Senior Lecturer of Computer Science Ben Hescott last month was recognized for his enthusiasm and dedication with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society's 2011 Computer Science and Engineering Undergraduate Teaching Award.
IEEE — the world's largest organization for promoting the advancement of technology with more than 400,000 members worldwide — recognized Hescott "for making computer science accessible to a broad spectrum of students through his energy, enthusiasm and dedication to teaching."
Department of Computer Science Chair Carla Brodley said Hescott has encouraged diversity in a typically male-dominated subject area since coming to Tufts in 2007.
"Last semester he had 177 students enrolled, and 44 percent of those were female," she said. "The average percentage of females in computer science is under 20 percent nationally and at Tufts as well."
Hescott encourages students from all backgrounds to pursue an interest in computer science, which is ubiquitous in modern life, he said.
"Everyone should have some understanding of computer science," Hescott said. "We live in an age where understanding data, understanding data representation and understanding data manipulation is key."
Senior Katie Vogel, who serves as a teaching assistant in the computer science department, said she had no programming experience before taking Introduction to Computer Science with Hescott last year. She praised his ability to make the discipline accessible to all students.
"I now run a small web business," Vogel, who is a history major, said. "It's been inspiring — I can do computer science, which I didn't know I could do, and now maybe I could do other things."
Hescott said he developed his teaching style to facilitate discussion about the material and plans his curriculum to inspire questions that lead students to move naturally from one concept to another.
"It's like leading a horse to water," he said. "If they haven't been able to formulate a question around the material you're covering, they're never going to remember or store it."
His method depends upon encouraging participation in a technical field that can often seem daunting, Hescott added.
"There's absolutely no tolerance for exclusion," Hescott said. "I never say, ‘Why didn't you know that?' … I tell the class that they are all computer scientists from day one."
Vogel and Brodley, who sat in on one of Hescott's classes, said they were struck by his ability to enliven topics that wouldn't typically excite them.
"It was about a very boring topic, and yet he had me sitting on the edge of my seat," Brodley said. "He is amazing."
Vogel said she could remember in particular one of Hescott's lectures on a difficult topic.
"To learn this complex idea … it's called a pointer, a data type, and Ben came up with a play, a fully scripted play, called ‘The Wizard of OS,'" Vogel said. "It's so fun, he's brilliant. The metaphors he is using are so applicable to what we're doing."
Hescott said he tries to bring his passion for computer science into his teaching because passion was one of the qualities he most valued in his teachers.
Hescott, however, said he is not averse to prescribing hard work for his students, considering it a valuable academic experience.
"I think it's important that people come out of a class and say, "I took that class and it was awesome and it was hard,'" he said.
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This article has been amended from its original version, which incorrectly attributed the quote "It was about a very boring topic, and yet he had me sitting on the edge of my seat" to Katie Vogel.
