Teaching Computing: A Practitioner's 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 Practitioner’s 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.

Henry Walker is the Samuel R. and Marie-Louise Rosenthal Professor of Natural Science and Mathematics and Professor of Computer Science at Grinnell College. He was a regular columnist of the SIGCSE Bulletin, and is a current columnist and Associate Editor for ACM Inroads Magazine. He has written over 55 featured columns, and is an ACM Distinguished Educator, former SIGCSE Chair, member of the ACM Retention Committee and the MAA Committee on Departmental Review, and former member of the AP CS A Development Committee of the College Board.