Ab Van Etten

Steilacoom WA   Married   3 children   abvanetten@hotmail.com

Professional History:

Teaching Experience:

            The Evergreen State College Instructor, 2001-

               -Teach Java and Foundations of Computing yearlong courses                           

      Pierce College Instructor, Tenured  1989-present

                  -Teach computer science and introductory computer courses. 

                 -Developed Distance Learning Courses.  Java programs,  web                                   development, video production

                 -International Education: China trips from 1996-1998 Taught Java
                   programming in 6 universities in Eastern China

      Saint Martin’s College,  Assistant Professor,  1987-1990

                  -Director of the Computer Education Masters Program, 1987-1990

                  -Taught all of the upper division Computer Science courses

                  -Supervised Student Teachers/ Conducted Teacher workshops on       Computers

      Oregon State University,  Teaching Assistant,  1985-1987

                  -Taught Computer Literacy classes for  pre service teachers,  supervise student teachers           

      High School Teaching,  Philomath, OR,  Winston OR, Glide OR  1979-1985

                  -Taught Math and Computers/ Coach Basketball and Football

Programming Work:

      Java contract programming, 1999-

                  -Develop input forms and reports for web-based database access using Java applets, ADO, and ASP

                  -Increase performance by processing data on the client machine. Superior GUI control.

      Java Programming,  Distance Learning classes,  Pierce College:  1997-1999

                  -Developed web-based chat program, listserve, file share program, and web testing program

                  -Extensive experience with Java sockets, URLs, threads, and client/server interaction

      Programmer,  NovaNet Corporation,  Tucson, AZ: 1995  (4 months)

                  -Developed testing programs for this large, national distributor of Distance Learning software

      Programmer,  Iconix Software,  CA:  1986-7

                  -Co-developed CoCoPro, a CASE tool for the Mac, Iconix Software- ASM and Mac toolbox

Education:

      Oregon State University: Doctoral Candidate,  Computer Science Education  1987

                  -masters sequences in computer science and software engineering

      University of Oregon:  Masters courses in Computer Education  1983-1985

      Oregon State University:  Masters (1982)  Bachelors (1979) Counseling Psychology,  Math Education

                  -Blue Key,  House and ICC president,  Graduated with Honors,  OSU Varsity Basketball

Personal History

I was born in Puyallup WA in 1956 and graduated from Rogers High School in 1974.  After a year of working and completing National Guard training, I attended Oregon State University.  While there I played basketball for 2 years and was involved with school leadership activities.  I graduated in 1979 in General Science/Math.  In March of 1980 I married the love of my life, Laura, and we had 3 children in 2.5 years (more about them later..)  After teaching and coaching in southern Oregon for 5 years, I taught and did graduate work at Oregon State University.  In 1987, after finishing my coursework, we decided to return to Washington and I taught at Saint Martin’s College for 3 years.  Currently, I teach CIS classes at Pierce College, which is a 15 minute walk from our house in Steilacoom.  I am also teaching at TESC this year.

My Family consists of Bethany (18), Adam (17), and Gregory (16) along with my wife Laura (??). Bethany is off to the Univ. of Washington this fall.  She is planning to run the Seattle Marathon this year, and ran cross-country and track at Steilacoom High School for 4 years.  She is joining the Air Guard to help pay for college (Thanks, Bethany!) Adam is a Senior and also a runner. He is contemplating where to attend college next year, and will have lots of choices.  Gregory is a Junior, a runner, but also a pitcher in the Spring. My wife was a stay-at-home mom until this last year, when she worked half-time as an elementary school librarian.

Our family is very involved with travel and outdoor activities.  We have all done extensive hiking since Gregory was 3.  In 1995 I took a 6-month leave and worked in Tucson for 3 months while we hiked and explored the desert southwest.  Laura home-schooled the kids.  In early May we toured the National Parks in the west on our way to Washington DC and surrounding areas.  It was a fantastic trip for us.  In 1996 I obtained an exchange appointment to teach computers and English in Beijing, China.  Again, Laura home-schooled the kids, but the kids were actually ‘working’ also since they helped me teach my oral English classes.  We really enjoyed the different culture, the places we saw, but mostly the people we met. We still correspond with many of ‘our’ students.  In January, we left for a 2 week assignment to a town in southeast China where foreigners had not been previously permitted.  We were there to promote a foreign language school and to certify allowing foreign teachers to the school.  Our experience was a strange mix between being a rock star or a monkey in a zoo.  The vast majority of the folks we saw had never seen a non-Chinese face.  Ask me for stories, if interested..  We then traveled in China for a few weeks,  relaxed in Hawaii for a month, before coming home in Feb. Also a great trip.  In the following fall quarter, I was contacted by several of our students in China to do some workshops in Java, which I was just starting to teach.  Since I was interested in Distance Education, I had made some Java tools for chat, testing, discussion groups, and file sharing.  A couple of my Chinese students studied Java from me remotely. In April of 1998 we took the family back to China for 10 weeks.  We traveled to 6 universities around eastern China.  In early June we took the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Europe and traveled around Europe for 10 weeks.  One more time, a great trip!  If you have interest in travel or stories of your own about places you have been, I would love to hear them.

Other interests of ours are hiking (we really enjoyed the John Muir trail this summer), mountain climbing, biking, and rowing.

 
Go Steilacoom XC!

Goat Rocks

Mt Shuksan with 2 good friends from China, Chen and Liu Bing

The 3 boys enjoy windsurfing

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