This is my first evaluation at the FSU Panama City campus. It is very different from the evaluations I have had in the past, both in form and in substance.
The substantive differences arise from the change in assignment of responsibilities, where teaching and recruitment play a larger role. The formal differences are due mostly to the inevitable cultural changes encountered in a move from one campus to another.
My first semester in this new environment was not as smooth as one might have expected. I found myself struggling at times to adapt, and I found the work load to be significantly higher than I anticipated. I had planned to do some scholarly writing during this academic year, but found that my time was preoccupied with teaching, teaching preparation, and learning what my new faculty and staff colleagues expected of me that weren't written down, not to mention dealing with myriad more trivial details of establishing a life and lifestyle in Panama City. The writing projects are mostly still on the to-do list.
I am happy to report that at the time of this writing, March 2004, I am feeling more a member of the FSUPC community and that I am beginning to contribute to the FSUPC team. But I must candidly evaluate my first semester performance as not particularly outstanding: somewhat overwhelmed at first, but progressing at a satisfactory level.
I am an inveterate investigator: the questions "Why?" and "How?" have intrigued me all my life. Before kindergarten, I disassembled my mother's sewing machine button-hole attachment to see how it worked. When Mom discovered me sitting with the parts on the floor, she asked me to put it back. I did, and it worked, much to her relief.
Therefore it is natural that one of the most attractive things for me about the field of Computer Science is its dynamic change of state: important new knowledge and technology enters the field at a rapid pace. Other things I love about the field are its mathematical foundation and theoretical underpinnings, its inherent orientation toward problem solving, and the insistence on usefulness as one of the criteria for evaluating new ideas.
I believe it is natural to enjoy introducing others to cherished ideas, especially when there is a shared enthusiasm. The students in Computer Science come to the field with such enthusiasm, making teaching extremely rewarding.
As I have learned over the years, it takes more than enthusiasm to teach or to learn, however. To teach effectively, one must prepare, one must devise ways to look at the subject through the students' eyes, and one must be patient (at least while students struggle with ideas -- patience with lack of effort is not quality I possess). Like that kid sitting with the button-holer, sometimes time to think and some coaching is critical to students' success.
My approach to teaching is to (1) unfold a tree of knowledge, starting with simple and basic concepts and climbing the many twists and branches to the complex structures at the leaves and fruit of the tree; (2) set challenges for students, and give them the time and coaching necessary to meet the challenges; and (3) be aware of different learning styles (visual, symbolic, top-down, bottom-up) and try to accomodate them.
SUSSAI Response Summary Fall Semester 2003 Course Responses E and VG Total Responses Percent E and VG CAP 5605-50 5 5 100 COP 4020-50 1 1 100 COP 4020-DL 5 6 83
Course Syllabus
Student Evaluations
Course Syllabus
Student Evaluations
Course Syllabus
Student Evaluations
I advised all students who sought advice, via Email or in my office. This includes both local Panama City students, some graduate and some undergraduate, as well as a number of distance students.
List of undergraduate advisees, Panama City campus:
1 AYERS KENNETH LLOYD xxx-xx-xxxx AS 116699 3 M 1 2 BONO SAROJ xxx-xx-xxxx SP 920002 6 F 3 3 MCCULLOUGH IV CECIL F xxx-xx-xxxx SP 920002 6 M 1 4 OLSON ISAAC D xxx-xx-xxxx SP 920002 6 M 1 5 PORTER MATTHEW xxx-xx-xxxx AS 116610 3 M 1 6 RICHBURG FLORENCE LAN xxx-xx-xxxx SP 920002 6 F 2 7 SIMMONS JOSHUA G xxx-xx-xxxx TR 920001 9 M 1 8 WALLEY IAN N xxx-xx-xxxx AS 116630 3 M 1
Note that in addition, I am an unofficial advisor for all of the distance undergraduates, of which there are several dozen advanced enough to seek advice. I also continued to serve as dissertation advisor one Doctoral student, Hueh Ling Toh, at the Tallahassee campus.
I developed one new graduate course, CAP 5605, during the semester in which it was taught. I also revised the course COP 4530 for offering in Spring 2004.
Working with colleagues, I developed an understanding of current practice for recruiting both undergraduate and graduate students. I also took a fresh look at what could be done to make the programs more attractive or workable for students. Two specific ideas that evolved are discussed below.
The following activities were on-going during Fall 2003.
The Computer Science undergraduate program is idealized for students attending the same institution for both lower and upper division work. The current rules throw up somewhat artificial barriers that work against the smooth transition of students from a Community College to FSU Panama City. Some flexibility on the part of CCs and FSU on allowing students to receive degree credit for courses taken at one institution while enrolled at the other would make the CC + FSUPC four-year experience equivalent to that of stduents enrolling as FTIC students at the main campus in Tallahassee. I worked on resolving some of these issues during fall, and that work contiunues.
A successful graduate program needs to be attractive/desirable across a broad geographic area, preferably national in scope. One of the problems I saw immediately with the current Software Engineering masters degree is that is isn't: the diplomas will read "Computer and Information Science", not "Software Engineering", and this may come as a surprise to students and their employers when they graduate. In fact, what we offer is a major code "Software Engineering", which is also offered in Tallahassee.
I began discussions with the current and former department chairs as to the acceptability of (1) giving Panama City the exclusive use of the Software Engineering major, and (2) beginning to plan for a new degree program in Software Engineering. Step (1) would give Panama City a graduate degree major that is not duplicated in Tallahassee, while step (2) would give us a new degree program with national scope and attractiveness.
In spring 2004, both of these steps were approved by the department chair and graduate curriculum committee.
The following works were in progress during the evaluation period: