About Mark Smith

 

 

I am in my 10th year at Clark, teaching in the CTEC and CSE programs.  Although my main focus is on programming languages and operating systems, I do teach some other courses from time to time.

 

I enjoy teaching and the give and take of the classroom setting.  What makes teaching worthwhile for me is the magic of the process of discovery in the classroom, and the natural joy of learning new things.  But, I also believe that for students to participate in these kinds of experiences, they have to be ready to work hard and to overcome their fear of the unknown.

 

I have industry experience in programming, systems analysis, technical marketing, training and in the management of these activities, as well as in consulting.  I have taught all levels of information systems and computer science courses from the first year through the graduate curriculum at the University of Maryland’s Overseas Program.  I have also taught at Palomar College near San Diego.

 

I have a MS CIS (Master of Science Computer Information Systems) from San Jose State University.  My BA is in Russian Language & Literature from San Francisco State University.  I am interested in human as well as in programming languages, and am always curious about people’s names and ethnic backgrounds.  When I hear a language being spoken that I don’t recognize, I try to ask and find out what language it is.  Linguistics, whether human or computational, is really cool.

 

I run all my classes on Blackboard.  If you are going to take a class from me, check on Blackboard to see if my course is available yet, and read through the course documents and other entries, including staff information.  I look forward to meeting you in the classroom!

 

You can contact me at: msmith@clark.edu