{"589824":{"#nid":"589824","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Computing Professor Pushes Beyond the \u0027Persona of Teacher\u0027","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy the time Dana Randall finished\u0026nbsp;college, she had five years of teaching\u0026nbsp;experience under her belt. She started\u0026nbsp;teaching during her senior year at\u0026nbsp;Stuyvesant High School, a math and\u0026nbsp;science magnet school in New York.\u0026nbsp;Then, while an undergraduate at\u0026nbsp;Harvard University, she taught fellow\u0026nbsp;students how to prepare for and\u0026nbsp;pass the freshman requirements in\u0026nbsp;quantitative analysis, and in computer\u0026nbsp;science and programming.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I had no experience programming,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;said Randall, now ADVANCE Professor of\u0026nbsp;Computing in the College of Computing. \u0026ldquo;So\u0026nbsp;I learned it to pass the exam. When I went to\u0026nbsp;tell them that I had passed the test, they said,\u0026nbsp;\u0026lsquo;why don\u0026rsquo;t you try out to teach?\u0026rsquo;\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe did, and then she spent several years\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Eteaching other students from her self-described perspective of \u0026ldquo;I know nothing extraneous. I\u0026rsquo;m\u0026nbsp;going\u0026nbsp;to tell you how to learn and get through\u0026nbsp;this exam.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDuring those early years, Randall said she\u0026nbsp;very deliberately tried to make the classroom\u0026nbsp;comfortable for the students. Sometimes, she\u0026nbsp;would sit on the desk to be different from the\u0026nbsp;students\u0026rsquo; usual classroom experiences, causing\u0026nbsp;them to have different expectations.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnother early experience \u0026mdash; two summers\u0026nbsp;during high school spent at a math program\u0026nbsp;at Hampshire College \u0026mdash; taught her how to\u0026nbsp;engage people and \u0026ldquo;trick\u0026rdquo; them into learning\u0026nbsp;something complex by solving a puzzle.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;These experiences really shaped how I\u0026nbsp;teach now,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EClassroom Strategies\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis semester, Randall is teaching Honors\u0026nbsp;Discrete Mathematics (CS 2051). She describes\u0026nbsp;the class as an honors class on \u0026ldquo;how to think\u0026nbsp;about discrete math, how to do proofs, and\u0026nbsp;how to think mathematically [for mostly\u0026nbsp;computer science students].\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Early on, I explain my expectation that\u0026nbsp;everyone in the class, at some point, will say,\u0026nbsp;\u0026lsquo;I don\u0026rsquo;t understand.\u0026rsquo; And everyone at some\u0026nbsp;point will say, \u0026lsquo;wow.\u0026rsquo; I see it as my job to get\u0026nbsp;them to the point where they feel comfortable\u0026nbsp;saying those two things,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen designing a course, Randall said\u0026nbsp;she has a collection of topics that need to be\u0026nbsp;covered. But she works to keep it from being\u0026nbsp;boring.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I definitely switch things up,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;With some courses, you have to start with the\u0026nbsp;basics, and it\u0026rsquo;s just boring for the first couple of weeks.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERandall said she often starts with the \u0026lsquo;meat\u0026rsquo; of the course \u0026mdash; and even though the students may not have some of the fundamentals, they can follow along. Then she goes back later to fill in the missing details.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I think it\u0026rsquo;s more fun to go out and play tennis a little bit before you spend two hours learning how to hold the racket,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EReaching the Students\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERandall is excited when she sees students\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;thinking differently\u0026rdquo; after taking her class.\u0026nbsp;She enjoys leading students and pushing them\u0026nbsp;a little bit farther than they think they can go.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;In an honors class, you certainly have\u0026nbsp;students who are very overly confident. But\u0026nbsp;you\u0026rsquo;re still pushing them,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;They\u0026nbsp;have their style of learning. And, I teach very\u0026nbsp;differently than most people do, so I definitely\u0026nbsp;push them a little bit out of their comfort\u0026nbsp;zones. I feel like I can do that with students at\u0026nbsp;different levels.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERandall also enjoys the puzzle of trying to figure out what the students are missing and what will help them understand.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;As a teacher, you have to not be\u0026nbsp;pre-programmed,\u0026rdquo; she said. \u0026ldquo;You have to\u0026nbsp;think on your feet and be reactive. I have a\u0026nbsp;good ability to know \u0026mdash; when students have\u0026nbsp;their hand up \u0026mdash; who is right and who is\u0026nbsp;wrong, and I use that to help teach the class.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen Randall senses that her students\u0026nbsp;don\u0026rsquo;t understand what she\u0026rsquo;s talking about, she\u0026nbsp;repeats herself.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Yesterday, I had a day like that. It just\u0026nbsp;wasn\u0026rsquo;t as smooth as it usually is,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When I see that they\u0026rsquo;re amiss, I back up and\u0026nbsp;say \u0026lsquo;let me remind you of the salient points.\u0026rsquo;\u0026nbsp;And I think that helps.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvice for New Faculty\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERandall said one of her biggest assets as\u0026nbsp;a teacher is talking straight to students and\u0026nbsp;having a conversation. That\u0026rsquo;s one of her\u0026nbsp;recommendations to new faculty.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Have a real conversation with students,\u0026nbsp;as though you\u0026rsquo;re having coffee with them,\u0026rdquo;\u0026nbsp;she said. \u0026ldquo;The more you get away from this\u0026nbsp;persona of teacher, I think that helps.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERandall said the demands on a new faculty\u0026nbsp;member\u0026rsquo;s time are overwhelming.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You do have to put less time into absolutely everything than you wish you could,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;When teaching, the place not to skimp is the energy you put into the classroom. It\u0026rsquo;s worth engaging the students and enjoying that hour or hour-and-a-half that you\u0026rsquo;re standing in front of them.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERandall suggests being clear about expectations for the class, but new faculty don\u0026rsquo;t have\u0026nbsp;to polish every piece of material they bring to\u0026nbsp;the class.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;You don\u0026rsquo;t have to practice your presentations 20 times before you come in,\u0026rdquo; she said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Making mistakes is okay as long as you\u0026rsquo;re\u0026nbsp;honest and you own up, think quickly, and recover.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch6\u003E\u003Cem\u003EArticle by Victor Rogers, Institute Communications\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/h6\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDana Randall shares classroom strategies and advice for new faculty in this profile originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/whistle\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Whistle\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, April 3.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Dana Randall shares classroom strategies and advice for new faculty."}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2017-04-05 16:52:09","changed_gmt":"2017-04-05 16:54:22","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2017-04-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2017-04-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"589825":{"id":"589825","type":"image","title":"Dana Randall - Whistle","body":null,"created":"1491411176","gmt_created":"2017-04-05 16:52:56","changed":"1491411176","gmt_changed":"2017-04-05 16:52:56","alt":"","file":{"fid":"224713","name":"Screen Shot 2017-04-05 at 12.51.19 PM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-04-05%20at%2012.51.19%20PM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-04-05%20at%2012.51.19%20PM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":349896,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Screen%20Shot%202017-04-05%20at%2012.51.19%20PM.png?itok=bQGOZYqe"}}},"media_ids":["589825"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"50875","name":"School of Computer Science"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"10467","name":"Dana Randall"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":["albert.snedeker@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}