This is my sixth year evaluation at the FSU Panama City campus, and the first using the newly adopted format.
Aside from the usual teaching/advising/recruiting activities, this year I have been working toward the launch of the new program: the Master of Science in Computer Science with major in Software Engineering [MS/SE]. This was approved at all academic levels in the university, the final approval from the Graduate Policy Council in November 2008. The proposal was denied at the provost's office in December. This action was taken for superficial political reasons, none of which were written down. There was apparently no memorandum on this decision written for the record. There was no perceived leadership from the Dean of the PC campus toward a more favorable decision.
No doubt this very unfortunate outcome for two years of planning work was a factor in the decision of my colleague, Dr Stoecklin, to retire. There is no hope for a viable MS/SE program based on local Bay County students only. Therefore this outcome means the MS/SE program will shut down.
And, given the current financial situation in Florida and at the university, it seems unlikely that the online BS/SE program will survive, because at least two faculty members are needed for that program to be viable, and hiring is not likely. Please refer to last year's Annual Report for 2007 for some detailed history of the development of the online BS/SE and MS/SE programs.
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 accommodate them.
SUSSAI Response Summary 2008 Course Responses E and VG Total Responses Percent E and VG COP 5385 4 4 100 COP 4380 4 4 100 COP 4530 2 2 100 CIS 5935 [1] 2 2 100 COP 4020 [1] 15 16 94 COP 3330 [2] 4 6 67 On-site and on-line responses combined Note. Response rate from on-line students remains very weak. I conjecture that the reason for this weak response rate is the voluntary nature of the evaluation: a student is invited to participate by clicking on a link and filling out a form on-line. Only students with something to say (whether positive or negative) end up going to the trouble. I believe it is reasonable to take a non-response from an on-line student as "it was OK - no complaints".
[1] The tally includes 1 response for CIS 5935 and 4 responses for COP 4020 from on-campus students. These evaluations were administered during the final exam week and consequently not processed by CAT. The actual response forms were returned to me and can be produced for verification. [These are included in the paper version of this report.]
[2] In particular, note that there were significant problems with the way COP 3330 was taught. There was one faculty member in charge of lectures, on-campus help, testing and test assessment. I was in charge of on-line help, assignments and assignment assessment. There was a total disconnect between these two course components. In spite of many assurances to the contrary, the other instructor refused to use the on-line materials that I had previously prepared for the course and also insisted on multiple choice exams that were "a mile wide and an inch deep" and had virtually nothing to do with the assignments or the online lecture notes. This co-instructor also spent a good deal of effort lobbying me to "back off" on the assignments, asserting they were too difficult. This attitude spread into the students to some extent. It is not suprising that there were a few online students who were not happy with the way the course went.
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.
Masters Thesis Advisees:
Kenneth Ayers (Thesis) Graduated December 2008 Shayne Slusser (Thesis) Currently completing research Robert Zukowski (Thesis) Currently developing topic (inactive in Fall 2008)
List of undergraduate advisees, Panama City campus (from rosters) (cummulative)
ALBIN DANIEL SCOTT 0067 AS 116630 3 M 1 AYERS KENNETH LLOYD 9124 AS 116699 3 M 1 BONO SAROJ 2348 SP 920002 6 F 3 BURLON CHRISTOPHER 7059 LS 236530 3 M 1 BUTLER LEWELL 1873 AS 116699 4 M 1 Camp, Jon Tyran 4141 AS COMPUTER SCIENCE CAMPBELL CHARLES B 8711 AS 116610 4 M 1 GARDINER REGINA 3389 SP 920002 7 F 1 HAINES KENT L 6647 AS 116610 4 M 1 HARRIS WINSTON A 8431 SP 920002 6 M 1 Hickman, David (dlh6312) HICKS DERIC 7085 AS 116699 3 M 1 MAYNE RAYMOND M 4166 AS 116610 3 M 1 MCCULLOUGH IV CECIL F 4372 SP 920002 6 M 1 MORRELL SHANNON 8791 AS 116610 3 F 1 NEWELL DONALD 8363 AS 116630 4 M 1 OLSON ISAAC D 1883 SP 920002 6 M 1 Palmer, Paul (pdp05) Pinkerton, William (wrp05) PORTER MATTHEW 9391 AS 116610 3 M 1 RICHBURG FLORENCE LAN 9852 SP 920002 6 F 2 SHEFFIELD SOMER JOY 4402 AS 116610 3 F 5 SIMMONS JOSHUA G 8541 TR 920001 9 M 1 SWAFFORD SAMUEL L 3355 AS 116630 3 M 1 WALLEY IAN N 7367 AS 116630 3 M 1
List of undergraduate advisees, On Line (from blackboard advising site)
Akin, Kyle kda03 kda03@fsu.edu Participant Ayers, Kenneth kla03d kla03d@fsu.edu Participant Banner, Jeremy jbb05j jbb05j@fsu.edu Participant Barhorst, Nathan ngb02 ngb02@fsu.edu Participant Benbrahim, Abed ab06f ab06f@fsu.edu Participant Bryant, David dlb03c dlb03c@fsu.edu Participant Burkholder, Joshua jjb04e jjb04e@fsu.edu Participant Burns, Nancy nburns nburns@fsu.edu Participant Cole, Ian irc8578 irc8578@fsu.edu Participant Crosby, Andrew awc03c awc03c@fsu.edu Participant Davis, Phillip pls9480 pls9480@fsu.edu Participant Diaz, Orlando od05 od05@fsu.edu Participant Downs, Dustin dld04g dld04g@fsu.edu Participant Gonzalez, Edwin feg4609 feg4609@fsu.edu Participant Good, Allison aag03e aag03e@fsu.edu Participant Haines, Kent klh04d klh04d@fsu.edu Participant Hall, Christin cmh06d cmh06d@fsu.edu Participant Harlacher, Brittney bmb4306 bmb4306@fsu.edu Participant Harlacher, Paul pch3647 pch3647@fsu.edu Participant Hayashida, Curt cih1355 cih1355@fsu.edu Participant Heeke, Dennis ddh04c ddh04c@fsu.edu Participant Helvey, Keenan kdh9314 kdh9314@fsu.edu Participant Hickman, David dlh6312 dlh6312@fsu.edu Participant Hill Jr, Wayne wdh8323 wdh8323@fsu.edu Participant Holzman, Melanie mmh8061 mmh8061@fsu.edu Participant Ingram, Curtis cmi03 cmi03@fsu.edu Participant Jordan, David drj03 drj03@fsu.edu Participant Jordan, David dcj2991 dcj2991@fsu.edu Participant Juracek, Marek mj04 mj04@fsu.edu Participant Larsen, John jlarsen jlarsen@fsu.edu Participant Leyden, Michael mpl8046 mpl8046@fsu.edu Participant Lightcap, Robert rll2434 rll2434@fsu.edu Participant Maietta, Ciro cdm06d cdm06d@fsu.edu Participant Mastro, Jason jam02h jam02h@fsu.edu Participant Maucher, Jon jam1009 jam1009@fsu.edu Participant Mcclancy, William wrm02c wrm02c@fsu.edu Participant Meserve, George gsm2699 gsm2699@fsu.edu Participant Milam, Tracy tsm0597 tsm0597@fsu.edu Participant Miles Jr, Jere jdm03e jdm03e@fsu.edu Participant Miller, Patrick psm03c psm03c@fsu.edu Participant Morrell, Shannon slm06j slm06j@fsu.edu Participant Murillo, Janis jlm02n jlm02n@fsu.edu Participant Olson, Isaac ido03 ido03@fsu.edu Participant Peeler, Joann jdp02d jdp02d@fsu.edu Participant Polich, Paul pmp02 pmp02@fsu.edu Participant Porter, Matthew mbp02 mbp02@fsu.edu Participant Powell, Cherie cap06c cap06c@fsu.edu Participant Quandt, Frederick fnq03 fnq03@fsu.edu Participant Reaves, Angela amr6551 amr6551@fsu.edu Participant Reed, Jennifer jbr0488 jbr0488@fsu.edu Participant Sapp, Kevin kls04m kls04m@fsu.edu Participant Shumaker, Aaron als03 als03@fsu.edu Participant Simmons, Josh jgs03c jgs03c@fsu.edu Participant Simms Jr, John jss03g jss03g@fsu.edu Participant Singh, Rameet rs02c rs02c@fsu.edu Participant Smith, Christopher ccs03d ccs03d@fsu.edu Participant Springer, Scott sbs2869 sbs2869@fsu.edu Participant Swafford, Samuel sls04c sls04c@fsu.edu Participant Trautwein, John jkt4783 jkt4783@fsu.edu Participant Upright, Karen kbu5828 kbu5828@fsu.edu Participant Valacheryil, Bigi bsv4373 bsv4373@fsu.edu Participant Villmow, Micah mjv0573 mjv0573@fsu.edu Participant Vincent, Jason jhv1504 jhv1504@fsu.edu Participant Walley, Ian inw03 inw03@fsu.edu Participant Weltz, Jeffrey jaw02n jaw02n@fsu.edu Participant Wheeler, Benjamin btw02c btw02c@fsu.edu Participant Williams, Sean skw4179 skw4179@fsu.edu Participant Williamson, Richard rjw03f rjw03f@fsu.edu Participant Wissmueller, Mark mgw03c mgw03c@fsu.edu Participant Zukowski, Robert rhz2673 rhz2673@fsu.edu Participant
Final approval for three courses:
At a higher level, I played a significant role in the design of an online MS/SE. That proposal passed all academic hurdles in 2008.
I was nominated by two different on-line students for a University Teaching Award. Documentation is available on request. [Forms included in the paper version of this report.]
By far my largest effort in recruiting in 2008 has been "viral" marketing: working on word-of-mouth awareness and interest in our BS/SE program and its associated 5-year MS/SE program. Informative materials were prepared and made available in an unofficial way (due to the pending nature of approval of the MS/SE peogram).
Recruiting for online programs, with no budget, requires viral marketing: trigger the spread of awareness and interest through "word of mouth" on a peer-to-peer basis: Make materials available, and trigger Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter activity that spreads among potential students. Our very satisfied undergraduate students have helped with this approach.
I have helped recruit several new entrants into the MS/SE program, much to my regret. Now these hard-working people will be disappointed by FSUPC.
The following works were in progress during the evaluation period:
Revised white paper detailing new machine learning discoveries, titled "Processes for Automated and Machine-Assisted Knowledge Discovery". (Not for public distribution pending submission of patent applications.) Note that four "Disclosures" have been filed with the fSU Office of Technology Transfer. This document has been "redacted" so that it can be used in COT 5405 in Spring 2009.
Considering that much of my effort beyond that associated directly with teaching has either been rejected by administration or will result in a net loss for students due to university decisions, any consideration for merit pay would have to be based on my teaching, my taking on extra teaching duties, and on my scholarly activity.
[Confidential technical report included in the paper binder.]
