Shao-Heng Ko
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching
Ph.D. Candidate, Computer Science
BIO
Shao-Heng Ko is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer Science. He received an M.S. and B.S. in Electrical Engineering at National Taiwan University in 2017 and 2015, respectively.
Ko is recognized for his exceptional dedication to teaching and his innovative approaches to computer science education. Ko was the sole instructor for CompSci 230, one of the larger courses in what is already the largest major at Duke. While graduate students typically do not teach Computer Science courses during the semester due to the large class size, Ko’s preparation, innovative instruction style, and emphasis on mastery resulted in an exceptional approach. Ko has already published about this teaching experience along with key members of his teaching staff.
Ko’s commitment to creating an inclusive learning environment and his ability to motivate students have earned him high praise from both students and faculty. His research in computer science education, combined with his teaching experience, has made a significant impact on the department.
ON TEACHING
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
At a smaller scale, such as working with one student at a time, finding a personalized way to make things click for the student has always been very rewarding. At a larger scale as an instructor, I am the happiest when I see students who initially felt intimidated by the subject gradually start to feel the joy of learning and enjoy the overall experience, and when I see students with an overqualified background for the course still finding the experience intellectually stimulating and fun.
What accomplishment are you most proud of, when reflecting on your teaching?
I am proud of making my students feel I care about their mastery of course content and nothing else. In my first experience as an instructor of record for a large class with 138 students, I fully embraced a mastery-oriented course design that allowed students to attain and demonstrate their learning progress at individualized time points in the semester. By staying very committed to my approach and very transparent about every decision I made, I was able to build mutual trust with my students.
How have you evolved as a teacher over time?
The more I teach, the more I realize that teaching is a lot more than the act of verbally articulating concepts to a group of students in a classroom. I spend more and more of my mental effort thinking about: what concepts to teach (and in what order); how to structure the learning environment to minimize stress and distraction; how to accurately access mastery while ensuring fairness; and how to consciously combat systematical inequities through my pedagogical design.
IN THEIR WORDS
Excerpts from Ko’s nomination
"Ko is highly motivated and dedicated to teaching, and his instructions have received great feedback from our undergraduate students. He has already published three research papers in computer science education, and his innovative teaching methods have significantly enhanced student learning outcomes.”
"Shao-Heng Ko is not your typical graduate student who wants to teach a course for the first time. Shao-Heng put more effort into preparing to teach CompSci 230 than most Professors. He developed his own materials and implemented innovative teaching methods, such as flipping the course and using PrairieLearn for assessments.”