Carol Zander, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

Teaching Professor Emeritus

Carol Zander, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

Teaching Professor Emeritus

Dr. Carol Zander earned degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science. After a short stint at Hewlett-Parckard and IBM, she settled into academia and is a founding faculty member of the Department of Computing & Software Systems. She taught primarily software development courses (Data Structures, Algorithms, Object-Oriented Programming, Compilers). Her research revolves around Computer Science Education with a significant discourse on Threshold Concepts and Object-oriented Design.

Education

  • Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
    • Ph.D. – Computer Science
    • M.S. – Computer Science
  • University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
    • M.S. – Mathematics
  • San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
    • B.A. – Mathematics

Courses

  • BCUSP 123 Functions, Models, and Quantitative Reasoning
  • CSS 161 Fundamentals of Computing
  • CSS 332 Comparison of Programming Languages
  • CSS 341 Fundamentals of Programming Theory & Applications
  • CSS 342 Mathematics Principles of Computing
  • CSS 343 Data Structures & Algorithms
  • CSS 442 Object-Oriented Programming & Design
  • CSS 448 Translation of Programming Languages
  • CSS 502 Data Structures and Object-oriented Programming II

Teaching Interests

Software Development

Research and Scholarship Interests

Computer Science Education Research, specifically Threshold Concepts/Skills, Software Design

  • Pseudocode: scaffolding student object-oriented software designs Zander, C., Thomas, L., Moström, J. E., McCartney, R., & Eckerdal, A. Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research, 2023.
  • Copying can be good: How instructors use imitation in teaching programming Zander, C., Eckerdal, A., McCartney, R., Mostrom, J. E., Sanders, K., & Thomas, L. Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE’19). ACM, New York NY, USE, p450-456.
  • Student Software Designs at the Undergraduate Midpoint Thomas L., Zander C., Loftus C., and Eckerdal A.. Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE ’17). ACM, New York, NY, USA, p34-39.
  • In the liminal space: software design as a threshold skill Thomas L, Boustedt J., Eckerdal A, McCartney R., Sanders K., and Zander C., Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Volume 12, Issue 2, p333-351, 2017.
  • Student Transformations: Are They Computer Scientists Yet? Zander, C., Boustedt, J., McCartney, R., Moström, J. E., Sanders, K., and Thomas, L., Proceedings of the Fifth international Workshop on Computing Education Research Workshop (Berkeley, CA, USA, Aug 10 – 11, 2009). ICER ’09. ACM, New York, NY, p129-140.
  • Categorizing Student Software Designs: Methods, results, and implications, Eckerdal, A., McCartney,R., Moström, J.E., Ratcliffe, M., and Zander, C., Computer Science Education Journal, Vol 16, No. 3, Sept, 2006, p197-209.
  • Can Graduating Students Design Software? Eckerdal, A., McCartney, R., Moström, J. E., Ratcliffe, M., and Zander, C., ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, Volume 38, Issue 1, March 2006, p403-407.
  • 2002, Distinguished Teaching Award (UW Bothell)
  • 1996, Excellence in Teaching Award (School of Science & Engineering, Seattle University)
  • 1995, Outstanding Faculty Member Award (Seattle University)
  • 135 students – Supervised independent study or research
  • 201 students – Supervised capstones
  • 17 years – Faculty adviser for ACM Bothell Student Chapter

Departmental/University Committees – served at some point on every committee in Department of Computing & Software Systems and at UW Bothell

  • 2000-present – Reviewed papers for ICER, SIGCSE, ITICSE, KOLI Calling, CCSC-NW
  • 2009 – Invited reviewer for NSF Curriculum, Course, and Lab Improvement (CCLI) proposals
  • 2005 – CCSC-NW Conference Chair