I have been very fortunate to be involved in various teaching opportunities.
At Virginia Tech I have taught the Engineering Foundations course in Fall, 2014 and Spring, 2015. This course introduces general engineering students to the profession of engineering, focusing on data collection and analysis, engineering problem-solving, mathematical modeling, contemporary software tools, professional practices and expectations (e.g. communication, teamwork, ethics), and the diversity of fields and majors within engineering. As a lecturer in the Computer Science department in BRAC University, Bangladesh, I taught undergraduate students various computer science courses such as intro to JAVA programming, data structure and computer networking. Here are some testimonies from my students |
I was also a core member of the instructor training program of BRAC University. We developed a teacher training manual in collaboration with the Örebro University of Sweden using a collaborative testing tool. Every semester BRAC University organizes teachers training and orientation workshop for new faculty members. The two day long workshop was held at a residential facility. I was one of the core organizers and facilitator of the workshops. In the workshop we discussed about different pedagogical approaches of teaching and learning, student behavior, mentoring, peer support etc. |
As consultant to e-governance initiatives in Bangladesh (in 2010) I was responsible for introducing UNICODE Bangla (Bangla is the native language of Bangladesh) throughout the government. Government officials were still using proprietary software for typing Bangla. The introduction of Unicode Bangla made government documents more available on the web, officials can email in Bangla and typing has become easier. During this transformation, I realized the challenges faced with introducing new technology, how to break a pedagogy that has long been set in the minds of government officers, how to be compassionate with learners and how to become an effective trainer. |
Bushra Tawfiq Chowdhury