Dr. Rachelle S. Heller
Professor, Computer Science Department
Director: SEAS Center for Women in Engineering
Co-Editor: Computers & Education: An International Journal
Undergraduate:
- CSci 1020Applications Software (3 cr.)
- CSci 1021Introduction to Internet Technology (3 cr.)
- Csci 4431 Computer Networks
Graduate:
- CSci 6562 Interactive Multimedia Design (3 cr.)
- CSci 6561 Design of Computer Human Interface (3 cr.)
- CSci 6431 Computer Networks
Mailing Address
Department of Computer Science
SEH 4615
800 22nd Street NW
The George Washington University
Washington DC 20052
Phone/Email
Preferred:
Department:
Voice: (202) 994-5906
FAX: (202) 994-0227
Email: sheller@gwu.edu
Office: SEH 4615
Teaching Schedule/Meetings/Office Hours:
| Current Semester |
Courses Taught |
| Fall 2019 | CSCI 4431/6431 Computer Networks |
|
Previous Terms |
CSCI 4431 : (and 6431): Computer Networks CSCI 6561 : Human Computer Interaction MAE 720: A Walk on The Moon CS 781-10 - Reading and Writing in Cyberspace with Prof Mark Wallace. Class stories on the web include:
|
Office Hours: By Appointment Only
Biography
B.S. 1964 State University of New York, Stony Brook
M.S. 1972 University of Maryland
Ph.D. 1985 University of Maryland
She has over 40 years of experience in the computer field, including work in industry and teaching at the college level. Dr. Heller coauthored a nationally syndicated newspaper column, "All About Computers" from 1982 to 1986. Dr. Heller's research interest is in the area of computers in educational settings and the impact of interactive multimedia on learning in these environments. Expanding on her concerns for learning environments are her long-standing efforts to bring and retain women to areas in Science, Engineering, Math and Technology. Her efforts in Women’s Leadership include her NSF FORWARD To Professorship research grants and her role as the director of the Elizabeth Somers Women’s Leadership Program.
Recent Talks and Presentations:
Dr. Heller was an invited speaker at many national and international conferences. Her topics include the Design of a Graduate Program in Interactive Multimedia within a Computer Science Curriculum, - Mutlimedia; What's in it for {Engineering} Education, and FORWARD to Professorship. In addition, she presented a paper on Using a Multimedia Taxonomy Framework. Dr. Heller was the key note speaker at the Women's Empowerment Workshop: For Women by Women in Tripoli, Libya in September 2005. (Photos) (Photos of the award ceremony, the visit with women in native dress, GW alumnae )
Previous Research Grants:
Dr. Heller continues to be the co-principal investigator of many National Science Foundation grants. The first, "Bringing Young Minority Women to the Threshold of Science," is designed to raise the interest of young women to studies in science and engineering. The second, "TEAMSS, Teacher Enhanced Application for Middle School Science with Hypermedia," is designed to enable teachers to use and re-use videodisc technology in their classrooms. FORWARD in SEM is a focus on reaching women for academics, research and development in Science, Engineering and Mathematics. It is an implementation project for the recruitment and retention of women in advanced science, engineering and mathematics careers in conjucntion with Gallaudet University. Curriculum Resources in Interactive Multimedia (CRIM) is a project in conjunction with Professor Ed Fox at Virginia University. The most recent grant is Forward to Professorship with a focus on supporting women to advance to leadership positions in science, mathematics and engineering.
She is also the Co-PI for the VISIT System, a multimedia kiosk project designed to provide information about the park and to collect visitor preference data in US National Parks.
Professional Activities
Dr. Heller is currently a Research Professor and Director of the SEAS Center for Women in Engineering and the Principle Investigator for NSF grant PISCES 2024 a Scholarship for Service , NSA grant Middle School Girls Cybersecurity Day campand the Clare Boothe Luce Undergraduate Scholars program at GW.
Dr. Heller has spoken at computer conferences at the national and international level including the 1981 and 1985 World Conferences on Educational Computing, the LOGO '84 and '85 Conferences in Boston, the 1987 IFIPS WG3.5 Conference on New Technology in Primary Education and the 1988 and 1989 National Educational Computing Conference. She has been the keynote speaker at Hollins College and Coppin State College. She lectured in the Soviet Union on the uses of computers in education at the invitation of the Soviet Academy of Science in the summer of 1986 and the winter of 1989. In the summer of 1988 she was in the Soviet Union as a computer specialist to the USIA exhibit, "Information USA". In addition to authoring and coauthoring numerous papers and technical reports on the uses of computers in mass spectrometry, teacher training and in educational classroom settings, Dr. Heller is the co-author with C. Dianne Martin of Bits 'n Bytes About Computing: A Computer Literacy Primer, the Bits 'n Bytes Gazette for school children and LOGOWORLDS, all published by Computer Science Press, Aleph-BASIC by Kar-Ben Copies, Bible Basic by Standard Press. Dr. Heller is the co-editor of the peer-reviewed journal "Computers & Education: An International Journal" published by Elsevier Science. She is a lecturer for the Association of Computing Machinery and the IEEE.
Dr. Heller's current research in multimedia is focused on the Multimedia Taxonomy.
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Updated June 2019
