The Cultural Revolution had recently ended in China. For the first time in ten years, students could enter college by taking a standardized exam instead of supporting a political system. Working parents studied beside teenagers newly graduated from high school. Wei Hu, a teenager at the time, recalls admiring the maturity of his older classmates, trying to follow their example, and with them cherishing the “privilege to go to college.” Now a professor with years of experience, Hu passes on his classmates’ legacy by mentoring and working alongside his students and inspiring them to love learning.
Hu, a professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, has spent years musing on his role as a teacher. One component of his role, he suggested, is that of learner. He stressed that he cannot acquire information and then turn his focus to delivering it skillfully to students. Instead, he must continually refresh his knowledge, particularly in the rapidly-shifting field of computer science. Even if he uses only a small fraction of his expertise, he said, he wants an abundant supply from which to draw.
Kristin Camenga, chair of the Mathematics and Computer Science department, emphasized the task that faces Hu. “Dr. Hu cannot depend on last year’s notes to teach almost any of the courses because the content has changed,” Camenga said. “He regularly changes the content and approach to the classes, changing software, adding new applications, and changing assignments.”
A second component of his role as teacher, said Hu, is to create valuable interactions with his students. While exploring how to do this, he realized that collaborative research was unique, effective, and complementary to the strengths he brings to teaching.
Hu’s goal is to give every student the opportunity to learn through research. In upper level courses, classmates often collaborate on a research paper. Hu also involves students in more intensive research during the summer.
Brian Dickinson, a junior majoring in Computer Science and Business Administration, described summer research as “a full time job. Working from 8:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday for the first several weeks is typical, though in later weeks there is usually a significant amount of reading and writing outside of work as the deadline for the final product approaches.” Hu participates in and guides the student’s work, but also encourages them to experiment as they create and modify their algorithms and write their research papers. Hu “has very high expectations for what can be accomplished, and they can seem incredibly daunting,” Dickinson said. “In my experience with research however these expectations can always achieved and surpassed.”
Even when the results do not match the expectations, Hu has an answer: “That’s research.” Failure and unpredictability are part of the research process.
Since 2009, Hu has published 14 research articles with his students. However, the results of Hu’s interactive teaching style extend farther than these tangible signs. Students appreciate the content they learn in Hu’s classes, Camenga emphasized, but even more thank him for his “encouragement to be the best student they could be and not ‘settle.’”