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SBCC FACULTY EXCELLENCE AWARD Computer Science
MS - Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Univ of Calif. |
Interview with Rob Dependahl :
What teaching tip or counseling advice do you have for other faculty?
Engage your students personally to participate actively in their SBCC experience. Education is not a bystander sport. Students do not learn much simply sitting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing pre-packaged assignments, and reciting answers. Effective learning requires that they think about what they are learning, write about it, relate it to past experiences and apply it to their daily lives, making what they learn part of themselves. Encouraging these traits can enhance student learning as well as our your own teaching experience.
What "Words of Wisdom" do you have for other faculty?
A passionate love of your discipline and profession is a must, as is a sincere desire that each student be bettered, daily. Applying your own passion for your chosen discipline in the classroom dramatically enhances the learning experience, enabling students to excel far beyond what they might otherwise expect.
What careers or jobs did you have before working at SBCC?
Out of college, I worked at the Holiday Inn, in Goleta, making $2 an hour, looking, waiting, and hoping for that first opportunity in computer science. It came six months later when I was hired by Burroughs Corporation to design and implement an Operation System for their B-1700 computer product line.
Several years later, I accepted a new job working as Systems and Programming Manager for the Santa Barbara School District. At this time, I also began teaching evening classes at SBCC. I soon became Director of Data Processing.
My final and best job decision was to come teach full-time at SBCC. Soon after employment, I became Department Chair of Computer Science, and was chair until Fall, 2007.
Who was your most influential teacher and why?
My most influential teacher was Dr. Richard Koch, a mathematics professor at the University of Oregon. He’d come into the classroom every morning with the most unbelievable enthusiasm. Sometimes he’d even hop up on the classroom’s front table. Waving his arms, he’d point at the chalkboard to make a point. Even though I did not always understand his point, the fact that he was so enthused rubbed off on me. I figured there must have been something in it for me! My teaching takes on many of the characteristics that he offered all those years ago.
What is your favorite student line or excuse?
After missing a class… “Hi Coach, I missed your last class… did I miss anything?”
What are your hobbies/interests?
I took my first international trip to Europe in 1997. I was nervous contemplating this first trip. Before leaving, I recall a conversation with SBCC’s International Education coordinator (Naomi Sullwold). She told me that I’d “either hate traveling, or I’d become addicted to it.” She was right; I’ve travelled every summer since. I enjoy being in over my head in a new place, meeting new people, learning about different cultures. Through travel, I continue to be a learner. I’m now even using Rosetta Stone to learn new foreign languages. I aspire to one day teach an entire lecture in Dutch.
I also love the outdoors, spending my remaining summer time in the Sierra Nevada. And, it should go without saying, I love computers. I find the process of developing computer software invigorating. Using my mind, I’m able to create solutions to problems. When complete, the solutions are a reflection of me... how I think, and how I communicate. I consider this kind of creativity to be similar in ways to composing music, literature, or a fine piece of art. It is composed from inspiration, using the tools of a programming language rather than a bow to a violin, or color pigments and a brush to a canvas.
What do you love about your job?
I surely love my chosen discipline. I likewise love helping others. And, you can’t beat Santa Barbara! So, what could be better than teaching Computer Science, in Santa Barbara, at the best community college in the country? I’m energized when students get ‘turned-on’ to the ideas I share, when they choose to apply these ideas on their own in interesting ways, when their lives are changed for better, forever. There is no finer discipline than teaching. The personal rewards simply cannot be surpassed by any other life endeavor.
What has been your greatest accomplishment and/or challenge?
In college, English composition was not my strongest skill. So when asked to write a textbook, well, this was terrifying to me. I accepted the challenge, the book was completed on-time, and it was successful (even adopted by Computer Science at UCSB). In light of my timid composition skills, it is easy for me to view this as surely my greatest challenge, and an accomplishment as well.
What's one thing most people don't know about you?
I have a black belt in Karate, and I’m an awesome cook, I’m cuddly and lovable.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
The life I live.
What historical figure would you most want to meet?
For me, this is probably the toughest question on the list. There are so many. Maybe Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was so instrumental to the success of the American experiment, it would be most intriguing to talk to him (over a hot mulled cup of wine in Paris even) and hear his perspective on the mess we face today in America.
What is your favorite place in the world?
The classroom at Santa Barbara City College Outside Santa Barbara, it’s a toss-up between Amsterdam (the best people watching city in the world) and Paris (with its ambience and culture). But then again, it’s hard to beat the surreal sense of God’s creation when viewing the Milky Way on a clear summer night, in Bear Valley (High Sierra Nevada), California.
What is your personal motto?
“Enjoy this moment, for it will never come again.”