Statement of Teaching 
Zhiyuan Chen 

Besides my love of research, I also enjoy teaching. 
In this statement I summarize my past teaching experience 
and my possible contributions to a teaching curriculum. 

Teaching Experience 

As a graduate student at Fudan University, 
I was a teaching assistant for an undergraduate Calculus class 
during the fall semester 1995. 
I was responsible for grading homework and holding discussion sessions. 
Later at Cornell University, I was a teaching assistant 
for an introductory course on database management systems (CS432) 
during the fall semester 1997. My responsibility included 
the design and set up assignments and projects, holding office hours, 
and grading projects. In both experience, I really enjoyed interacting with students 
and helping them on tough assignments and I often spent extra hours 
to help under­performing students before project deadlines. 
Later I also occasionally gave lectures in several classes 
my advisor was teaching, including an introductory course on database systems
 and a graduate level course on advanced database systems. 
Although I started quite nervously, I have found it fun to teach. 
For example, I found that it is fun to get students involved 
in debates and let them present their own thoughts. 
During the last semester, I was also mentoring two master students. 
My tasks included helping them choose thesis projects, 
providing the necessary technical support, and encouraging them in research. 
I really enjoyed the experience as I watched them 
quickly gain research experience and hear that they bragged about 
their projects during job interviews. 

Course Coverage 

I feel qualified to teach introductory and advanced courses on 
database management systems. As advanced topics I could teach 
OLAP/data warehousing, query optimization, indexing, and XML. 
Besides, I feel qualified to teach a seminar on database systems 
for new applications. I plan to start with an overview of new applications
 such as E­Commerce, ubiquitous computing, and Genome research. 
Then I would focus on data processing and indexing techniques 
for new types of data in these applications. 
The class would involve paper reading and implementation of research projects. 
In addition, I could also teach basic courses in data structures, algorithms, 
and operating systems.