text:
Should I tell students that it's my first time teaching the course?
I'm a TA teaching a class this fall for the first time.  I've taught before, but never this class, and never felt an obligation to tell my students it's my first time teaching a given class.  But, being a bit more experienced I thought it might be a good idea this time by perhaps endearing me to my students, being so candid on the first day.  Does anyone have similar thoughts on approaching a first-time teaching role?

Students usually don't care if the TA is experienced or not. It's automatically assumed that i) the TA had taken the course before with reasonable success, and ii) the TA's ability was acknowledged by the instructor. No need to dwell on this experience thing, just go prepared, be helpful, and follow up if necessary. True experience and teaching passion shine; it does not need to be conveyed verbally. In addition, the course evaluation very seldom comes less harsh because it's the TA's or instructor's first attempt.

This is your pilot speaking.  If any of you feel scared because you are flying for the first time, don't worry, you are not alone.  It's my first time as well!

@Penguin_Knight I TA'd a couple of lectures in a course that I had started, but never completed.

I've been specifically told not to tell students if it's my first time teaching the class, as it can decrease student confidence in your teaching. Even if the teaching is excellent, low confidence levels lead to less attention and decreased student achievement.

I don't see an upside to telling them.  They have a level of expectation that the teacher has appropriate expertise, and you should do nothing to interfere with that expectation.  Now, put in the work necessary to meet it.

@gerrit: I've taught quite a few courses that I've never taken, such as calculus (never took any course in the 3-4 semester sequence of elementary calculus, either in high school or in college), elementary linear algebra (skipped it and took the advanced undergraduate/beginning graduate level version), elementary statistics (never took a statistics course), and various "math appreciation courses".

Don't worry, students can sense fear so there is no need to announce it. "It's my first day." is a post-screwup fall-back not pre-screwup primer.

Great scene in some ancient movie: Burt Reynolds lands a teaching job. First class, he sits down and starts lecturing from a stack of note-cards (yeah, a very old movie :-) ).  Cut to him finishing the last card and looking up, saying, "OK, any questions?"  .  One of the students, says, "You know, Professor, you still have 40 minutes left in the class period."

We were able to detect first-time teachers in grade 8 at my school.

Personally, I do not mind if it is the first time or not - we all have to learn and there always has to be a first time. As an aside, I'd just like to say thank you and that I admire the courage of teachers as can't imagine how difficult and stressful it must be to stand and share knowledge, and be confident about it too. Forgetting the enormous amount of work to prepare for lessons!

If they care, they'll find out. Don't hide it. But stating it might be taken as an excuse: "I won't do a good job, here is why". Just do the job as well and fairly as you can.

Recommend not on the first day.
I'm actually in exactly this situation for the fall term, so I was prepping myself mentally for just this issue. In my experience, expressing any uncertainty about the course on the first day prompts almost instantaneous pleading/negotiation/argumentation over any and all stated procedures (parameters for assignments, grading, due dates, etc., etc.)
Now, this is partly influenced by the fact that I work at an urban community college where the student maturity level can be quite low for certain courses. If you work at a more high-powered institution then the environment might be different. But I still think it best to be authoritative at the start, gauge the environment on subsequent days, and then if you feel comfortable admitting the situation and/or asking for feedback later on, you'll be more confident about doing so.

" If you work at a more high-powered institution then the environment might be different" -- in that instead of thinking they can get away with some scam if they press hard enough, the students think they're smarter than the faculty and should never give up until proven right? ;-)

@SteveJessop: Well, I wouldn't know either way, that's the point. When I leave out that qualifier then I get complaints that my observations are pretending to generality. :-)

I've been in this situation from both sides, and would say an emphatic "no" to telling students you've never done this before.
We know that the reality is that faculty are often thrust into a class without tons of experience at teaching it, but to the students, you're the expert.  Starting off the class by essentially saying "I'm not an expert" will leave your students wondering what they're doing there.  You shouldn't lie, of course, but it's important to the classroom environment that you show confidence in your ability.  It's perfectly possible to learn from the class and be open to student feedback without proclaiming your lack of experience.
When I was in undergrad I had a summer course where the graduate student teaching it started off by telling us that it was her first time teaching.  I felt bad for her, because she wasn't really great at it, but opening the class that way was like blood in the water to a classroom full of 19 year olds.  Every fault was highlighted, every difficult exam was her fault, every difficult topic must have been difficult because she didn't know what she was doing.  It made the experience worse for her and for the students, when it really didn't need to be that way.
Good luck!

Saying it's your first time teaching the course may undermine your authority as a teacher, but it may not as an expert in the field. I had a professor who had "retired" from the industry after 30 years to teach. It was his first time teaching, but no one doubted his expertise in the industry.

Given that the OP said they were a TA I don't think this distinction is noteworthy to their case, but maybe it would be for others.

+1 I share exactly the same experience...in a certain IT classes when I was 15-17 the teacher said openly he was learning as he was teaching us, and despite his limited abilities, saying that impacted us much more negatively.

I cautiously suggest you do mention it right away, based upon my own experiences as a student.
During my days as a student, I attended various classes in which lecturers would start out saying that they were teaching the class, or a part of it, for the first time. From my point of view back then, this seemed quite positive in several respects:

First of all, it made the lecturer seem inherently sympathic:

The announcement was a signal they were not lecturers of the kind that would talk only about lecture contents and nothing else.
Moreover, it was a signal they were not of the I'm-god-you're-nothing type1, but indeed even allowed students a glimpse "behind the curtain".

Second, it created opportunities to modify the teaching according to the students' needs. While otherwise, students might be too shy to ask for changes in the focus or presentation of certain topics, or think that it's all set in stone, the early explicit announcement that it's the first time the lecturer is teaching the class made clear that suggestions for changes were very welcome.
Third, in hindsight, when I started giving my first classes as a TA, it was good to remember the seemingly well-prepared and professional lecturers who taught classes for the first time, too.

Now, of course, much of this can just as well be achieved by simply pointing out willingness to accept suggestions, but it just seems somewhat more "convincing" if you know the actual backstory for why suggestions are so welcome. Therefore, personally, I would usually freely tell students in my classes when I'm new in the particular class or topic. I did not notice any negative effects, but then, I was often in touch with very motivated students who may have caught more of my attention than the couple of disinterested ones to whom the announcement removed the last straw to paying any attention. For the motivated students, I felt it helped bridge the distance to them to some extent.
1: Thankfully, I only met very few professors or otherwise who held this stance towards students.

I believe this is depending to the situation, more exactly the class you're in front of: imagine you're teaching in a class where the students don't care about your class, they just want to sabotage everything you say and do (a typical secondary school), then I would advise you not to say this at all, otherwise they will just use this information against you. (I've been teaching in such a class years ago, I needed to teach MS-Access and the day before my first lesson I didn't even know that MS-Access was about relational databases, I never told my students, they never found it out and I didn't have big problems teaching that class).
However if you are teaching in a motivated environment, there the situation can be just the opposite: when I was studying I went to Spanish evening school and after three lessons, the teacher was replaced due to pregnancy complications. Those complications were so unexpected that the school was not prepared for it, and they have found a Spanish student to take over the class. That student almost knew no Dutch (I'm living in the northern part of Belgium), in fact we knew more Spanish than this student knew Dutch :-)
It was a complete disaster at first: the half of the class just stopped because of the difficult situation.
However the other half of the class persisted: the student improved her Dutch and the remaining class members heavily improved their Spanish (which is exactly the intention of a Spanish evening course :-) )
So, in conclusion, I'd advise you the following: at first, don't mention to the class that you've never given this course before. Once you've established a reasonable relationship and you know whether or not the class is of good faith (don't be naïve!) you might consider sharing this information with the class.
Good luck

My advice: It's fine to mention this point if you want to; however, if you have a good teaching attitude then it's not terribly important either way.
Putting myself in the students' shoes, if I have a first-time teacher who is

Interested in his subject,
Knowledgeable in his subject,
Actually knows how to use the subject, and
Is interested in relaying the subject to me so that I can grasp it effectively and use it also,

I won't care in the slightest how many years or days he has been teaching.  I will also learn whatever he has to teach like a shot.
Inversely, if I have an experienced professor who has been teaching for twenty years who is some combination of

Overbearing,
Stresses his own personal importance simply because he knows the subject,
Belittles his students or regards them as inferior because they don't know the subject,
Insists that his students must "record" (memorize) the fixed data he teaches without questioning it,

I will not actually learn anything from that teacher—and I certainly won't care how many years of "experience" he has.  (And if I learn the subject at all it will be in spite of, not because of, the "teacher.")
So I would put the importance where it lies: on good teaching approach and attitude, not the "number of years of experience."  Experience is only important if it results in competence.  The test of a teacher is not how many years he has worked, but how many of his students have been successful in using the subject he has taught.

tl; dr: Be candid with your students, then do a good job teaching with maximal effectiveness and no one should care how long or short a time you have been teaching for.

From the student side of things - I had a math professor with her masters and a CS professor with his PhD.
In both cases it was their first time teaching, and in both cases there were several problems that I had in their classes. However, being able to talk to the professors about my problems as well as realizing that they were also learning how to teach the particular course made things better. The fact that they were willing to adjust a few things - some of the policies they had that were unfair, or some of the assignments to clarify things.
Of course, I would guess that most of your students just don't care, or will try to wheedle easier coursework out of you. They'll probably do that regardless of how new you are at teaching but suggesting that you're new at teaching that subject may give them the (in)correct idea that you're more likely to cave to their desires.

I do not agree with the last paragraph.

@JackMaddington If you have the understanding that the definition of average is the action that most people will take, I'm curious - what in your experience leads you to believe that most students actually care about their professors, or aren't trying to do the minimum amount of work possible to graduate?

More a personal anecdote than an answer - perhaps useful.
I'm a mathematician. When in the 1980's the better students at my state school wanted computer science more than they wanted mathematics and there was no computer science department I started learning computer science by teaching my way through the curriculum one course at a time.
I usually announced that at the beginning of the class. The better students were intrigued; I think some of the weaker ones wanted to write the Governor saying the school should provide instructors who knew the material.
I think on the whole the students were pleased that I was learning along with them. In time I worked my way up to some graduate courses and software consulting before returning mostly to my first love, mathematics.
Final note. On my first exam in the sophomore assembly language course one student got an A and I got only an A- because his answer to one question was much better than mine. He went on to a distinguished career in software; we're still friends.

Short answer: No.  Don't tell them.  Yet.  But, this is not universal advice.  Later on, do.
Whether it is a good idea to do now depends on your abilities.
As a person who has taught several classes, for educational institutions and also professional training (technology/security, for government/military), I was very skeptical at first.  However, now that I'm confident, I'm not worried about saying such a thing.
Even if students lose faith in me in the first ten minutes, they will figure out soon (in the first twenty minutes hopefully, or the first forty minutes if I'm slow) that I know material very well... better than the vast majority of them (often 100% of them).  In the rare case that a student knew some material better than me, they really knew the material very well (and taking the course was more of a general requirement than a really useful learning experience for them), and they recognized that I was sharing a lot of useful details that many people lacked.  So, even if they had expertise, they still recognized mine and respected me.
If I found myself teaching something that I didn't know that well, I think I would be a bit more cautious.  However, I enjoy sharing expertise that I have, so I gravitate towards situations where I do have mastery and can teach the material very well.  So, in that case, I don't worry about it.
Another example is if I am new at a location.  I have no problem admitting to that.  I know that I might make a silly mistake based on my lack of knowledge about a location.  However, people will see that I know the important things that I need to know.  I know they will see that, so I am confident that they will quickly gain confidence in me.  Therefore, I don't worry about that aspect.
Note that when I'm referring to my abilities, I'm not referring to just subject matter.  I also know that I can teach, and share knowledge very effectively.
If you're feeling uncertain, I would suggest you portray yourself as positively as you can honestly do so.  Once you give some information, you won't be able to retract it from that group of students.  But, once you know you're doing well, and you know (without any doubt) that you will definitely do well for the rest of the class, then feel free to open up.  Students will appreciate the honesty of the tacit admission that they don't get from some other instructors.
Since your situation sounds like you're concerned about what they think, don't unnecessarily volunteer things that you know could be used against you (even if the details might only be used against you in their minds).  However, once your situation changes, you may wish to re-consider.
Well, I did.  It worked well for me.  As is the case for many scenarios, your results may vary.

If you feel you are a strong teacher in general, my answer is undoubtedly yes, mention it. Why? Honesty makes our lives much easier.
Imagine students ask you things that are not clear to you yet because you simply don't have the experience. There are always little subtleties like "is this special technique of computing this special type of integral required in the tests" -- you don't know, it's likely not in the syllabus, but your more experienced colleagues do know, because there's an agreement that the special thing never appears in the test.
What are you going to answer? Saying "it's not going to be there" is plain wrong because you don't know. Saying "it can be there" can make you lose your reputation very quickly if the students' friends are told in a parallel session that it's not going to be there and it really does not appear in the tests. Saying "I don't know" raises concerns about your qualities. The only thing you can say is "I don't know because I teach it the first time, I'll tell you in the next session".
And you can surely come up with other situations like this. The point is that it should be clear you're no worse a teacher because you teach it the first time. So tell your students it's the first time you teach the subject, and make your teacher job well.

Erm … ‘I don’t know because {I don’t set the exam/I haven’t prepared the exam yet}’ sounds equally valid?

@Jan Well, there are other things you don't know because you have never went through the course (I don't have any specific one at hand, will think about it later). And from my point of view, not setting the exam is no excuse to not knowing what's there; in general, you should know what the students are graded for, especially here where the teacher discusses the scores with the students and is allowed to modify the scores of his students.

No, don't tell. It never occurred to me to do so.
I was a PhD graduate student in chemistry at the U of Chicago. I was a volunteer TA/Lab instructor/proctor for undergraduate chemistry. The first session I set the hook by teaching my section how to study the material, how to study for the exams, and how take an exam. I also made liberal use of pop quizzes during the quarter.
My students were bright and motivated, so no problems there. I would open the lab on Saturdays for four hours so they could catch up and I could do some one-on-one tutoring as needed. (I also brought my own bookwork.)
My payback: The section consistently had the highest test scores in the class.

There certainly is a point in getting the students to know you. Make a good story of your personal experience as it stands, and as it leads up to you standing here, before them in the very moment. Don't dwell on things you you never did; that doesn't make a good story, and it is very difficult to present without making it sound as an excuse.


text:
Math reviews, how to interpret "the summary as review" cases?
I am wondering on how to interpret these types of "reviews". As per the guidelines of Math reviews

Two other treatments of items are possible, but should be used sparingly. You may recommend that the item be listed without a published review, or you may recommend that the author's summary be used as the review. In the second case the quoted summary would be given above your signature, to indicate that the summary is being used on the recommendation of the reviewer. If you decide to recommend one of these options, simply put your request in the Review text box (e.g., "Publish without a review", or "Use the summary as my review"). However, in most cases, the mathematics community would prefer an insightful review to either of these two treatments.

From another post here, I understand the first option to mean "do not bother to read this article". I wonder about the second one; a first interpretation could be "everything is correct with this paper and the abstract is good enough to guide the reader". Alternative, it could mean "I didn't bothered to review it".

Note for readers outside of maths: this question refers to AMS's Mathscinet, a database of mathematical papers that includes reviews curated by researchers. It is not about the usual peer review process.

My sense is that the interpretation of a "summary only" review depends significantly on the culture of the research field of the paper and its historical relation to MR. I just looked at each article published in one of the main journals in my (applied) sub-field last year and exactly one of them had a non-summary review. On the other hand, a similar trip through recent issues of Journal of Number Theory shows that summary reviews are quite rare.
Personally, I have used this type of review once (out of approximately 30 reviews) with an intended meaning that matches your first interpretation. After reading the paper and writing my review I looked at the abstract again and realized that it was remarkably similar to what I had put together. Given that, it seemed reasonable to allow the author's words to speak for themselves.

When I review for MR I often use a paraphrase of the author's summary when it is a good description of what is in the paper. I don't mean that to say "not worth reading" or "I didn't read it". I would probably not use the MR option that merely reproduces the abstract, precisely because it might suggest a negative opinion of the work.
That said, I tend to review short papers that are OK but not earthshaking. A review of an important paper should do more than repeat or rephrase the author's summary.

This sounds right to me, but I may be biased.  When one of my papers gets a summary review, I think I must have written a good abstract.  Does not mean I wrote a good paper, but at least I summarized it well.

There are two reasons that a Mathematical Review will be a summary rather than an actual review:

The assigned reviewer recommends using the abstract or a part of the introduction as a review.  This could be for several reasons: the reviewer thinks author's description of the paper is good and they don't have anything to add, the reviewer doesn't understand the paper well enough to review it, the reviewer doesn't have/want to put in the time to read and review the paper, ...  Ideally in the latter 2 cases, the reviewer would decline the review request, but I doubt this always happens.

Mathematical Reviews can't find a reviewer for the paper.  This could be because no one agrees to review the paper, but primarily it is just that in certain fields there are many more papers published than reviewers available so in order to keep up with the constant flow of new papers, the editors have to decide that some papers will be sent for review, some just get summaries from the text of the paper, and some don't get any reviews.  This is why, as @drdrd discusses in their answer, at least some areas of applied math may have more summary-only papers than number theory.  (And I believe the proportion of modern papers with only summaries is even higher in zbmath.org than in MathSciNet, primarily due to a smaller pool of reviewers, at least from what I've observed in number theory papers.)

Anyway, it is not the case that a paper with only a summary is "lower quality" (whatever that means) than a paper with a proper review.  Though it is true that the "best" papers in an area tend to get proper reviews, many very good papers just have summaries.  However, if a paper does not get a summary or a review (and is beyond the preliminary stage), that tends to correlate with being published in lower-tier journal, but again is not a definite measure of quality.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Is a "teaching letter" a useful recommendation letter?
I am an international student applying to a graduate program. I emailed my professor to see if he is okay with writing me a recommendation. He responded

It is good to hear from you. I do not write general recommendation
letters, but I am ready to write about your performance in
Math 412, since you have worked hard, and I enjoyed your progress. Is
this teaching letter good for you? Good luck with the applications.

I am not sure what a "teaching letter" means in his reponse, is that a regular recommendation letter which could help me for my application?

One cannot say for sure, but, most likely, he means that he can write a letter assessing your performance in Math-412 rather than your general math abilities and research potential (which is something that grad schools frequently require). Whether it is enough for you, I do not know.

@MoisheKohan: please avoid writing answers in the comments.

Only your professor can say for sure. I agree it is not totally clear, though I think I understand it.
It certainly seems that he is willing to write a longer version of: "I taught this student Math 412, they did very well and I enjoyed watching their progress." This will certainly "count" as one of your required letters of recommendation. So all is well.
You should be aware, however, that "did well in class" letters are the lowest possible type of letter. See page 15 in this famous document for an explanation (or better yet, read the whole thing). But the basic reason is that such a letter doesn't provide much information beyond what's already on your transcript.
So in your professor's carefully-worded reply, he is stating that his letter will (1) not discuss any topics other than Math 412, and (2) probably not include an overall recommendation like "I recommend you admit this student." As such, this will be an extremely weak letter that will not really help you get admitted to grad school, other than by helping you meet the required number of letters. If this is a surprise, and you were expecting a much stronger letter, you can send a "thanks but no thanks" reply and ask someone else to write for you instead. Or if you want this letter anyway (because you don't have a better option), you can send a "yes please" reply.

Thanks for this, especially the document you attached!!

Your former professor is saying that they will only write within the context of which they interacted with you. Many faculty write meaningless fluff letters about students they interacted with for 30 minutes in a class of 400 students, three years ago, recommending them to some department at some random university they have nothing to do with or care about. These letters are just filler and mean nothing for your application. It seems like this professor has taken a stand against that, and I commend them for it!
Will their focused course-related letter help you in the end? Honestly no, it won't. But you will need likely three letters for most applications and this is a good way to fill one as it appears they will at least have a positive tone.

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


text:
How do I find references and how do I know that they are valid?
I took a pause from school during personal problems and started it again half-year ago. Now that I've finished almost all of it, the last thing I have left is to finish my thesis-work.
My professor stated that for my work I need to look up references that validates and proves for what I've stated in my report (Which is logical), but my problem is what the title is given out.

How do I know that the reference is valid?
Where is the best place to find references? (For my case it's about software-development)

Might be related to http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/83449/what-makes-a-journal-scientific

Try to search on google scholar (scholar.google.com). It also has an export citation feature.

I used it yesterday. That is why I'm asking this question today.

@Lot what do you mean with export citation feature?

@Bojje do you have a library at your institution? Librarian are great people that are paid to help you with that. In some University, they even have short classes about looking for reference or tutorials...

In general, these questions indicate a quite fundamental gap of knowledge in how science works. It is a pity that your coursework has not prepared you better for your thesis.

How do I know that the reference is valid?

There is no magic wand that tells you that. You will need to carefully read the papers, consider their limitations and threats to validity, and decide for yourself whether the paper is useful as a source to support your argument. That being said, as a first approximation you can look at the venue that the paper has been published in (is the journal or the conference very good?), and how often the paper has been cited by others (you can see that in Google Scholar). However, again, keep in mind that all of this is just supporting data - ultimately you need to decide yourself whether a given piece of research is valid and useful.

Where is the best place to find references? (For my case it's about software-development)

There are three common strategies for finding literature:

Searching a digital library (in your case e.g., IEEEXplorer or the ACM DL), searching through DBLP, or using Google Scholar. In all of these cases, you can investigate a lot of different journals and conference proceedings at the same time, but you need to be aware of the right keywords to search for.
Browsing journal back issues or conference proceedings. That is, after you have identified important journals and conferences in your field (for you ICSE might be a starting point), go over previous iterations and look over all paper titles and abstracts. The most convenient way in computer science to do this is via the aforementioned DBLP.
Once you have a few good papers as starting point, start following the chain of references. Look at both, the papers that your papers are citing, but also which papers cite the papers you already found (Google Scholar has a feature for this).

You can find a summary of this also in a presentation I recently did as part of my own seminar.

How do I know that the reference is valid?
For thesis work, valid references are generally ones published by reputable journals and have been peer-reviewed. Generally, books and articles published on educational or governmental websites are safe.
Where is the best place to find references? (For my case it's about software-development)
As @Emilie mentioned in the comments, your university library would be a great place to start. If not, then a public library. You could ask your professor for recommendations as well.

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


text:
Dyslexia and the GRE
I am applying to math graduate schools this year. Hence, I had to take the General GRE and Math Subject GRE. Only recently has it come to my attention that I could have applied for 1.5 or 2 times more time on these tests due to my Dyslexia. I had no idea that was the case so I did not do so. Therefore I missed out on a huge opportunity to increase my scores. Is there any way I can salvage this situation? Somehow alert admissions that I have trouble working under big time constraints and reading fast and that I did not utilize the accommodations?  It never occurred to me to apply for accommodation as time was never a problem in college.
In case it is relevant:
Math subject 72 procentile
Quant 165
Verbal 155
I was considering mentioning it in my personal statement, or something like that.
Any advice appreciated, I feel like that was a horrible blunder on my part that could have cost me getting into a great school.
Thank you

Your best option is to retake the GRE under fairer conditions. If you have already sent out the current scores, you can also update your application to mention the conditions under which you took the test the first time. Currently, however, if you have taken the test multiple times, as many do, you can decide which scores are to be sent.
But somewhere in your application materials I suspect that you also address your dyslexia and talk about why it isn't a hinderance to your success.
I'll note, as I have in answers to other questions, that admissions is almost never just a numbers game and individuals are examined for evidence that predicts success in future study. Some places that are overwhelmed with applications may need to reduce the number of applicants considered to a reasonable number, but normally, you need to present an application that shows both the background and the work ethic to succeed.
If you have any negative markers in your application then they need to be explained. Hopefully, the system is sensible enough that you can amend an application that requires it. But if you haven't yet applied, make sure that your materials honestly explain things that might be questioned.

thank you for the input. However, retaking the subject test is out of the question as all the dates have passed. That is why I would like to know if there is anything else I can do, other than retaking it.

Other than mentioning it to places you apply, all I can think of is contacting ETS for advice. Since admissions doesn't depend on single factors, you can probably make a case with most institutions.

So I should mention it in my personal statement? Is that what you mean by mentioning it to places I apply? Also thank you about mentioning emailing ETS, I will do that and see if they have any advice.

If possible, you could, perhaps, provide a footnote somewhere that mentions the issue. Somewhere that you are discussing your condition, noting that you took the GRE not realizing that accommodations can be made. I don't think it needs a long explanation. If it raises a question and if an interview is part of the process you can expand on it there as needed.


text:
How badly would a D grade in Measure Theory & Lebesgue Integration hurt my PhD application?
I am an MS student in Data Science and have completed my 1st year. I decided to take Measure Theory because I was very fascinated by it and also wanted to challenge myself with an advanced proof-intensive course. However, I massively underestimated the jump in difficulty from undergraduate to graduate and failed miserably with a D. In retrospect, after completing a triple major as an undergraduate, I was becoming complacent and haughty. This was my first failing grade ever, and it took me a long time to accept it and myself. An ultimately harsh but necessary wake-up call.
Recently, however, my doubts have returned. This summer, I am currently working as a Research Assistant for a project in causal inference, an area that I am very passionate about. I have decided to pursue a Ph.D. to further study it. Based on what I have heard, a B+ in graduate school is a very polite fail; I can't even think what a D stands for. Moreover, I know that many statistics program weigh proof-based courses very heavily. I cannot retake the course in time because (1) a course conflict, (2) I will continue working on this research into the fall, and (3) I honestly don't think I ever use it much now or in the future.
As such, I hope you can give me your honest thoughts about my chance. My undergraduate GPA was 3.83 (BA in Mathematics and Economics & BS in Data Science). My current graduate GPA is 3.50 (All As except the D). My GRE is 166Q, 164V, and 4.5W. I haven't taken the Math GRE because of my summer work, but I can push if needed.
Thank you for reading and sorry for the long post!

Does this answer your question? How are Ph.D. applications evaluated in the US, particularly for weak or borderline students? Am I likely to get into school X?

Presumably you are ruling yourself out of doing mathematical/theoretical statistics research and also out of PhD programs where it is important?  That also means you are basically ruling yourself out of careers based around developing new statistical methods and limiting yourself to applying established methods to various problems?

You need to talk to your advisor about D in Measure Theory. As another user hints, you'll have big trouble ahead if you continue on the fields that require it.

Disclaimer: this is merely my subjective experience and opinion. Please make sure to consult your school's academic policies.
Ok, so you got a D grade in graduate real analysis. I'll be blunt, anything lower than a B in graduate school is cause for concern and serious personal reflection. Usually, professors give either an A or B and seriously hesitate to give anything lower. That's because in most PhD and MS programs, you need a GPA of at least a B/B+ to make any kind of research proposals. That being said however, this being your only low grade, it shouldn't ultimately matter much if you seriously turn things around and keep getting good marks after this fact. You may already have been or are in academic probation for that D (I can't say for sure as it depends on your institution). Take this as a wake-up call in which you start studying differently and look for help if you need it. You say you became complacent and haughty, so you do have some self-awareness as to what could be going wrong. Fix the entitled attitude that you will get an A or B, you aren't owed anything in life, regardless of how good you may think you are. Just because you are a super rockstar and got all As in the past doesn't mean that you deserve to keep getting As. You should look at this as a learning experience and a chance to become a better version of yourself.
On the other hand, it is just a grade. If it is the only bad thing in your application, it won't be looked at too seriously. Also, do keep in mind that low grades can be compensated for with serious research or industry experience. PhD committees look for research potential, not whether or not you have perfect grades. Don't use grades as the only tool of validation to know whether you are doing well. There will be a point in your career that you will stop taking courses and you will face real rejection or setbacks. A bad grade can then seem to be a pat on the wrist, compared to your paper not being published or your boss firing you.
You will thus need to develop thick skin for this sort of stuff. Because you will keep failing, which is proof you are trying in the first place. I'd say don't give up just for this one grade, keep learning real analysis as yes, you will need to know it for PhD statistics research. Stay strong!

This is consistent with the attitude at the institutions I studied and worked at (Canada). Anything below a B is a pretty big red flag. Be prepared to explain it, and be honest about it too. "I didn't have discipline, and I fell behind. I don't have that problem now."

@KevinChurch Same here in the USA. This is of course a general rule. There are some nuances that I left out in my reply to the OP. But said nuances are really just a "set of measure zero", a pun I'm sure the OP will appreciate lol

@KevinChurch some nuances can be for instance: A) The professor who taught you the subject (are they a hard-ass or easy) B) The institution C) Class size and grade distribution D) personal circumstances


text:
Doing another MSc during PhD
I've been a PhD student in a STEM field for less than year now. Before embarking on this journey, I was pondering between electrical engineering and computer science for my MSc studies, which I completed before starting a PhD (It was possible to branch from BSc to either field). However, even after completing a MSc degree and working on a PhD in electrical engineering, I still find myself intrigued by the field of computer science.
Would I be spreading myself too thin / hindering my PhD project severely if i started working on a master's degree (2 years) in computer science as a free-time hobby during my PhD studies? I have already completed some coursework related to the degree and there is some synergy between the fields.
I have a strong feeling that studies in computer science would be valuable in my future career. On the other hand, I do not know if I will have to increase my working hours on the PhD project at some point to the extent that I don't have sufficient "free-time".
I would like to hear if you have had similar experiences/plans and what did you do. thanks for reading!

Does the university allow registration in more than one program?

You made me laugh. I totally agree with @GrotesqueSI. Also if you have so much time (which i don't have although i am also a Phd Candidate) something is wrong with your Phd, cause as GrotesqueSI said the Phd is a full time job, and if you say you are in the first year, you should already probably done the "Related Work" field, and you should probably have many question in you of how you will proceed your Phd....

@ZeroTheHero Yes it does. George Stavrou, so far I have not felt the necessity to work 12 hour days (consistently) nor during the weekends, as my advisor thinks that my work is progressing well. Thus, I have some spare time each evening and the whole weekends to work on my own projects not related to my phd, i.e., MSc in CS. I have no issues regarding how should I proceed with my Phd. I opened the question to read opinions regarding time use during ones phd studies. As GrotesqueSI wrote, another (great) alternative would be to attempt to speed up the Phd instead, which I am considering.

Would I be spreading myself too thin / hindering my PhD project severely if i started working on a master's degree (2 years) in computer science as a free-time hobby during my PhD studies?

Everything else being equal and all things considered: YES! Unless you are specifically doing a part time PhD, a PhD is a full time job and there normally shouldn't be enough free time to take on master's level study in another subject. If you were my PhD student and you came to me with the idea of doing extra study unrelated to your PhD project, I would tell you it was a distraction from what you should be doing and could very likely lead to your PhD taking much longer than either you or I want it to. If you told me that you had a large amount of free time that you want to fill with academic study, I would help you find ways to apply that time toward your PhD so that you might advance faster on it.
Perhaps the best thing to do is to bring this idea to your supervisor and see what they think. They know you and your project, they will know if you are not being realistic about your available time.

Thanks for the reply. I am indeed a doing a full-time PhD. Perhaps my view on the PhD process is slightly twisted, as I consider it to be a "regular" full time-job to some extent, i.e., I do not spend excessive number (but still more than a regular 9 to 5 job) of hours per week on the topic (as many PhD students do). Instead, after "clocking out" and going home, I use most of my free-time to study math/cs topics. Alternatively, I could go all out on my PhD topic with great intensity, but I'm afraid i will start to despise the topic.

One thing to note is that PhD time commitment may vary across different countries. In the UK there is an extreme amount of pressure to finish a PhD in only 3 years and it is often impossible to treat it like a "9 to 5". If you have all the time and all the funding in the world, perhaps risk delaying the end of your PhD, but otherwise it's a huge risk. Are you unable to audit relevant courses at your Uni? That way you could sit in but not be bound to assignments etc.

For me, the time is four years. The concept of auditing is not used in my uni, so I have to take part in the course activities to get a mark. I recognize the risk of this plan and this is why I am very hesitant.


text:
What do polarized student evaluation results say about my teaching?
I taught my first class last quarter. The results for evaluations are very polarized. The raw data shows that my scores are either very high or very low for a majority of items. That implies some students loved the class and some hated it.
Honestly, this teaching experience has been so tiring that I am seriously thinking teaching is not for me. My colleagues tell me it will get better but I am not sure how I feel about my average performance. I wish the evaluations weren't so polarized so I could know if I was overall an effective instructor or not.
How would you make sense of the results?

Students are under a lot of pressure and sometimes they will release it in ways that affect you (e.g. plagiarism, drama, non-constructive comments on evaluation). Try not to take it personally.

What did the distribution of grades look like?  Was the class homogeneous or did it contain students from different groups (e.g. majors vs. non-majors)?

I had about 20 who received As, around 12 Bs, around 10 in C range, 1 D and an F. It was an introductory level course so there were students from different majors. Why?

How are the numbers? Are they split 50-50 between love and hate, or are there only a minority of one of the groups?

Did the students understand the scale? In my department it is common for about 20% of positive open remarks to be accompanied by bad numerical ratings.

Well, there are like 3-4 students with really low evaluations. Then there are the rest with (strongly agree), (agree), or (agree more than disagree). I checked my departments evaluations and they are usually around "agree" section, which means they haven't received super low scores (or their evaluations are evenly distributed).Those 3 low scores bring my overall evaluations really down.

This of course has nothing to do with your question, but I couldn't help but be absolutely amazed at the grades! But then the majority of my teaching has been college algebra, precalculus, and first year calculus courses . . .

They are on higher end. Right? I know. I still got people in my office crying because they thought they deserved As. In contrast, I would get this extremely well-written papers and well-prepared students.  So, as an instructor, I was confused the whole time as well because half of the class did exceptionally well and the other half did very poorly. I never knew if the material was too easy or too difficult. Yet the evaluations say "complex material, boring material, no breaks in between". The department selected the text though. I don't know, honestly. I might just suck as an instructor!

Polarization, if not heavily skewed to bad evaluation, is usually a good sign, especially with your marks profile. Not knowing anything about your course, only the marks and your evaluation, I would say you did great. You may have been hated by some, but you gave them a good education. They will see it much later. Don't worry and do not try to please everyone. Being respected is much better for a teacher than being liked. Of course, try to refine and improve, but, from the outset, this looks good. Did you face any consequences that you are worried about? Smart management ignores outliers.

At the very least, you weren't dull. This means higher course material retention for students. Good job.

Thank you! I would take any encouragement I could get right now. I am developing a whole new level of respect for my professors.

Being tired after teaching is normal. My parents are teachers and they warned me I would be exhausted the first few courses, and they were right. It does get better, teaching is work, so I am still tired after teaching, but no longer exhausted.

Did the students that got crappy grades give you a poor report? Did the A students give you glowing reports? If this is the case then I would take all this with a grain of salt.

I don't know. It's anonymous. I didn't give As. The ones who got As, deserved the grade.

Whenever I have been called upon to teach - as a relative expert, not a "education professional" - those who are interested in the subject give me a high rating, whereas those who have been instructed that they must be taught but have no actual interest give me a low rating. Just my experience. YMMV.

Playing devil's advocate: without pre- and post-tests, you don't know whether or not you were just a weekly irritant students had to endure. Maybe some didn't bother doing an honest, negative review if they thought it's hopeless. Perhaps many already knew the material and just moved on. But students expecting education would rightly feel deprived (of time, money), be vocal about it, and do poorly. The key is to do evaluations that go beyond the "smell test" (level-1: course evals), and go into testing efficacy (level-2: pre & post-test). Even better is retention down the road (level-3).

Regarding my comment on April 4, see the top of page 3 here (= p. 12 of the .pdf file), where it states that about 50% of all students enrolling in college algebra (at a college or university in the USA) DO NOT receive an A, B, or C.

Evaluations only tell you whether your students liked you or not.  Your main goal, however, is to have students learn the material and develop their intellectual skills, not to have them like you.
Have experienced colleagues sit in on your classes and give you feedback, and have colleagues look at your assessments and the students' performance on them (with appropriate attention given to how you prepared the students - at an extreme, assessments mean something different (but not nothing) if you've given the students the questions and answers in advance!).  This will give you much more useful information than student evaluations.

Just being liked is not educational. That said, I have found that a certain amount of charisma and likability helps with connecting to students and forging an educational relationship. I'd say evals tell you some less reliable info about one aspect of teaching. From my recollection as a student, many of the best teachers seemed to create the most polarized opinions among the students.

I totally disagree. At least I, as student, have never evaluated a teacher based on whether I liked him/her or not. It may have had a slight influence, but I think that any student can understand that it is not useful to do this for a teacher you like. Therefor I think in general, we don't.

Thank you so much for the comments! If I ever teach again, I will do two things: give evaluations throughout the quarter and ask my advisors to observe my teaching.

I would not sweat over it (not yet!). Not because ONLY 58% of students filled the evaluation form and definitely not from teaching your first course! Wait till you teach more courses, gather more data then re-evaluate from there. Teaching requires experience and experience comes with time.
Remember this, how many professors did you have when you were a student that you did not like? Did you not like them because you did not like the course itself? Did not like their personalities? Just because they were mean? Got a bad grade with them? Had you do too many homework, etc. the point is, many students (especially undergraduates) tend to be somehow moody when filling evaluations. I fear sometime that many of these evaluations are based on the professor's charisma, personality, the way s/he dresses, popularity than actual teaching.
One thing you can do is to collect informal evaluations every 4 weeks (or so) of the semester. So, you can see and re-evaluate your teaching methods sooner/faster. This can be done by sending online surveys to the students that let them post their reviews anonymously (You might wanna check your dept.'s rules for this first". Or maybe have short conversations with few students (A-student, B-student and C-student) to get some feed backs. Perhaps you can ask a fellow faculty member to attend your class 1-2 times to critique your teaching methods.

Thank you so much! If I ever teach again, I will collect evaluations throughout the quarter. And you are right! I can remember at least two professors that I evaluated harshly, and regretted later. I am trying hard not to take things personally!

Sure thing! It is a journey, get the best out of it and stay positive.

Another interpretation of the results is that, it being an introductory course, was attended by people who had prior knowledge and some who had not been exposed to the content before.  Those who rated you well may have been from the former camp, and found the material easy. Those who were from the later may have found your teaching to be less than effective.
On the other hand, the opposite could have been true. Take, for example, a business school that requires their Information Systems majors to take an introductory "Information Systems" class that is also required of all business students. The material could, at best, be remedial or even detrimental to covering more advanced topics in the same field because of the introductory course. (For example: Group projects where they end up doing most of the work).
Both of these scenarios are plausible. Another user mentioned getting evaluations throughout the semester. That's good, but you should also collect information about who the students are to make better use of those evaluations.
Do the students have prior experience in your subject?

For those with prior experience, how are they receiving the material? Is it beneficial to them? Are you essentially having a few students do a large portion of the classes work? (E.G. From the 2nd example, is there an IS major in every group (if there are group projects) who is doing 80-100% of the group work?)
For those without prior experience, is your material helping them? Are assessments enhancing their learning as well? Or are they spending disproportionate amounts of time on the work relative to those with prior experience?

If you can answer these questions, you can better figure out which group of students is giving you evaluations that are positive and which groups are giving you the negative evaluations. From there, you might determine that the evaluations you are giving are too easy/too hard relative to a large portion of the class.  Maybe you don't even need to make a decision then. If your findings are that you have a hugely disparate class, maybe your department changes the structure of the course such that more advanced students take another class and more remedial students take another.

My first thought also was: probably these two types of evaluations are coming from two very different types of students.

I think the class was designed for majors. But it's an intro level class and non-majors are expected to take it. There were several students who said the class solidified their decision to study this major. I received complaints from non-majors but I did have exceptional papers written by non-majors as well.I thought about making it easier but I was also worried that it might do disservice to those who got the material and wrote great papers. I had 14-15 students who consistently commented during class discussions. I thought that was good enough. But apparently not!

I'd say that's why you have divergent reviews.  You had some students who were very passionate about the field (they majored in it). Among those non-majors who did well, some of them probably had some kind of experience in it, but decided to major in it. The negatives likely came from the non-majors who may have had neither prior knowledge nor interest beyond taking it because it is required.  I had a personal experience like this in my undergraduate. It was VERY hard because not only was I learning something I had no interest in, I was expected to perform as if I was majoring in it.

I've found that good teachers tend to be both liked and disliked - liked by those who see what they are doing and how they are handling the classroom, or for fairness, or for actually wanting students to benefit and putting in effort, disliked by those who want to skip it and want a teacher who's just marking time and putting in the hours, isn't tight on the class etc.
Mediocre teachers tend to get 'blah' average. If you were a poor teacher my guess is the polarized bit wouldn't include a lot of 'good's. That to me says something worth noting. Polarisation itself isn't the issue. But someone who can't get a chunk of above average ratings (consistently) may need to look at themselves in a way that you might not.
That said - 100% agree with previous comments too. Get some teachers you respect to watch and rate your work, and not just as a once off.  But be aware teachers like anyone can get into a rutt or have different personalities and ways (not to mention teaching can get incredibly politicised and has its fair share of "One True Way" -ers), so consider anything said rather than assume its all automatically correct and decide for yourself.
Also ask your students each year - "I rate how I do too" and ask them for one thing they like and one thing they would like you to do differently. It will teach you things - and teach them that rating ones own performance is no bad thing, not a threat or criticism, not something only people 'above' do to people 'below' in a hierarchy of privilege and judgement, and a decent basic model for the future to do that for their own benefit if they wish, and example of an adult willing to do so. That if nothing else is education.

Thanks for taking the time and responding. As I mentioned earlier, I will ask my advisors to sit in my future classes (if I ever teach again! :) )

here's one suggestion:
From the results of the polarized reviews, have you considered the possibility that you showed favoritism towards some students, while neglecting others -- others who were probably very hardworking and dedicated to your course but felt relatively ignored by you?

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


text:
NSF proposals: What exactly is wanted in the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact sections?
I have been looking all over for more information on what exactly should go in the Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact sections of NSF proposals. So far I have found two decent explanations, one by the University of Arizona and another by the Director of Research, The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University.
The first says that Intellectual Merit is about original contributions the research proposed will make, while the second claims a similar thing. However, for Broader Impact it seems they are a little different. Unfortunately though i feel neither goes as in depth on the explanation of both as I would have liked. So I am still having difficulty understanding what they are asking for.
If someone could give me a more concise explanation of each section, that would be greatly appreciated.
If that is too much trouble a couple of simpler questions to answer for me are:

Is the Intellectual Merit section only about the goals of the current research or also future research that may come as a result of the current research?
Is the Broader Impact section supposed to be about impact in the scientific community, society, or both?

My natural question would be if there is any instruction material from the NSF available. For comparable European grants, there normally is.

Hey @lighthousekeeper it does, here are the two bullet points the guidlines give about these two sections Intellectual Merit: The Intellectual Merit criterion encompasses the potential to advance knowledge; and Broader Impacts: The Broader Impacts criterion encompasses the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes. Its helpful but not the most concise explanation.

My gut feeling suggests that a broad description like that also supports also a broader spectrum of possible responses. I would focus on the areas where you can make the best arguments. But I don't have any NSF experience.

Your second link includes several links to examples directly from NSF of the type @lighthousekeeper suggested you look for.

Note that as of mid 2020, a separate section on Intellectual Merit in the main proposal is no longer needed: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappg20_1/sigchanges.jsp

I suggest the first port of call for an explanation is with the NSF itself. For Broader Impacts, I would start with this Dear Colleague letter on the Broader Impacts Review Criterion.

The NSF Grant Proposal Guide uses a series of questions to illustrate
  the Broader Impacts criterion: “How well does the activity advance
  discovery and understanding while promoting teaching, training, and
  learning? How well does the proposed activity broaden the
  participation of underrepresented groups (e.g., gender, ethnicity,
  disability, geographic, etc.)? To what extent will it enhance the
  infrastructure for research and education, such as facilities,
  instrumentation, networks, and partnerships? Will the results be
  disseminated broadly to enhance scientific and technological
  understanding? What may be the benefits of the proposed activity to
  society? “
These questions help to assess the potential of the proposed activity
  - beyond the research, per se - to benefit the Nation. Thus, the Broader Impacts criterion speaks directly to the mission of the
  National Science Foundation, “To promote the progress of science; to
  advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure
  the national defense.” (NSF Act of 1950).

For even more recent descriptions, review Chapter II - Proposal Preparation Instructions of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide, Which includes these parts:
Intellectual Merit

The Project Description must contain, as a separate section within the
  narrative, a section labeled "Intellectual Merit". The Project
  Description should provide a clear statement of the work to be
  undertaken and must include the objectives for the period of the
  proposed work and expected significance; the relationship of this work
  to the present state of knowledge in the field, as well as to work in
  progress by the PI under other support.
The Project Description should outline the general plan of work,
  including the broad design of activities to be undertaken, and, where
  appropriate, provide a clear description of experimental methods and
  procedures. Proposers should address what they want to do, why they
  want to do it, how they plan to do it, how they will know if they
  succeed, and what benefits could accrue if the project is successful.
  The project activities may be based on previously established and/or
  innovative methods and approaches, but in either case must be well
  justified. These issues apply to both the technical aspects of the
  proposal and the way in which the project may make broader
  contributions.

Broader Impact

The Project Description also must contain, as a separate section
  within the narrative, a section labeled "Broader Impacts". This
  section should provide a discussion of the broader impacts of the
  proposed activities. Broader impacts may be accomplished through the
  research itself, through the activities that are directly related to
  specific research projects, or through activities that are supported
  by, but are complementary to the project. NSF values the advancement
  of scientific knowledge and activities that contribute to the
  achievement of societally relevant outcomes. Such outcomes include,
  but are not limited to: full participation of women, persons with
  disabilities, and underrepresented minorities in science, technology,
  engineering, and mathematics (STEM); improved STEM education and
  educator development at any level; increased public scientific
  literacy and public engagement with science and technology; improved
  well-being of individuals in society; development of a diverse,
  globally competitive STEM workforce; increased partnerships between
  academia, industry, and others; improved national security; increased
  economic competitiveness of the U.S.; and enhanced infrastructure for
  research and education.

The Short Version
I think about it like this: intellectual merit is the "contribution" part of a potential publication or set of publications; broader impact is what administrators would like you to talk with the media team about so they can make a press release about how their people/funding are/is making the world a better place. In other words, the merit is the work itself and its findings, and the impact is what the effect would be on some defined portion of society if you succeeded in doing what you propose.
Both parts should be about what you are specifically proposing to do now (the thing the proposal will fund, and preferably with early results to support some claims), and should be deeply and believably connected to the research you are proposing. The farther out and more vaguely connected it is, the less compelling and believable it is likely to sound. "These findings could be built on to eventually obtain world peace in the next millennia" is not very compelling, for example.
Grandiose claims of widespread benefits must trade-off against believability and practicality. The more people you could help, in science and outside in general society, the better - but you should make the link very explicit and clear.
My source for the above is being involved with a few proposals in preparation, extensive reading of NSF program materials, preparing and succeeding with a fellowship proposal, and being involved with a few grant processes that were modeled off NSF criteria in the general area of technology/engineering/psychology. If you see any disagreement between my opinion and official NSF program materials, believe the NSF materials over me.


text:
What physical contact, if any, is acceptable between a supervisor and a student?
I was rather surprised that in this answer which suggests that a supervisor giving a side-hug to a research assistant is acceptable behaviour. I try and limit the physical contact with my students/postdocs/assistants to hand shakes and high fives, however if they initiate a hug I tend not to block it. What physical contact, if any, is acceptable between a supervisor and a student? I guess a follow up question would be do the genders of the supervisor or student matter?

As the author of that answer, let me state that I did not make a judgement on the action, I made a recommendation on the reaction, which is similar to the answers below. When I do teach, I try to keep my physical distance. I'm married, and I want to protect my own reputation, but I'm not going to rebuff an excited student or colleague no matter how unattractive they are, so long as the contact is brief and tolerable.

In general: In France, you're oblidged by the customs to double=cheek-kiss your sup after the defence, with the exception if you're both males. In general, this sort of physical contact is considered standard there and nobody thinks it wrong. OTOH, it's a lot like a hand-shake in other countries.

@tohecz if I am interpreting "sup" correctly, then the double cheek kiss is initiated by the student, would a supervisor ever initiate that type of contact?

@StrongBad sorry, sup = supervisor, yeah. Well, it depends, who initiates a "hello"? I mean, it's really difficult to say who initiates this greeting in France. On a daily basis, you wouldn't do it with a supervisor, and on special occasion (like the defense, but also various formal meetings, dinners, conferences, ..., this is just a natural thing, it doesn't need an initiator, there's simply a common sense of when to do this ;)

This is 100% culture-dependent. Relevant Polandball comic: https://i.imgur.com/AzZMGph.png

In general, I refrain from initiating any physical contact other than handshakes or "congratulatory" gestures such as high-fives or fist bumps. This allows the student to control the level of interaction if they so choose.
My suspicion about what would be considered "acceptable" is that it varies widely from country to country, depending on what is considered an "acceptable" level of contact between strangers or professional colleagues. For instance, in Muslim-dominated countries, the "side-hug" mentioned in the answer—or even shaking of hands—between a male boss and a female subordinate, or vice versa, would likely be frowned upon! Similarly, in other countries, I could see how a "side-hug" could be within the realm of acceptable contacts (although still on the somewhat "iffy" side).

I have never seen or experienced a high five or fist bump between a student and professor. Do you actually do this often?

@ff524 I am not a fist bump kind of guy, but after successfully debugging an electric short in the hardware setup with a student, a high five seems to be a requirement.

+1 I think 'it varies widely from country to country' (and in fact even more locally than that) is really the only 'correct' answer one can give here.

@gragas: No, I'm really not. Men or women can walk down the street holding each others' hands, but a man and a woman doing the same would raise many eyebrows (if they're not married or related, they would risk arrest by doing so in many of those countries). Also, if a woman is in hijab, a man who is not her muhram (e.g., husband, father, son, or brother) should not attempt to initiate physical contact with her unless absolutely necessary (for instance, in an emergency).

its not just based on country, but also for international students, the country they came from.  Albeit a muslim student or a Korean/Japanese student, they may not feel comfortable at all with contact based on their own background.  Seems not initiating is the safest.

@aeismail: what's a "Muslim-dominated" country, though? I realise this link is not authoritative, but I'm pretty sure that for example men and women can shake hands in Turkey: http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/ce_tr.htm So it's hard to tell who you're talking about but it's not "all countries in which Islam is the major religion".

@SteveJessop: You're correct that it's not all Muslim-majority countries. However, it does include most of them—or at least all the ones without democratically elected heads of state.

@Steve A better distinction would probably be "countries with laws based on sharia law", because there side-hugs with an unmarried woman wouldn't be recommended. Turkey is a secular nation with a long tradition in that regard (atatürk and laicité), so it's a bit of an outlier. But it's true that "majority muslim" in itself isn't a good qualifier.

@SteveJessop - Turkey is the most secular Islamic country that I know of. For the likes of Saudi Arabia or Iran, Turkey is ultra-liberal.

@aeismail: that seems a very good qualification to me (assuming it's true, I mean, I don't have the information to check it). "In every Muslim-majority country whose head of state is not democratically elected, it's socially unacceptable in academia for a man and woman to shake hands", is at least unambiguous. Unless there's a case where by quibbling about the legitimacy of elections in a particular state one could produce an arguable but not clear counter-example :-)

@SteveJessop: And also don't forget the part about women in hijab, which overrules the other details.

@ff524 Fist-bumps have been shown to transmit pathogens less than hand-shakes. In my perfect infection control world, it would be the default greeting between medical students and faculty.

@Fomite How do you feel now?

I'm glad you asked the question, since I was very struck by the answer as well: as I indicated in a comment, I am rather confident that the sentiment expressed there that hugs are always okay is against the policy of my university.  As Tara B mentioned, any physical contact between coworkers that is not explicitly part of the work done needs to be clearly acceptable to both parties.  There is no doubt that sometimes a hug is more contact than one wants.  When I first arrived at my current job a certain SO of a colleague reacted to meeting me for the first time by giving me an aggressive hug while I was seated, so I could not easily regulate or terminate it.  While certainly not "traumatic", in the long years since then, whenever I see this person I instinctively track them closely enough so as not to "get caught" as I did that one time.  If it had been my colleague rather than my colleague's SO, it would have been worse.
As other people have said, what is an acceptable level of physical contact must vary culturally to a large degree.  Here's what I've come up with in my years at an American university:
1) When in doubt, err on the side of restraining yourself from what you think will most likely be okay.  Academics (okay, especially mathematicians) are not known for being the most touchy-feely people, and academic culture is more highly respective of personal boundaries than most other aspects of American culture, with the possible exception of certain religious groups.  As an academic "lifer",  I sometimes have to remind myself that people I meet in "real life" sometimes react negatively to a total lack of physical contact: in many situations it signals a lack of interest (and not only of romantic interest) and closeness.  In academia it is really always acceptable to keep your hands to yourself.  Always.
2) The academic hierarchy does have a role to play.  I can't think of a situation in which I would ever initiate contact with an undergraduate student.  If they offer to shake my hand, I do so. [For those outside American culture: not to shake someone's hand when they offer it is, from a core cultural perspective, amazingly rude.  In recent years the mysophobe fist-pounding movement has gained some momentum, but I'll bet that it still very often happens that Howie Mandell offends someone by refusing to shake their hand.  Actually the linked to article has interesting information about this: the things that Mandell does instead of shaking hands would be viewed by many academics as more intimate.  Also, I can't resist mentioning that I just learned that Mandell is not actually bald but shaves his head for mysophobic reasons.  Wow.] I would accept a hug from an undergraduate as a parting gesture: that's about it.
Graduate students are a little older, and I also have more prolonged contact with them (both in the sense of multiple hours at a time and multiple years in succession).  This builds a little more intimacy.  Like @StrongBad I regard certain climactic moments of academic accomplishment -- e.g. solving your thesis problem -- as worthy of a high-five.  My thesis advisor patted me on the back as he told me that I passed my thesis defense.
The "don't touch" rule is still generally in force, but I can think of some exceptions.  Once I had an emotionally intense conversation with a graduate student -- a conversation entirely about her performance in the program!  During the course of this conversation the student showed me more of her own thoughts and feelings (about being a graduate student...) in that one sitting than in all the time I had known her.  It is not so easy to open up to an authority figure about these things, and I felt that as a human being I needed to let her know that she had gotten through to me, so I asked her if I could give her a hug, and I did.
[In fact I got the idea from an emergency room physician who had given me a hug about six months before.  She acknowledged that the hug was unusual but thought that I really needed it (she was right) and asked for permission to give it.]
I still feel that 99% of the time "no touching" is the right way to go, and if you think you might be in the 1%, take a step outside yourself and make sure that someone else would see it that way.  For instance it is unfortunately not unheard of that a student breaks into tears in my office [it happens every year or two; come to think of it, I am more than due for such an incident].  My standard reaction to this is to dash out to get some paper towels / tissues [and give themselves a chance to get recomposed] and come back and helpfully offer them.  Hugging them because calculus is hard seems like participating in a weird power dynamic.  If a student got a text that their mother died, I might offer a hug.
Postdoctoral "students" feel a little different: I am still young enough (and young enough at heart) to identify more with the postdocs than the 20-year veteran faculty members.  I certainly don't hesitate to socialize with postdocs: they have been some of my closest friends in the department.  But for postdocs who are working under me I want to set clear boundaries: if I've been working with someone closely for hours a day, then an occasional arm or shoulder touch to emphasize a point feels natural enough...but I would still think about it, watch the reaction, and not automatically assume it's okay.  Hugging it out is still not the order of the day.
3) You ask whether genders matter.  I think the answer is that of course they do, in complicated ways.  I am conscious of the fact that while writing this answer I spent a while thinking over all the physical contact, however mild, I've had in a professional capacity...and almost every instance I could think of was with someone of the opposite gender.  Hmm!  In general I have an open-door policy in my office hours: literally.  Even when talking to a single student about their own coursework I would like the door to be open, even at the cost of passersby hearing some moderately confidential academic information.  If there is noise coming from the hall I might close the door....but I will absolutely never close the door fully (which makes it lock) when I am accompanied by exactly one female student.  (With a male student I would still prefer not to, but I might say "It's very noisy outside.  Would it be okay if I closed the door because of that?"  With a female student: it is not okay.)
In American culture physical contact between men is countenanced in certain very specific situations [I'm think of certain locker room antics] and is quite taboo in many others.  I do hug male friends but less often: it is usually a profound gesture of intimacy.  [Many years ago as a graduate student, I was at a conference and shared a room with another student.  At the end of a couple of weeks he gave me a hug as we parted.  Well, he was Japanese, I was American and we were in Spain: my cultural rulebook does not cover that situation, so I went with it.]  Also, once I had a male student start crying in my office (about his performance in a calculus course).  This was a profoundly distressing event for both of us, beyond my ability to understand or explain, and the point is that I felt utterly unequipped to do anything about it, least of all by physically comforting him: it seems very likely that would have made things worse.

Do you think sexual orientation plays any role in any of this?  I ask because of what you said about closing the door while exactly one female student is in your office being completely unacceptable.  I know a professor who generally closes the door whenever anyone is with him in his office, however I believe all his colleagues know he is gay and so this might lead him to have no concerns about anyone getting the wrong idea when it so happens that there is exactly one female student in his office.

"Do you think sexual orientation plays any role in any of this?" Yes, I do....But it's beyond the scope of my current ambitions to address it in detail.  (Honestly, I wrote such a long answer because I'm procrastinating for slides for a talk I'm giving on Saturday, but...I really do have to make them.)

That's fine.  It wasn't part of the original question.  Last time I had to write talk slides, I ended up volunteering to switch with someone so I would have a board available and not have to write slides. =]

My department neatly solved that problem of open door vs noise from outside when we moved to new digs a couple of years ago; all the offices have glass-paned doors, and all the lab spaces have big windows looking out onto the hallway. It's great to be able to have closed-door meetings again, where noise from outside stays out and your conversation inside stays in :)

I was stuck by this interesting but somewhat extreme-sounding answer. US culture (or at least academic culture) really does seem extreme in some ways. Is it the fear of getting sued for sexual harrassment, or something more general? It is perhaps all the more striking because I've seen so much abuse (exploitation) in academia first hand, and it seems to be considered perfectly normal and acceptable. So that is considered Ok, but inappropriate touching isn't? :-)

So that is considered Ok — No, it isn't.

@FaheemMitha: I don't think it's the fear of being sued. It's the knowledge that gross abuses by people in positions of authority at universities are the norm, not the exception, and a desire not to be a part of that system and not to create threatening situations for one's students.

@FaheemMitha: "abuse (exploitation)" is never considered OK by definition. Of course it's entirely possible that things a particular observer perceives as abusive and exploitative (I dunno, sake of example: the amateurism regulations for college football) are considered OK by many people who would say they're neither abusive nor exploitative and hence would entirely agree with you in the abstract that abuse is not OK ;-) The same can apply with more direct and personal abuses, and like R.. says not everyone thinks their system/culture works as it is.

@SteveJessop This is OT for this question, but yes, IMO college athletics is clearly exploitative, and yes, I am sure there are many people who consider it perfectly fine. FWIW, this isn't the kind of exploitation I had in mind - I had in mind more straight academic abuse e.g. faculty/post-doc or faculty/student, of which there are many examples on this site.

"With a female student: it is not okay" - Isn't that discrimination against sex and sexual preferences? If closing an office door to avoid disturbance would genuinely discomfort a student, then (assuming the supervisor and student know each other reasonably well and an absence of any psychological conditions) there must be some seriously worrying trust issues going on. But perhaps there is a significant cultural dimension to consider here, too...

@Moriarty: The passage applies to all student interaction, not just supervisees.  And I did not say that closing the door would cause the student discomfort: in my case, knowing that I am not going to do anything untoward, it doesn't seem especially likely that it would.  The practice is there to protect the faculty as well as the student.  It seems "discriminatory" in approximately the same way as having separate men's and women's bathrooms is discriminatory: i.e., yes, in the technical sense, but our culture does require genders to be treated differently sometimes.

Finally, maybe my bolded "it is not okay" is being taken too strongly.  By this I mean that it is not okay with me: by having all my student interaction be out in the open to passersby, I simply don't have to worry about accusations of sexual harassment and the like.  I'm not saying that if I closed my door when talking to students that would in itself engender any kind of problem: other than people thinking I'm not in my office during student meeting times, I doubt it would.  It's just better to be safe than sorry, for me as well as for the students.

@PeteL.Clark Fair point, I did misinterpret that a bit. I meant discrimination in the sense that a closed door when a gay faculty member is meeting with a female student might be less likely to raise suspicion. Presumption of guilt happens, and it's good to avoid it, but it's still not okay. So I agree that it's usually good to keep doors open or ajar (because who wants to be in a department where everyone's door is always shut?). But on the rare occasion where privacy is necessary, as long as John isn't always closing the door when he meets with Mary, it seems a reasonable thing to do.

Since you mentioned the open door policy, I wanted to ask (because of my own dilemmas as a student) -- Do you think it's OK of a female student to ask a male professor if she could close the door, if she is about to discuss some delicate work-related matters with him, which she wouldn't want random people to hear?

@Pandora: It's certainly okay to ask.  One might for instance want to leave the door cracked, which conveys most of the privacy but also the sentiment that nothing is going awry inside.

@Moriarty A lack of trust (especially for the introverted students who might join academia!) is often just a Not which has no bearing on the quality of the faculty. Many students don't want a close relationship with faculty and only meet with faculty after all other options are exhausted (regardless of the faculty member).

Some of this may depend on the age of the students, the relevant law of the country, and policies of the institution.  I'm replying from a USA-centric, adult, and parent viewpoint.
I am a USA Swimming certified official.  Part of the required training is on their 'Athlete Protection Policy', dealing with allowable interactions between adults (coaches, officials, team representatives) and swimmers (age group or over 18). Shaking hands and fist bumps like @asismail list are acceptable.  Hugs initiated by the adults are not. Hugs initiated by the swimmer are also not really OK - they might happen once in the heat of the moment (winning Olympic gold), but should not be repeated.  This ensures there are clear boundaries between the adults and the swimmers (any age).  There should be no doubt to a neutral observer that there is nothing going on. If this sounds too 'politically correct' to you, tough. Sexual harassment and sexual abuse happen, and USA Swimming wants nothing to do with it.  Likely your institution has no desire for it to occur either, and has policies in place about it.  If the student feels uncomfortable, don't do it.  If somebody watching you is uncomfortable, don't do it.
As a manager of a research group, I have positional authority over my adult staff, and all the same issues apply.  You don't want anyone thinking that anything untoward is going on.  I would never hug a subordinate, male or female, and would not let them hug me under any normal work situations (I'll omit extreme cases such as us all getting out of a burning exploding building). It opens up too many questions.  Even a side hug seems unusual. Lightly and briefly touching a shoulder is OK, unless they seem uneasy.  I don't do it often. Perhaps that seems cold, but my observation is that even 'touchy-feely' folks don't really do much touching in a professional workplace environment. In an environment with students I'd stick to no actions that could be interpreted as remotely sexual by a third party observer.

Right, it's not only the opinion of the two people immediately involved, but potential perceptions of many others around.

The things I want to say on this topic should possibly be comments really, since I think the only 'answer' is that it varies hugely between different cultures (as aeismail already said).
Personally, like aeismail, I would not initiate physical contact with students, or indeed with colleagues (I'm still a postdoc myself).  This is probably a good policy to follow, especially with something like hugging, unless hugs are not only generally acceptable but even expected in the local culture.  The exception might be if a student has finished their studies and is leaving the university.  I think I may have given my final-year project student a goodbye hug.
This extends, in a sense, to students who I happen to be friends with outside work (there are a few of these, since I belong to a student dance society).  Even if I might hug someone frequently in a non-work context, I wouldn't hug them when we are in a teacher/student context.  On the other hand, if it would be normal to hug someone in the friendship context, I wouldn't refrain from doing so just because they are also my student.
EDIT:
As for the question about whether gender makes a difference: again this may be culturally dependant, but in the countries I have studied or worked in (the UK, Germany, New Zealand), any supervisor-student physical contact would be much more likely where at least one of the people involved is female, due to similar cultural expectations about physical contact between males to those mentioned by Pete Clark in his answer (though my impression is that this may be more extreme in (certain parts of?) the US than in the UK).  And high levels of discomfort are probably unlikely where both of the people involved are female, while more caution would be expected with opposite genders.  (This of course arises partly from these cultures being highly hetero-normative.)

If it is a climax moment (when the research question is clearly answered, earning a scholarship, graduation, etc.), it is absolutely normal to have an additional physical contact beyond a handshake. We are humans and when emotions accelerate, the need of communication goes beyond verbal. The first time I saw my supervisor after we both read some good news about my thesis, we both held each others' arms at the same time,it was such a synchronized moment which mirrored our intellectual harmony.

If both parties are adults, what is acceptable is whatever the two parties feel is acceptable in a workplace. There are laws that tell you exactly what is not acceptable. I fail to see how a side hug would be harmful, unless it was forced (directly or indirectly). I don't think it's anyone's business to decide what is acceptable or not between two intelligent adults, within the confines of the law and general etiquette of course.

One of the issues is how it appears to others. Favoritism and abuse of power are not just issues for the two people involved.

In an ideal world any amount that would be permissable between friends would be fine.
Of course, I dont work in academia, but IMHO, since everyone is adults, I think you could intiate a hug.
From a risk minimizing perspective, it would be unwise, but if you live your life based on those kinds of risks, life gets boring.
I also think the current moral panaick is showing signs of subsiding, I think people are slowly swingingback to a presumption of innocence and considering evidence of every case, not looking thourgh a macronarraitve that presumes either the accuser is right (now) or the accusser is always wrong (ten years ago).
Its tricky though, I dont think the problem of true and false accusations will ever stop until people are allowed to precommit themselves to a neutral third party arbiter that can investiagate claims credibly.

If you are a man, I would avoid all unnecessary physical contact, any unnecessary 1-on-1 meetings behind closed doors, and all unnecessary socializing.  Does this sound absurd?  Maybe.  I recently read a good article on a similar issue focused on the workplace, but the idea applies in academia as well:
https://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/unfiltered-opinion/resetting-for-below-zero-tolerance-on-sexual-harassment.html
You can't know what will offend your students, and they could make an allegation ten years down the road that might cost you your job, even if the allegation is 100% fictional.  Leave no room for doubt!  Assuming you are male, I would avoid taking on female students entirely when possible.  This is unfortunate, but is it worth risking your career?

Looks like I touched a nerve!  Looks like the haters know they don't have a rational argument though

The question is about acceptable physical contact. Your answer says none and then attempts to provide some justification. The justification seems more like a rant and doesn't convince me that a handshake should be avoided.

I didn't make the case that a handshake should be avoided, I interpreted your original question as relating more to hugs.
Your original question was "What physical contact, if any, is acceptable between a supervisor and a student?" and I said "avoid all unnecessary physical contact". In many cases a handshake might be necessary to maintain professional decorum but it will be up to you to be the judge. If you find Rob's blog entry unconvincing, you might read up on Garrison Keillor's firing. You are probably safe as is, but the current climate is delicate.
Thank you for the feedback


text:
How do you evaluate the potential for getting funding of post doc applicants?
This answer of mine, in which I advocate listing internal funding of your PhD studies on your CV, is not well liked. When evaluating potential post docs for my lab, I am interested in if the applicant is going to be competitive for external funding. I take self funding a PhD as being an indication that the applicant was unable to obtain external funding. I give applicants who were funded internally by a department or someone else's grant a big pass since the need for external funding was absent. Is the no funding/internal funding distinction important for a potential post doc supervisor to know? If not why?

Do you mean fellowships and other PhD-student only external awards, or are you OK with listing "I helped write this larger project grant that covered lots of people but I was not listed by name in the application"?
I think that in the last couple of years of a PhD, students should be helping to write the project proposals, but there are lots of reasons besides failure and lack of trying that might explain why they did not. Well-funded supervisors may, in my opinion misguidedly, shield their students from grant writing so that they can focus on the research. I think that this is a failure on the part of the supervisor to properly prepare a student for future research work, but it happens all the time. Some people don't get this training until the are a postdoc. You shouldn't hold the actions of the supervisor against the candidate.
Also, some applicants may believe that if they were "only" part of the writing team but not a co-PI or Senior Personnel (in NSF-speak) on an application, that they should not list it on their CV.
Finally, even for external grants which only cover a single student (fellowships and the like), having not applied for one doesn't mean much. There are many, many more PhD students than there are fellowship opportunities.
If you are trashing CVs for any of these reasons, you may be missing out on good postdocs.
Edited to answer the question (sort of): I don't hire a lot of postdocs, but I have directly or indirectly hired 20-30 PhD-level research staff. Some of them are expected to participate in proposal writing. We gauge their ability to write proposals by looking for it on CVs, asking them about their experience when it's not on their CVs, and talking about it during interviews. Then, we throw them in the deep end and see what happens. In my organization, we have large-scale projects that fund people's time, but if they want to work on their personal research projects, they need to write proposals. Those who do, get to work on things besides the center-wide projects. Those who don't, don't.

Both funded and unfunded/self funded PhD students are common in my field. I don't hold it against students if their advisors are well funded. But how do you tell from a CV if a student is self funded or funded by an advisor's grant?

You don't. If you like everything else about the applicant, you call them on the phone and ask them (or email them or whatever).

What field are you in?

Firstly, our environments clearly vary. Personal grants are uncommon around here, and almost every PhD student is funded by somebody else's grant. Nobody lists how they have been funded, and those who do are not regarded overly well (hence also my answer to the question you mention).
To answer your actual question:

How do you evaluate the potential for getting funding of post doc applicants?

Not directly, really. We do not expect a track record in grant proposals for a fresh PhD gradudate. Hence, we try to infer from her/his research vision whether the graduate actually has enough ideas of sufficient scope to get some projects accepted. We assume that actually forging those ideas into grant proposals will require some help at first.
Having some experience as co-writer of proposals is a plus, but frankly it's not something very important to us. Whether or not the candidate has written the state of the art section for somebody else's grant proposal is less interesting than whether he actually has ideas for proposals.