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Career Planning

Computer Science Teaching

For those students interested in a career focused on the practice or study of computer science education, the following is a list of resources available to them during their time in the program. Note that some opportunities are only available to graduate students (Combined B.S./M.S. or Ph.D. programs).

The resources listed here are intended to span a wide variety of teaching interests at different levels (e.g., K-12 CS teacher, teaching-track faculty member, CS Education researcher), though most of the resources are geared toward teaching at the college (post-secondary) level. It is highly recommended that you talk to an advisor (Undergraduate, B.S./M.S., or Ph.D) about your interests and find a Teaching Professor mentor early on to help with your planning.

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Teaching Opportunities
Education-Related
Teaching as a Career
Teaching Resources

Coursework

TA Training

  • CSE 190T: Intro TA Training [only for current 12X/14X TAs] 
  • CSE General TA Training [paid training; only for current non-Intro TAs] 

CSE Courses

  • CSE 5XX: Empirical Research Methods [future]
  • CSE 492T: Equitable and Inclusive Computer Science Pedagogy Seminar
  • CSE 590E: Computer Science Education Research Seminar
  • CSE 590T: Advanced Teaching Techniques [future]
  • CSE 5XX: Empirical Research Methods [future]

Other Courses

  • EDUC 251: Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity 
  • EDC&I 351: Teaching as a Profession 
  • E E 406: Teaching Engineering 
  • EDUC 401: Riverways Education Partnerships educational practicums
    • “Recruits, trains and places UW students as volunteer tutors in Seattle [K-12] schools and community organizations” – not CSE-specific and offerings vary from quarter to quarter.

UW Programs

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Teaching Opportunities

  • Allen School Teaching Assistants (Undergraduate, Graduate)
    • We always have more applicants than spots available, unfortunately, so there is no guarantee of landing a position.
    • Reach out to individual instructors to express interest or watch for the TA application, which opens roughly every August (autumn), November (winter), February (spring), and May (summer).
    • Beyond grading and leading section, you should consider pursuing opportunities to guest lecture, work on course infrastructure, develop course materials, and mentor other TAs.
  • Summer Instructor: Be an instructor or co-instructor for a CSE course offered during the 9-week Summer quarter from late-June to mid-August. Commitment includes general instructor preparation meetings during Spring quarter and your individual commitment to TA for that course in Winter and/or Spring.
    • You must hold a Bachelor’s degree at the time you teach – generally reserved for graduate students.
    • Position availability varies from year-to-year based on course offerings and faculty commitments.
    • A “Summer Instructor Interest Form” is sent out via email every Fall quarter and due in November.
    • For other questions, reach out to Dan Grossman (Teaching Schedule Coordinator) and/or Justin Hsia (Summer Instructor Coordinator).
  • New Course Initiatives: Some students have been able to propose and implement new courses/seminars under the guidance of Allen School faculty and staff in the past based on perceived curricular needs/gaps and student demand.
    • Contact Dan Grossman if you have an idea that you’d like to propose.
  • Tutoring Opportunities
  • Outreach Opportunities:
  • Microsoft TEALS Program: volunteer to support a local high school classroom teacher to create sustainable CS programs (i.e., they learn to teach CS independently over time)

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  • Association for Computing Education (ACE):  Allen School student group that focuses on building a community for students interested in the field of computing education.
  • CSE 600: Independent Study or Research [grad only]
    • Credits available for pre-approved education-related projects with final write-up (e.g., BS/MS research thesis).
    • You will need to seek out a faculty mentor ahead of time with a proposed project before the quarter begins.
  • ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium: Annual conference of computing education practitioners and researchers held annually during the Winter quarter (February or March). The Allen School is able to cover partial or full costs (e.g., travel, housing, conference registration, food) for a limited number of students each year.
  • ComputingEd@UW: Campus-wide community for those interested in computing education research and practice.
  • Computing Education Research (CER) FAQ

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Teaching as a Career

  • UW CSE Teaching-Track Faculty Panel: Held at the beginning of every Fall quarter to discuss teaching-track faculty positions.
  • Teaching Faculty Application Workshop: Held towards the end of Spring quarter to discuss the various components, including letters of recommendation, cover letters, CV, teaching portfolio, diversity statement, and teaching demonstration. [future]
  • Individual Mentoring: It is recommended that you reach out to at least one teaching-track faculty member as early as possible to discuss teaching as a career and get individualized advice.
    • If unsure who to reach out to first, Justin Hsia will be happy to talk to you!

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Teaching Resources

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