specific curriculum. Ideally, this should be true independently of the university or the instructor. In practice, it is not always so.

There are courses for which there is no good reason for it to be so. An example in my field is the genuine liberal arts math course (as distinct from courses so labelled that are actually either remedial or courses in practical elementary topics that might be useful in daily life).


text:
How can I proceed towards research in Machine Learning while I am working as a software developer?
I currently work as a software developer and I am curious about machine learning research.
Does it work if I can spend some extra time to read papers/collaborate towards ML research, or is a Master's degree the only option? If yes, how can I network to find like-minded ML enthusiasts with whom I can collaborate?
I do not have any professional experience as a machine learning engineer/researcher. I have done an undergrad course in ML and a Coursera specialisation in deep learning.

Reading papers is a good way to get started.  Are you thinking of applying to any MS/PhD programs in the near future?  I'd try contacting faculty at your undergraduate or any prospective schools to try and get advice as to how to move forward on this in addition to learning more through papers or new ML frameworks.

"how can i network to find like-minded ML enthusiasts." Depending upon where you are there might be after-work meet-ups nearby. Have a beer, meet others, learn new things. I'd say informally that the field, at this time, is particularly fertile for amateur researchers, just find an interesting niche and dive in!

Some questions with the [tag:independent-researcher] tag might be helpful for specific points as well.

If you have 5k for a computer and you can read medium you're about at the level of a lot of Deep Learning researchers lol

What are your goals? To work on an ML problem, to publish papers, to become a professor?

@Justas, it is more towards reading papers and publish papers if possible.

If your goal is to eventually publish in one of the top conferences (nips, icml, iclr), realistically your only viable route is to get a phd. Actually, one of the most famous AI researchers in the world, David Silver, was working full time in software development before starting his PhD at the age of 28. If you are serious about doing research and want to make it your career, getting a phd is more or less your only viable route.
Obviously this is a very big commitment and life change because you would have to take a major pay cut, probably relocate, and devote the next several years of your life to your phd research. If you're not ready to make such a big decision, I would suggest that you find a paper(s) you're interested in, that doesn't currently have a public github code, and implement that paper's method. This can get your some experience and visibility. You could also try to find some existing repository and try to improve/add to it in some way. Either of these options won't result in publications but can get you some very tangible experience that can look good on your cv. And unlike trying for an actual publication, this is something you could realistically make progress on while also working full time.

The first sentence is nonsense. You don't need any credential to publish. You need a PhD for a career in academia, most likely, but not for much of anything else.

@Buffy Correct, but ML research is extremely competitive and fast moving. I am highly doubtful of someone being able to produce a meaningful piece of research while only having an undergraduate degree, especially while also working full time. There may be a few people with only an undergraduate degree that have done meaningful ML research (one paper in particular comes to mind), but all instances I am aware of involve that person doing internship/study with top research groups (e.g. google deepmind/brain) and working with several prominent experts as part of that internship.

@Taw I think what you say is practically true but not absolute. It is hard to do research independently but it still can be done. In math, it's been done in famous examples.

There are two paths to doing research.
The bottom-up approach starts by learning the basics, through such things as reading and coursework, maybe online. A masters might lie on this path, but note that not all masters degrees have a research focus. Courses do give you the basics and reading can get you closer to research. But some papers are difficult without having the basics. Authors can make a lot of assumptions about the knowledge of their readers.
The top-down approach starts with a problem that you find interesting and is likely to be interesting to others and then do "just enough" reading to understand the problem and design and carry out a solution. Along with reading you can discuss your problem with others who might have the background you lack, provided you can connect with them and get them to talk to you. Looking for possible extensions to existing papers might be a way to find a problem.
The first is sort of breadth-first and the second is like depth-first searching for help.
But, everyone on the planet at the moment, along with all their siblings, seems to want to be studying and researching in ML at the moment. It is among the hottest of the hot topics currently. It will be hard, using either approach to be successful since the ideas are "out there" accessible to all those others. So, there is almost certainly a ton of parallel research going on on a very large number of approaches. Getting to the front of this pack is going to be challenging unless you already have gone some way on one of those two approaches.
You find collaborators at conferences pretty regularly, but you have to read the papers and meet the authors. You also need something to add if you want to get a collaboration going. The bottom up approach (via coursework) gives you access to professors who might give you a boost.
My advice is to give one or the other approaches a try and see what you can do. But, keep flexible. Don't commit too much time or intellectual effort to a too-narrow approach. Keep your options open. Either of the approaches gives you skills, not only in ML but also for what might be the next-big-thing.

This might be rather narrow, but it could still achieve what you're after: work on a chess engine. The current strongest chess engines, Stockfish & Leela Chess Zero, are both open-source community-driven engines that use machine learning. If you join them, you'd have ready access to lots of experienced developers as well as the hardware to test your ideas. Plus you can work as much or as little as you want.
I don't know how often this kind of work leads to publications, but it's certainly research since you'd be pushing the envelope into the unknown, and if it comes to it you can cite it as research experience for whatever application you might write in the future.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Overuse of i.e. and e.g
I got used to using 'i.e.' and 'e.g.' to give more details or give examples, but I have been told that I overuse them. When is it appropriate to remove them? When should I absolutely use them?
I feel I should use it all the time if I use one of those at least once in a manuscript.

Shouldn’t the title be “Overuse of, e.g., i.e.?”

It's not really an academics question, more of a grammar or English usage question.

@puppetsock but as far as I know it is used in academic writing, thus my question in 'Academia' :)

@JonCuster Maybe? Not a native here

@PierreO So are cars, used in academia. But we don't usually answer auto mechanics questions.

@puppetsock in that case, cars would be the subject of a study (or there are academic cars I am not aware of) and not a technique used by academics.
In the time, you took writing this comment, I could have gotten an answer. ;)

@PierreO - that comment was mostly tongue-in-cheek, but it does demonstrate how those both break up the flow of sentences.

@JonCuster That was definitely a good one ;)

What do you mean by, "I feel I should use it all the time"? Like: any place you'd say "for example", use "e.g." instead? Or do you mean something else?

Closer voters: I think this is a valuable question to have here on Academia.SE. If you are concerned about it, perhaps edit the question to improve it.

@DanielR.Collins I meant to stay consistent in my writing, if I use it once, I should use it each time, instead of alternating "for example" and "e.g.", or "i.e." and "that is".

@PierreO: I suspect that the critic would be equally aggravated by lots of "for examples" running around (regardless of abbreviations).

If you are told by an editor or a reviewer that it is too much, then make a change to satisfy them.
Otherwise don't worry too much about it, though it is a good idea to keep such things as overuse of any sort of technique or phrasing in mind.
The key is that the language should flow. If it gets stilted in any way, make an adjustment. We all probably need to improve.
But note that taking them all out and replacing them with "that is" and "for example" might seem just as stilted.

I was thinking more of removing them with just parenthesis.
"This was observed in the literature (for fish, Johns 2010, for bears, Keith 2019)" instead of
"This was observed in the literature (e.g. for fish, Johns 2010, for bears, Keith 2019)"

@PierreO "This was observed in the literature for several species, including fish (Johns 2010) and bears (Keith 2019)."

@lighthousekeeper not sure why I am not used to write it like this but this is a very good example!

@lighthousekeeper or even just "This was observed in fish (Johns 2010) and bears (Keith 2019)."

You are writing in English, not Latin.  You should avoid using e.g or i.e.  That's what my high school English teachers told me.
If replacing them with "for example" and "that is" makes your prose too stilted, then you need to reword your sentences.
Writing is not easy.  Unfortunately, artful writing is not particularly rewarded, so few academics bother.

The e.g and i.e. are very popular in research papers (at least in health, economics, and finance areas)

@NoviceMindset and ecology, biology, medicine, physics, chemistry...etc :) I have seen it in many other fields

Normally teachers teach pupils how to fill a page. The English teachers, as well those teaching any other language, do not think in terms of number of characters. At least they won't put a numerical upper limit to them.

Your teacher was incorrect. "i.e." and "e.g." are just as legitimate English as other import words like "pajamas" and "hors d'oeuvres"

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


text:
Prevented from leaving in academia. How to prevent it from happening to other postdocs?
I am currently a postdoctoral fellow in a top institution. Sadly it did not really go well, principally for human reasons. Therefore I decided to leave my position and last year I made it clear to my PI that I would leave this year (I said exactly that it would be my last contract), which he was fine with. I found a position and got an offer, which would have required me to start two months before the end of my contract. I came to my PI, who refused to let me go, as he wanted me to finish my current project. I later realized that he invented a vastly exaggerated story about the company to justify his refusal. At the time I believed him and refused the position. Looking back it was clearly just a story to keep me for as long as possible. Sadly I am in a country where I don't have the right to resign unilaterally from a fixed-term position, only by mutual agreement and he made it clear that I won't be able to leave before it expires.
This is after I already delivered on one of the two projects, that I worked on with a best-in-class solution (I am on the computational side), published, and distributed it. The second is in a very good spot, just not 100% finished.
I think that preventing a postdoc who wants to leave academia from getting a permanent position does not conform to the usual informal deal in academia, and that this conduct should not be rewarded. The problem is that if I keep working hard and deliver, it means that the behavior of my PI is rewarded. I also really want to pass this knowledge on, so that another postdoc doesn't end up trapped with this PI.
I would also add that at least 50% of the last students/postdocs of this PI left and do not want to talk to him ever again. He frequently does not talk to his PhDs for years, even when being the principal supervisor. He is simply the worst 'mentor' and 'manager' that I have met in academia, because he does not even try to be any of this.
My PI is clearly keeping me out of the 'next generation' job interviews probably because he knows that I'll be bluntly honest and discourage anyone to come in this lab in 1 on 1.
Is there any way to get the word out about his behavior? If I finish the second project, do I not reward this behavior, so that he will do that to future students/postdoc? What are my options to ensure that this kind of behavior does not reproduce?

I personally think that you have to distinguish between different aspects of your interaction. Offering an early termination of your work contract may be usual in academia, but you can't take this for granted, I'm afraid. Funding often comes with obligations, and leaving a job right before these obligations are due would be hugely problematic for the PI, so such implicit agreements cannot come without restrictions. Having said this, actions such as incorrectly badmouthing your prospective employer are not acceptable. But badmouthing your former PI will also put a bad light on you. (...)

(...) so the default course of action is to give an honest opinion whenever somebody asks you for it. For instance, a prospective future postdoc may ask you for tips before starting. You could also file a complaint with some person at the school. But doing it openly on the web will most likely backfire.

You are both right. I took for 'granted' the early termination which is usually 'offered' in academia or legally allowed. However I have never heard of such a case in academia before, the usual setting was always 'you have a permanent position you can go'. I guess that what @DCTLib suggested is probably the best option.

@Roland , as stated the questions is not "How do I get the job". I am sure I can find another one. To me the point is more to inform other postdocs that this is a risk  (Denying permanent position to finish a fixed term contract) in this lab. As it wasn't clear that there was to me, nor to any other postdoc that I know of. This is very unusual at least in my current country.

@Roland: I'm not convinced that the notice period is "usually quite long" in Germany. I just checked my current as well as some earlier contracts (from Universities in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg): All of them contain a paragraph that it's possible to regularly quit ("ordentliche Kündigung"), with the details specified in the collective wage agreement (§ 34 Absatz 1 TV-L). These details include a notice period of six weeks of you have not yet been employed at least five years (and the notice period is 3 months if you have been employed between 5 and 8 years).

@Roland: Hmm, maybe I misunderstood you. I was referring to your comment that the notice period is "usually quite long" in Germany. Six weeks doesn't seem to be quite long to me.

@Roland: Yes, I agree with this.

The law in my current country forbid to break a fixed term contract except if you can prove that one of the side failed in its duties. If that is the case there is no notice period. The other postdoc were as suprised as me to realized that we can t resign legally. I strongly suspect that 90% of the postdoc of the country did not realize this.

@UnknownPostdoc: I think it would be really helpful if you could specify the country (in case that there are people on Academia StackExchange who have experience there).

In no Western democratic country can you be forced to go to work, at least not for a random academic job. The employer can stop paying you, revoke your work visa, and curse you, but they cannot send the police after you to drag you to work. I don't know what the laws are in your country, but it seems to me that if you desperately want to quit a job, you should be able to do so.

@Roland: Auflösungsverträge are quite common in academia in Germany, because a) fixed-term contracts are very common, and the legal defaults for fixed-term contracts do not allow to unilaterally cancel (i.e. employee cannot give notice). As you write, TVL and TVÖD do specify notice periods. The ones for fixed term contracts are AFAIK in §30, and they are of increasing length depending at the the time with the same employer. E.g. 4 months to the end of a quarter for employess that have been at the same employer for 4 years - which could easily be the case for a postdoc. ...

... The second reason b) is that German employees do have a right to get an Auflösungsvertrag in order to accept a better contract. The exit scenario "industry position" is common and also commonly qualifies as better, if only because a permanent contract is considered better than a fixed-term one.

Looks like the jurisdiction was Switzerland. Just in case anyone has any first-hand legal/practical experience with "Auflösungsverträge" in Switzerland.

I it is been a a few months and my situation changed a lot. I left at the end of my contract and started a new interesting job. I can say that the country is Switzerland, and from my knowledge it should apply in all Switzerland. I decided to post my experience about the follow-up to help people in a similar situation. About the question "How to prevent the situation from reproducing ?":

People contacted me about doing a postdoc in this lab. I said I was leaving because I was not interested in academia, but that they needed to be very independent. No word about the relationship with the PI, as 40%-50% of people seems to have a decent run in the lab.
The PI had trouble recruiting, I think it is because a lot of people quit, and it is visible if you follow the publications record of the lab.

About the legal aspect raised in the different answers:

It is not possible to resign from a fixed term contract in a general case, you have to give a rightful justification. The majority of postdoc in switzerland don t know that, but it is the case if not specified in your contract.

Other considerations which might be useful for someone in a similar situation:

The company still asked my PI for references, so keeping good relation was important. Taking a legal action or not working at all would probably have been worst to find a new position.
Despite my perception, doing a postdoc in a top institute and sticking to it was ultimately very worth it, I had a lot of interesting offers to choose from.

As this questions is still unanswered, a few things to consider:

Are you sure that you cannot terminate your contract giving e.g. two
months notice? Don't ask your PI if you are allowed to terminate the contract but rather
ask someone like a labour union representative.
Even if you cannot terminate your contract: What happens if you just
don't show up for work anymore? He would possibly fire you. But isn't
this exactly what you want anyway? (Added:  Could you be sued for noncompliance?)
If for whatever reason the " don't show up anymore" is not an option
for you then you can still come to work but stop doing anything there.
I'm pretty sure then your PI will agree to a contract termination quite
quickly. As an employee you have always    much more leveraged
in such a situation.

The PI will not get what he wants - if he learns his lesson from that is however another question.

In some places and under some contracts, the OP might be sued for noncompliance. The consequences could, in theory, be worse than just not getting paid.

I am 100% sure that resignation was not possible. See the accepted answer. Moreover, academia is a small world, you ll need all the references that you can use. Therefore not showing up or doing nothing is not an option, as it will leads to your supervisor not recommending you.

As I read this, it boils down to reading contracts carefully, and possibly having a lawyer go over them to be on the safe side. Key points:

Contracts are very specific and clear from a legal standpoint, and anything that is not clear is not applicable.
If you sign a contract you explicitly agree to everything it says. If it says you cannot leave before its end without them (whatever other party) approving, then you have explicitly agreed to that term. and must see it through.
But not all is lost: The other party has to obey the same contract. If there is a clause that says that you can leave, as long as the circumstances in the clause are applicable, you can use that with certainty.
The repercussions of breaking the contract by not fulfilling what you agreed to can range from nothing to, as was pointed out in comments, a non-compliance lawsuit.

The core advice here is: read carefully before signing, consider how each term can be used and abused, and when you need something that the other party does not agree with, talk with a lawyer specifying what exactly you want, in order to find the loophole that gets that done - if it exists. Simple as that. The operating principles of contracts are simple, the details of the law are not, which is why we have lawyers that know the laws, the caveats and the gotchas.
Also keep in mind that "having the right" to do something does not mean they have to do it, nor that they must remind you to do it. They can stay silent, unless the contract says they must notify you, so it is very likely that they are aware of how you can get out but will not tell you.


text:
Asking for a retraction as a non-academic
I am a software developer and recently implemented an algorithm from a paper in an academic journal. I am convinced that the algorithm is fundamentally flawed, having spent several hours working with it as well as with the author's original source code. This paper has not been cited for its results, only its existence.
The authors, including the corresponding author, were undergraduates and appear to no longer be in academia. The exception is the first author who was and is tenured faculty.
What are my options for correcting the record? As far as I can see, I can:

attempt to write a rebutting paper - but I do not have the time to do so, even if I could marshal my mind back into academic mode
contact the first author - which seems courteous but perhaps not particularly fruitful
contact the journal - but I can't find any obvious contact info

Are there any other options open to me? What is likely to be most productive?

Papers are generally retracted for academic misconduct of some sort, not simply for being false. Accordingly, contacting the journal is unlikely to produce any result. No journal will retract a paper just because you contact it and tell them that you are "convinced that the algorithm is fundamentally flawed" (and rightly so). How is the journal supposed to know whether you are right or the authors are right? On the other hand, the authors could decide to willingly retract it if you convince them that they are wrong.

Ignoring the implementation, if you believe the algorithm to be incorrect, have you spotted the flaw, particularly if there’s an incorrect proof? Isolate the flaw or gap before contacting the authors.

When you ask "what is likely to be most productive", what is your goal?

Unfortunately there are a lot of bad papers out there....

"Several hours" does not sound like very much time. Leave it for a few weeks, then investigate it again as thoroughly as you can. Then if you are still convinced it is wrong, follow Ethan Bolker's advice.

@AdamPřenosil. I'm increasingly worried that retractions for being wrong are becoming more common.

Thanks all; first thoughts amid the holidays as follows. I'm surprised that retraction is only for misconduct, thought that it also included fundamental error. Would not expect journal to retract on its own accord but was hoping they might publish a letter to editor. Re. algorithm - there is no proof to correctness, only to time/space complexity - the described algorithm does have the time complexity claimed but produces an incorrect result; the author-provided implementation appears to produce the correct result but has major discpreancies (both in method and complexity) from the paper.

I would start by contacting the corresponding author, probably with a cc to the first author faculty member.
Explain why you want to implement the algorithm, describe your attempt and the problems you encountered.
Keep your questions and concerns polite and factual - nothing about fatal flaws in the algorithm.
In principle, the authors should be pleased that their work has been noticed and want it to be corrected if it's wrong. Retraction should not be part of the discussion at this stage.

Exactly. For example, typos? Ask for clarification, first. :)

It may be wrong but fixable as well.

This is great advice.  I once did a derivation of an equation in a paper and I couldn't get it to work.  After contacting the authors, who had long since retired, I learned that it was the journal's error in typesetting (the paper was from 1978), and they had addressed this in their follow-on papers, which I didn't read as they weren't primarily what I was after.  10k+ citations on the paper with an error, and <100 on all of the papers that the same group wrote with the updates.

Good answer, but maybe include that after the discussion has failed many Journals have a "comment" type of (short) response to an published article.

Contacting the author is the correct course of action because of the culture of Academia; you don't go nuclear right out of the gate. Be gentle and cautious, because you may even be wrong yourself. It is also possible that there is a small typo, or something equally minor, which can be fixed. And then you have the added benefit of not only making a real contribution to science, but also making great connections. You burn bridges fast when you skip the proper channels, and miss out on a great opportunity to build relationships.

Thanks for your thoughts; do you suggest I leave it if I can't get in touch/don't hear back? At the end of the day, I assume there is merit to the academic record being correct, but at the same time, must be a realist as to how much effort is sensible.

@waiwai933 Whether you proceed on your own if you don't hear back depends on how important the problem is to you and how important you think it is to the world and how much time you want to invest. No need to decide until you've tried and failed to reach the authors. Let us know here what happens.

If you are mainly interested in pointing out the flaw in the original article (or if you reached out to the author and/or journal but you are not satisfied with their response), there is also the option to post your analysis on pubpeer.com, either with your name or anonymously.
Comments on PubPeer have led to high-profile investigations & retractions, see its Wikipedia article.

Pubpeer is the best choice here, as you are probably not interested in investing a lot of time into your comment, but would like to prevent others from wasting their time as you did. You do not need to have any scientific background. This option is fast and does not rely on the authors response to make it useful for other readers.

The journal editors do not know if the code is correct and they do not know if you're right, but they have the opinion of usually three reviewers who considered the paper (and possibly the code) to be right.
What could change their minds would be another peer-reviewed paper proving that the code is wrong. On the other hand, once the other paper is published, the retraction would only be a minor detail as everyone could read themselves the proof that the paper is wrong.
In summary: The editors do not know, the authors and the reviewers claim it is correct and you are alone claiming it's wrong. It's unlikely the editors will do something about it.

Regarding your first paragraph: I've successfully published several papers describing algorithms, including in good quality journals, and I'm 99% certain that none of the reviewers who have reviewed my papers and approved them would be able to answer the question "is the algorithm correct?", let alone "is the code a correct implementation of that algorithm?". That would be wayyyyy too much work and I wouldn't expect it from a reviewer.

Also, I wouldn't recommend trying to publish a paper whose main message is "here is a proof that these authors' algorithm was completely wrong" without contacting these authors first. I think contacting the authors is, at least, a professional courtesy in this situation; they might be willing to cooperate in publishing a proof that their own algorithm was wrong, or better yet, publishing a new, fixed, algorithm. So you end up with a friend instead of an enemy.

Also. It would be much more significant if you could show exactly where the flaw lies, and demonstrate how to fix it. Failure to reproduce results, may simply mean you had an odd dataset that doesn't fit the case the solution was designed for,  or that your implementation was faulty, as well as the same having happened to the researchers; you need to be able to explain the difference, or at least try to characterize the ranges where it doesn't work after extensive testing. Remember that a paper us stating observations and proposing a model, not asserting a law of nature  has been proven.

Indeed, either the authors should write a corrigendum themselves, or your paper should provide more than just pointing out an error in the other paper.

You would write your own paper reassessing the original one. Please respect others proceedings and never compete with authors - cooperate instead.
In addition, redefinition of "wrong" algorithm should start with reproducible experiment showing fundamental refutation: evaluation, metrics and corresponding stuff. The seed is to provide scientific problem but C++ developer confusion.
Unfortunately, nowadays some poor quality papers are mainly forced by laboratory sponsors which leads too low experienced students sciencfricking. Hence contacting the authors will not be the case (as for me).

In fields such as economics, it is possible to submit a commentary paper. This type of paper undergoes peer review, and if deemed relevant by reviewers and the journal's editor, it may be published in an issue.
As some comments have suggested, if you identify an issue, it is essential to formally prove its inaccuracy by presenting a clear methodology.
In many cases, a paper is not retracted unless there is academic misconduct, such as falsifying data, etc. Also, there is no reason to retract a paper. This shows how different fields of science function.
Here is an example of a paper published in a reputable journal. Without delving into specific details, the paper's primary conclusion is the existence of an important fact, denoted as "A."
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-2879.2007.00002.x
Another author has written a commentary paper, disproving this result and scientifically demonstrating that the fact "A" does not exist:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1538-4616.2008.00192.x
Notably, the original paper has not been retracted. If you are considering responding to this article, you have two options:

Contact the editor-in-chief or someone, possibly an associate editor, from the editorial board. Inquire whether they are interested in a commentary paper. However, be cautious, as this opportunity may be your only chance to publish such a paper. It's unlikely that another journal would be interested in publishing a commentary on a work that has already been published elsewhere.

Write a general paper on this topic and show that your results are better than the existing papers in the literature.


text:
French master student, equivalent honours in the UK?
I am completing my second year of Master in mathematics in France and applying for a PhD in the UK, I wonder how to present my grades. I had average grades of 17.1/20 and 17.4/20. Shall I just write this (I'm afraid the 0-20 scale might be confusing), add that it is equivalent to First Class Honours (I was for sure in the first 10% of the class, maybe first, but there is no record of the ranking), or do you have any other suggestions?
I appreciate your answers

Every admission committee sees lots of foreign applicants, and are used to different scales. For countries as close as France and UK, that is especially true. Your recommendation letter writers are likely to know the actual ranks, and mention it in their letters.

@BorisBukh Just to clarify: do you mean "close" in the geographical sense or in some kind of Hamming metric of the respective systems? (I have some doubts that the two systems are close in the latter sense)

@YemonChoi I mean that, due to geographical proximity, French students are quite common in UK.

I would be careful when trying to make a direct comparison between the grades. Having "honours" after your degree in the UK generally means that you didn't fail any of your courses, so a 1st class and a 1st class hons. are not equivalent. Furthermore, research-based Masters degrees in the UK are generally marked Fail/ Pass/ Merit/ Distinction rather than 1st/ 2:1/ 2:2 etc. The exception to this are so-called "integrated Masters" which are common in the sciences. These are four year courses where the candidate finishes with (for example) an MSci rather than a BSc, and are graded with the usual classifications.
So, I think there is no direct equivalent, so you should simply write your grade as you have it. Understanding a mark out of twenty is not too challenging and chances are there will be academics familiar with the French system wherever you apply, or at least they will have dealt with French applicants before.
One additional detail that would be helpful is to write next to your grade "top 10% in my year" or "one of the top 5 students", if you have that information. You could also ask one of your referees to write that in their reference letter too.


text:
What is the difference between "not recommended" and "rejected" as outcome of a graduate program application?
I was recently told I wasnt "recommended" into a graduate program and was given a referral to another program.
What exactly would it means to not get "recommended" as apposed to being rejected? And is being referred to another program a common practice?

Undergraduate or graduate program?

graduate program

At many US universities, the department you apply to makes "recommendations" to the graduate school. Getting the recommendation from the department is usually the hard part -- that's where they review your grades, letters, essays, etc. The recommendations (accept/wait-list/reject) are then forwarded to the graduate school.
It is normally the graduate school that sends the rejection letter. For non-rejected students, the grad school will go through the applications again just to make sure you meet their requirements for admission (you are highly unlikely to get this far if you don't -- but something like unreported academic misconduct might be caught at this stage). If all checks out, they will approve you, and either the school or your department will send your offer letter.
My guess is that it's the department (or someone in the department) that told you that you were "not recommended." Technically, only the graduate school can formally reject you and close your application -- but the odds that the grad school will reverse the decision in this direction is near zero.


text:
How to find enjoyment in teaching being a research oriented professional?
I have recently (one year ago) started work in academia as an assistant professor or a lecturer in NZ system. We don't have tenure track system which is great. I was wondering how long does it take one to get used to academia. I will clarify my question.
I really enjoy research and working with the research students. Also, I have secured a large research grant. However, I never considered teaching as a career. Having said that, I would enjoy teaching if I had an opportunity to design my own course. Currently I have to teach courses which are given to me. I found that teaching takes up lots of time and my research outcomes plummeted as I have no consistent free chunck with no interruptions. Not sure how to cope with exhaustion of having to give a lecture.
Any suggestions how to balance research and find enjoyment in teaching?

Welcome to Academia.SE! I have edited the title of your question to fits with the text body. Please feel free to edit again if you think that it is not quite what you would like to ask. The question "How to balance teaching workload and research" already exists here, so I focused on finding enjoyment in teaching as a research oriented person. https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/143/balancing-coursework-research-and-teaching

Related: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/56963/how-to-be-efficient-as-a-graduate-student-juggling-classes-ta-and-research

@TheDoctor I don't think that question really addresses this one, as it is about a grad student being given instructions rather than someone ostensibly in charge or controlling their own work.

@JessicaB I though that it may be on the borderline of a duplicate, so I played safe with the title. But I agree with you, I would not vote as a duplicate.

Thanks for the comments so far. When  I was a PhD student myself I juggled two things which was a full-time work and PhD. Full-time work happened in the end of my PhD program. However, both were research-oriented, rather then dealing with large number of people i.e  teaching students. I found that even though hours-wise the situation currently is much better than life of a me as a PhD student, the level of stress is quite different from having to perform for students.

How many hours are you spending per hour of lecture?

I have a been teaching and doing research in a Swiss university for the last 8 years.
I was having the same questions as I started and here are some advice that worked for me and that bring me a lot of pleasure in teaching.

Focus on the students, on what you bring to them and how they progress with your teaching. To be a bit more concrete, you could try to remember what brought you joy when you were studying yourself and plan doing the same with you students.
Focus on activities that you like doing with students and vary as much as you can : labs, interactive coding sessions, discussions on pratical cases, whatever!
Integrate your research in your courses when you can. Do not focus only in the results themselves but tell them how what they are learning right now will be applied later on.

Hope this helps !