Teaching
I have taught courses at Mount Holyoke and the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as run pedagogy workshops on lesson planning, communication, and strategies for building resilience in tech.
At Mount Holyoke College
Being Human in STEM (HSTEM)
This interactive, co-taught course combines academic inquiry and community engagement to investigate the theme of diversity and climate within STEM fields. We will begin by examining the ways in which cultural norms and practices intersect with our diverse identities and histories to shape our experiences within the STEM disciplines. We will then build on this foundation to develop projects that further contribute to make STEM environments at Mount Holyoke more welcoming and inclusive.
Semesters: Spring 2025
Introduction to Computational Problem Solving
COMSC-151 introduces students to algorithms, basic data structures, and programming techniques. This is the first course required for all Computer Science majors, Data Science majors, and Computer Science minors at Mount Holyoke College.
Semesters: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023, Fall 2022, Spring 2020
Designing the Future
In this First-Year Seminar, students will explore books, movies, and Mount Holyoke’s own Archives to explore what people of the past and present imagined the future would be. We’ll also engage in the practice of “futuring” to imagine possible, probable, preferable, and preposterous technological futures of our own and take a trip to the Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab to get familiar with some current technologies we can use to build tomorrow.
Semesters: Fall 2024 (NEW!)
Human-Computer Interaction
In this intermediate-level CS elective, students will be introduced to the world of Human-Computer Interaction. We will explore human-centered design techniques for digital tools, how to understand and meet the needs of your audience, and strategies for evaluating the impact of design choices. In other words, we’ll be exploring how to create digital tools that work for people and how to check that we’re meeting that goal.
Semesters: Spring 2024 (NEW!)
Data Visualization: Design and Perception
A brand-new introductory visualization course at MHC! Students in the class will experiment with how design influences the ways that data are understood and how these ideas can be used to craft effective visualizations for different types of data.
Semesters: Fall 2023 (NEW!)
Data Structures
This course builds on the basic programming concepts and introduces topics like Big-O notation and classic data structures (e.g., linked lists, stacks, queues, heaps, and binary trees).
Semesters: Spring 2023
Introduction to CS, Part 2: Object-Oriented Programming
COMSC-161 is a half-semester course which covers object-oriented programming and introduces the Java programming language.
Semesters: Fall 2022
iDesign Learning Lab
A half-semester course which combines an introduction to electronics and “making” with discussions of big ideas in psychology which impact resilience and learning (such as metacognition and self-regulated learning).
Semesters: Fall 2022
At the University of Massachusetts Amherst
Do Data Speak for Themselves?
I designed this first-year seminar course to function as an introduction to thriving in college and to what data can (and can’t) say.
Semesters: Fall 2021
Math Puzzles
This first-year seminar course, originally designed by Rik Sengupta, functioned as an introduction to thriving in college and to what brain teasers and math puzzles can teach us about math and computer science.
Semesters: Fall 2021
Creative Coding and Data Visualization
I created this online, Pre-College course to teach students how to program while emphasizing the creative and interactive possibilities of code. Students engaged with open-ended programming exercises that culminated in a final visualization project. In addition, they engaged with articles and videos to learn about the ways that data have been used in the past and present to tell stories about topics like public health, racism, and climate change.
Semesters: Summer 2021
Introduction to Programming: Interactive Media
I created this online, Pre-College course to teach students how to program through building video games in Javascript. By the end of the course, students built their own versions of classics like snake and pong or a video game of their own design.
Semesters: Summer 2020
Circuits, Robotics, and Arduino
I created this Pre-College course to teach students about programning and electronics through building physical projects with Arduino and interactive games in Processing.
Semesters: Summer 2019