Why Teaching?
These are some of the responses we got when we asked: “How did you first decide you were interested in teaching?”
Harry Smith he/him/his
Senior Lecturer, Computer and Information Science
University of Pennsylvania
Getting the opportunity to TA for and then fully teach a Python minicourse in undergrad.
Kendra Walther (she/her/they)
Associate Professor of Practice, Information Technology Program
University of Southern California
Always been interested in teaching and learning
Kevin Lin he/him
Assistant Teaching Professor, Computer Science and Engineering
University of Washington
The most empowering experience I had in college was through helping other students in my first CS course. The course made space for students to help each other, and I benefited from and contributed to its community of learners. It's what made me consider myself a computer scientist having only taken a single course. But it's also through precisely these social interactions—entangled with race, gender, ability, and other social characteristics—that computer science culture denies validation, identity, and even existence to students. My work as a teacher-researcher-activist explores this question of how we can create more equitable, inclusive, student- and community-centered CS education.
Michael Ball he/him
Lecturer, Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
University of California, Berkeley
Undergraduate TAing, though I've always been somewhat interested in teaching
Miya Natsuhara she/her/hers
Assistant Teaching Professor, Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering
University of Washington
I became a TA during my undergrad, and quickly realized how much I enjoyed teaching when I was looking forward to TA work like grading after completing my own coursework. My connections with students and helping them realize that they *could* be successful in CS were the most fulfilling for me (as I had originally taken this same course expecting to do poorly and dislike CS).
Omar Ibrahim he/they
Lecturer, Computer Science
University of Illinois Chicago
My interest was sparked through TAing as an undergrad, and then slowly being introduced to more leadership roles and getting more involved in the larger cs education research at my university.
Sharon Solis she/her
Lecturer, Computer Science and Statistics & Applied Probability
University of California, Santa Barbara
I always gravitated toward tutoring and education. I was passionate about encouraging others in their math education and loved reframing concepts in ways that would motivate the individual.
Suraj Rampure he/him
Lecturer III, Computer Science and Engineering
University of Michigan
Teaching felt like a natural extension of what I spent most of my time doing in undergrad – serving as a head TA for large undergraduate courses; I enjoyed teaching far more than I did working on software projects.
Travis Mcgaha he/him
Lecturer, Computer and Information Science
University of Pennsylvania
I came to the conclusion I wanted to teach as a full-time job during my first (and only) summer internship. I was already interested in teaching and did a lot, but I decided to try industry to see if I would like it. I found myself coming up with assignments and exam problems when I had nothing else to do at work. Two months in I woke up and thought "I can't do this for the next 40 years of my life" but with a lot more profanity. I returned to teaching and never looked back :)