Science Labs and Teaching with chromebooks (Part 1)

A new series of posts for 2016

I've decided to start a series of blog posts about my day to day life at the University of the West of Scotland where I am Research Theme Leader for Ultrasound Imaging. The main focus of these posts will be the use of a chromebook for Academic and scientific work. The reasoning behind this is to disprove the, false, notion that chromebooks are merely devices for browsing the internet and social networking.

I currently use an Acer CB11 chromebook, it's not the most flashy of devices but it does most of everything that I require. I dabbled with crouton for a few weeks to get a full linux desktop on the chromebook, however, I didn't use it enough to justify the space it took up and therefore I powerwashed the device back to the standard chromeOS. These blog posts will try and stick as close to a standard chromebook as possible.

I have a rough idea of the topics that I will cover in upcoming posts (which will start properly after this list!), and I am open to suggestions and comments from readers regarding their use, positive or negative of chromebooks in any academic environment. Upcoming topics include:

• Running a lab-group with Google Sheets 
• Academic writing with Google Docs and Paperpile
• Presenting lectures with Google Slides
• Project planning with Gantt

Running a lab-group with Google Sheets 

I currently run a small research group which focusses on Ultrasound Imaging, and developing high resolution probes for biomedical imaging and NDT measurements. I currently have 2 PhD students and 2 undergraduates working for me. In the near future I am recruiting 3 post-docs, and will have 4 visiting students working in the laboratory. Each person working in my group has their own research project which they work on autonomously, with overlap to other projects to install a group dynamic and teamwork.

I was looking for a simple method of keeping track on the research and work carried out in the lab-spaces, preferably with a method to produce reports or summaries of outputs and issues. In the past I have designed an SQL database with front-end to gather this information, but I found that this took up too much time in the debugging and design stages. Google Sheets provided a simple solution which the lab members have found easy to adjust to.

Figure 1: Google Sheet set-up for lab recording

Instead, a google Sheet was created with five, self explanatory columns (Figure 1) and a form is used as the front-end (shown in figure 2) All lab members are advised to keep the link as a bookmark in their browsers. At the end of each day spent in the lab, the user visits the form and enters their data. This has been designed to take no more than 20 seconds, and is to be used as a shorthand summary of their formal lab-books. I have designed the form such that the member selects their name from a drop-down list, this reduces their data-entry time and formalises their name as the identifier for their data. 

Figure 2: Form presented to the user

Once their content is submitted, the spreadsheet is automatically populated. Since the spreadsheet is hosted by google-docs, I have access to this data anywhere that I have internet access (via the google Sheets app on Android, or my chromebook).

However, the main benefit of using this method is the ability to have a worksheet for each member of the lab inside the google Sheets file. In each worksheet, a pivot table is used to create a live report of their work. Some of my lab members have to fill out a monthly report for their Visa requirements, and the ability to send them a monthly PDF of their pivot worksheet as a lab progress report is a real time saver. 

As part of the running of the lab group, I hold weekly meetings with the whole group to keep track of what is happening. Using a chromebook to have immediate access to these pivot tables for each lab member has been very useful for engaging with the quieter members of the group.

Inside the main spreadsheet, I have my own private columns where I can add notes and tags (project names, other supervisors etc) to expand the usefulness of the data. With this supplementary data, I have my own set of pivot tables that allows me to pull out entries relating to a body of work or project (or indeed, time period), allowing me to keep better track of what is happening in my lab group.

This method doesn't use any special software or add-ons (indeed it would work on any computer with access to google docs), and I would recommend it as a free method of logging your lab member's work. The benefit of using a chromebook is the 10 hour battery life for when I am in the lab all day and away from my office, with the spreadsheet available as an offline file for where the WiFi is patchy (hello 1970's architecture!).

In the next post, I'll talk about how I engage with my student's academic writing with Google Docs, and the use of the wonderful Paperpile app as a reference manager and citation tool.

Six months on.

Last post here was when I wrote about getting my new job. I'm now 6 months in to the position and things are going really well. I've been given a lot of independence on my research, responsibility for a laboratory area, students and confidence to apply for funding and seek out collaborations.

In general, my field is high frequency ultrasound. I find myself doing a lot of imaging  with the probes we're developing and fabricating, mainly of dental samples with a view to detecting and measuring acid erosion at high frequency. I still do a little bit of manipulation of cells, but not as much as I would like to.

Career changes

A couple of weeks ago I visited my PhD supervisor, and informal mentor during my last Post-doc position, to have a chat about work and how things have panned out for me since leaving Dundee. We both agree that leaving was the best thing I could have done for my career (and mental well being, but more about that at a later date).

The research group I now work in is a very small group, with two PhD students, myself as a Post-doc RF, a deputy Group leader/lecturer and my line manager who is also the group leader. The recession hasn't been kind to non-red-brick universities in the UK, and as such there has been a lull over the last few years for research funding at UWS. Ultimately, my position was created to re-start biomedical ultrasound imaging at UWS with a view to bring in funding to increase the group. No pressure then.

Suffice to say, the last year at Dundee University was the worst period of my adult life, and one that I'm in no rush to repeat. However, I did meet a few new friends who got me through it and kept me sane/alive. I owe them more than I could possibly say.

NYC

The major event in my work calendar, and one that has been looming since April, is a two and a half month visit to New York to do research with a leading Ultrasound group. In the first month of this new job, my boss recommended that I apply through SUPA for a travel grant to collaborate. In my last position, these opportunities were never brought forward. While I was allowed to travel a bit, my boss was of the opinion that he would deal with grants and funding, we do the work. His work. Looking back, this is not a healthy way to train young scientists who want a career in Research.

Writing a grant application for the first time is a daunting experience. Project costs, times, aims, goals, outcomes, targets have to be designed and, most importantly, sold to the judging committee. I'm not that good at 'blowing my own trumpet', something that comes from my Scottish genetics, and also from three years of having my confidence in my academic abilities pummelled in to the ground as an RA at Dundee.

Anyway's, it turns out that my application was better than I thought it was and I leave in a couple of weeks. I will be staying in Brooklyn and working in Mid-town Manhattan. I'm equal part excited and terrified.

Excitement versus terror

Excitement comes from working in a highly regarded laboratory, in one of the busiest cities in the world, meeting new people, and living in a different country for the first time in my life. Terror comes from much the same places, and the added fear that comes with being separated from my family and support network for a prolonged period of time. My wife is able to visit for 3 weeks in September, but for the other 8 weeks, I'll be flying solo in to the unknown.

I promise to post regular updates here during my visit, hopefully using it as an academic travelogue.