Student Professional Clubs — Another Approach to Interest Students
Lin Li, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Prairie View A&M University
J.D. Oliver
Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Prairie View A&M University
Abstract
“Interest is the best teacher”. Although many approaches were proposed to help instructors interest students in class, due to various reasons, the communications between students and professors are usually much more difficult than those among students themselves. Moreover, since each student is unique, if we don’t differentiate each one’s characteristics and “force” them to follow relative rigid curriculum, we may make them loss interests or even kill their talents. To further interest students and stimulate critical thinking, we propose to organize various student professional clubs which focus on different computing technologies that students either use frequently or have specific enthusiasm in (e.g. network application club, game development club, web application club, etc). By doing so, we categorize students into groups and provide them opportunities to discuss and exchange ideas with others having the same interests. We encourage learning from peers and expect that students at school will feel more like being at home while they are with friends sharing similar hobbies. Unlike traditional student organizations such as IEEE and ACM, professional clubs are more interest oriented. Thus, these studying environments are able to cultivate creativity and broaden students’ participation. Students will practice working as a group and learn how to be a good team member, which will potentially benefit their future career path. Advising club activities will also help professors find and select perspective graduate candidates