by Caroline Crocker | Jun 13, 2025 | Science, Teaching
The first-year medical student bit her lip, “I don’t know what to do. Most of my class is cheating, and the teachers don’t do anything about it. I’ve been offered a preview of the exams for $100 each. The only way to compete with the cheaters is to cheat. But...
by Caroline Crocker | Jun 6, 2025 | Teaching
(updated from a published article) “Dr. Crocker, I know who complained about you to your boss—you reported her for cheating on her final exam.” Only a week after the publication of the story of my time as an educator at George Mason University (GMU), I was contacted...
by Caroline Crocker | Jun 3, 2025 | Science
A simple sugar. Several of these attached make a polysaccharide, like starch. The little balls represent amino acids. Those attach, the chain curls up, and the final result is a functional machine. The four railroad cars of DNA are guanine, cytosine, thymine, and...
by Caroline Crocker | May 27, 2025 | Science, Teaching
Kitchen sponges. Those who use them love them. Those of us who are scientists trained in microbiology don’t. Why not? Wet Places are often Germy The simple answer is: because they remain wet. Bacteria love to grow in damp places. During COVID, I had my students...
by Caroline Crocker | May 23, 2025 | Other, Writing
Picture the scene: My very patient and supportive husband and I are setting out for an Arts and Crafts fair, where Rambling Ruminations has a stall. “Where are we headed?” he asks. The Problem I pull up my website on my phone. “That’s the great thing about my...
