As my graduation from Western Governors University’s MS IT Management program draws near (this December to be exact), so to does a new part time job I accepted with Albany Technical College, a local technical school. Having accepted the Part-time Adjunct Professorship for their Introduction to Computers course, I am now spending my evenings preparing for a job when I have no idea what to expect!
These evenings include Googling teaching philosophies, syllabi, course descriptions, and more. In truth, it is a very simple course and it is completely online, but I want to do it right.
My goals for this teaching role are simple, but meaningful:
- Require critical thinking
- Include some history of computing (because I find it thoroughly fascinating)
- Cover the most important aspects:
- fundamentals of computers (including Von Neumann architecture)
- a survey of Operating Systems and their use cases
- the Internet, searching, and using it safely
- desktop publishing (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access)
- a brief survey of programming and advanced topics
- Build the curriculum on a foundation of practicality and applications (show students how all the concepts can be applied in day-to-day life)
- Allow students’ curiosity to direct their learning (where possible)
I’m sure more goals will come to mind, but these are the immediate ones I wish to strive for. Most of all, I want to focus on the last 2 bullet points, application, practicality, and self-directed learning. I believe people learn best when they can envision uses for the content they’re learning and when they are motivated by their curiosity.
Obviously, I have no expertise on any of this, but I am trying.
I’ve attached my first stab at a syllabus:
I would appreciate any feedback, suggestions, and experiences you might have 🙂
Clinton is a full-time Software Developer currently working for CGI Federal, Inc. He spends most his days building Java web applications using tools like Spring MVC, Java Server Faces, and VueJS. In his free time, he likes to dabble in Golang, Hadoop, and other cool technologies. Clinton has been married to his wonderful wife Ashley for 8 years. Together, they have a super-handsome, unbelievably cute (no bias here folks) 6 year old son, Andrew.
You should consider the Nand to Tetris book as at leas a supplemental text. I got a copy but haven’t had time to do the course yet but from what I saw of it, it looked good.
Jon, I am a proud owner of the book. I worked about half way through the course and found it extremely interesting and educational. Thank you for your suggestion, and I will look for opportunities to include that in the course material.
Clinton –
Welcome to the world of teaching! There is a lot of wonderful material on pedagogy out there – may I suggest Small Teaching, by James M. Lang? He connects the latest research on learning with really practical suggestions for the classroom – techniques that help engender the critical thinking and curiosity you want your students to have. It’s engaging and readable, and I’ve found it very helpful.
In terms of your syllabus, I really like how you start with your teaching philosophy. It really conveys to the students that you care about their learning. What I’d now add is Learning Goals for them – what your students will know and be able to do by the time they complete your course. You can always refer back to them as the course goes on – when students know why they need to do a particular learning activity, they can get more committed.
Hi David,
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my post. I will go ahead an purchase Mr. Lang’s book. Your suggestion on Learning Goals makes a lot of sense, as it is hard to be motivated about doing work when you don’t understand its benefit. I am curious if you have any suggestions specifically related to fully online courses? I am concerned about how well I will be able to assess my students’ grasp of the material or identify hang-ups and frustration without meeting in-person.
Thanks again!
Clinton