How do developers become teachers?

A friend recently asked me:

I recently considered teaching a programming class at a university or a middle school as you do. Can you tell me how to get to know more about these opportunities? Do I need a master's degree first if I want to teach a university course? How did you get in touch with the school to talk about teaching?

For IndustryProgramI am very supportive of the idea of codoon to teach computer science courses. People with practical experience can bring a practical working perspective and cool feeling to the classroom, which cannot be imitated by full-time instructors. In the course of teaching, the in-depth exploration of the subject will also improve the academic rigor of the Code farmers practitioners. The son said: "You can teach, and you can also learn ." (Translator's note: Someone may have asked: "Which of the following statements does this mean ?", My answers to these questions are: "what the old man said !")

The prepared versions are as follows:

If I plan to teach a university course, do I need a master's degree first?

(211 engineering) Universities require professors with a doctorate. Generally, their doctorate degree is obtained from a higher university, and there are very few doctoral students in this school to teach. However, there are also some full-time or non-full-time teaching jobs that do not require a doctorate. This job is called a lecturer (in the UK, the meaning of the lecturer is different ). For example, Binda (University of Pennsylvania) always has some vacancies as lecturers.

(985 engineering) the research university may prefer the lecturer to have a doctorate degree, but only a master's degree is required. Without a doctorate, you will encounter difficulties (glass ceiling). For example, you cannot introduce a new Required Course for undergraduate students, but if you have enough ideas, it is not completely impossible. Many universities, especially those that only enroll undergraduate students or most of their graduates, will allow lecturers to have only a bachelor's degree, especially when they have rich experience in the industry.

The glass ceiling effect indicates the ceiling effect. This is a metaphor. It refers to setting up an invisible and artificial difficulty to prevent certain qualified persons (especially women) from upgrading to a certain position in the Organization .)

Therefore, a master's degree is not necessary for teaching, but it can increase your choice and help you form a network of contacts in the academic circle.

How did you get in touch with the school to talk about teaching?

I didn't go. I was lucky. I met a bunch of people when I went to Binda, especially Joe kider. They encouraged me to apply for GPU courses.

Of course, it cannot always be so simple, but there are some ways...

Give a talk at a local university)

There are two methods:

Find the instructors for the relevant courses, and I will introduce myself to a guest lecture. Basically all computer science departments list their current curriculum. In addition, instructors all have personal webpages with their email addresses. For example, there is a instructor from Binda. You can write a concise email to describe your work location, the topic you want to explain, and the association between the subject and the course. It would be more useful if I could get his PPT, but I have never seen it before.

In general, instructors like guest lectures, especially for graduate and seminar courses. In fact, I spent a lot of time looking for guests to give lectures. Because I teach GPU courses, I especially want to give lectures to people from GPU manufacturers, Game Studios, research labs, and other institutions. Even if I am from the industry, guests often have other perspectives. In fact, I would rather cancel one of my courses if there is a suitable guest. These lectures are highlights of one semester.

Make sure you find the right time. For example, do not send an email to the instructor asking if you can add a lecture when there is only two weeks left in the semester. It is hard to say what time point is the best, because the preparation work done by instructors varies from person to person. I usually finalize the guest lecture at the beginning of the semester or one month before the start. Warning: the first week of the course is often crazy.

You can also find an instructor in the field you are interested in and recommend a lecture to the entire department. This is also good, because you will meet more people, and sometimes instructors are not willing to give you the classroom time. Most departments will have a series of seminars for visitors from academia or the industry to introduce their work. For example, this is a seminar at Binda. Most of the time I focus on research, but not necessarily, especially in small universities.

When I defended my master's thesis, I invited a graphics instructor from a local university to attend the Answer Session. None of them came, but I was invited to attend a seminar at the University of Villanova. My work is not entirely research. It is a bit innovative in one or two places, but it is more like "This is a survey of a certain field, a cool project implementation, coupled with careful summary and analysis ." I think most people in the industry can prepare a set of such lectures.

The motivation for giving lectures is as follows:

You are very enthusiastic about topics you want to communicate with others. If this is not the case, teaching is not suitable for you.

Lectures are different from teaching, but they are also good experiences and related experiences.

This is advantageous for the development of network connections, even if there are no vacancies in the university.

Give a talk at a conference will give a special speech at the meeting

There are many advantages of giving a speech at a conference that are the same as giving a lecture at a university. It is conducive to sharing knowledge, enhancing experience, and developing network connections, especially with the participation of many academics.

It may be difficult to get a chance to give a speech at an academic conference, depending on the specific situation of the meeting. I have been rejected many times. Don't worry. Everyone is rejected more or less.

There is fierce competition in lectures for large academic conferences such as Siggraph, but it is feasible to join an existing topic or establish a new topic or group with others, you can also speak at informal seminars (BOF) or even organize your own informal seminars. In the eyes of academics, informal seminars are not highly credible, but they are still very interesting. They are also good experience and networking.

Large conferences are not the only option. The User Conference in your company is a simpler opportunity. There are also some local parties. Smaller or industry meetings are also good opportunities.

You can also give presentations at the company to increase your experience. Most places have their own lunch guests. This kind of occasion helps you meet people who can invite you. For example, I once offered a lecture on our webgl engine cesium at the Lincoln lab at MIT with my help from a friend who used to work at IBM.

Hold lectures in local secondary schools

Most middle schools now have computer science or even advanced computer science courses. Teachers like people in the industry to give lectures to their students. This bridges the gap between the knowledge that students see in their classrooms and what they can do in the real world.

I have been back to my secondary school for a while. Once I wrote a short Java framework to play Wuzi. In a polymorphism class, students can take their AIAlgorithmImplemented into a class, and their artificial intelligence algorithms can play five games with each other. I even found some friends to implement their artificial intelligence algorithms, so that the students can compete with masters.

Teachers will also welcome you to talk about how you do development, what you do every day, and what advice you give to students. Such a lecture is also very quick to prepare.

Other ideas

Although I have no experience in reviewing online courses such as Udacity, I still feel that teaching these courses is also an opportunity. The interaction between students and students is quite different here, but it is still rewarding. You can also get to know many people through it.