Now there's just one issue that's niggling away at the back of my mind: I have to build my own team for that competition.

Not sure where I'm going to find the time to do that, but I suppose I have no choice but to give it a go. Especially given that the bulk of my PhD research is going to be geared towards the RoboCup challenge. My intention is to keep a bit of a record of that on this blog. I'll throw down some code snippits and explain why they're doing what they're doing as well.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that I can actually find the time to accomplish all of this.

Ben

I'm over-thinking just about every aspect of building this course, and all I can do is hope that it doesn't show once the rubber hits the road.

The trouble with all of this, is that, as a first course ever, I volunteered to teach a first year course in the fall instead of starting with a much easier third year course, CSE-323. Don't get me wrong, the material in either course is really straightforward, the former is introduction to computer programming, and the latter is formal languages and automata.

For a computer scientist, those two courses are pretty much "bread and butter" courses; if you can't teach either of them because of a lack of understanding, you may as well hang up your hat and go home.

No, the problem, is that fall term first years at RMC have to undergo a unique experience known as recruit orientation camp. At least, that's what it was called when I did it. The name changed twice during the four years that I was an undergrad at RMC.

In any case, recruit orientation camp leads to first years who are so incredibly tired, that they will, quite literally, fall asleep while standing. So the question is, how do I build a course for a bunch of engineers (75% of whom are likely to think -- quite mistakenly -- that the skill of programming is a skill they will never use after this term) that will assuredly have concentration (and attention) issues for the first few weeks of the course?

I think I've solved that question, simply by deciding that my teaching slides will be quite... verbose... for the first few weeks. They'll be more like study guides than tools used solely for the illustration of concepts. Which is a bit of a bummer -  I feel like I'm contributing to the "memorize this" credo of first year university, rather than the "understand this" credo that I'd much rather promote.

The other issue (and one that I'll admit I'm struggling with) is the question of:

How can I make the programming assignments both interesting and challenging ... or... at very least, how can I make them interesting? Especially to people who aren't immediately fascinated by a good programming challenge.

I wonder ... when these challenges associated with teaching are no longer present while preparing a new class, does that mean one should likely think about a career change?

The application is for DRDC CORA (Defence Research and Development - Center for Operational Research Analysis) and is intended to be a proof-of-concept.

The concept being proven, is that a handheld computer (such as a modern smartphone), can be of great assistance in the day to day operations of a modern military

.... but

That statement's a bit too simple; a bit too benign. The intent, is to prove that a system for passing messages currently handled via radio traffic using SMS/MMS or email will be of great benefit. The further question being raised in this is: would such a system be of benefit if every single person in a unit had one? For example, if every single Person in every Section of every Platoon of every Company of a Brigade had an iPhone with my app on it, would that increase the flow of beneficial information? Or would it instead lead to information overload, and an irate Colonel?

I'm impatient and completely incapable of simply waiting for additional posts to materialize naturally, so I'm going to add this filler simply because I can.

I'm impatient and completely incapable of simply waiting for additional posts to materialize naturally, so I'm going to add this filler simply because I can.

I'm impatient and completely incapable of simply waiting for additional posts to materialize naturally, so I'm going to add this filler simply because I can.

I'm impatient and completely incapable of simply waiting for additional posts to materialize naturally, so I'm going to add this filler simply because I can.

• A mechanism for showcasing (and possibly selling) my software projects;
• A forum for discussing projects and problems;
• A journal (of sorts) of my teaching experiences (good and bad); and,
• Possibly a location for my students to provide their feedback and/or participate in their own discussions related to my teaching.

Like so many other projects undertaken by people everywhere, it'll undoubtedly fall by the wayside only to later be picked up, dusted off, and used again.

All I can do is hope that it falls by the wayside very infrequently and that it doesn't stay there for long!