Education :: Work Experience :: Research Summary :: Skills :: Publications :: Personal Interests :: References

Education

2010 - 2018   University of Wisconsin — MadisonMadison, WI
Ph.D. — Computer Sciences

• Pair Programming and Unobtrusive Monitoring: Toward an Automated Partner Matching System
• Prior research: Analysis of alternative splicing using probabilistic splice graphs and RNA-Seq
• Delta program: Effective Teaching in an Interantionally Diverse Classroom (student)

2007 - 2009   University of Wisconsin — MadisonMadison, WI
Masters — Computer Sciences

• CIBM Predoctoral Fellow (three year award)
• Masters thesis research: Visualization of dose shaping for cancer treatment

2005 - 2007   University of Wisconsin — MadisonMadison, WI
Bachelor of Arts — Mathematics
Certificate — Computer Sciences

• Honors in the Major — Mathematics

Work Experience

UW Computer Sciences DepartmentMadison, WI
2014 - 2018, 2020 - present
Associate Faculty Associate

• Courses taught:
  1. CS 300—Programming II (S20-present)
  2. CS 301—Introduction to Data Programming (S15-S18)
  3. CS 638/502—Theory and Practice of CS Education (S16-S18)
  4. CS 302—Introduction to Programming (F14, S15)
• Courses developed:
  1. CS 300—CS2 for majors, reoganized from a two-course sequence into the middle course of a three-course sequence. Adapted to an all-virtual paradigm for the 2020-21 school year, with virtual/asynchronous support continued later.
  2. CS 638/502—CS teacher training. Seminar-style course focusing on CS education literature and application both in the tutoring lab and classroom.
  3. CS 301—CS1 for non-majors. Slower-paced than a majors course, with more frequent programming assignments. Focus on practical programming skills, taught in Python.
• Development, coordination, and supervision of the Computer Sciences Learning Center
• Independent and collaborative assignment and examination development
• Supervision and coordination of lab TAs and graders

PBS Wisconsin EducationMadison, WI
2019
Education Producer

• Projects:
  1. Climate Wisconsin Ice Cover interactive module
  2. Meet The Lab web series
  3. Click Teacher Training for high school media instructors

Colorado School of Mines Computer Science DepartmentGolden, CO
2018 - 2019
Assistant Teaching Professor

• Courses taught:
  1. CSCI 102—Introduction to Programming in Python (F18)
  2. CSCI 598—Introduction to Bioinformatics (Topics - F18)
  3. CSCI 442—Introduction to Operating Systems (S19)
  4. CSCI 598—Computer Science Education (Topics - S19)

UW Computer Sciences DepartmentMadison, WI
2008 - 09, 2012 - 2014
Teaching Assistant/Instructor

• Courses taught: Introduction to Operating Systems, Introduction to Programming
• In-class instruction as sole lecturer
• Independent (OS) and collaborative (Prog) development of lesson plans and syllabus
• Development of handouts (e.g. 1,2) for lecture enhancement (Prog)
• Independent development of projects and exams (OS)

UW Computer Sciences DepartmentMadison, WI
2010 - 2014
Research Assistant

• Development of open-source software for quantifying alternative RNA splicing events based on RNA-Seq data
• Inference of alternative splicing from RNA-Seq data with probabilistic splice graphs

Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented YouthMadison, WI
Summer 2014
Instructor

• Independent development of curriculum and syllabus for a high-school level introduction to computer science

PEOPLE ProgramMadison, WI
Summer 2013
Instructor

• Independent development of curriculum and syllabus for a high-school level introduction to computer science

Publications

• A. Brooks, C. Hardin, J. Scianna, M. Berland, LH LeGault. 2021. Approaches to transitioning computer science classes from offline to online. In Proceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education: 81-87.
• L. LeGault and M. Berland. Students' perceptions of pair programming in CS1. SIGCSE 2018.
• L. LeGault. 2017. Understanding and supporting better pairings for CS1 students.
  In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER '17): 267-268.
• L. LeGault and C. Dewey. 2013. Inference of alternative splicing from RNA-Seq data with probabilistic splice graphs.
  Bioinformatics 29(18): 2300-2310.
• L. LeGault. A statistical analysis of the traditions of the Super Bowl MVP award. 15 Feb 2011.
• L. LeGault. An interactive GUI tool for radiotherapy treatment planning. Master's Thesis 2009.
• S. Darnell, L. LeGault, and J. Mitchell. KFC Server: interactive forecasting of protein interaction hot spots.
  Nucleic Acids Research 2008 36(Web Server issue): W265-W269

Research Summary

Most recently I have focused my research on ways to improve the efficacy of novice programmer partnerships both through instruction and clever matching of students. I hope to develop an online tool to not only give intro students additional practice with programming and problem solving, but also to analyze their performance and suggest other students in their classes who would be effective partners.

I began my PhD research in Dewey Lab, quantifying relative frequencies of alternative splicing events for RNA. Using directed acyclic graphs and data generated from high-throughput sequencing methods like RNA-Seq, we can infer the relative frequencies of both individual splicing events and full alternative isoforms. This research involves creation of an open source software package called PSGInfer.

My Master's research in treatment planning methods for radiotherapy for cancer patients compared various linear and nonlinear methods for their effectiveness, speed, and accuracy. I additionally developed an interactive tool for visualization of treatment plans.

Skills

• Clear, concise written and verbal communication
• Organizing and leading meetings, classes
• Managing an asynchronous virtual classroom, including video editing for remote learning
• Presenting to large and small groups
• LaTeX typesetting
• Google and Microsoft production applications
• Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Premiere

Programming Languages:

• Java, including the Processing GUI Library
• Python
• C, C++
• Matlab

Personal Interests

Comic artist (home website offline, link contains only selections), knitting, piano, classical voice, competitive powerlifting, producer of the Blinding Light annotated actual play web series, stage managing (most recently at Broom Street Theatre), erstwhile convention security dispatcher, web design

References

References and letters of recommendation available on request.

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