Christian Cooper

Who am I? What do I do?

PLEASE NOTE: I am no longer employed by Thames Valley University - correspondance relating to Thames Valley University should be directed to the appropriate department at the University. People wishing to contact me on a personal basis can email me at chrisc89@hotmail.com, or else look for me on Facebook (personal) or LinkedIn (professional).

I am now a full-time doctoral student at the University of Manchester (but still keeping on the odd consultancy and external examination role here and there), just beginning research in the field of asynchronous circuit synthesis.

I was a University Teaching Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Multimedia Computing, working at TVU from June 2000 until September 2008 (initially I was employed as a Network Administrator, before becoming a full-time lecturer in September 2001). In my final year at TVU (aside from teaching on the BSc(hons) Multimedia Computing with Girish Lukka), I was also Programme Leader for BA(hons) programmes in Games Development, and represented the faculty on the University Academic Board, amongst other things.

Way back in the dark ages, I read Computing at Oxford (any normal University would call this "Computer Science") and was awarded a BA (any normal University would have considered it a BSc). Since then I have completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching & Learning, and "upgraded" my BA to an MA(oxon), for what that is worth. I moved away from pure Computing for many years, becoming involved in the artistic and design-oriented applications of Computing, but am moving back towards the more technical side once more...

Teaching-wise, I have taught, lectured and facilitated learning on a large spectrum of subjects; ranging from traditional Computer Science (Object-oriented programming, Database design and implementation, Functional Programming and Compilers) on one side, through multimedia applications and web development to games design, history and contextual studies on the other. I co-ordinated and lead the running of the third year projects (and the required developmental sessions that come before the actual module) on the BSc(hons) Multimedia Computing.

My research interests are currently related to the field of Technology in Teaching & Learning, and most recently specifically looking into the use of social software (commonly known under the buzzword "Web 2.0") to support the learning experience. Details of recent research projects, conference presentations etc. can be found on my Research/Publications page.

Outside of TVU, I am still [as at November 2008] a project moderator and examiner for the BCS, external examiner for a number of small awards at Staffordshire University, and was a visiting lecturer for City University for a number of years. I also undertake the occasional consultancy role for small businesses and art projects (chiefly from a computing/programming/development angle), but due to rapidly increasing time constraints have been minimising this aspect of my work since mid-2006.

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Qualifications, Professional memberships and External activities

MA (Lincoln College, Oxford), 2005
PGCert Teaching & Learning for Further & Higher Education (Thames Valley University), 2004
BA (Hons) Computation (Lincoln College, Oxford), 2000

Chartered IT Practitioner of the BCS (British Computer Society), 2008
Member of the BCS (British Computer Society), 2004
Fellow of the HEA (Higher Education Academy), 2004

Examiner and Professional Graduate Project moderator, BCS Professional Examinations
External examiner, Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Technology, Staffordshire University, 2008-present

Former member of the IGDA (Independent Game Developers Association), 2007-2009
Former Visiting Lecturer, Department of Computing, City University, January 2005 - September 2008

Contact Details

e-mail:	chrisc89@hotmail.com