Margaret Ellis receives Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Undergraduate Teaching Award
Ellis said she developed a passion for computer science when she was an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and went on to complete her master’s degree in computer science.
Margaret Ellis, associate professor of practice in the Department of Computer Science, has been selected to receive the 2024 IEEE Computer Society Mary Kenneth Keller Computer Science and Engineering Undergraduate Teaching Award.
The award is given by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a high-profile national organization for electronics engineering, computer science, and related disciplines. It is named for Mary Kenneth Keller, who in 1965 became the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in computer science in the United States. Keller was also an advocate for women pursuing careers in computer science, and the award named for her aims to recognize faculty who have made outstanding contributions to undergraduate education.
Ellis was recognized for outstanding contributions to undergraduate education through teaching, service, and creating an inclusive community of experiential undergraduate mentorship, according to IEEE.
"Margaret is a wonderful example of the passion for student learning, commitment to student success, and practice of hands-on education that our faculty work toward every day,” department head Cal Ribbens said. “I'm proud to call her a colleague, and I'm so happy to see IEEE recognize her work on a national level."
An unconventional path
Ellis began her education career as a high school student while working as a math tutor for her peers. She went on to discover her passion for computer science when she was an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and then went on to complete her master’s degree in computer science.
Ellis did stints as a high school teacher and in industry. She began teaching part-time at Virginia Tech in 2013. Today, she is a full-time university faculty member, who currently teaches Introduction to Data Structures and Software Design and Problem Solving in Computer Science. Ellis also works to develop course curriculum and integrate educational tools into the classroom with a particular interest in student experience during the early stages of their undergraduate education.
“The students drive me to be the best I can be at teaching,” Ellis said. “I hope my students learn how to acquire new skills and take on unfamiliar challenges. I want to give them an engaging and welcoming experience in computer science.”
Cultivating curiosity
Ellis is also involved in multiple research projects, the foremost of which is a collaborative effort with faculty members Godmar Back and Kirk Cameron on the Computer Systems Genome Project. The project has involved a diverse group of more than 70 students over the past five years and provided experiential learning opportunities.
Furthermore, Ellis has worked with Back and Cameron and other department faculty to develop an overarching undergraduate research program that focuses on exposing undergraduates to the world of computer systems research. The Broadening Undergraduate Research Groups in Systems program aims to create a welcoming atmosphere for students to develop their skills and cultivate their curiosities. It is supported in part by the National Science Foundation.
With computer science educators from the University of Michigan, Duke University, and Berea College, Ellis plans to study the use of a free, online textbook tool to implement and cultivate peer instruction in computer science courses. And she is working on other interdisciplinary grant-related projects to study the impacts of teaching assistants on student learning in computer science.
Written by Julie Deacon, a junior majoring in English in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
