The Diversity and Inclusion Task Force presents Excellence in STEM<\/i>, with Dr. Dan Garcia, Teaching Professor in EECS at UC Berkeley<\/p>\n
Dr. Garcia is a champion of changing the educational paradigm of \u201cfixed time, variable learning\u201d to \u201cfixed learning, variable time.\u201d In this way, the bar for quality is not changed, but students are empowered with the flexibility they need to meet that bar.<\/p>\n
Keep reading, as you\u2019ll want to know Dr. Garcia\u2019s advice for early career professionals and students. We\u2019ll give you a hint. It\u2019s an acronym \u2013 LAUGH!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Why Did You Choose Your Current Technical Field?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nDr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0When I was ten (in 1978), my mom took me to her Swarthmore reunion, where I met Ted Nelson, who was gracious enough to sit this hyperactive kid down in front of the text-based game \u201chunt the wumpus,\u201d which floored me. At home in upstate New York, I grew up with the earliest video games (Pong, Space Invaders, etc.) in the arcades and on my home Atari 2600 system. I thought I\u2019d be a video game designer or a stand-up comic since I also found myself incredibly drawn to the humor of Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, and Steve Martin, and could (and still can) repeat entire bits from their routines. I did quite well in all my math classes and had my first real exposure to programming in the second semester of my 11th grade Pre-Calculus class, where we learned BASIC. My teacher, Mr. White, would let me walk around to answer questions after I finished my programming tasks in class, and I found I really loved helping others.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen I got to MIT as an undergraduate, I was considering either math or CS as a major, and found CS much more engaging. I \u201chit my stride\u201d my sophomore year when I partnered in a few classes with my good friend Roberto Sanchez Ramos (the son of the former Governor of Puerto Rico, who went on to be Puerto Rico\u2019s Attorney General) \u2013 and learned the value of finding an \u201cacademic soulmate.\u201d I took a computer graphics class from Marc Raibert, absolutely fell in love with that CS sub-field, and got into UC Berkeley to study graphics with Brian Barsky (who was also a fan of old-school stand-up comedy \u2013 see how it all connects?). I loved my years working as a TA for Brian\u2019s graphics and animation classes, and taught 16 courses over six years together with him (they tell me that\u2019s the UC Berkeley TA record). Near the end of my nearly-ten-year PhD career, I found out they had an opening for a lecturer, which had exactly the right balance of teaching-research-service I had been looking for. I applied and had the fortune of being chosen!<\/p>\n
Teaching CS channels all of my interests and talents \u2013 working with brilliant TAs and colleagues, helping students, learning new skills (since the field of CS changes so fast), making up fun problems for exams and projects, and lecturing to a large audience lets me have a captive audience to use humor to introduce material. I truly love broadening participation in computing to students underrepresented in our field, especially through the CS0 course I designed called \u201cThe Beauty and Joy of Computing (BJC).\u201d I couldn\u2019t imagine a better career fit; I\u2019ve been at UC Berkeley for 33 years, and our campus is well on track to becoming a Hispanics Serving Institution! Wepa!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
What does a typical day or week look like for you as a Teaching Professor in EECS at UC Berkeley<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nDr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0A typical day involved driving to campus around 8am, arriving at 9am, and taking my electric unicycle down the hill to my first class, \u201cCS61C: Geat Ideas in Computer Architecture,\u201d at 10 am, which I co-teach with the awesome Lisa Yan to 750 students (although only 100 show up in person for lecture). After class, I unicycle up the hill to my GamesCrafters computational game theory research and development 11 am group meeting, where 15 students and I are trying to \u201c(strongly) solve big game.\u201d At noon, I go to EECS faculty lunch, where there\u2019s typically 30 minutes of socializing and 30 minutes of business. At 1 pm, I hold CS61C office hours; typically, 5-10 students drop by to ask questions. I walk downstairs for our CS61C staff meeting from 2-3 pm, and back upstairs for my 3-4 pm CS Ed Research group meeting, which has ~20 students in it, both in my office and online. After that, I drive home, help with supper, and have family time until 7 pm, when I do my daily after-dinner ablution of walking 3 miles at a brisk 15min\/mile clip. I\u2019ll typically get back online around 9 pm and work until midnight.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWhat\u2019s been your greatest professional challenge as a member of the Latino community, and how did you overcome it?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nDr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ll say \u201cImpostor Syndrome\u201d has been the hardest for me \u2013 whenever I was in a new setting (first year at MIT, or UC Berkeley, or joining faculty), I absolutely NEVER spoke up. I was terrified I would be \u201cfound out\u201d and that they had given the position to the wrong \u201cDan Garcia.\u201d I only learned that the paralyzing fear I had was quite common and even had a name several years after I had crawled out of my cocoon. I will say it really helped when my friend and colleague Robert Wilensky (who has since passed) would regularly come to me after I had spoken up during faculty lunch and say \u201cHey, thanks for sharing that. That was a great point!\u201d, so now I try to do that for young faculty.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWhat is one piece of advice you can give Latino students and\/or early career professionals?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nDr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0I regularly give this advice during my \u201cend of semester\u201d lecture, and it\u2019s an easy-to-remember acronym, LAUGH<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n\n- Lean In<\/strong> \u2013 take initiative (to sit in the front of lecture, to go to faculty office hours, to ask that question in lecture, to join a research group, to ask out the person you\u2019re crushing on, etc.).<\/li>\n
- Academic Soulmate<\/strong> \u2013 find someone you work well with (at the level of finishing each others\u2019 sentences) to take classes together, and take every project class together.<\/li>\n
- Underground Project<\/strong> \u2013 have something you\u2019re working on outside of class; when you\u2019re in line at the DMV, don\u2019t play on your phone, think about continuing to build features into your pet project.<\/li>\n
- Give Back<\/strong> \u2013 with your time and\/or money, to folks earlier in the pipeline than you.<\/li>\n
- Have Fun!<\/strong> \u2013 don\u2019t miss the forest for the trees. Travel! Try a new sport! You\u2019ll never hear anyone on their deathbed say: \u201cI wish I spent more time at work\u201d!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
What would you consider are Hispanic traits or behaviors instilled by your family that have made you successful?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nDr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0Two come to mind \u2013 doing what you love and giving back<\/i>. I always felt my family gave me the implicit message that following one\u2019s passion was the key to success, independent of the money it brought in. When I was in graduate school for almost a decade, I never got the \u201cso, when are you going to graduate and start earning?\u201d vibe \u2013 everyone was always super supportive and perked up when they could see how much I was enjoying school. My Abuela\u2019s house in the Bronx was always full of family and friends who would drop in anytime and enjoy her company and amazing food. That spirit of generosity, of \u201cwhat\u2019s mine is yours\u201d I try to embody as a professor \u2013 I\u2019ve learned all this CS, what a joy it is to share with hungry minds!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWhat are things that you or your university\/company do to attract Hispanic students\/applicants? What do you recommend they do more of?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\nDr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0This is the easiest one \u2013 I am passionate about changing education from a \u201cfixed time, variable learning\u201d model to a \u201cfixed learning, variable time\u201d one. If all educators gave students flexibility in project deadlines and multiple-chance exams, more students would be able to achieve an A. I have become a recent evangelist of the \u201cA\u2019s for All (as time and interest allow)\u201d mantra \u2013 the \u201cA\u201d bar doesn\u2019t change, but students are given more opportunities to reach that bar, including working after the semester ends. I encourage everyone to read the Everyone Should Get An A white paper and the \u201cGrading for Equity\u201d book, and join us in this revolution!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"\/](\"\")
<\/div>\n\n\nAbout Dr. Dan Garcia:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Dan Garcia (UC Berkeley MS 1995, PhD 2000) is a Teaching Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at UC Berkeley. Selected as an ACM Distinguished Educator in 2012 and ACM Distinguished Speaker in 2019, he has won all four of the department\u2019s computer science teaching awards, and holds the record for the highest teaching effectiveness ratings in the history of several of the department\u2019s courses.<\/p>\n
He is a national leader in the \u201cCSforALL\u201d and \u201cA\u2019s for All (as time and interest allow)\u201d movements, bringing engaging computer science to students normally underrepresented in the field, and supporting them to achieve proficiency. Thanks to four National Science Foundation grants, the \u201cBeauty and Joy of Computing (BJC)\u201d non-majors course he co-developed has been shared with over 1,000 high school teachers! He is delighted to regularly have more than 50% female enrollment in BJC, with a high mark of 63% in the Spring of 2018, shattering the record at UC Berkeley for an intro computing course, and is among the highest in the nation! He is humbled by the national exposure he and the course have received in the New York Times, PBS NewsHour, NPR\u2019s All Things Considered, USA Today, and the front pages of the San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Chronicle.<\/p>\n
You can read Dr. Garcia\u2019s full bio here.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Dr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0When I was ten (in 1978), my mom took me to her Swarthmore reunion, where I met Ted Nelson, who was gracious enough to sit this hyperactive kid down in front of the text-based game \u201chunt the wumpus,\u201d which floored me. At home in upstate New York, I grew up with the earliest video games (Pong, Space Invaders, etc.) in the arcades and on my home Atari 2600 system. I thought I\u2019d be a video game designer or a stand-up comic since I also found myself incredibly drawn to the humor of Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, and Steve Martin, and could (and still can) repeat entire bits from their routines. I did quite well in all my math classes and had my first real exposure to programming in the second semester of my 11th grade Pre-Calculus class, where we learned BASIC. My teacher, Mr. White, would let me walk around to answer questions after I finished my programming tasks in class, and I found I really loved helping others.<\/span><\/p>\n When I got to MIT as an undergraduate, I was considering either math or CS as a major, and found CS much more engaging. I \u201chit my stride\u201d my sophomore year when I partnered in a few classes with my good friend Roberto Sanchez Ramos (the son of the former Governor of Puerto Rico, who went on to be Puerto Rico\u2019s Attorney General) \u2013 and learned the value of finding an \u201cacademic soulmate.\u201d I took a computer graphics class from Marc Raibert, absolutely fell in love with that CS sub-field, and got into UC Berkeley to study graphics with Brian Barsky (who was also a fan of old-school stand-up comedy \u2013 see how it all connects?). I loved my years working as a TA for Brian\u2019s graphics and animation classes, and taught 16 courses over six years together with him (they tell me that\u2019s the UC Berkeley TA record). Near the end of my nearly-ten-year PhD career, I found out they had an opening for a lecturer, which had exactly the right balance of teaching-research-service I had been looking for. I applied and had the fortune of being chosen!<\/p>\n Teaching CS channels all of my interests and talents \u2013 working with brilliant TAs and colleagues, helping students, learning new skills (since the field of CS changes so fast), making up fun problems for exams and projects, and lecturing to a large audience lets me have a captive audience to use humor to introduce material. I truly love broadening participation in computing to students underrepresented in our field, especially through the CS0 course I designed called \u201cThe Beauty and Joy of Computing (BJC).\u201d I couldn\u2019t imagine a better career fit; I\u2019ve been at UC Berkeley for 33 years, and our campus is well on track to becoming a Hispanics Serving Institution! Wepa!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Dr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0A typical day involved driving to campus around 8am, arriving at 9am, and taking my electric unicycle down the hill to my first class, \u201cCS61C: Geat Ideas in Computer Architecture,\u201d at 10 am, which I co-teach with the awesome Lisa Yan to 750 students (although only 100 show up in person for lecture). After class, I unicycle up the hill to my GamesCrafters computational game theory research and development 11 am group meeting, where 15 students and I are trying to \u201c(strongly) solve big game.\u201d At noon, I go to EECS faculty lunch, where there\u2019s typically 30 minutes of socializing and 30 minutes of business. At 1 pm, I hold CS61C office hours; typically, 5-10 students drop by to ask questions. I walk downstairs for our CS61C staff meeting from 2-3 pm, and back upstairs for my 3-4 pm CS Ed Research group meeting, which has ~20 students in it, both in my office and online. After that, I drive home, help with supper, and have family time until 7 pm, when I do my daily after-dinner ablution of walking 3 miles at a brisk 15min\/mile clip. I\u2019ll typically get back online around 9 pm and work until midnight.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Dr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0I\u2019ll say \u201cImpostor Syndrome\u201d has been the hardest for me \u2013 whenever I was in a new setting (first year at MIT, or UC Berkeley, or joining faculty), I absolutely NEVER spoke up. I was terrified I would be \u201cfound out\u201d and that they had given the position to the wrong \u201cDan Garcia.\u201d I only learned that the paralyzing fear I had was quite common and even had a name several years after I had crawled out of my cocoon. I will say it really helped when my friend and colleague Robert Wilensky (who has since passed) would regularly come to me after I had spoken up during faculty lunch and say \u201cHey, thanks for sharing that. That was a great point!\u201d, so now I try to do that for young faculty.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Dr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0I regularly give this advice during my \u201cend of semester\u201d lecture, and it\u2019s an easy-to-remember acronym, LAUGH<\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n Dr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0Two come to mind \u2013 doing what you love and giving back<\/i>. I always felt my family gave me the implicit message that following one\u2019s passion was the key to success, independent of the money it brought in. When I was in graduate school for almost a decade, I never got the \u201cso, when are you going to graduate and start earning?\u201d vibe \u2013 everyone was always super supportive and perked up when they could see how much I was enjoying school. My Abuela\u2019s house in the Bronx was always full of family and friends who would drop in anytime and enjoy her company and amazing food. That spirit of generosity, of \u201cwhat\u2019s mine is yours\u201d I try to embody as a professor \u2013 I\u2019ve learned all this CS, what a joy it is to share with hungry minds!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Dr. Garcia<\/strong>\u00a0This is the easiest one \u2013 I am passionate about changing education from a \u201cfixed time, variable learning\u201d model to a \u201cfixed learning, variable time\u201d one. If all educators gave students flexibility in project deadlines and multiple-chance exams, more students would be able to achieve an A. I have become a recent evangelist of the \u201cA\u2019s for All (as time and interest allow)\u201d mantra \u2013 the \u201cA\u201d bar doesn\u2019t change, but students are given more opportunities to reach that bar, including working after the semester ends. I encourage everyone to read the Everyone Should Get An A white paper and the \u201cGrading for Equity\u201d book, and join us in this revolution!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Dr. Dan Garcia (UC Berkeley MS 1995, PhD 2000) is a Teaching Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at UC Berkeley. Selected as an ACM Distinguished Educator in 2012 and ACM Distinguished Speaker in 2019, he has won all four of the department\u2019s computer science teaching awards, and holds the record for the highest teaching effectiveness ratings in the history of several of the department\u2019s courses.<\/p>\n He is a national leader in the \u201cCSforALL\u201d and \u201cA\u2019s for All (as time and interest allow)\u201d movements, bringing engaging computer science to students normally underrepresented in the field, and supporting them to achieve proficiency. Thanks to four National Science Foundation grants, the \u201cBeauty and Joy of Computing (BJC)\u201d non-majors course he co-developed has been shared with over 1,000 high school teachers! He is delighted to regularly have more than 50% female enrollment in BJC, with a high mark of 63% in the Spring of 2018, shattering the record at UC Berkeley for an intro computing course, and is among the highest in the nation! He is humbled by the national exposure he and the course have received in the New York Times, PBS NewsHour, NPR\u2019s All Things Considered, USA Today, and the front pages of the San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Chronicle.<\/p>\n You can read Dr. Garcia\u2019s full bio here.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nWhat does a typical day or week look like for you as a Teaching Professor in EECS at UC Berkeley<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
What\u2019s been your greatest professional challenge as a member of the Latino community, and how did you overcome it?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
What is one piece of advice you can give Latino students and\/or early career professionals?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\n
What would you consider are Hispanic traits or behaviors instilled by your family that have made you successful?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
What are things that you or your university\/company do to attract Hispanic students\/applicants? What do you recommend they do more of?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
About Dr. Dan Garcia:<\/strong><\/h4>\n