Category Archives: lectures

Hunstanton Sand

Posted on 11 February 2024 by Athene Donald

I’ve just started reading a book called The Spirit of Enquiry by Susannah Gibson, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, an interesting society of which I was once a committee member (as well as a prize-winner). I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Nerves? We (Nearly) All Have Them

Posted on 25 June 2023 by Athene Donald

Recently I had occasion to watch a young adult preparing to make a presentation. They were incredibly nervous, but when it came to standing in front of the audience little of that was evident. Just a small amount of self-deprecating … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, lectures, questions, Science Culture, seminars, timing | Comments Off on Nerves? We (Nearly) All Have Them

Dusty Files and Old-fashioned Methods

Posted on 16 October 2017 by Athene Donald

It’s that time of year again when lecturers dust down their files, refresh their memories, and stride out to inspire the next generation of freshers keen to take down their every word. Except, it’s not like that any more. That … Continue reading →

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The Perils of Procrastination

Posted on 29 April 2015 by Athene Donald

Voter registration in the UK showed just how many people are good at procrastination, with nearly half a million people registering on the last possible day. My email inbox is also a good indicator of people’s expectation that we are … Continue reading →

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Student Satisfaction Good, Student Learning Better

Posted on 4 June 2014 by Athene Donald

Reading the responses from students to one’s teaching is all too often painful. Even for a course that has gone reasonably well you will probably get as many panning you for making it too simple as complaining it was impossibly … Continue reading →

Posted in education, evaluations, lectures, Unconscious bias | Comments Off on Student Satisfaction Good, Student Learning Better

Considering the Historical Context

Posted on 20 March 2014 by Athene Donald

At a talk I gave in Sheffield last week the local MP Meg Munn remarked on the fact that, being a non-scientist, she had learned a lot about how science is done from reading my blog (in particular this one, … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Science, lectures, Newton, Teaching, Von Guericke | Comments Off on Considering the Historical Context