A13LeonGibson

A13LeonGibson

To-Do

Please Answer the following Questions: provide a brief rationale for your answer — not just yes/no answers

1. which classes did you take outside of your chosen discipline?
   1. how did you select these classes?
      1. based on interest
      2. based on requirements for your degree program
   2. did would you evaluate the “outside classes”?
      1. a waste of time
      2. okay
      3. an enrichment of your education
      4. if you had a choice: would you take more outside classes?
2. to be a well educated graduate in your respective discipline — what do you consider the most important objectives?
   1. did CU offer classes for you to meet these objectives?
   2. have you pursued these objectives outside of classes (in other settings at CU; outside of CU)?
3. what do you consider the most important impact of new media and human-centered computing on YOUR education?

which classes did you take outside of your chosen discipline?

Creative Writing, Macro Economics, and Psychology

how did you select these classes? (e.g. based on interest or based on requirements for your degree program)

Two of them were requirements, but the Creative Writing course was one that I was interested in because I enjoyed fictional writing as a child.

how would you rate the “outside classes”? (e.g. a waste of time or an enrichment of your education)

I wouldn't say any class outside of my major were a waste of time. Some of the required courses in my undergraduate career where the faculty were trying to broaden my scope of knowledge were more of a waste of time.

if you had a choice: would you take more outside classes?

No, as a graduate student I won't take any courses that don't quicken the amount of time it would take to get my MS.

to be a well educated graduate in your respective discipline — what do you consider the most important objectives?

For computer science I think that the full spectrum of CS, Math, CE/EE, ethics, logic, and writing courses would help.

Students should use the math and logic courses to increase their understanding and comprehension while the writing courses and ethics allow the student to gain communication skills and best practices. The CS/EE courses are great to provide the student the background in how their software will work on a low level and in a networked world.

CS classes should focus on the theory, algorithms, and OS material necessary for a student to achieve great things in whatever area. There should be classes offered though that provide the student the opportunity to learn multiple languages as electives.

did CU offer classes for you to meet these objectives?

I haven't experienced the CU program on an undergraduate level and I'm still inexperienced on about the grad program.

My undergrad program at Missouri S&T did a great job in learning the theory and material needed to think like a software engineer. As a campus they focused on C++ and that helped my understanding in learning JAVA in my career.

have you pursued these objectives outside of classes (in other settings at CU; outside of CU)?

After graduating and taking my first job at Raytheon Co. I've always strove to learn all that was needed to get the job done. Because I had the background in OS and software it wasn't hard to learn technologies like VMS, Solaris, JAVA, XML, Apache, etc.

The goal of a any college is to force their students to apply themselves so that when they get out into their career the employer can benefit...whether that employer is a private company or institution.

hat do you consider the most important impact of new media and human-centered computing on YOUR education?

Provides a focus in the fact that computers are no longer sole machines that a user must "go to" but in computers are becoming integrated into our daily lives to the point that one day a desktop PC may be as common as they were back in the 80's.

This shift from behemoth monsters that people buy, into pad PCs, and other mobile devices make the HCC component of software and hardware design very important to any forward thinker that would like to incorporate into their thought process for the next great idea.

Media hasn't changed as in as much as the technology has made the way it is consumed change. A "sole source" of distribution has almost evaporated with the advantageous adoption of digital media and cloud computing concepts. It would be a benefit if a forward-thinker of today learns how to create business models as a service provider of today only needs a website and online storage to make a lot of money.