Carol Zander, Principal Lecturer

Dr. Zander received an M.S. degree in mathematics from the University of Colorado and a M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from Colorado State University. She has worked in the software industry at Hewlett-Packard and IBM, and her interests include object-oriented programming and design, threshold concepts/skills, and computer science education. After her original Ph.D. work in Distributed Artificial Intelligence, she was drawn to the education aspect and currently focuses on Computer Science Education research. Her primary research group includes colleagues from the US, Sweden, and Wales.

Before becoming a founding faculty member of CSS, Dr. Zander spent many years shaping the minds of students, teaching mathematics and computer science at the University of Maine, Colorado State University, and Seattle University. At Seattle University her students rewarded her efforts by voting her outstanding faculty awards. In 2002, Dr. Zander received the University of Washington’s highest teaching honor, the Distinguished Teaching Award.

Research

Dr. Zander’s research area is computer science education research. The research of teaching and learning within the disciplines is not simply “good teaching;” it relies upon depth of disciplinary knowledge and the mastery of theoretical and methodological knowledge and practice borrowed from the social and educational sciences.

With her research group, they continue to explore object-oriented software design and more recently how students use pseudocode to aid with designing. They have a significant discourse on threshold concepts/skills. They also investigate students and professionals learning informally and other pedagogical related scholarship.

Education

Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO

  • Ph.D. Computer Science
  • M.S. Computer Science

University of Colorado
Boulder, CO

  • M.S. Mathematics

Contact

Location:
UW1-260

Email:
zander@uw.edu

Website

Courses Taught

  • BCUSP 123: Functions, Models, and Quantitative Reasoning
  • CSS 161: Fundamentals of Computing
  • CSS 332: Comparison of Programming Languages
  • CSS 341: Fundamentals of Programming Theory & Applications
  • CSS 342: Mathematics Principles of Computing
  • CSS 343: Data Structures & Algorithms
  • CSS 442: Object-Oriented Programming & Design
  • CSS 448: Translation of Programming Languages
  • CSS 502: Data Structures and Object-oriented Programming II