Skip to main content
Menu
Back To Directory
A headshot of Colleen Van Lent

Colleen van Lent

Teaching Professor and Lecturer IV in Information, School of Information Email: [email protected] Phone:
Office: School of Information/4566 Leinweber Comp Sci & Info Bd Faculty Role: Faculty Potential PhD Faculty Advisor: No Personal website News About Colleen van Lent

Trending Topics

Biography

I have been teaching since 2003, and over those two decades I have taught courses spanning AI, Java, Python, Databases, and Web Development and Accessibility.

The landscape of teaching has changed enormously in that time, and nowhere more dramatically than in programming education. But what has not changed is my excitement at helping students explore their own interests and strengths in the deeply creative space of problem-solving. Programming is an act of authorship, and I believe students flourish when they learn to take genuine ownership of what they build - and to recognize that so much of today's digital world is designed in ways that exclude.

Pronouns

she/her/hers

Areas of interest

Introductory Programming and Problem-solving, Accessible Web Design

Honors & Awards

UM Honored Instructor, UM Lecturer Excellence in Inclusive Teaching Award, UMSIDiversity Award, UM Distinguished Diversity Leaders Team Award, UMSI Award for Excellence in Instruction, NASA Faculty Fellow, National Physical Science Consortium Fellow

Education

BS from Kent State University Honors College
MS and PhD from the University of Pittsburgh