Follow-up impressions

Now that class has been going on for 2 weeks here are my revised impressions. I still love the room layout. The seats are quite comfortable, though the desks are small. What's new about that on a college campus though? One would think that some company out there could make a desk for college-aged adults that could at least fit a notebook - especially at Harvard of all places.

Shopping for classes is indeed an administrative nightmare. The third week of classes is rapidly approaching and my sections are still not finalized. To complicate matter further, the first sessions were supposed to begin on Monday, the 11th. But, that day passed without sections, so they were rescheduled for next Monday - yes, President's Day. I am sure the students are just as happy about meeting during a school holiday as I am. Isn't shopping wonderful? Whatever happened to designing a catalog with a class of 300 students divided into 20 sections with 15 student each? You could even break it down a bit further by having 16 sections with a cap of 18 students and still get 288 to register, which is more or less this year's class. Even with 20 sections with an 18 student cap some sections may have only 7 or 8 students. All the better for the instructor and the student. 7:1 is much more manageable than 18:1. Why? I ask again WHY?

I must give credit to Josh Sanes and Jeff Lichtman. They are giving excellent lectures. Albeit the material is being covered a bit fast for what many students can keep pace, but hey this is college and we are at Harvard. Hold tight we are in for a fast paced ride. But, to be fair, I think the lectures are great and the material quite fair. Even the reading assignments are manageable. Although to be honest I haven't been keeping up with the reading in the book. I had two years worth of graduate courses covering this material and have been to countless lectures and seminars diving into many more of the particulars covered. I hope I understand what is being covered in a basic neurobiology course catered to students with little scientific background. I'll find out what the students think of my understanding of neurobiology during my first section on Monday.

I love being on the other side of the coin!! I hate laptops....no laptops are fine-its the finger pounding rapidly on keys that drives me crazy! Much of what is being said is written verbatim on the pdf handout. Rest those fingers and open your minds! Oh and turning off cell phones would be a polite thing to do.

Harvard First Impressions

I participated in my first undergraduate Harvard class this past week. I should probably set the stage a bit before expressing my opinions. I am not a student; I'm a teaching fellow for this course. This was an experience from the first class of the semester. The course is open to students all across campus and has no prerequisite.

My first impression was that the room was amazing. It reminded me more of a theater than a classroom. I've met in large lecture halls before at other campuses, but this was WAY nice. The projection screen was huge, contributing to the theatrical feeling. The seats were quite comfortable, but the desks, like always were quite small. I also got to see the prep room, which is just amazing and reminds me of the space I saw at the Shakespearean Arts Festival behind one of their theatrical stages. In other words it is huge and has just about anything for various lecturer needs.

My second impression is that of the students. Because this is the first class, this means Harvard is still abuzz with students shopping for classes. Yes, I said shopping. Students have not registered formally and are literally looking in on classes before deciding if they should take it. Hence the term shopping. To illustrate the shopping phenomenon, when this class began the hall was full. A seat was scarcely available with some students standing in the back. As the class wore on students trickled in and out. By the end of class, the number of empty seats was quite evident. What fun for a person lecturing and having to watch as student literally walk out on them. Its a good thing I don't start any instruction until after this shopping period and the students are divided into sections. (Oh yeah, sections aren't decided until shopping is done. What an administrative nightmare!!)

My third impression is one that may change as class goes on. To me it appeared that the instructors were going out of their way to sell the course to the students. The lecture was quite entertaining and involved some fun interactive aspects. That's pretty amazing for a class of about 300 students. I would be most impressed if lectures continue to be as dynamic, fun, and entertaining. However, I suspect that the lectures will probably droll off to what I've come to expect from science classes in such a setting. Only time will tell.

Finally, I love not being a student!! I am free to look around and see what students are frantically writing down in their notebooks or typing on their laptops (the front row should be dubbed laptop-row). Come on! It is the first day of class. Students are still shopping for classes. The course was outlined and the syllabus reviewed. I saw some students with multiple pages of notes. Crazy! Well, perhaps not. I'll see how note taking goes as the course goes on. I bet having the presentations available on pdf before class will affect those pen speeds and the carpal tunnel.

What do I do?

Many have asked and wondered what it is I will be doing while I am here at Harvard. Well hopefully I can explain it a bit here and show you some fun (at least in my opinion) pictures.

I work with zebrafish (Danio rerio is the scientific name). An adult is shown below.

Zebrafish are an excellent tool for studying early development. Here is a quick video from YouTube that shows a time lapse of the first 24 hours after fertilization. The embryos I'll be working with are about 10-14 hours old. So about half way through this video, just when the eye begins to form.

More specifically I work with zebrafish embryos' eyes. I am hoping to understand the role Vitamin A plays in the zebrafish eye development. I use biochemical treatments to alter the Vitamin A production in 12 hour old embryos. I then look at the genes from the eyes at about 14 hours of age and compare untreated animals to treated animals using sophisticated gene microarrays. See below.













The hope is to better understand the genes involved in early eye development associated with Vitamin A. Oh yeah, and did I mention that the fish I'll be working with fluoresce a yellow/green color in the presence of Vitamin A (RA)? (Photo published in Dev. Biol. 2001 229: 89-101)

Postdoctoral Training Grant

Yeah!

"Dear Dr. Cameron,

It is a pleasure to inform you that your application to the Postdoctoral Training Program in the Molecular Bases of Eye Disease has received a favorable review from the Program's Trainee Selection Committee. The Committee has recommended your appointment to a one-year, postdoctoral level position on the NEI-funded Training Grant, beginning on February 1st 2008 and ending on January 31st 2009....

...In light of your exceptional academic record, accomplishments, and potential for a productive career in vision research, we are most pleased to welcome you to our Training Program. We look forward to your participation in the months ahead."

I am so grateful for this award, and I'm sure Kristen is even more so. I was worried since I hadn't heard anything and was told I should be getting notice in late December. I received a phone call from Steffie, Dr. Dowling's lab assistant, telling me the good news on Friday January 4th, my birthday!! Kristen took me into the lab on Saturday to pick up my letter and now I just have to figure out all of the details of switching over to this grant. I've also been offered a Teaching Fellowship for two sections of MCB 80-Neurobiology of Behavior. I am excited about these opportunities and look forward to a fun filled, and quite busy, year.

My Holiday Toy

I had fun putting this together. I love K'nex and Amazon. What an excellent combination.