Carsten Schürmann

 

Department of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3891
U.S.A.
 
carsten@cs.cmu.edu
+1.412.268.3069
+1.412.268.5576 (FAX)


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Teaching Statment

Teaching Philosophy
Teaching is the most valuable and important service a university can offer. Here is why.

First, teaching is the best way to advertise ones own research, and to excite student interest. For example, I have decided to work with my advisor after I took a class with him. Upon completing his class I chose a direction for my research.

Second, students are our vehicle to communicate our ideas to the world. In general, it is difficult to convince the real world of new concepts and systems. Teaching is important because students form the link between the academic and the industrial world.

Third, teaching means explaining, and explaining means learning. It is not only the student who profits from a well-designed and well-taught class but also the instructor. Before one teaches one has to order the essential ideas, which leads to a deep understanding of the field.

Fourth, active students who ask questions stimulate thinking. It is the critical dialog about a topic which reveals new insights and sheds new light on old questions. Students are absolutely essential in this process.

Teaching Method
Although I have never taught an entire class, I have taught many recitations for computer science and mathematics classes. Over time, I have adopted the following teaching method.
Presentation: I believe in using the blackboard to communicate with students in class especially in mathematics, logics, and formal computer science where concepts are complex and difficult to understand. Since a single concept can take different shapes depending on the angle from what it is observed, it is absolutely essential that crucial ideas are presented in small digestible steps. If beneficial for the understanding, I use slides and computers to visualize program code or to give demos.
I make classes as interactive as possible and I encourage questions. I am convinced that dialog is fundamental to the learning process. I think of myself as a very patient teacher.
Preparation: Before I teach a class, I spend a lot of time preparing the class. I am convinced that the success of a class depends on good preparation. Moreover, I think if I am teaching a class I want to prepare a set of good accompanying course notes. Overall, I encourage students to take notes during class. Writing is yet another way of learning.
Availability: When I teach, my door will always be open for questions.
Respect: I have deep respect for every student, their questions, and their concerns.

Future Teaching
I am very excited about the prospect of teaching in the future for several reasons. One reason is, that I simply enjoy working with students. Another reason is that teaching is a very effective way to attract research students. In addition I know, that by teaching I learn myself.

Some examples of graduate classes that I would enjoy teaching include: Programming Languages, Type Theory, Constructive Logic, Logical Frameworks, Meta-Logical Frameworks, Linear Logic, Automated Theorem Proving, Security, Formal Aspects of Software Engineering, and Databases.

With respect to undergraduate classes, I am happy to teach just about any subject, especially courses from the areas of programming languages, algorithms, theory, and mathematics.