Thad Crews is an award winning teacher and researcher at Western Kentucky University. One of his favorite courses to teach is the introductory programming course where he uses Visual Logic (http://www.course.com/visuallogic) to emphasize logic and design rather than syntax. His newest book, Guide to Visual Logic, will be available for fall classes.

That earned his doctorate from Vanderbilt University, where his research focus was on computer-based technology for teaching, training, learning and assessment. Prior to graduate school, Thad was a software engineer with Electronic Data Systems (EDS), one of the largest technology and service companies in the world. Thad has constantly been active in the computing profession, including previously serving as member of the First Year Focus Group for the ACM/IEEE Computer Curriculum 2001 (CC2001) Computer Science report, and previously serving as National Chair of the Technology in Education Committee for the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP). He currently serves as President of PGS Systems, a leading company for developing instructional technologies that are at the cutting edge of the 21st century teaching and learning experience. Thad is a Course Technology author and a frequent conference speaker.

Thad has collaborated with Course Technology to develop AutoGrading technology, a sophisticated expert system for grading Microsoft Office projects. This technology allows students to complete hands-on, live in the application projects, and then post their work online through a secure portal to be automatically graded within seconds. The AutoGrading technology provides students with immediate, detailed feedback to improve student learning while also reducing or eliminating grading time for instructors. This AutoGrading technology has been successfully used in CaseGrader Excel 2003, CaseGrader Excel 2007, and CaseGrader Office 2007. In fall 2008, the rich features of SAM 2007 v.3.0 are being combined with the power of AutoGrading to create SAM Projects, an integrated, live hand-on projects grading system.

On The Spot:

Web site that I'm currently hooked on:
Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com). I am a huge movie fan and this site has great information. The site now includes information about television shows as well, so it is a one-stop site for both TV and movie information.

The one technology I could not go a week without:
The Web. Like so many people, I use it as my primary source for news, weather, and information. Especially during the school year I cannot go a week (or even a day!) without it. Having said that, I should also say that during the summer I like to go off-line for days at a time to maintain some overall balance in that area.

The software application/tools I wish I knew better than I actually do:
Photoshop. I can do the basics, but I am missing out on some of the tool’s more powerful features. I have a lot of family photos I would like to work on when I get the time.

If I wasn't a teacher I would most likely be a...
A software engineer, which was my profession before I started teaching. For now I plan on sticking with teaching for the foreseeable future. I think I am similar to a lot of teachers in that (1) I love teaching and (2) I hate grading. This is why I am so encouraged that tools are being developed that can reduce grading time and free up more time to spend with students one-on-one, which is why I got into teaching in the first place.