Over the years, I have taught a wide variety of courses, ranging from a non-majors course, to core computer science courses, to advanced topics. My general philosophy is to conduct hands-on, interactive classes that challenge the student to learn by experience. I don't mind having a reputation for being tough, as long as students feel that I am fair and that they learn.
My current interests in teaching and curriculum development center on the Web as a medium for programming and experimentation. While at Dickinson College, I developed a Web-based introduction to computer science, which used JavaScript to teach programming fundamentals. At Creighton, I have adapted this course to serve as an introduction to computing for non-majors. The hands-on nature of the course is achieved using tutorials, in which the students write and experiment with small, Web-based programs. Experimental and analytical skills are stressed as students often use programs as means to model and analyze complex systems (such as random walks and ecosystem models). In addition, student are introduced to the history and breadth of computer science, with readings and exercises on topics such as logic design, artificial intelligence, and the societal impact. A text book based on this course, titled A Balanced Introduction to Computer Science, was published by Prentice Hall in 2004 with a second edition released in 2007. In fall 2005, I have adapted this material to a more science-oriented non-majors course, entitled Computers and Scientific Thinking.
At Creighton, I also developed an advanced topics course in Web programming, where students learn about Web protocols and development tools, and apply their programming skills to the Web interface. Other courses I have regularly taught are Computer Programming I and II, Data Structures, Programming Languages, Operating Systems, and Artificial Intelligence.
Related to teaching, I have been involved with the Advanced Placement (AP) progam since 1994, serving as a consultant, reader, and question leader over the past decade. In 2004, I became Chief Reader - responsible for the grading and scoring of the entire exam (taken by approximately 20,000 high school students each year). As Chief Reader, I supervise the training of approximately 150 college and high school readers each year, as well as contribute to the development of the exam.
During the past few years, my most active research has been in the area of computer science education (CSE). I have published extensively in CSE journals and conferences, including several papers and panel presentations at the SIGCSE Technical Symposiums on Computer Science Education. My most recent initiative has been in advocating a balanced approach to introductory computer science, combining programming depth with computing breadth (as demonstrated in the above mentioned text book).
In related research, I, along with Craig Miller at DePaul University and Grant Braught at Dickinson College, have been a vocal advocate of the importance of empirical skills for computer scientists. As computer systems become more complex, experimentation is becoming a necessary tool for understanding and analyzing their behavior. In addition, the distinctions between computer science and other sciences is becoming blurred, with fields such as bioinformatics and scientific computing requiring both technical and scientific maturity. As part of an initiative to better integrate empirical methods into the computer science curriculum, Miller, Braught and I received an NSF CCLI grant for 2003-2006 to develop a curricular model and teaching resources. A repository of developed materials can be found at dave-reed.com/empirical.
My other research interests have primarily been in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and Programming Languages, with an emphasis in logic programming and automated deduction. Logic programming is a declarative approach to problem solving in which a solution to the problem is expressed as logical formulas. Ideally, the programmer does not need to state how the problem is to be solved, only what a solution must look like. Building upon the logic programming language Prolog, Don Loveland and I developed SATCHMORE, a simple but powerful automated deduction system that incorporates relevancy testing to control deduction using forward and backward reasoning. This basic system has been used by researchers in Japan to prove new mathematical results in finite algebras.
I'm happy to admit that my personal life pretty much revolves around my wife, Laura, and our two sons, Charlie and Jack. Charlie was born on May 25, 1997, and his little brother Jack was born exactly three years later (in the same room in the same hospital). Charlie is in 5th grade now, and is really into outdoor activities (e.g., camping, and fishing), which he clearly did not pick up from his dad. Jack is in 2nd grade and loves to make up stories, play with his cars and action figures, and smack a baseball. Both boys are active in Tae Kwon Do and Cub Scouts, and enjoyed a summer of baseball. Our critters, a sheltie named Scooter and a tabbie named Target, round out the happy family.
Personal info beyond the kids (as if there is such a thing): I met my wife-to-be, Laura Hansen, in 1986 while we were both grad students at Duke. We were married in 1988 in a field in Iowa, and lived in the Durham, NC area for six years while we completed our degrees. For the next six years, we lived in Frederick, MD, and commuted in opposite directions. I taught at Dickinson College (65 miles north) and Laura was a scientist at the National Cancer Institute (45 miles south). Although we both loved our jobs, commuting with kids became a little too much, so in the summer of 2000, we bought a beautiful house in Bellevue, NE, and are both faculty at Creighton University.
When not working or tending to kids, I enjoy reading books (mostly sci-fi), watching movies (preferrably 30's/40's comedies and mysteries), and tinkering around the house with Laura. In addition, I am an avid sports fan, particularly of the Chicago Cubs and college basketball (Creighton and Duke).
Other websites where I waste my time: