Hi, I'm Geoff
I love to teach, and I love to code.
I teach students to code.
And I write code that helps them learn.
My goal is to teach computer science to as many people as possible. I do this by creating interactive learning environments that scale. You can explore an example of my materials at learncs.online.
Here's a long bio, or perhaps you'd prefer something shorter.
Essays
I post essays here on teaching, technology, and the overlap between the two. I try to keep my essays on teaching accessible to teachers who don't program, and my essays on technology interesting to programmers who don't teach.
Latest
Here are my latest four essays. For the complete set, click here.
2024-07-05: Divide and Blunder
Breaking large courses into smaller pieces doesn't make them better. It can easily make them worse.
2024-03-21: Ditch the Demo
Live teaching demonstrations are an ineffective way to interview teaching faculty. There's a better approach.
2023-06-14: Large Courses Should Be Better
Large university courses must and can be better. But they also fail in predictable ways, negatively affecting large numbers of students.
2023-02-11: A Help Site Story
When the pandemic hit, we scrambled to create an effective approach to providing one-on-one support online. The process also led me to some insights about help site design, community building in CS1, and possible paths towards increasing diversity in our field.
Random Selection
Here is a random selection from my archive. Enjoy!
2022-12-27: Evaluating Teaching Faculty Positions: Part 3
There's a ton of variation between teaching faculty positions. If you want a good one, here are some additional important questions to ask, related to teaching assignments, broadening participation, and institutional support.
For more essays, click here.