I have met the requirements for scholarly contribution, as described in the SITC Tenure and Promotion policy adopted in February 2018. This policy specifies a minimum of 5 intellectual contributions and achievements within the SITC disciplines within the last 5 years, of which:
- at least 2 must be scholarly, with any balance made up by professional contributions and achievements. Furthermore, at least 1 scholarly contribution must appear in a published format that is citable in printed or digital version (e.g., book, journal, ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore)
- at least 2 must be significant within the applicant’s field of study as demonstrated by indicators such as (but not limited to):
- presentation at a large and/or international conference of demonstrable importance within the applicant’s discipline
- publication in a journal or conference proceeding with sufficient impact factor, e.g., h5-index of 10 or more
- receiving an award, achievement or credentialing that is notable within the applicant’s discipline
In the past five years, I have contributed to nine scholarly (and citable) articles or papers; by the sample metric of impact factor, seven of those nine are counted as significant in my field. A specific listing of my scholarly work is provided in the list of publications and presentations, including available data about the impact factor of journals & conferences as well as current citation counts.
In my academic career, I have contributed to sixteen scholarly articles or papers published in journals or conference proceedings, as well as several published technical reports. According to data taken from Google Scholar, my work has been cited 336 times, including 240 citations just in the past 5 years.
When I began teaching at ACU, I carried over some ongoing efforts from my dissertational research in computer network security. This research avenue holds a great deal of interest for me and I planned to continue my work. I soon found challenges, however. My research requires concentration to delve into a problem, but my primary role as a teacher left little opportunity to have uninterrupted time. I could continue my work, but it would be slow to bear results. I also found that I would be working alone, without opportunity to involve students (who lack necessary background) or my colleagues (who do not share my interest).
To meet these challenges, I added a second research avenue in computer science education. This work relates directly to my courses and provides opportunity to work both with students and colleagues.
I plan to continue to work along both lines, dividing my efforts between a higher-level, more theoretical work (network security) and a hands-on, very practical work (CS education). Most of my recent time and energy has gone into CS education, because of the quick turnaround to publication in that field and because of the pleasure of working closely with students and colleagues. I am hoping however to “reboot” my more theoretical work in fall 2018 in a collaborative project with a colleague at University of Nebraska in Kearney; I have also already enlisted two ACU students with the background and interest to participate in this project.
Overall, I am proud to be part of an ongoing effort to explore and expand the knowledge in my discipline, as well as to improve the way we teach computer science. I believe that staying active in research will help me continue to grow in my own understanding, an important facet of a good teacher.