Dr. Andrew Scot - Biography

I am an associate professor of Computer Science and joined WCU in 2013. I am from England and grew up in Oxford. Prior to joining WCU I worked at the University of South Wales in the UK (formerly the University of Glamorgan) in the areas of Mobile Applications Development and Computer Science Education.

I am an associate professor of computer science. My background is in software engineering, mobile applications development and e-learning. I have a flair for creativity, innovative ideas, and visual design. I have been programming in the OO paradigm for well over 20 years, and have signifcant experience in functional programming, procedural programming, and web development. In CS I have taught many subjects but mostly center account the activity of programming, software engineering, application development but also information security.

In addition to my teaching experience, have I possess significant experience leading the research and development of commercial mobile applications on the Android and IOS (iPhone) and html5 platforms. I also have experience in designing large scale object oriented software applications.

In 2010 I successfully defended my PhD thesis, which focused on developing and using dynamic, interactive visualization techniques and a scaffolding pedagogy to teach the concepts and skills of programming to novices more effectively. As a result of this work, I developed a unique visual programming environment, website and pedagogy (Progranimate) which I successfully integrated into an introductory programming course and used in ourreach activities to introduce school aged students to programming. I am currently in the process of re-developing Progranimate as a web application.

My Current research interests lie in mobile applications development, user interface development, Web application Development, Computer Science education, and web based applications where I am using AI and agentic programming techniques for productivity gains in the conventional parts of my work.

Outside my academic interests I enjoy learning white water kayaking, mountain biking, and hicking in the beautiful blue ridge mountains with my family. My geeky persuits are 8 and 16 bit vintage home computers, music, vinyl records and unicycling.