Teaching Computing: A Practitioners Perspective

Teaching can be intimidating for beginning faculty. Some graduate schools and some computing faculty provide guidance and mentoring, but many do not. Often, a new faculty member is assigned to teach a course, with little guidance, input, or feedback. Teaching Computing: A Practitioners Perspective addresses such challenges by providing a solid resource for both new and experienced computing faculty. The book serves as a practical, easy-to-use resource, covering a wide range of topics in a collection of focused down-to-earth chapters.

Based on the authors extensive teaching experience and his teaching-oriented columns that span 20 years, and informed by computing-education research, the book provides numerous elements that are designed to connect with teaching practitioners, including:

• A wide range of teaching topics and basic elements of teaching, including tips and techniques
• Practical tone; the book serves as a down-to-earth practitioners guide
• Short, focused chapters
• Coherent and convenient organization
• Mix of general educational perspectives and computing-specific elements
• Connections between teaching in general and teaching computing
• Both historical and contemporary perspectives

This book presents practical approaches, tips, and techniques that provide a strong starting place for new computing faculty and perspectives for reflection by seasoned faculty wishing to freshen their own teaching.