As I Get Farther Along This Academic Road, I Can See That People Are Becoming Increasingly Secretive

Physics exam in two days!!!

Pro-tips for rookie academic writers after grading about a quarter of the midterm papers for my undergrad Shakespeare class:

If your entire argument can be made in one sentence, it’s too simple. 

If your argument cannot be summarized in one sentence, it’s too broad.

If your argument can’t be argued with, it’s not an argument.

Teachers don’t want you to fawn on the material; they want you to engage with it. Just fangirling over Shakespeare isn’t going to get you an A.

Avoid big sweeping generalizations in your opening sentences (and everywhere else). “Since the dawn of time” or “Of all the playwrights who have ever lived,” etc. etc. are superlatives you can’t possibly prove.

If you’re going to say that an author/text does something, you’d better be ready to demonstrate how. 

Your opinion is not analysis. Learn the difference. 

“Interesting” and “intriguing” are useless words that tell a reader nothing about the text. Be more specific.

Don’t assume you know a character’s motives without evidence from the text. Don’t assume you know an author’s motives, full stop.

If you’re a man making an argument about female perspectives in a text, have a woman read it before you turn it in. Just trust me on this one. 

I was asked to make a masterpost on websites like Codecademy, so I’ve tried to compile a list of the best (and mostly free!!). In no particular order: 

1. Codecademy [x]

I couldn’t not include Codecademy! Just in case you haven’t checked it out, it’s pretty neat. It has courses for learning languages and web developer skills.

Languages: Python, Ruby, Java, PHP, jQuery, JavaScript, HTML/CSS

Extras: Git, SQL, Command Line, AngularJS, Ruby on Rails

2. Code School [x]

This is pretty similar to Codecademy with the in-browser coding and such. It also has additional features like teaching videos. A good introduction to programming languages.

Languages: Python, Ruby, Javascript, HTML/CSS

Extra: iOS development with Objective-C or Swift, Git, SQL

3. Learnaroo [x]

Has tutorials followed by mini challenges based on the concepts you’ve just learnt! It also has some reference pages called “Learn x by Example”. Looks pretty good.

Languages: Python, Java, Ruby, HTML/CSS

Extra: Algorithms, Mathematics, + a bunch of premium membership stuff

4. Learn … 

A set of related websites (see below) which have mini tutorials on language concepts followed by mini challenges, similar to Learnaroo.

Languages: Python, Java, C, C#,  JavaScipt, PHP, Shell

5. Code Combat [x]

Basically, it turns learning to code into a game! As you move through the levels, new concepts are introduced, so the code you need to write to play the game gets harder. 

Languages: Python, Java, JavaScript, CoffeeScript, Clojure, Lua

6. Codingame [x]

Similar idea to Code Combat, but a little more advanced. 

Languages: Python, Java, Ruby, C, C++, C#, Haskell, VB … there’s actually loads it supports.

7. Code Wars [x]

This is more for ‘training’ with a language you already know. It offers plenty of practice through challenges, so it’s really good for improving your coding skills. 

Languages: Python, Ruby, Java, C#, Haskell, JavaScript, CoffeeScript, Clojure

8. Coderbyte [x]

This offers some video tutorials and challenges for a few languages, plus special courses on specific algorithms and bootcamp/interview prep. You need a premium membership for quite a lot of things, though (e.g. I don’t think you can watch any of the videos with a free membership).

Languages: Python, Ruby, JavaScript

Extras: Algorithms, Bootcamp Prep, Job Interview Prep

9. Free Code Camp [x]

Mini tutorials followed by mini challenges. Has a number of courses on the languages below!

Languages: HTML/CSS, jQuery, JavaScript

Extras: Git, Algorithms, + a bunch of projects to complete

10. Programmr [x]

Has courses to learn various languages through doing little exercises/challenges in the browser, similar to previous examples. Also has ‘zones’ for more languages, where you can find challenges, example code and projects people have shared. 

Languages: Python, Java, C++, C#, PHP, jQuery

11. CheckIO [x]

Only offers Python, but I still think it’s really great. You move from level to level, getting challenges which are gradually trickier. Learn by doing!

12. Rails for Zombies [x]

For people who already know a bit of Ruby, but nothing about Ruby on Rails!  Each level begins with a short video followed by interactive challenges where you program Rails in the browser.

That’s all (for now!) Hope this is helpful! (ﾉ^∇^)ﾉﾟ

{ 15-4-17 } 70/100 days of productivity

Rose gold theme! Some HD photos taken with my DSLR of econ notes ♡

revisiting some of my old sketches and book notes inspired by leonardo da vinci.

Best Online Lectures for College Courses

Please reblog and add to the list! Let’s make sure all the studyblrs have these resources available to them so we can all be successful! I will do my best to keep the original post updated here.

I thought I would start a list of YouTube channels (or other venues) that have the best lecture videos out there. Not only are online lectures a great supplement to help you understand the content your professors teach you in class, they’re also a useful tool for prestudying before class! I try to watch lectures of the topic that will be lectured on next before each class so that I already have notes coming into the lecture, meaning I can focus on learning the material by only adding on what’s necessary to my notes as opposed to frantically copying everything on the board or powerpoint slide.

BIOLOGY

General Biology

Bozeman Biology

CHEMISTRY

Organic Chemistry

Leah4Sci

Biochemistry

Kevin Ahern

Moof Univeristy

PHYSICS

Covers Many Physics Courses/Topics

Leonard Susskind

Feynman Lectures

DrPhysicsA

MATHEMATICS

Calculus

Integral Calc Academy

PatrickJMT

ProfRobBob

MIT OpenCourseware (x) (x) (x)

Discrete Mathematics

(x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

Linear Algebra

(x) (x) (x)

COMPUTER SCIENCE

Data Structures

(x) (x) (x) (x)

Object Oriented Programming

(x)

Software Engineering

(x)

Database

(x)

Operating Systems

(x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

(x)

Computer Architecture

(x)

Programming

(x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

Artificial Intelligence

(x) (x)

Algorithms

(x)

COVERS MANY SUBJECT AREAS

Khan Academy

Crash Course

MIT Open Courseware

tips for graduate grants, awards, & fellowships

hello! usual disclaimer applies: i’m a phd student, not an expert. i work in an english department with a medical humanities project, so this advice may not apply to STEM folks, undergraduates, or to all fellowships or grants. use your own common sense & discretion. beneath the cut: 

finding the money

keeping track of the money 

actually applying for the money, feat. the world’s longest treatise on project proposals

soliciting (& receiving) letters of rec

Keep reading

Science Chapter 2 sunshine themed notes 🌻;

Was pretty productive today so i decided to start doing the #100daysofproductivity challenge hehe. Here goes day 1 ~ ^ 3 ^

Fractures:

Depression: Broken bone portion pressed inward; skull fractures.

Comminuted: Bone breaks into many fragments; common in the elderly.

Simple/Closed: Clean break, bone doesn’t penetrate skin.

Compression: Crushed bone; spinal fractures.

Compound/Open: Bone penetrates skin.

Greenstick: Bone breaks incompletely; common in children.

Impacted: Broken bone ends forced into each other; results of blocking a fall.

Pathological: Results of disease and degeneration of bone tissue.

Spiral: Ragged break as a result of twisting forces; common sports injury.

How to Take Notes: from a Textbook

(Be sure to change the post type from link to text post when you reblog, if that’s what you want to do)

This method is best suited for textbook or article notes, and is a version of revised notes. It is also well suited for books you plan on returning to the bookstore or books you have rented, as it does not involve writing directly in the book itself.

First, you’ll need to find a notebook, and the pens you like the best. My favorite notebooks to work with for note-taking, especially for my “revised” notes, are the Moleskine, hard or soft cover, in size extra large. For this specific class (Intro to Gender and Women’s Studies), I decided that lined pages would suit my needs better. For my math, engineering, and science classes, I usually opt for squared paper, as I draw in lots of diagrams and graphs.

My favorite pens ever are Staedtler Triplus Fineliners, so even though they show through the pages a little bit, I still choose to use them. I just love the way they write. I usually write out my notes themselves with a Pilot G2 05 with black ink, as it writes with a finer line and doesn’t bleed through quite as much.

I usually try to set up my notebooks about a week or so before class starts, that way it’s ready to go on my first day of class.

You’ll want to start off by setting up your notebook. On my first page, I put my course code for my university, as well as the course title.

Next, and this is perfectly optional (I just like the way it makes the book look, especially at the end of the semester), I include some sort of related quote to the course. For my engineering courses (which are related to my major), I put a different quote at the beginning of each section. But as this is a two-month long course during the summer, I opted for one quote by Mohadesa Najumi at the beginning of my book.

Next I set up my table of contents and include a page with basic course information. As this course is all online, my course information just included the start and end dates of the course, what time content is posted and on what day, and the name of my professor. For my usual courses, I will include the days of the week the class meets on and where, TA names and contact info, as well as posted office hours for my professors and TAs and tutoring hours either in the library or in the College of Engineering.

Next is one of the things I’m most proud of.

While I religiously use my Erin Condren planner to map out my days, weeks, and months, I have found throughout my college experience that including monthly views for the months my class ranges has been helpful. This way, there’s no sifting through the multiple colors I have in my planner, and everything related to that class is in the same notebook.

On this calendar I include start dates of the class, the end date, the dates of exams or quizzes, assignment deadlines, office hours, etc.

For this course, as I just started a few days ago, I don’t have a lot of dates or information, so my calendars are still very empty.

Next up I go to my weekly overview. At the beginning of each week, I set up a weekly layout, and I include a list of assignments, tests, quizzes, tasks, projects, etc that need my attention throughout the week, and I place the days I plan on doing them or the days they need turned in onto the weekly layout.

Now you’re finally ready to get into taking the notes.

Gather your book, some sticky notes, and your favorite pen or pencil.

I color code my stickies so that the “revision” process later goes a bit smoother. In this case, I’m using blue to denote something interesting, intriguing, or thought provoking, greenish-yellow to represent the facts or important concepts, and pink for important vocabulary words and their definitions.

Read the selection once.

As you read along the second time, write notes on your stickies, and place them in a place of relevance directly on the page in the book. Just make sure you don’t cover up anything you need to keep reading.

Now, once you’ve read all the material in questions (you can choose to break it up however you want, but since Chapter 1 was assigned for the week, I’ve elected to break it into chapters), carefully remove your stickies one by one and lay them out on a flat surface. This is when having a separate color for vocab can be helpful, as I sometimes put all of my vocab at the beginning or end of a section, especially if the section of reading was particularly large.

Organize your stickies in an order that makes sense to you, and use this order as your basis for transferring those notes into your notebook. The order you choose can just be lumping them under similar headings. Some classes even lend themselves to a nice chronological order. Whatever you choose, just make sure it’s something that will make sense to you when you come back to it in the end.

Okay so up there I wasn’t following my own advice, I just thought I would include the picture because my handwriting looks nice…

Now organize the stickies!

Now you just start writing everything from the stickies into your notebook. I like to take each category or subgroup and put them in the book on the facing page, then put them back in my textbook as I finish with each post it.

Moving on to the next category.

Before you know it, you’ve written all of your stickies into your notebooks.

Now you’re revved up and ready to go. You can either keep going and make a note summary page (which I’ll show you next week), or you can leave it. These will also be helpful when reviewing for tests and quizzes. You can highlight or underline, or use even more stickies (which is what I usually do) as you review.

Well, that’s all I have for you right now. Happy studying!

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