Teaching Special Seminar - Harsha Tirumala, "A Holistic Approach to Teaching CS Theory"

Abstract: 
Theoretical CS is an important part of CS education and lays the foundations for understanding the inherent complexities of computational problems. Students are often intimidated by the rigorous nature of theory concepts and this significantly restricts their chances of success. One critical goal of CS theory education is to build confidence within students and get them to tackle problems/concepts with a positive (“attacking”) mindset rather than them somehow getting through courses. 

In this talk I discuss a holistic approach to achieve this target by setting high standards for all the important aspects of a course - lectures, course material, evaluations and interactions. The discussion will include strategies on dealing with challenges such as scale, staffing and setting up an environment that brings the best out of students. 

Bio:
Harsha Srimath Tirumala is currently a postdoc at the University of Michigan, advised by Professor Mahdi Cheraghchi. He obtained a PhD from Rutgers University, where his advisor was Professor Eric Allender. His research interests lie in complexity theory with a particular focus on meta complexity. He is passionate about teaching CS theory and working with students to develop their thinking and confidence to position them well for their long term pursuits.