I started at the University of Maryland in 2010 as a web developer and then spent some time as a student in a doctoral progam that I did not complete, but where started teaching in 2017 as a graduate student instructor. In 2018, I was hired as a Lecturer, which is professional track faculty (non-tenured, full-time faculty) at the College of Information, University of Maryland. In 2024, I was promoted from Lecturer to Senior Lecture. However, today I start a new opportunity outside the university as a data engineer at a non-profit. I continue to teach as an adjunct instructor.
At INFO, I taught courses on data cleaning, programming, and information systems. I attempted to weave ethics and social justice throughout the material to emphasize the social impacts of technology and encourage intentional, critical design.
Highlighted Courses
I taught a variety of courses because of my professional experience and research interests Here are a few that I’ve chosen to highlight.
INST346 Technologies, Infrastructure and Architecture
This is required course within the Information Science major. It has a very confusing name because it is an attempt to create a common technical language for students with a wide range of backgrounds. The course explores computer hardware, software, networks, and modern information systems emerge from those components. I have often described it as “from bits to the cloud.”
INST447 Data Sources and Manipulation
Data science courses usually focus on the “fun” part of analysis where we answer questions from the data. This course focuses on the preparation and exploration of data before analysis starts. It specifically addresses identyfing and handling data quality issues, combining datasets to answer more interesting questions, and documenting and managing datasets so that they are reusable and trustworthy.
Additional Courses
I have tought these courses in the past. I particular enjoy teaching the introduction to programming course because there are so many opportunities for students to have “aha” moments.
- INST126 Introduction to Programming for Information Professionals
- INST327 Database Design and Modeling
- INST377 Dynamic Web Applications
- INFM700 Information Architectures