Instructor Shadi Tahmassebi On the Dynamics of Object-Oriented Programming

By Jennifer McEntee



Name: Shadi Tahmassebi
Course: C# Programming for Beginners

UC San Diego Extension instructor Shadi Tahmassebi splits her energy between San Diego and Sweden. With a bachelor of science degree in software engineering and a master of science degree in computer science, Tahmassebi works as an instructor for both Sweden’s Malmö University and UC San Diego, while also lending her skills as a senior programmer to engineering companies in the U.S. and Sweden.

Tahmassebi says the C# Programming for Beginners online course she teaches through UC San Diego Extension is ideal for students who want to learn the general-purpose programming language from scratch, using an object-oriented methodology.

“Object-oriented programming is about working with objects as we do in our daily life,” she explains. “The difference is that our virtual objects are much more intelligent. A chair object, for examples stores not only its data, its model, color and price, but it also can do all the operations on itself, by itself. It can change its color, its model and price. We bundle related data and operations in an entity and let entities work together to get bigger jobs done.” Tahmassebi says object-oriented programming is based on some fundamental principles that help computer programmers develop applications that are easy to maintain, modify and expand.

How did you get started in your career field?
I started as a teaching assistant in 2004 at a university in Sweden while I was studying the last year of my education in software engineering. Since then, I have been teaching mostly online courses in C# and Visual Basic programming. I enjoy teaching very much.
 
What did you most enjoy about your profession?
I love programming and I love teaching courses online. It is my favorite specialty as it gives me a lot of freedom. For some [learning programming] goes faster and for others it takes time. I enjoy seeing my students step into the world of programming and make progress.
 
What advice would you give someone looking to enter your career field?
My advice to my students is to never give up. This is also something I would say to those who would like to have a career in this field. Have patience and think positively. One way of learning is by teaching others. Teaching distance courses requires a lot of effort but it gets easier as you gain experience.
 
How is your field changing?
The field is very dynamic.  New technologies come out and old ones improve. Programming languages like C# grow and change rapidly. You have to keep the pace even though sometimes things happen very quickly.
 
What do you like most about teaching for Extension?
First of all, I feel that I am a part of a very nice team. Then, I am glad that I have opportunities to design, develop and teach my course in my way. I believe that the best way of learning programming is by doing. And it really works. I make my students program and write code and they like it.

Learn more about our C# and other programming courses and programs on our website, or contact the department at infotech@ucsd.edu or 858-534-9352.