I believe that teaching is my principal role at ACU and I work hard to improve my classes each semester. In my nine years at ACU, I have taught ten different courses from the ACU catalog, as well as several special topics or independent study courses. Early on, I was often dissatisfied with the structure and assessment the first time I teach a course, although I find that my course experience improves with repetition. Student feedback has been an important influence in course refinement, as well as my own expanding skill set as a teacher. Over time I have settled into a fairly stable set of courses, a pleasant mixture of lower-level and upper-level content, with the opportunity to see computer science majors over several years and thus build stronger relationships with students over that time.
I was honored in May 2018 to receive the SITC department award for Teacher of the Year, with student comments like:
- “Dr. Homer is always well prepared and able to answer student questions. I greatly admire his intelligence, the way he treats students and the example he leads with his life.”
- “He has this tough love that you can’t help but appreciate.”
- “Dr. Homer’s classes are always extremely informative. Some may be difficult, but Dr. Homer always gives students the tools they need to do well in his class.”
- “He is very engaging in the classroom and teaches the topic in a manner that is very clear. He is also always willing to help students individually with their work.”
- “Dr. Homer flawlessly integrates humor with learning into each class period for each subject he teaches.”
- “Dr. Homer is an incredible professor who cares about his students and takes the time to make sure the information is understood. He is an example of humility, Christian leadership, and quiet compassion. He’s also brilliant, an avid learner, and incredibly funny”
I have for several years been the motivator for a variety of curriculum changes in my department. We have worked to incorporate new courses, modify existing courses to improve the degree plans and try to better fit our course offerings to the available faculty (who have also changed over time).
The evolution of CS 120 over time provides an excellent example of my continuing efforts for course improvement. I also offer here a description of my experience building a new course, ITC 250 – History of Computing.