jbd@duke.cs.duke.edu (Joanne Bechta Dugan) (06/30/87)
Thanks to everyone who responded to my inquiries concerning introductory
computer science courses. I had asked about how others teach the intro.
course, and for suggestions, as I had never taught first-year students before.
I was also seriously considering adopting the MIT model for a first course,
using Scheme (a variant of Lisp), and had asked for comments.
As I am currently untenured (I'm about to begin my 3rd year of a 4-year
tenure track appointment - I hope that my contract will be renewed), I've
decided not to spend lots of time developing a new course. I'm going
to teach a good (run-of-the-mill) Pascal-based intro course instead.
When (if?) I'm tenured somewhere, I can more afford to spend time and
energy on teaching.
It's may be a sad commentary on the academic community, but I don't
want to join the ranks of the "good teachers" who were denied tenure
beacuse they didn't spend all of their time on research.
Thanks again for the responses,
Joanne
P.S. Just wondering - how many tenured women are there in computer science/
electrical engineering (at Ph.D. granting universities?) I don't know many
(maybe one or two!).
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Joanne Bechta Dugan CSNET: jbd@duke
Computer Science Department ARPA: jbd@cs.duke.edu
Duke University UUCP: {ihnp4|decvax|mcnc}!duke!jbd
Durham, NC 27706, USA Phone: (919) 684-3048