Senior Professors Teaching Intro CS

[Mike O'Malley <momalley@fallschurch.esys.com>]

I can't stand "me too" posts, or bandwagons in general, but I feel
somewhat obligated to jump into this thread...
   I had the good fortune to take several introductory courses taught by
Prof. Feldman at GW (1991-1992).  During the course (if you'll pardon
the pun) of these classes, I decided to change my major from business
administration to computer science.  This decision was largely motivated
by the fact that I was exposed to a senior professor in these intro
courses- a recurring question during my freshman year was "Can I do this
for a living?".  A TA would have been unable to answer that question,
not having been "out in the real world" himself.  A senior professor, on
the other hand, has enough experience to provide examples of what life
in computer science is like.  
   Putting a TA on the front lines- a person who doesn't necessarily
want to be there, or who lacks experience in teaching- will only repel
people who are borderline on taking further courses.  I'm not saying
that professors are necessarily more agreeable-far from it- but they
possess the teaching experience to entice the fencesitters into further
coursework, or to perhaps save them a lot of time and money on future
courses that they wouldn't enjoy/utilize.

   No, Professor Feldman didn't coach me on Usenet posting, as I'm sure
you've noticed. :)
   

	Mike O'Malley
	Special Programs
	Raytheon E-Systems, Inc.
	

  P.S.  I gave up using upper-case reserved words after my first two
courses at GW- it's kind of hard on the eyes.