Serving as a reader and grader for ICS 32 gave me direct exposure to how students transition from foundational programming to building applications using real world software libraries. The course covers a wide range of environments including graphics, graphical user interfaces, databases, web services, and networked systems, which required me to evaluate student work across many different programming contexts. Grading these assignments pushed me to assess not only whether programs functioned correctly, but also how effectively students leveraged library abstractions and managed complexity beyond introductory coursework.
In addition to grading, I regularly hosted office hours where I worked with students to debug library usage issues, reason about program structure, and understand unfamiliar APIs. Many students struggled with integrating external modules or interpreting documentation, and these sessions allowed me to guide them toward systematic debugging and experimentation rather than trial and error. Helping students reason through library behavior strengthened my own understanding of how abstraction boundaries affect program design and maintainability.
I also contributed to writing automated tests and autograders to support faster and more consistent grading of student projects. This involved designing tests that captured both functional correctness and common failure cases while remaining robust to differences in implementation style. To ensure academic integrity, we compared current submissions against prior student work and analyzed version control activity, including timing between Git pushes, to identify patterns consistent with copying rather than incremental development. This work gave me insight into how automated evaluation, data analysis, and human judgment must work together to fairly assess student learning.
Beyond major projects, I assisted with grading other homework assignments and refining test coverage to reduce ambiguity in scoring. Through this role, I developed a deeper appreciation for scalable assessment design, clear specification writing, and the role of tooling in large programming courses. The experience reinforced my interest in software quality, education, and building systems that support both learning and fairness.