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Michael E. Cotterell

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Senior Lecturer of Computer Science
Undergraduate Coordinator
Director | CSUA and UGAHacks Hackers Experiential Learning Programs
Ph.D. | University of Georgia, 2017

Dr. Cotterell received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from UGA in May 2011 and December 2017, respectively. He is currently a Senior Lecturer of Computer Science and an Undergraduate Coordinator in the UGA School of Computing (SoC).

In Fall 2012, after his first year in graduate school, Dr. Cotterell returned from a summer internship at the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) to discover that he was asked to teach his first CS class at UGA as part of his graduate teaching assistantship -- he accepted the offer, and the first class he taught was Software Development (CSCI 1302). In 2015, he transitioned to a full-time Instructor (part-time graduate student) and won the department's Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award in 2016 after only one year of full-time teaching. In Fall 2017, the same semester when he defended his doctoral dissertation, Dr. Cotterell was rehired at the rank of Lecturer. He was later promoted to the rank of Senior Lecturer in 2021. 

Dr. Cotterell has received the SoC's Teaching Excellence in Computer Science Award multiple times (Spring 2018, Spring 2020, and Spring 2024). He was also selected as a 2018–2019 UGA Faculty Online Learning Fellow, a 2018–2019 UGA Faculty Writing Fellow, and a 2019-2020 UGA Teaching Academy Fellow. In Fall 2023, Dr. Cotterell was formally inducted as a member into the UGA Teaching Academy.

Dr. Cotterell is the Director of the Computer Science Undergraduate Assistant (CSUA) Experiential Learning Program and the UGAHacks Hackers Experiential Learning Program. He also chairs the School of Computing's Undergraduate Program & Curriculum Committee (since 2021), and he is a member of UGA's University Council.

Education:

Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Georgia, 2017

  • Michael E. Cotterell. "Supporting Open Science in Big Data Frameworks and Data Science Education" Doctoral Dissertation (Ph.D. in CS Degree), University of Georgia, 2017. Committee: John A. Miller (Major), Maria Hybinette, Yi Hong and Thiab Taha.
Research Areas:
Research Interests:

Dr. Cotterell's research interests include functional data analysis, open science, and computing education. His long-term research goal is to integrate open science, active open educational resources, and peer-based active learning in a way that facilitates effective, evidence-based, low-anxiety computing education at scale.

Grants:
  1. July 2022 to June 2025 - $899,995. Matthew J. Madison (PI), Minjeong Jeon (Co-Pi), Michael E. Cotterell (Co-PI). "Generalized, Multilevel, and Longitudinal Psychometric Models for Evaluating Educational Interventions." Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Department of Education (DOE).
  2. July 2021 to June 2022 - $25,000. Shannon Quinn (PI), Michael E. Cotterell (Co-PI). "Interdisciplinary Data Science for All." FY22 Learning Technologies Grant (LTG), Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), University of Georgia.
  3. August 2021 to July 2023 - $60,000. Thiab R. Taha (PI), Bradley J. Barnes (Co-PI), Michael E. Cotterell (Co-PI), Manijeh Keshtgari (Co-PI), Eman Saleh (Co-PI). "Center for Inclusive Computing Diagnostic Grant." Diagnostic Grant, Center for Inclusive Computing (CIC), Northeastern University.
  4. May 2019 to July 2020 - $10,800. Michael E. Cotterell (PI), Bradley J. Barnes (Co-PI). "Open & Active Course Materials for Software Development." Affordable Learning Georgia Textbook Transformation Grant, Round Fourteen (2019-2020), University System of Georgia.
  5. May 2019 to July 2019 - $5,000. Bradley J. Barnes (PI), Michael E. Cotterell (Co-PI). "Creation of interactive tutorials to replace current text in CSCI 1302 Software Development". Provost’s Affordable Course Materials Grant (2019), University of Georgia.
Articles Featuring Michael E. Cotterell

Affordable Learning Georgia (ALG) has awarded Dr. Barnes and Dr. Cotterell each a Continuous Improvement Grant in the amount of $8,670 to update the textbook for CSCI 1302 Software Development and continue to offer it to students free of charge as an Open…

Congratulations to Dr. Michael E. Cotterell, a senior lecturer in the School of Computing, for being one of 16 new members inducted into the University of Georgia’s Teaching Academy on November 9, 2023!

Congratulations to Dr. Michael E. Cotterell (Co-PI) for receiving a 3-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) Institute of Education Sciences (IES) for a project titled, "Generalized, Multilevel, and Longitudinal Psychometric Models for…

The Department of Computer Science is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2019-2020 CS Department Awards.

A new elective course, CSCI 1300/1300L Introduction to Programming with Python, has recently been approved and will be offered starting in Fall 2020. It is an elective course available to majors and non-majors.

No prior programming experience is required…

The Computer Science Undergraduate Assistant (CSUA) Program has been approved as an Experiential Learning Requirement opportunity, effective Fall 2019.  Under Dr. Michael Cotterell, Program Director, the CSUA Program aims to leverage the success of…

Congratulations to Dr. Michael E. Cotterell for being selected for participation in the 2019-2020 Teaching Academy Fellows Program—an early-career mentoring program at the University of Georgia.

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