Author Topic: Quotes from work (Read 191868 times)

Jonathon · « **Reply #1525 on:** August 11, 2015, 03:45:23 PM »

Seriously. And editors should really be in the habit of looking up unfamiliar words and phrases.

rivka · « **Reply #1526 on:** August 11, 2015, 04:07:27 PM »

No joke.

A (very recently retired) editor I know used to keep a huge unabridged dictionary on her desk, and was grateful when it became available on CD instead.

My :facepalm: of the day (from an instructor, who really should know better) is syllabi's. As the plural of syllabus . . . .

Jonathon · « **Reply #1527 on:** August 11, 2015, 04:45:35 PM »

Jonathon · « **Reply #1528 on:** August 17, 2015, 01:01:23 PM »

From an author bio:

Quote

Named in Who’s Who in America for the last ten years . . .

rivka · « **Reply #1529 on:** August 17, 2015, 02:54:35 PM »

I think that needs the super-big eye-rollie. Seriously, you need to have a pulse to get in those. And sometimes even that requirement is waived.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1530 on:** August 17, 2015, 03:13:26 PM »

I remember getting a letter when I was in high school saying that I'd been chosen for inclusion in Who's Who among American High School Students. Incidentally, they offered copies of the book for only $49.95 (or whatever it was). I think they also offered plaques and certificates and whatnot.

To a naive kid with an overly large ego, it was flattering. And yet even I could tell that the whole thing was pretty scammy and thus not really an honor.

rivka · « **Reply #1531 on:** August 17, 2015, 07:22:03 PM »

I got one of those in high school too.

And a similar one not long after I started working in higher ed.

pooka · « **Reply #1532 on:** August 19, 2015, 04:27:03 PM »

A learning activity on communication in nursing gives this example of confusing cause and effect: "The moon is full-- we'll have a lot of psychiatric patients".

It's superstitious and irrational, but I don't think there's any argument than increases of psychiatric patients could cause a full moon.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1533 on:** August 19, 2015, 09:11:58 PM »

From my experience, an increase in psychiatric behavior issues causes an increased perception of full moon. I hear all the time that the patients are all acting up, so there must be a full moon. If I say that, no, actually it's a waxing quarter, the other nurses look at me like I just don't get it. Sometimes they'll even argue back that it has to be a full moon or why else would everyone be acting so crazy.

Nighthawk · « **Reply #1534 on:** August 20, 2015, 06:45:53 AM »

Quote from: Jonathon on August 17, 2015, 01:01:23 PM

From an author bio:

Quote
Named in Who’s Who in America for the last ten years . . .

Well, if the email invitations are any indication, I would have been on that list the last thirty years had I decided to actually pay them for such an honor.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1535 on:** August 31, 2015, 12:58:43 PM »

The narration in the module I'm currently working on says:

"You should always make sure to wash your hands before handling food, donning gloves, and touching food contact surfaces."

I have a picture appearing when the narrator lists each of the three situations: first, a hand holding a peach. Secondly, someone putting on a glove. Finally, someone washing a food conveyor belt.

I just got the list of feedback from my distressingly picky client. "Picture of the peach has an ungloved hand, we shouldn’t handle food without gloves."

So . . . why are we telling them to wash their hands before handling food or donning gloves? Wash your hands before handling food or donning gloves, but don't touch food without donning gloves. So, you know. Maybe just wash your gloved hands to be safe.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1536 on:** August 31, 2015, 02:00:20 PM »

Wash your hands, then wash your gloves, then put on your gloves, then wash your gloved hands.

pooka · « **Reply #1537 on:** September 22, 2015, 07:58:03 PM »

And never use your teeth to doff your gloves. Please sneak doff into the manual! For me.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1538 on:** October 01, 2015, 10:46:18 AM »

More fun from the client who likes to do my job. He recently insisted that he and his committee write all final quizzes because they feel like the questions I write are "tricky and too hard." He said I could still write the mid-module comprehension checks that "don't count." Thanks, friend.

So here is one of the items I wrote, paring it down a lot in terms of the higher thinking skills, scenario-based items that are considered best practice:

Quote

Why is HACCP an improvement over food processing practices of the past?

- HACCP allows you to check for hazards during production rather than waiting until the end.

- HACCP allows you to detect every issue that comes up during production.

- NASA astronauts were healthier after eating food produced with the HACCP process.

- Food processing practices of the past did not allow you to test random samples.

He said that even though my correct answer (the first) is "technically correct," we should change it to something more accurate, so it reads:

Quote

Why is HACCP an improvement over food processing practices of the past?

- HACCP stresses identifying probable significant hazards before production and then verifying they are not present in the product during production.

- HACCP allows you to detect every issue that comes up during production.

- NASA astronauts were healthier after eating food produced with the HACCP process.

- Food processing practices of the past did not allow you to test random samples.

You're right. Waaaay better than the hard, tricky questions I write.

Porter · « **Reply #1539 on:** October 01, 2015, 11:05:32 AM »

Jonathon · « **Reply #1540 on:** October 01, 2015, 11:06:03 AM »

Also, it's not at all obvious that the response that's literally twice as long as all the others is the correct response.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1541 on:** October 01, 2015, 01:57:26 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on October 01, 2015, 11:06:03 AM

Also, it's not at all obvious that the response that's literally twice as long as all the others is the correct response.

This is exactly one of the principles in a document I sent him that lists best practices in writing multiple choice questions. When he insisted that they write their own questions, I said that would be OK as long as they would use the list of principles as a guide. They either never glanced at it once or enjoy willfully disobeying it, because all of the quizzes they send me are full of flagrant violations.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1542 on:** October 02, 2015, 09:11:32 AM »

"You know how you said those videos I took were too fuzzy to use? Can you double check? Because I used two different cameras and I think one was better."

Me: checks. "Actually, it looks like all the videos are the same resolution. They're all 568 pixels wide, which is why they're too fuzzy to use. Our screen is 1024 pixels wide."

"Yeah, but I think on one of the cameras the lens was dirty or something so maybe the other ones are better."

pooka · « **Reply #1543 on:** October 03, 2015, 04:10:12 PM »

I bet his answer has the advantage of being a verbatim quote from the materials.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #1544 on:** October 05, 2015, 10:58:13 AM »

Not the materials I wrote. Just a verbatim quote from the way everything needs to work in his mind. That's where a lot of the feedback I get comes from, I think.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1545 on:** October 08, 2015, 11:15:07 AM »

"I'm not going to get a flu shot. You call it a shot, but it's really a vaccine. I can't afford to get autism and bring it home to my kids."

-- A Healthcare Co-worker

(so much facepalm)

rivka · « **Reply #1546 on:** October 08, 2015, 11:25:14 AM »

Oh, dear god. Facepalm is right.

Jonathon · « **Reply #1547 on:** October 08, 2015, 11:42:26 AM »

Sadly, there is still no vaccine against stupidity.

rivka · « **Reply #1548 on:** October 08, 2015, 02:25:08 PM »

Quote

often you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him think....

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #1549 on:** October 08, 2015, 09:01:10 PM »

Yeah. No horse sense.