Teaching Interests:
Astronomer Galileo Galilei stated "You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him discover it in himself." This truly embodies my philosophy and approach to teaching and education, because that is how I have been taught and how I have learned. Through formal education and personal interests, I have the background necessary to teach computer graphics, audio programming, and multimedia, as well as other topics ranging from introductory programming to operating systems and programming languages. Finally, through my diverse background of interdisciplinary collaboration I can bring to any department a unique perspective for teaching and research.

When working with students, at any level of interaction, I attempt to first understand how they perceive the concepts they are working on, and then guide them the rest of the way in a manner that makes sense to them. I constantly customize and adapt my teaching style to best suit the student or group I am working with. This patient and empathetic style has been well received by those I have taught and worked with.

I approach teaching an entry-level class in a more didactic style; however I am very open to encouraging initiative on the part of a student to incorporate his or her own interests into a final project. At this level, establishing the basics in an informative and engaging manner is most important. For upper-level classes my teaching technique is more fluid. Using the Socratic Method I engage the class by encouraging students to contribute outside knowledge and experience to synthesize their own understanding of the material. I also believe that one of the most important benefits of large-scale projects is the presentation of the topic to the entire class at the culmination of the course. This solidifies their understanding of the topic and presents another perspective to the rest of the class. Especially when teaching multimedia topics, encouraging the incorporation of as many modalities as possible into an independent final project stimulates creativity and innovation.

My specific teaching experience includes substituting for a professor teaching a graduate-level multimedia course, as well as judging high school programming fairs. My doctorate fellowship did not mandate any formal teaching responsibility. However on an informal level I have taught basic computer language classes, word processing, and internet subjects to numerous laypersons. As well, I have taught youth drum and bugle corps as a music instructor and drill instructor. I enjoy the camaraderie of a good work environment and the stimulus of student interest and inquisitiveness.

One of my passions is developing collaborative projects and encouraging students from other departments to work with computer science students. Visual arts and music students can significantly contribute to creating aesthetically appealing multimedia projects while learning from computer science students about the techniques needed to construct a viable presentation. Physics and math students, as well, can benefit from collaboration on projects such as simulations and world-based models. Education and computer science students can work together to produce more effective methods of using multimedia when teaching children and the learning disabled. Already, I have proven the validity of this interdepartmental collaboration in my PhD research by involving faculty members from computer science, physics, and math in my dissertation development and as committee members.

Regardless of what I end up teaching I am certain that I will approach it with enthusiasm, insight, and ingenuity. Teaching, to me, is equally as important as research. As Aristotle wrote, "The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching."