\begin{document}
-\begin{letter}{Olympic College Human Resource Services \\
- College Service Center, Fifth Floor \\
- 1600 Chester Avenue \\
- Bremerton, WA 98337-1699}
+\begin{letter}{
+ City University of Seattle \\
+ 521 Wall Street \\
+ Suite 100 \\
+ Seattle, WA 98121}
\opening{Sir or Madam,}
-Thank you for reviewing my application for the position of Professor
-of Mathematics at Olympic College. Over my years working on my
-Ph.D. studies at Drexel University, I have been looking forward to
-teaching at an undergraduate-oriented college. I look forward to
-working at a school such as Olympic which clearly has a strong
-commitment to teaching excellence and teacher training. Besides
-teaching math, I am also interested in advancing the science of
-teaching. Over the past year I have been active in the
+Thank you for reviewing my application for the position of Part-time
+Teaching Faculty in Information Systems. Over my years working on my
+Ph.D. studies at Drexel University, I have had a number of ``why
+didn't anyone tell me about $x$ sooner'' moments, and I look forward
+to sharing my hard-won experience with a host of new recruits.
+Besides teaching computing, I am also interested in advancing the
+science of teaching. Over the past year I have been active in the
\href{http://software-carpentry.org/}{Software Carpentry}
organization, which trains scientists around the world in current
software development and data management techniques. Software
students directly. Downloadable class notes also give students more
time to focus on the concepts and applications instead of focusing on
transcription. I look forward to tying these pieces together and
-building cohesive courses to introduce new students to mathematics.
-
-I have always had a strong interest in math, and early in my career I
-was able to devote enough time to the subject to double-major in math
-and physics. I have especially fond memories of my number theory and
-formal logic courses at Colgate, as well as complex analysis during my
-semester in Wales. As I advanced through my graduate training, there
-was less time to devote directly to formal math, but I taught myself a
-good deal of statistics in support of my research (especially the
-Gumbel distribution\citep{king10,king13}). Physics and math are bound
-tightly together, and I look forward to returning to the analytical
-side of this pairing.
+building cohesive courses to introduce new students to computing.
+
+While I have a long history of interest in science and mathematics, it
+was my scientific research that lead to my interest in computing and
+electronics. I have fond memories of building digital circuits in my
+electronics and instrumentation course at Colgate, but my interest in
+computing really took off as I moved into the open source ecosystem
+while automating single molecule protein unfolding
+experiments\citep{king10,king13}. I have spent the last few years up
+to my elbows in an open source experiment control stack\citep{king13}
+as well as developing and troubleshooting the associated electronics
+hardware. On the side, I've spent a bit of time tinkering with
+microcontrollers such as the
+\href{http://www.atmel.com/devices/atmega32u4.aspx}{ATMega32u4}. I
+look forward to leveraging this interest in open source software and
+inexpensive hardware to engage students with accessible hands-on
+experiences.
As a scientist, I feel that teaching itself can be improved through
the scientific method. By testing the effect of different classroom
active learning approaches\citep{hake98,crouch01,prince04}, especially
thinking-aloud pair problem solving
(TAPPS\citep{lochhead87,felder09}), which has been shown to increase
-student performance\citep{johnson99}. Of course, not
-\emph{everything} can be measured with sufficient clarity to support
-this approach. Developing quantitative evaluations of student
-learning is tricky, but---at least at a basic level---it is possible.
-Mentioning these difficulties when discussing course organization with
-students will provide jumping-off points for discussing the
-limitations of the statistics, the scientific approach, and the flavor
-of scientific progress, while avoiding confusion about the
-well-understood fundamentals covered in the content of the course
-itself. Several Software Carpentry collaborators (especially
-\href{http://michigancomputes.wordpress.com/}{Cait Pickens}) are
-experts in assessment design and validation, and between their
-experience with standard practices and my talent for software tooling
-and rigorous analysis, I expect we'll develop a robust system for
-monitoring student progress. By promoting this system in our own
-research and SWC outreach, we can also spread the practice of teaching
-research through the wider academic community.
+student performance\citep{johnson99}. I am also excited to transplant
+existing methods from traditional settings to online courses and
+invent new techniques that take advantage of the online format. Of
+course, not \emph{everything} can be measured with sufficient clarity
+to support evidenced-based teaching. Developing quantitative
+evaluations of student learning is tricky, but---at least at a basic
+level---it is possible. Several Software Carpentry collaborators
+(especially \href{http://michigancomputes.wordpress.com/}{Cait
+ Pickens}) are experts in assessment design and validation, and
+between their experience with standard practices and my talent for
+software tooling and rigorous analysis, I expect we'll develop a
+robust system for monitoring student progress. By promoting this
+system in our own research and SWC outreach, we can also spread the
+practice of teaching research through the wider academic community.
On a more prosaic level, I am excited about moving from the
mid-Atlantic---where I have spent most of my life---to the Northwest.
surgery practice at the \href{http://olympiapetemergency.net/}{Olympia
Pet Emergency} hospital in Olympia. After years of commuting
several hours from our current home in New Jersey to Drexel in
-Philadelphia, the chance for jobs that are only thirty minutes apart
-is quite appealing\footnote{
- The job description emphasizes responsibilities on the Shelton
- campus. Weekly runs up to Bremerton will not be a problem, but it's
- probably a bit far for a daily commute. If Bremerton access is more
- critical, please contact me and I'll see what I can work out.
-}
-My wife is originally from Vancouver, Canada, and I have enjoyed our
-annual summer trip out to visit with her family. I also look forward
-to the drizzly climate, as my Northern European heritage has not given
-me much protection against the sun. Being able to enjoy the outdoors
-(sailing and hiking!) without having to slather on the sunblock sounds
-like a good idea to me.
+Philadelphia, I look forward to the opportunity to work from home or
+at locations in the South Sound area. My wife is originally from
+Vancouver, Canada, and I have enjoyed our annual summer trip out to
+visit with her family. I also look forward to the drizzly climate, as
+my Northern European heritage has not given me much protection against
+the sun. Being able to enjoy the outdoors (sailing and hiking!)
+without having to slather on the sunblock sounds like a good idea to
+me.
Please do not hesitate to contact me via phone or email if you need
any additional information.
projects / letter-of-interest.git / blobdiff