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"Over the years, I have taught a wide variety of courses, ranging from a non-majors course, to core computer science courses, to advanced topics. My general philosophy is to conduct hands-on, interactive classes that challenge the student to learn by experience. I don't mind having a reputation for being tough, as long as students feel that I am fair and that they learn.
My current interests in teaching and curriculum development center on the Web as a medium for programming and experimentation. While at Dickinson College, I developed a Web-based introduction to computer science, which used JavaScript to teach programming fundamentals. At Creighton, I have adapted this course to serve as an introduction to computing for non-majors. The hands-on nature of the course is achieved using tutorials, in which the students write and experiment with small, Web-based programs. Experimental and analytical skills are stressed as students often use programs as means to model and analyze complex systems (such as random walks and ecosystem models). In addition, student are introduced to the history and breadth of computer science, with readings and exercises on topics such as logic design, artificial intelligence, and the societal impact. A text book based on this course, titled A Balanced Introduction to Computer Science, was published by Prentice Hall in 2004 with a second edition released in 2007. In fall 2005, I have adapted this material to a more science-oriented non-majors course, entitled Computers and Scientific Thinking.
At Creighton, I also developed an advanced topics course in Web programming, where students learn about Web protocols and development tools, and apply their programming skills to the Web interface. Other courses I have regularly taught are Computer Programming I and II, Data Structures, Programming Languages, Operating Systems, and Artificial Intelligence.
Related to teaching, I have been involved with the Advanced Placement (AP) progam since 1994, serving as a consultant, reader, and question leader over the past decade. In 2004, I became Chief Reader - responsible for the grading and scoring of the entire exam (taken by approximately 20,000 high school students each year). As Chief Reader, I supervise the training of approximately 150 college and high school readers each year, as well as contribute to the development of the exam. "