The undergraduate course I'm taking this semester is giving me an interesting insight on how class should be taught and how exams should assess students' academic success.
One student shared all the class notes and quiz answers that we did so far, and asked other students to check/edit where necessary to enhance her understanding of the material. There seemed to be nothing wrong with it, but she accidetally sent the link to it to the lecturers and TAs, and got into trouble - it was inappropriate to share those materials, according to the teachers.
Why inappropiate exactly?
Probably because it will not help other students learn the material, but rather memorize whatever written on there. Also, by showing the notes from class, it will give the same information to students who did not attend the class at all, in extreme cases. The credibility of the content is not guaranteed, but everyone knows that - since it is not coming from the lecturers or the TAs, you use the materials at your own risk.
Her idea was that she needed some help in making her notes perfect, and making better answers for possible exam questions. There seems to be nothing wrong with it. What is it different from asking your classmate to show their notes from class you could ot attend? It was unfortunate that she accidentally sent the link to the teachers.
The problem is maybe this class content and exam format - it is more of memorizing a lot of detailed info in a short period of time (ie before an exam) and forget everything after that rather than you get basic info, materials to think, and provide your thoughtful, logical answers to a real-life problem based on what you learned in the class. It's hard to teach this kind of class, but there should be more materials to ponder, not just facts and names to remember. What is missing is things (contexts) that connect each random item.
The class is halfway through, and this portion of the semester is only like this, maybe. Just lots of random things around the world. I hope the final third of the class is more about what you think and how we can provide solutions to modern dietary problems.
3.28.2019
Career search gradually starting!
My friend is looking for a job after working as a grad student for 5 years! That is exciting. I feel really happy for her, and I cannot wait to do it myself.
Industry has more money, you can produce something tangeble, departments are better structured than university labs, often times. So, it will be clearer whose responsibility is what, and who you should go to when you have a problem. On the other hand, university enjoys more freedom, not limited by profit, you may be able to do more innovative. If you want to do basic reearch, academia is your home.
Issue of job insecurity - it is the same wherever you go. There's always a possibility of being laid off in companies, and post-docs and early stage profesors are fixed term as well. The important thing is to do your best and keep trying to improve your resume. Getting a job is not the end; it's a start. You will need to work hard to have something that you have accomplished, which then will appearl to your next employer. This mindset is rare to find in Japan, where you find one company and you stick to it forever doing whatever you are assigned to.
I first thought the freedom of the university environment appealing. You have the key, you can work at whatever time you would like. But that also means rules are not always followed and less organization. Also people aften go missing and you cannot reach someone when you need them. This is especially true about working in the lab. Equipment is sometimes not well maintained, cleaned or ready for the next user; if it is shared, you may be the one who is always cleaning it because there is almost no system.
Maybe I prefer a company employee again. There is a better system, and again the responsibilities are more clearly assigned. Academia makes things complicated because student employees are transient and we always train new people, but it's hard to instill an attitude to maintain equipments for longer use because they are there only for a short time and they only need it to work while they are working on it.
It is a really good experience to work both in a company and at a unviersity. I see differences, pros and cons, and whcih may be better suited to me. Let's see what I will find.
Industry has more money, you can produce something tangeble, departments are better structured than university labs, often times. So, it will be clearer whose responsibility is what, and who you should go to when you have a problem. On the other hand, university enjoys more freedom, not limited by profit, you may be able to do more innovative. If you want to do basic reearch, academia is your home.
Issue of job insecurity - it is the same wherever you go. There's always a possibility of being laid off in companies, and post-docs and early stage profesors are fixed term as well. The important thing is to do your best and keep trying to improve your resume. Getting a job is not the end; it's a start. You will need to work hard to have something that you have accomplished, which then will appearl to your next employer. This mindset is rare to find in Japan, where you find one company and you stick to it forever doing whatever you are assigned to.
I first thought the freedom of the university environment appealing. You have the key, you can work at whatever time you would like. But that also means rules are not always followed and less organization. Also people aften go missing and you cannot reach someone when you need them. This is especially true about working in the lab. Equipment is sometimes not well maintained, cleaned or ready for the next user; if it is shared, you may be the one who is always cleaning it because there is almost no system.
Maybe I prefer a company employee again. There is a better system, and again the responsibilities are more clearly assigned. Academia makes things complicated because student employees are transient and we always train new people, but it's hard to instill an attitude to maintain equipments for longer use because they are there only for a short time and they only need it to work while they are working on it.
It is a really good experience to work both in a company and at a unviersity. I see differences, pros and cons, and whcih may be better suited to me. Let's see what I will find.
3.25.2019
River point park & Moore's park
Lansing River trail 、川沿いの遊歩道を歩いていくと2つの公園が繋がっていた。川はけっこうな水量。雪解け水がどんどん流れているようだ。
そのあとBlue Owl Coffee でコーヒーを飲みながら試験勉強。急に中間試験がやってきてヤバっ！となる（2回目）。カフェってなぜこんなに集中できるんだろう… 周りの人も皆勉強していた。
3.24.2019
Pumpkin soup
It's very easy to make delicious pumpkin soup with frozen and canned ingredients!
1. Sauté minced onion and garlic with olive oil until golden brown.
2. Add 3 cups water, 2 cubes of chicken stock. Boil to dissolve the cubes.
3. Add 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree, 1/2 tsp salt, black pepper, 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup. Simmer for >15 min.
4. Dissolve 1/2 tsp corn starch (7.5 ml) in 2 Tbsp (30 ml) water. Add the slurry into the soup.
鶏ブイヨン、塩コショウ、隠し味にメープルシロップだけでこんなに美味しいスープができるとは！ 玉ねぎにんにくのソテーに鶏ブイヨンを加えた時点でものすごくいい香りがしていた。これはいろんなスープに応用できそうだ〜
Butternut squash （かぼちゃの仲間だけど中身黄色だし味もマイルド）ではなく、かぼちゃ pumpkin の缶を探すのもポイント。
Wonch Park and Indian curry カレーからの春散歩
雲一つない快晴だったので、Wonch Park へ出かけてきました。その前にインド料理屋さんでカレーを食べ、消化したかったので遠いところに車を停め、3 kmほど歩きました。いい天気…。冬にずっと曇天が続いていたせいか、いきなり日が長くなったように感じ、道路には雪も氷もなく、突然春になった感じ。このまま暖かくなるといいのだけど、そこはミシガン。4月に雪や雹が降ったりするので、まあもう１－２度寒波が来ると予想。考えてみれば３回目の冬を越した。
川に面したお宅
いやーー、綺麗っすわ…… 最高っすわ……
光る川面。
ギース（ガチョウ）たちが道をふさいでいたので通れなかった…。ギースたちは人を見ても怖がらず、逆に威嚇してくるから近寄りたくない…。
白い木。
豪邸。ドアの大きさからして、家自体がどのくらい大きいかわかると思います。そんなにたくさん部屋があって、どういう使い方をしているんだろう。お宅拝見してみたいものだ。掃除は大変そうだなぁ…。
黒い木、白い木、茶色い木、仲良く揃って並んでいるのを見ると、人間も人種差別なんかしてないで、ともに成長するようでありたいよなあ…と思った。
余談ながら、スパイスのせいかハイパーアクティブになり、帰って宅トレしたあとさらに夜散歩までして、普段滅多に達成しない一日一万歩を超えて大満足。ランナーズハイならぬウォーカーズハイになり、本当にどこまでも歩いて行ける気がした。気温は５℃。あったかいんです、これが。
今日学んだ料理の名前：
Chicken Calibmirch ... Creamy chicken curry (literally contains heavy cream, very rich)
Sambar ... Curry with sambar spices
Yellow dal ... Curry with dal (lentil)
Paneer vindalu ... Paneer = cottage cheese, vindalu (vindaloo) = curry
Dansak curry ... Curry with goat meat, vegetables and lentils
Onion pakoda ... Deep fried battered onion snack, kind of like tempura.
Chicken tikka ... Small pieces of meat marinated in a spice mix and then cooked. Served dry.
Tandoor chicken ... Big pieces of (or a whole) chicken baked in a tandoor oven. Served dry.
Chicken tikka masala ... Chicken marinated in a spice mix, cooked, and then smathered in a chick, creamy sauce. Doesn't have anything to do with chicken tikka or tandoor chicken.
Padad ... Thin, disc-shaped food made from gram dough, often fried.
Idili ... Rice and lentils are fermented and the batter is steamed.
3.23.2019
Computational biology meeting
About a new program intended to bring computational science and plant biology together. The idea is wonderful, but there's a lot of things that need to improved.
It's interesting how they start out being far away from perfect. One of the introductory computational course for plant biologists is too hard; my classmates who are taking it spent 10 hours every week to do pre-claas assignments and homework. Why so long? Because they are coding physics equations! Physics is tough as it is, and how can you learn coding with such a difficult subject?? More than half the faculty at CMSE are physicists, probably that's why. Why didn't anyone look and say "This is not an introductory level and loaded with too much physics." when they were planning courses to offer?
Poor my classmates, they spent so much time and energy only to drop this at this point where more than half the semester is done. The help that they got from one of the TAs was "This valuable D5 can be expressed with D11, which becomes D13." What the??? It was the last straw for him.
There's certainly so much gap to fill between computational science and plant sciences. The last time the computational students studied biology was high school. The biologists did not really study computational sciences. They are just two entirely different things even though the collaboration of the two will offer solutions to various biological problems.
Back to the introductory course, it may be a good idea to teach what the current computers can do, what machine learning is, and what kind of problems can be addressed by using it rather than how. Similarly, what kind of biological questions are important and how raw data are generated can be taught in an introductory plant biology course. That way we will be able to familiarise ourselves with the other field, and it may be easier for us to come up with a solution to a certain problem.
However, the interesting landscape is that computational scientists are going to provide models and help plant people with data analyses, and the opposite doesn't happen. That's what tool development and applied sciences are like, I think.
Those who don't know how hard it is to generate raw data from field work, lab experiments, and meeting people etc.. just work with computers and publicly available data from websites. What a different way of life!! I may be suited that way..
Writing at Cafe TOASTE
Tried out a new cafe in town. Nice atmosphere with decent tea (haven't tried their coffee yet). The owner and staff were all friendly. They welcome guests and remember them well. I was able to focus on my term paper for two hours despite the noise around me. It was a perfect seat and perfect level of noise to concentrate on writing, I think. My term paper so far has been typed at different cafes. I like exploring new ones and find my favourite. I like this place and will certainly come back.
TOASTEという最近できたカフェに行ってきた。家では全く集中できない小論を書くため。いい雰囲気だった。他のお客さんたちはおしゃべりに忙しかったりボードゲームをしたりしていたけど、不思議とものすごく集中できて、かなり進んだ。ここ数ヶ月で一番生産性の高かった2時間。場所を変えると気分も変わる！ 宇佐では出来なかった（カフェ皆無）ぶん、カフェ巡りを楽しもう！
3.19.2019
Spring twilight
When this greets you when you come out of the building to head home.. it's a gorgeous treat from nature.
この景色に迎えられて家路に着く。一日のご褒美をもらった気がした☆
3.18.2019
合唱団コンサートとファラフェル
Stainer Chorale spring concert!
Cantique de Jean Racine - Faure
Requiem - Faure
Seufzer eines Ungeliebten und Gegenliebe Beethoven
Choral Fantasy - Beethoven
フォーレは歌ったことあったし、ベートーヴェンは力強いソロとピアノと管弦楽のハーモニーが素晴らしくてとても良かった。高校生の吹奏楽部も混じっていた。コンサートで大人に混じって演奏する機会があるっていいなあ。
1800年代建設の教会があちこちに。
州議事堂は東を向いているので、朝来たらいいよね…といつも夕方に来て思う。
中東のひよこ豆コロッケ的なもの、ファラフェルを作りました。
元レシピはこちら：https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/baked-potato-falafel/
余ってどうしようかと思っていたマッシュポテトはこうやって消費したら良いのか！ 豆粉からデザートではなくおかずとして食べられるものが作れてうれしいなー マッシュポテト300 g とひよこ豆粉半カップから、直径3 cm のが24個できた（備忘）。
パン粉をつけて揚げてあるファラフェルが多いですが、オーブンで焼いても十分美味しい。
カレー味がたまりません。
元レシピにはターメリックと書いてあったけど、なかったのでカレー粉とオニオンパウダーを半々で混ぜたものを使用。カレーの味して美味しかった。ターメリック（あまりカレーの味はしない）よりかえって良かったかも！
料理が現実逃避…
3.11.2019
Lansing River Trail & Crego park
とても天気のいい日だったので散歩してきました！
氷点下じゃない！というだけでわくわく。
湖はまだ一面凍っていてその上に雪が降ったままだった。でも青空がきれい。ビタミンDをたっぷり合成できた気がする！
カッチカチだったときはこの上を歩けたようだ…。
青空と日差しだけでどこまでも歩いて行けるーー
橋の上の雪や氷も少しずつ溶けているよう。川は溶けはじめていて、もう鴨が泳いでいた。冬の間彼らはどこにいたのだろう…
ぴんとした空気と、やわらかな日の光の対比。
昔から森や林の中に入ると、自然との一体感を感じる。木は動かないし、目や耳がないからだろうか、何でもおおらかに受け止めてもらえているような気がして、とても落ち着く。またヨゼミテ国立公園に行きたくなったなー
出かけるの自体はとっても億劫だったけれど、出てきて良かった！と心底思った。これからの季節、散歩を楽しもう！！
初春とエビの香りに誘われて
いつもと違う郵便局に行ったら朝日がきれいで春を感じました。いつの間にやら日が長くなっている！
海鮮食べたさMAXになったため、中華ビュッフェに。中華料理が十何種類もあって、そのうえサラダ、グリル、寿司まである。違ったものを少しずつ食べれるって家ではできない、ビュッフェの醍醐味。エビ三昧にしました。強烈に何かが食べたい！と思ってそれが叶った時の幸せと言ったら。
Black bean clam （黒豆とあさり）という珍しい組み合わせのもあり、豆ブログのネタができた。https://colorfulhealthfulflavorfulblog.wordpress.com/2019/03/08/black-bean-clam/
だんだん投稿頻度が下がってきているので、定期更新にしてみようかな・・・
金曜夜のセミナーはランシングにて。19時前だというのに明るくて散歩ができた！
3.08.2019
After decades-long legal battle, gay couple's 1971 marriage officially recognized
News story! They're probably the longest officially married same-sex couple in the world! The flexible and reasonable decision is very much appreciated.
3.03.2019
旧正月のごちそうからのドライブ
パソコン作業をする前の手慣らしとしてブログ、の形が最近多い気が…。
他の人のブログを読むのも大好き。ブログってすごいなー パソコンがなかったら出会えてもいなかった人の、飾り気のない体験談や日常が読めるとは。癒されたり元気をもらったり、新しい視点を見つけたり。恵まれてる☆
先日中華料理屋さんで旧正月のコース料理会があったのでお友達と参加してきました。
大学法学部の支援があったそうで、感謝☆ 大学の留学生の大多数は中国から。中国系の影響力の大きさをこんなところでも感じる…！
牛肉とブロッコリーの炒め物は定番。.
エビとマンゴー（！）、これが意外に合う。
奥は鶏と野菜炒め。甘辛たれがご飯に合う。
北京ダック。けっこう油ギッシュ。
前菜はスープ、餃子が入っていた。
この他にも、あんかけ焼きそばとチャーハン、マンゴープリンも出た。すごい量。でも10人いたので完食。どれも美味しかった。ベトナム、韓国でも旧正月を祝うそうです。参加者はアジア人だけでなく白人のアメリカ人もたくさんいて、国際色豊かな会でした。正月料理というか普通の中華料理のような気もしたけど、正月にだけ食べる特別な料理、というのはないのだろうか… 我々のグループには中国人はいなかったのでわからなかったー
食べた後はどこかにふらりと行きたくなって、あてもなく夜ドライブ。ナビをつけずに知らない道を走るのは久しぶりでわくわくした！ 州議事堂が綺麗にライトアップされていた。満月！のように見えるけど実は街灯…。ちょうどいい感じに光っている……。 時々、家と学校以外の場所に行くといいんだなーと実感。ランシングは近いのにあまり行かないのでこれからもっと探検したい。
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