Student-Centered Teaching

Example Syllabi

Reading through one or two of these example syllabi can give you a sense of how I approach teaching, and how I promote student engagement and student academic success in each my courses.

Computer Science at CSUCI

Other Subjects or Institutions

Professional Development Specifically to Improve Classroom Teaching

I seek out professional development opportunities to improve my teaching, whether technical (e.g. Amazon Web Services) or in general. I frequently visit our campus resource Teaching and Learning Innovations to improve my teaching, and participate in their professional development workshops. Here are a few examples of professional development I have undertaken specifically to improve my teaching.

Amazon Web Services Certified Cloud Practitioner (2021)

  • This certificate "validates foundational, high-level understanding of AWS Cloud, services, and terminology"
  • Culmination of a several-week online course in AWS technology
  • Certified May 22, 2021. Expires May 21, 2024
  • Training Organization: AWS Training and Certification

Equity Minded Syllabus Review Workshop (2020)

  • Six hour workshop, a "structured inquiry and reflection into how to incorporate equity-minded practices into your syllabus and teaching"
  • Attended January 21, 2020
  • Training Organization: Center for Urban Education (CUE)

CSUCI T.H.R.I.V.E. Training (2020, 2021)

  • Trained to "develop personalized learning plans with the purpose of gaining knowledge and skills in designing and facilitating online courses"
  • Completed in both Summer 2020 and Summer 2021
  • Training Organization: CSUCI Teaching and Learning Innovations

OpenCI Ambassador Training (2019)

  • Worked to incorporate zero-cost, open textbooks into courses (such as OpenStax)
  • Certified Feb. 13, 2019
  • Training Organization: CSUCI Teaching and Learning Innovations

Mind-Body Connectivity Faculty-Inquiry Project (2019)

  • Explored how teachers, students, and teaching spaces have physical presence which impact our teaching
  • Learned to attend to the human experience (comfort, being scrunched into chairs, tiredness, personal space, eye strain, background noise, lighting) in how we set up our teaching spaces and plan out our class agendas
  • Organization and Instructor: CSUCI, faculty member (Dance Studies) Dr. Heather Castillo

Professional Certifications that Help Me Support Students Themselves

I pursue professional development to support our students in all areas of their lives. My goal is to recognize the diversity of our students' experiences, identify students in distress, and connect students in my classes with resources of which they may not otherwise be aware.

Adult Mental Health First Aid USA (2023)

  • "Trained to provide initial help to someone experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge"
  • Training Organization: National Council for Mental Wellbeing
  • Full-day synchronous training
  • Certified July 20, 2023 (valid for three years)

Basic Needs Ambassador (2019)

  • Trained to "cover the realities of dealing with food and housing insecurity, approaches on working with this student population, strategies to be proactive to address this issue and the work CSUCI is doing to support our students"
  • Training Organization: CSUCI Basic Needs
  • Certified September 19, 2019

Understanding Unconscious Bias (2023)

  • Trained in "the characteristics of unconscious bias and the nature of buried prejudice" and "the positive things that can happen when you take an anti-biased approach to people and situations in the workplace."
  • Training Institution: Skillsoft Percipio

Gender Equity and Title IX (2023)

  • Trained in "identifying, reporting, and preventing campus sexual violence, as well as assisting victims of sexual assault"
  • Certified July 11, 2023 (valid for one year)
  • Training Organization: CSU Systemwide

Undocumented Student Ally Training (Bronze) (2023)

  • Trained in "foundational knowledge, terminology, etc. to support undocumented students, specifically around their experiences both on campus and nationally"
  • Certified July 27, 2023
  • Training Organization: CSUCI Multicultural Dream Center

Teaching Tools and Resources Used in Courses

I seek innovative and contemporary methods and materials to incorporate into my teaching. Here are some examples of teaching tools and resources I have used or am currently using in my courses:

Cloud Compute and Software Development

I pursue cloud computing resources and cloud software development environments when teaching for two reasons: (1) equity among students with different laptops, (2) exposure to state-of-the-art in computer science, and (3) no-nonsense setup where everyone can use the same tools together from anywhere, whether on campus or at home. Here are some examples of cloud compute and cloud software environments I use in my classrooms:

Robotics and Simulation

Students interested in embedded computing, logic design, 3D printing, and robotics require knowledge of tools and approaches that software developers might not. I give my students exposure to hardware, software, and simulators that help them become familiar with these tools and approaches in their relevant classes. Here are some examples of hardware, software, and simulators I bring into my classes:

Online, Interactive Textbooks

I utilize online-first textbooks in my courses, which include interactive elements for immediate feedback to students. I also prefer to find open-access course materials, which are zero-cost to our students. Here are two examples of the platforms which host the "online-first" textbooks I use in classes:

Online Class Engagement

I try and weave in video, photos, and audio into conversations between students in my online classes. For asynchronous classes, I use the VoiceThread and Padlet platforms to facilitate more enriched communication between students. Here are various ways I use modern engagement techniques with my students in online classes: