EKU instructor, Eun Mi Kim believes in making connections and taking an active part in her student’s educational experience. She goes above and beyond to ensure her online students have opportunities to interact and engage with her. Kim’s personal attention and dedication to helping students prepare to make their mark in the field makes her a particular point of pride on EKU’s campuses, both in-person and virtual. We take great pride in offering the chance to get to know her a little better.
What brought you to EKU?
I have lived in many places and taught different sizes and various socio-groups of students across different countries and small and big cities in the U.S. Therefore, I think I have enough experience to recognize the pros and cons of living in different places. What I like the most about EKU is the education-friendly community environment consisting of small and medium class sizes that allows me to closely monitor individual students’ learning progress while enjoying and maintaining strong and broad relationships with students and community members.
Tell us a little about your work in your field.
My research interests are implementing iOS apps to solve real-world problems caused in various fields and discovering meaningful information from a large and heterogeneous volume of data utilizing advanced machine learning and data mining technologies.
What moment at EKU stands out as most memorable?
My work focuses mainly on helping students understand broad topics in computer science; therefore, the most memorable moment at EKU would be when I heard that the students liked my lectures. For example, I got messages from students: “I recommend her class to everyone as you are going to get good knowledge.” I wish I could hear more feedback like this every semester from all my students.
What is your approach to online teaching?
Learning should be collaborative and interactive. I pay more attention to the instructional design of the courses and communication between students and the instructor and among students. Therefore, I often encourage students to share their ideas or issues through Blackboard and hold Zoom meetings for their final projects. Of course, my email is one of the most popular tools to maintain direct communication with students as well.
What tactics or approaches do you use to aid in your student’s success?
I always encourage my students to learn and apply their knowledge to real-world problems. To help students achieve this aim, I often ask students to get a broad picture of the given tasks. It includes but is not limited to where it originated, why it is necessary, how others solved the problems and the real-world problems, and their solutions together with the pros and cons. More importantly, I routinely ask students to keep these questions in their minds so that they can become part of their daily habits and use these questionnaires as a baseline whenever they are introduced to new tasks. I also advocate for students to become active learners by encouraging students to find answers outside of the course materials issued.
What do you believe are the biggest advantages to online learning?
Many of my eCampus students are from industry and have jobs, so I believe the biggest advantage of online learning from the student’s point of view is flexible learning time that helps to balance study and work.
What have you been up to lately? (Research, projects, awards, etc.)
One of my research interests is designing and implementing applications utilizing big data and machine learning algorithms in computer science. During the early COVID-19 pandemic, I collaborated with other researchers in Kentucky to develop the Kentucky COVID-19 time series dashboard. I was very impressed by how many people appreciated the data. Leading an AI lab, I like mentoring students and helping them to find their new careers and supporting research opportunities. I also spend some time on collaborative biomedical research projects and have recently published a paper as a coauthor in BMC Bioinformatics.
What advice would you give to someone who’s considering finishing their degree, or starting for the first time as an adult?
I know it sounds cliche, but my first advice is not to fear new challenges, without them, there are no changes. If you think it is too late to restart, don’t forget that right now is the earliest time you can change. Another piece of advice is to be prepared for opportunities; if you find an opportunity but you are not prepared for it, it cannot be your opportunity anymore. However, if you put in small efforts every day, one day you will find that any opportunity can be yours.
Interested in advancing your career?
Earn your master’s degree from a university that has been an online education leader for over 15 years. EKU’s computer science programs are ideal for individuals seeking to expand their knowledge and skills. Complete the learn more form for more information about how our Computer Science Program can help advance your career.