Instructor¶
Office Hours
Ido Avnon he/him/his
Hi all, I am Ido! I was born in Occupied Palestine, but moved to Seattle when I was young, where I have been living ever since. I am currently living in Interbay (across the Ballard Bridge), but am about to move to the heart of Capitol Hill.
This past Spring quarter, I finished my BS in Computer Science and my BA in Education, Communities, and Organizations. I have been a Teaching Assistant for this Introductory Programming Series for the past three years, and it is one of my favorite communities on campus. As an educator and computer scientist, one of my goals is to restructure our way of learning computer science in order to make programming a more compassionate and equitable space.
Some of my hobbies are playing violin, reading, and going bird-watching. I am currently playing Tzigane by Maurice Ravel and reading the Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin. In my free time, I love hanging out with my girlfriend and our two cats, Luna and Pluto. We love to watch reality TV and Criminal Minds. If you are interested in computer science, education, birds, or cats, come by and chat!
Teaching Assistants¶
Abby Williams she/her/hers
Quiz Section: AD
Hi everybody, my name is Abby and I’m from Tacoma, WA! Currently, I am a sophmore intending to study Informatics but this is my first quarter TAing, which I’m very excited about. Outside of class I enjoy trying new food spots with friends (let me know if you have recs), painting and staying active. I look forward to meeting everyone. Reach out if you have any questions or would simply like to chat!
Chloë Mi Cartier she/her/hers
Quiz Section: AA/AB
Hi, I’m Chloë! I’m from Mill Creek, north of Seattle. I’m a 2nd-year computer science student at UW. Aside from coding, I love collecting sea glass on beach walks and trying new pho and dumpling spots around the city. I am passionate about painting, am really into oil paints at the moment, and hope to write and illustrate children’s books someday. I love to chat about books and watch Nora Ephron rom-coms on repeat. I have 4 cats! Mochi, Maui, Suki, and Gnocchi. I fell in love with computer science through this series. I believe in you!
Connor Sun he/him
Quiz Section: AD
Hi there! I’m Connor and I’m a rising sophomore in CS from Bellevue, WA. This is my third quarter as a TA and I’m really looking forward to meeting everyone! In my free time, I enjoy developing and playing video games, cooking for myself and family, doing the NYT Connections, and exploring interesting topics in math and CS. If you have any questions about anything CS-related or ever just want to talk, please reach out to me! I’m always available for a few minutes after class 🙂
Cynthia Pan she/her/hers
Quiz Section: AC
Hiii everyone! I’m Cynthia, and I’m currently a junior, double majoring in computer science and applied mathematics. In my spare time, I enjoy playing the piano and listening to K-pop. Also, as a polyglot, I enjoy learning various languages. This is my third quarter TAing CSE 12X, and I’m looking forward to get to know all of you! :D
Katharine Zhang she/her/hers
Quiz Section: AE
Hello! I’m Katharine, a junior in CS and I’m very ecstatic to finally brainwash you guys into loving cs– I mean, meet you all! I have hobbies too, aside from my dying love for cs, such as cooking, baking, reading, dancing, and filmmaking.
If you ever have any questions, don’t be afraid to reach out! I promise I don’t bite <3
Marcus Sanches he/him/his
Quiz Section: AA/AB
Hi, I’m Marcus and I’m a sophomore majoring in computer science. This will be my first quarter TAing 122 and I’m excited to get started. Outside of school, I love to play soccer, discover new music/movies and hang out with my friends. Can’t wait to meet you all!
Rohini Arangam she/her/hers
Hey! My name is Rohini, and I am a second year majoring in computer science. I’m from Mukilteo, WA, so a little north of Seattle. Some of my hobbies are painting, going on hikes, and binging Netflix shows (def have some recs :) Looking forward to TA CSE 122 this quarter!! Feel free to reach out with any questions!
Getting Help¶
Having questions or getting stuck on something is entirely expected in the learning process. If you find something challenging with your studies, that is a sign you are learning! Learning is not something that you need to do alone though! In fact, connecting with your peers or asking a member of the course staff for help can add extreme depth to your knowledge.
-
Synchronous Help (Office Hours): One place to go to get help is our Office Hours hosted throughout the week. TAs staff office hours for many hours a day to provide you the help you need when you need it! This is a great place to go if you want to review a particular course concept, work on a practice problem with the help of a TA or your peers, or get help on a Culminating Project checkpoint or Programming Assignment if you are running into difficulties.
Tip
A common misconception is that you can only go to office hours with specific homework questions. That is not true! If you have any questions about course concepts (e.g., from class that day), you are super encouraged to go work on that concept with a member of the course staff at office hours! Getting help with a concept earlier, when you first are feeling unsure, is much better than saving it until you need it on the homework.
-
Asynchronous Help (Ed Discussion): With a class of our size, directly emailing a member of the course staff is not always recommended. There are many of you and only few of us, so if you email one person directly we can’t make a guarantee how quickly we can respond! To alleviate this one-on-one communication of email, we have a course discussion board that will be a much more lively place for discussion and a way to make sure you can are helped more quickly. The message board is set up so that all of the course staff can help you, which will make it more likely for you to receive a quicker response!
Ed Tips
- If you are asking a general question about the course logistics or content, you can make a public post. This way other students can benefit from seeing your question, and you can even answer each other’s questions to share your perspectives!
- If you want, you can choose to post anonymously so that other students in the course can’t see your name. Note that anonymous posting does not hide your identity from the course staff.
- You’re encouraged to answer each other’s questions as well! Explaining a topic to someone else (even on a discussion board) is a great way to help you better understand the material. The course staff will still look over student answers and can nicely point out some misconception if there is one so that everyone benefits.
- If you have a question that’s pretty specific to your homework solution, or, is about some personal details that you would not want to share with the class (e.g., DRS accommodations), you can make a private post on Ed that is only visible to the course staff. This way, any member of the staff can respond to get you the help you need!
- For sensitive matters that you only want to discuss with Ido, you can instead email Ido if that makes you feel more comfortable. Note that the response time for the instructors’ email is longer than posting on the Ed board.