This is my eighth year evaluation at the FSU Panama City campus, and the third using the faculty-developed and -approved format that was introduced in 2008.
Aside from the usual teaching/advising/recruiting activities, this year I have been re-thinking the offering plan for the online and on-campus BS/CS programs. I have concluded that it is imporrible to offer anythong less than a full-time schedule of classes if we want to offer both the on-campus and online delivery. The basic unresolvable conflict is thta the on-campus program needs to be available for the full-time student to graduate in two years (assuming AA degree and all pre-requisites are met).
I have therefore devised and implemented a full-time offering schedule. Some of the classes are available online only, because as before the instructors are not resident in Panama City. For those taught by faculty in the area, either a full on-campus class is offered (COP 3014, COP 3353, COP 3330, COP 4530, CDA 3100, CDA 3101) or hybrid is offered (COP 4020, COP 4610, COP 3252, CEN 4681, electives (3)). The remaining are offered online only (COP 4710, CEN 4020, CEN 4021, COT 4420, MAD 2104, MAD 3105, STA 3032).
This is a significant accomplishment, considering we currently have NO full time faculty devoted to the program and only two non-adjunct faculty (Lacher & Leach). Note that this schedule required me to voluntarily teach an extra class per term.
Two of our adjuncts, with unique qualifications, have resigned or retired effective Summer 2011, so we will be re-working the offering schedule and assignments. But we remain committed to the full time offerong schedule, if slightly tweeked.
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 2009 Course Responses E and VG Total Responses Percent E and VG COP 3330 3+2 3+5 62.5 COP 4530 3 3 100 COP 4531 - - - COP 4020 5 4 80 COP 5517 3 3 100 CAP 5605 4 4 100 On-site and on-line responses combined Notes.
- 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".
- Due to the expiration of Form 2 for COP 4531 (which had been delayed by departmental issues rel;ated to coordinating syllabi among COP 4531 instructors) the online students were denied the opportunity to evaluate the course & instructor by a very asinine university policy.
- Online COP 3330 students (the second summand in the entries) continue to be mostly non-responsive. There are a few students who are ill prepared for the class and fail. These are the ones who don't like the course. (See remarks on admission to the program below.)
- The course COP 5517 had undergraduate students taking the class as an elective. Their evaluation responses were included with those of COP 5517.
I advised all students who sought advice, via Email or in my office. This includes both local Panama City students, all graduate and some undergraduate, as well as a number of distance students.
Masters Thesis Advisees:
name fsuid type status ---- ----- ---- ------ Camp, Jon jtc06d thesis taking courses Deverin, Mark mad02h course dormant Hatcher, Jeremy jeh05c project plans to graduate spring 2011 Murray, Ernest ejm03 course dormant - lacks only 1 course Runion, Gerald gsr05 course transferred to PhD program in Tallahassee Sims, Robert rbs5149 course dormant - deployed to Afganistan Wissmueller, Mark mgw03c course dormant Shayne Slusser course graduated spring 2010 Robert Zukowski thesis dormant
Devised full-time course offering schedule for UG BS:
Summer Fall Spring
-------- -------- --------
COP 3014 COP 3353 CDA 3100
CDA 3101 COP 3330 COP 3252
COP 4710 COP 4531 COP 4530
CEN 4681 COP 4020 COP 4610
CEN 4020 CEN 4021
MAD 2104 MAD 3105
STA 3020 COT 4420
CDA 4150 (even years) elective (alternating)
CEN 5682 COT 5405 (odd years) elective (alternating)
ISM 5315
CDA 5155 (even years)
CIS 5935
Note this needs updating this year, since two adjuncts (Levitz/COT4420 & Gardiner/CEN4020,CEN4021) have retired or resigned effective the end of Spring 11.
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. To read redacted version, click here.
[Confidential technical report included in the paper binder.]