Experiences as a Short Term Visiting Lecturer

John PaxtonIIMS Seminar

August 24, 2004

Purpose

• To describe my visit

• To provide useful advice for future short-term visiting staff

Outline

• Background• Accommodations• Transportation• University• Culture• Travel• Advice

My Background

•I am a professor with the Computer Science Department at Montana State University.

•I have been there 14 years.

•I have briefly visited universities in Morocco, Mexico and El Salvador.

•I am very interested in international education

This Opportunity

• Guan Yue Hong advertised for a research sabbatical replacement in December, 2003.

• I am teaching two courses for Guan Yue while I am here.

• I arrived on July 6th and will be departing this coming Saturday. Fall semester at Montana State begins next Monday!

Accommodations

Accommodations

•Lucas Creek Village– thank you Dianne Bailey and Jenni Galbraith!– Brand new BuildCorp development– $130 per person per week– 25 minute, beautiful walk – furnished–7 person and 3 person units

•Great short term arrangement

Auckland Transportation

•City buses•Rental cars•Taxis•Rides

•Recommendation: Buy a car, sell it back– I should have listened to Dennis Viehland!

Massey University – Albany

•An extremely beautiful campus!

•Good office with window– thank you Martin Johnson!

•Printery

•Infirmary (related: scaly zappings)

IIMS Department

•Biweekly teas (stunning room on 3rd floor of QB)•Fresh produce•Weekly departmental seminars•Weekly postgrad seminars•New semester banquet•Thank you Michelle Herbert and Jo Ramsey!

General Logistics

• Computer Account and Support – thank you Lorrie O’Brien and Stephen Ford!

• Bank Account– pay schedule (thank you Robert McKibbin and Merrill Bowers!)– income tax

• Room Key, Swipe Card, Copier Card– thank you Chris Scogings!

•Work Visa: No worries!

157.235: Networks and Client/Server Design

•2 hours of lecture – Jason Gerritz will teach the second half

•1 hour of tutorial– Binglan Han runs the tutorial sections

• Atrium 2 lecture hall

• 160 students• Multiple choice exam, 2 versions

– is there a paper shredder?

• Surprise: student composition• Surprise: quiet office hours

157.762: Software Quality and Reliability

• Block course is a new format– mix of activities: tests, labs, lectures– tea breaks (and tea vouchers!) – thank you Nikki Luke!– 14 students, wide variety of backgrounds

• Material is new– Holodeck, Eclipse

• Facilities are unfamiliar– Printery and copy room (can the copier staple?)– Laptop (thank you James Chai!)– IIMS Lab 1 (thank you Samir Bishay!)– Many different rooms

Collaboration

•Guan Yue Hong– advice about everything

•Hossein Sarrafzadeh– tutoring experiment– expert systems postgrad project

•Ken Hawick– compare AI classes

•Alison Young: Unitec– laboratory setup

•Tony Clear: AUT – writing to learn

Cultural Observations

• Maori Culture

• Sports–Rugby: American Football–Cricket: Baseball–Netball: Basketball

• Café culture– flat white– short and tall black– fluffy

• Food: it’s not just British fare!

• New Zealand people are very friendly!

Travel

• Rotorua• Wellington• Northland• Christchurch• Dunedin• Milford Sound• Queenstown / Arrowtown

– Thanks to Megan Richardson, Tony Richardson, Peter Kay and many others for some wonderful advice!

Advice to Visitors • Bring a laptop

• Buy/rent a car

• For a longer stay, think carefully about accommodations

• Advance preparation is helpful

• Can some compensation come in the form of airfare or accommodation?

Discussion

• What other types of collaboration are possible both during and after the visit?

•Could there be a one semester faculty exchange between Massey and Montana State?

Thank you!!