Kathryn Fisler
Professor
Computer Science
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
United States of America
Biography
Education: BA Williams College 1991 MS Indiana University 1992 PhD Indiana University 1996 In both teaching and research, I'm fascinated by how people understand systems and concepts. I love teaching introductory courses, with their challenge to help students gain the perspective of a new field. My research touches on various topics at the intersection of people and how they understand computational systems. Recent projects include peer review in computing education, tools for teaching programming, techniques to help people explore consequences of access-control policies, and applications of formal methods to usable security. I also co-direct a national outreach program called Bootstrap which integrates introductory computing into middle- and high-school Algebra 1 classes.I'm at my best trying to help others learn how to learn, whether in the classroom, office hours, or the research lab. I’m always experimenting with ways to make my students’ education personal, even in larger classes. WPI's combination of hands-on projects and research provides me an excellent and ever-changing playground.
Research Interest
Computing Education; Human-centered security; Formal methods
Publications
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Usable Security as a Static Analysis Problem. Hannah Quay de la Vallee, James M. Walsh, William Zimrin, Kathi Fisler, and Shriram Krishnamurthi. Onward! 2013.
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In-Flow Peer-Review of Tests in Test-First Programming. Joe Gibbs Politz, Shriram Krishnamurthi, and Kathi Fisler. International Conference on Computing Education Research (ICER), 2014
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The Recurring Rainfall Problem. Kathi Fisler. International Conference on Computing Education Research (ICER), 2014.
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Transferring Skills at Solving Word Problems from Computing to Algebra Through Bootstrap. Emmanuel Schanzer, Kathi Fisler, Shriram Krishnamurthi, and Matthias Felleisen. SIGCSE 2015.
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Timing Diagrams: Formalization and Algorithmic Verification - 1999