Computer Science

New Courses and Lab Offer Long-term Undergraduate Project Opportunities, continued

Undergraduate Aaron Spear presents an idea to Professor Clayton Lewis during the Educational Technology House seminar.

The first ETH project will create a virtual reality presentation of an archaeological site, building on earlier work done by students in the College of Architecture and Planning. A second group is developing computer technology for people with severe mental handicaps.

An advantage of long-term participation in ETH is that students will be able to develop their technical skills by locating and exploiting information resources on their own, rather than being taught by "experts" as in traditional courses. After graduation, students will need to learn largely on their own in order to keep up with the increasingly fast pace of technical developments in computing. ETH will give students the chance to develop the learning skills they'll need to succeed.

Recently, the department received a generous gift from William and Claudia Coleman, making possible the creation of a laboratory to house ETH and similar activities in the new Discovery Learning Center. The new lab will make it possible to start project courses in other areas of computing technology in which our faculty members are active.

The new space will also help provide valuable social support for our students. Just as undergraduate students working with Evi Nemeth benefited from the chance to "hang out" in the machine room, learning valuable skills from their older peers, students in ETH and similar activities will have a place to go, between classes, in the evening, and on weekends, to be with other students who share their interests.

Departmental Advisory Board