I have a Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of California, San Diego, where I worked in high performance computing (HPC) under Dr. Allan Snavely. [Curriculum Vitae (pdf)]
My most recent research has been in the area of pedagogy of Computer Science, in other words, how to improve the teaching of Computer Science. My current projects in this area are focused on Peer Instruction. For an extended introduction to Peer Instruction and what motivated its invention, I recommend Confessions of a Converted Lecturer (youtube video) by Harvard Physics Professor Eric Mazur. My formative experiences as a teacher were in working as a TA, and going back years before that, as an informal tutor throughout my middle and high school years. I enjoy responding to students' real questions and consider it a priviledge to be present in that magic "aha!" moment in someone else's intellectual life. Peer Instruction allows me to recreate the best parts of the TA/tutor interaction in lecture, making the most of those precious hours.
Recent publications:
Porter, Leo, Lee, Cynthia Bailey, Simon, Beth, Cutts, Quintin and Zingaro, Daniel. "Experience Report: A Multi-classroom Report on the Value of Peer Instruction." In Proceedings of 16th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE), 2011.
Porter, Leo, Lee, Cynthia Bailey, Simon, Beth, Cutts, Quintin and Zingaro, Daniel. "Peer Instruction: Do Students Really Learn from Peer Discussion in Computing?" In Proceedings of the 7th International Computing Education Research Workshop (ICER), 2011.
Research:
My graduate research was done as part of SDSC's Performance Modeling and Characterization Lab (PMaC), where I investigated economic models of scheduling on high performance computing systems.
My dissertation abstract is as follows:
Effective management of Grid and HPC resources is essential to maximizing return on the substantial infrastructure investment these resources entail. An important prerequisite to effective resource management is productive interaction between the user and scheduler. My work analyzes several aspects of the user-scheduler relationship and develops solutions to three of the most vexing barriers between the two. First, users' monetary valuation of compute time and schedule turnaround time is examined in terms of a utility function. Second, responsiveness of the scheduler to users' varied valuations is optimized via a genetic algorithm heuristic, creating a controlled market for computation. Finally, the chronic problem of inaccurate user runtime requests, and its implications for scheduler performance, is examined, along with mitigation techniques.
Selected publications:
My SC'07 Doctoral Showcase presentation sides are here (November 2007).
11/16/06: Spoke in a BOF seession of Supercomputing Conference SC06 (slides here), about utility functions that show users' valuation of their supercomputer batch jobs as a function of turnaround time (queue wait time, plus execution time).
Project for Joseph Goguen's
CSE 271:
User Interface Design: Social and Technical Issues (Spring 2003). An application
of semiotics, conceptual integration theory (Blend theory), and algebraic
semiotics to the analysis of cartoons.
Project for Stephan Savage's CSE 222A: Computer Communication
Networks (Winter 2003). A characterization of background port scan activity
on the Internet.
Project for Scott Baden's CSE 260: Parallel Computation (Fall 2002). "A Parallel Simulation of Traffic"
Group photo with PMaC lab undergraduate summer students (summer 2003).
