"I'm also really interested in computer science education and I want to do research. I'm thinking about going for graduate and post-graduate education, and I've been looking for professors who have done research in CS Ed."
If you're thinking of a career in research and or education, I would suggest that you're best to stick in academia for at least a graduate degree. It sounds like you're more interested in CS than Education in itself, so perhaps an MS or PhD in CS might be a good option. On the other hand, you mention that you want to be a teacher, which means you'll probably need to go to teacher's college at some point. In North America, that's just a year, which is no biggie. A Master's in CS and a teaching degree would take three years or so and would put you in an excellent position to teach, and with your ambition and drive, to eventually affect how CS is taught on a larger scale. Of course, to teach at the university level, you'll need a PhD to get a faculty appointment. If you're keen on this, go for it. We always need more good teachers in academia.
Of course, all this may be different in the Phillipines. I can only speak for the North American situation.
"It's still kinda challenging because education abroad is expensive, so I have to have a good enough record for financial aid. I want to be a teacher, and I want to improve the way computer science is being taught. I know it's _really_ difficult, especially since I'm just a student right now, but if I work hard at it I know I'll find a way."
Ambition and hard work can go a long, long way, so don't get discouraged.
"What advice would you have for a student who's at one of those crossroads? Should I go for the internship, do well in the industry, and make something that lots of people can use? Should I look for an internship at a university that does research in computer science education, and help develop the next generation of whiz kids? What are some other choices I might not know of yet?"
My final point would be this: to be an excellent CS teacher (at any level), become a good computer scientist first. Just the fact that you have a passion for teaching will make you a good teacher; thorough knowledge of the subject, some training in teaching, intelligence, common sense, empathy, and experience will help make you an excellent teacher.
I should warn you that I'm a grad student myself, and enjoying the experience immensely, so my views are biased towards the academic route:-)
Thank you, brother! As far as I'm concerned, a genome has not been completely sequenced until I, and all the other bioinfo hackers out there, can get a list of reliably predicted and translated ORFs to work with. Just like a protein structure is not useful until it's in the PDB, genomes aren't "complete" until the average biomed lab can use the data to design/interpret experiments, etc. -Stefan
Slashdot Mirror
"I'm also really interested in computer science education and I want to do research. I'm thinking about going for graduate and post-graduate education, and I've been looking for professors who have done research in CS Ed."
:-)
If you're thinking of a career in research and or education, I would suggest that you're best to stick in academia for at least a graduate degree. It sounds like you're more interested in CS than Education in itself, so perhaps an MS or PhD in CS might be a good option. On the other hand, you mention that you want to be a teacher, which means you'll probably need to go to teacher's college at some point. In North America, that's just a year, which is no biggie. A Master's in CS and a teaching degree would take three years or so and would put you in an excellent position to teach, and with your ambition and drive, to eventually affect how CS is taught on a larger scale. Of course, to teach at the university level, you'll need a PhD to get a faculty appointment. If you're keen on this, go for it. We always need more good teachers in academia.
Of course, all this may be different in the Phillipines. I can only speak for the North American situation.
"It's still kinda challenging because education abroad is expensive, so I have to have a good enough record for financial aid. I want to be a teacher, and I want to improve the way computer science is being taught. I know it's _really_ difficult, especially since I'm just a student right now, but if I work hard at it I know I'll find a way."
Ambition and hard work can go a long, long way, so don't get discouraged.
"What advice would you have for a student who's at one of those crossroads? Should I go for the internship, do well in the industry, and make something that lots of people can use? Should I look for an internship at a university that does research in computer science education, and help develop the next generation of whiz kids? What are some other choices I might not know of yet?"
My final point would be this: to be an excellent CS teacher (at any level), become a good computer scientist first. Just the fact that you have a passion for teaching will make you a good teacher; thorough knowledge of the subject, some training in teaching, intelligence, common sense, empathy, and experience will help make you an excellent teacher.
I should warn you that I'm a grad student myself, and enjoying the experience immensely, so my views are biased towards the academic route
Good luck - Stefan
If you want protein folding, check out Folding@Home: http://foldingathome.stanford.edu.
The point, my friend, is that most educated folks that immigrate on HI-B visas want to stay in the US and _become_ citizens. -Stefan
Great points, but the word is ambition.
Thank you, brother! As far as I'm concerned, a genome has not been completely sequenced until I, and all the other bioinfo hackers out there, can get a list of reliably predicted and translated ORFs to work with. Just like a protein structure is not useful until it's in the PDB, genomes aren't "complete" until the average biomed lab can use the data to design/interpret experiments, etc. -Stefan