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Curvature
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Friends want your help, but the class is curved. What to do? Ah, the dreaded class curve. Can't live with it, can't live without it. Typically, for math, science and engineering courses, exams are difficult. If no one in the class scores above an 80 percent, it'd be terrible for the professor to assign grades straight up. Curves aren't only meant to protect against grade inflation – they also provide a more realistic grading scale. I've sat on many student panels as wide-eyed youngsters ask about the vaunted college course load. Without a doubt there will be at least one question pertaining to "the curve" at every session. I'll usually tell them a curve is necessary for student survival, throw in my story about the 34 percent average and be ...
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Biology Forums Blog |
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1393 |
Biology Forums |
7 years ago |
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Break it up, break it up!
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Why studying for large chunks of time can be counter-productive We’ve all had those days where no matter what good fortune comes our way in the morning or afternoon, we still walk around with a slight furrow in our brow knowing that a night chock-full of homework and studying awaits. It’s like a Utah Jazz fan watching the wildly entertaining 1997 NBA Finals on ESPN Classic – he or she might enjoy it for awhile, but in the back of their mind they know the Michael Jordan buzz saw is coming to ruin their hopes and dreams. (Too young to remember? That's fine, you get the point...) Alright, so maybe Michael Jordan draining threes isn’t exactly the same as laboring through endless schoolwork. I have an attachment to sports analogies so bear with ...
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Biology Forums Blog |
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1668 |
Biology Forums |
7 years ago |
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Early bird gets the grade
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Research different professors' styles to set yourself up for successSome of the strife caused by fretting over tests can be eliminated before the class even starts. As we all know, each professor structures class a little (or a lot) differently. I'm not talking about the professor that hosts "Quixotic Tangent Hour" versus the prof that watches paint dry while he speaks, but rather the testing style that each professor prefers. Some professors prefer the 30 percent midterm, 50 percent final approach while others prefer the five quizzes each at 5 percent, two midterms each at 20 percent and final at 30 percent approach. If you lose weight due to furious foot tapping when faced with hugely weighted tests no matter how well-prepared you are, the ...
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Biology Forums Blog |
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1627 |
Biology Forums |
7 years ago |
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Ten things to help you start the semester off on the right foot
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Ah, the smell of a new semester. What? You aren't excited. Yeah, me neither.There are a few tips, however, that will make the start of every new semester a little more bearable. I have 10 for you, and if you think I've missed any, make sure and post them for everyone else to see. 1. Don't buy your books until you attend the first class. Unless a teacher e-mails you to tell you otherwise, often you'll find that a book or two on the list isn't really needed. Or you might go to class and realize studying won't be necessary. Either way, it'll save you some much-needed cash. 2. Go out and have fun the weekend before the first day of class. Your first week back at school sets the tone for the rest of the semester. Cutting out some time to have fun ...
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Biology Forums Blog |
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1720 |
Biology Forums |
7 years ago |
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How to learn anything using the Feynman Technique
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Richard P. Feynman (1918 - 1988) was a New York City born, Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 1965. He was an American theoretical physicist known for his work in quantum mechanics, as well as in particle physics for which he proposed the parton model. Feynman developed a widely used pictorial representation scheme for the mathematical expressions governing the behavior of subatomic particles, which later became known as Feynman diagrams (below). His passion for science and education later lead him to develop a universal learning model, now called the Feynman Technique, that could help you learn practically anything no matter how difficult or complicated. As long you or the educator uses simple terminology (no complicated words or terms), you ...
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Biology Forums Blog |
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15480 |
duddy |
7 years ago |
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"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you."
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That's the longest string of words that Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee who scientists raised as a human and taught sign language in the 1970s, ever signed. He was the subject of Project Nim, an experiment conducted by cognitive scientists at Columbia University to investigate whether chimps can learn language. After years of exposing Nim to all things human, the researchers concluded that although he did learn to express demands - the desire for an orange, for instance - and knew 125 words, he couldn't fully grasp language, at least as they defined it. Language requires not just vocabulary but also syntax, they argued. "Give orange me," for example, means something different than "give me orange." From a very young age, humans understand that; w ...
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Biology Forums Blog |
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15513 |
duddy |
7 years ago |
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Bowhead whales can live for more than 200 years
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Thanks to a cold environment, which causes a slow metabolism, bowhead whales ( Balaena mysticetus) can live for more than 200 years - nearly 3 times longer than the average human, making it the longest-lived mammal. Bowhead whales can grow 14 to 18 m (46 to 59 ft) in length, and unlike most whales, they lack a dorsal fin. This thick-bodied species can weigh from 75 to 100 tonnes (82 to 110 US tons). They live entirely in fertile Arctic and sub-Arctic waters, unlike other whales that migrate to low latitude waters to feed or reproduce. The bowhead also has the largest mouth of any animal. Of course, following around a whale to measure how long it lives is practically impossible. Researchers discovered this amazing feature in 2007, when a 15 m ...
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Biology Forums Blog |
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15207 |
duddy |
7 years ago |
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