Face of Mason, Dr. James Colchao

Professor James Colchao, the instructor of Computational and Data Sciences

Photo Credit: https://masonkorea.gmu.edu/articles/16403

In the Fall 2021 semester, Mason Korea welcomed a new instructor in the Computational and Data Science (CDS) program, Dr. James Colchao. It has been the second semester that the CDS program was introduced in Mason Korea. No professor resided near the Mason Korea campus, and all CDS courses were conducted online with professors from the Fairfax campus. Due to the time difference, both students and professors in the CDS program felt inconvenienced. Therefore, his appearance in Mason Korea is good news for students, especially those majoring in CDS.

Q1: Could you please introduce yourself?

A: My name is James Colchao, and I am a professor of computational and data sciences here at Mason Korea. I have been teaching at George Mason University (GMU) for about three years now, and I have been virtually teaching at Mason Korea for almost two years. This is my first semester where I have come over physically to Korea. I am now teaching CDS 101 and CDS 102, which are the introduction to and focus more on data science, CDS 130, which is more about computational science; and CDS 151, an ethics course that discusses dealing with all this data and information.

Q2: Could you explain how come you have interests in Data Science, Machine Learning, and Predictive Analysis, and why do you like studying or working in those fields?

A: I decided to study those because I think they’re fascinating. I believe that you can adapt it to any field of study, so then that aspect, they’re very versatile. They are exciting concepts that are applicable in the future as well as now, so it’s the thing that I can enjoy doing now and continue in the future. I chose data visualization because I enjoy taking very complicated concepts and then explaining them to people in a way that makes sense that is easy to understand. And using data visualization is a great way to take something very complicated and then make it very easy for people to see the entire concept quickly.

Q3: Could you explain how you got interested in Microbiology and several fields of medicine?

A: I have always thought science was a way to understand the world. It was a way for me to take some very complicated phenomena and start to understand how things work in life. So I studied biology, the science of life, and I thought it was very interesting. In particular, examining how diseases happen in microbiology and how they manifest to me was always very interesting since microbes cause disease. So then I started working in medicine. When I was working in the field, a bill powered up an act that passed regarding health care and how doctors’ offices had to operate in the United States, and they all had to be digitized. As I liked computers and technology, I always got given tasks of the computer and all of the data tasks. So that is how I worked as a strategic technologist working with all of the complicated machinery.

Q4: Could you tell us how you came to live in Korea and how you like living in Korea?

A: I grew up around many Korean people with their various cultures in Koreatown. For the reason, when I got an opportunity to move to Korea, I immediately said yes as I thought it would be an exciting experience. I like to travel a lot, but I have never traveled to Asia before. So, I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to continue improving my perspective as a professor. It has been exciting to expose myself to the actual Korean version of everything, not Koreatown in the States. Besides, I am currently learning Korean and getting accustomed to the culture. The experience in Korea has been very beneficial for me, and I am sincerely enjoying it.

Q5: Could you explain the advantages of teaching students in Mason Korea that you experienced?

A: I’ve been teaching Mason Korea students for a few years now. I think that the students seem to be more interested in and energetic than I was teaching them virtually in Fairfax, as Mason Korea has strengthened its programs. I also think that it is an advantage to be very hands-on with the development of the program even more because the Data Science course programs are new here. Also, working with the majority of Korean students provides me with a new perspective on how to teach in a way that is more inclusive to people of different language backgrounds.

Q6: Could you explain the difficulties of teaching students in Mason Korea that you experienced?

A: I would say the difficulty in teaching students at Mason Korea is that the learning style is different here, much more instruction-based. Students are taught to follow a setlist of procedures and would be less creative in the process. For me, in Data Analysis, there should be the open-ended aspect of the analysis to see if you can find anything. That seems to be more of a difficulty where I have to give students the confidence to guess and try stuff out and see if it works. Moreover, another challenge I have had is trying not to use many idioms when I choose complicated ideas, for making communication go on smoothly, though I usually speak using many idioms and expressions as an American.

Q7: Do you have any messages you want to deliver to students studying CDS courses?

A: All of you are doing a great job. Keep up the excellent work. I am happy to be working with everybody. If somebody is interested in CDS or has any questions, my office door is always open, and you can always email me, no matter what courses you are taking now. I am happy to set up meetings even if you are not one of my students. I am very open to talking to people curious about CDS in any way.

During the interview with The Voice, Dr. Colchao shared his experiences how he had interests in Data Science, Machine Learning, Predictive Analysis, and other fields, and how he became a professor enthusiastically. Professor Colchao enjoys teaching in Mason Korea, and living in Korea based on the experience of growing up in Koreatown. Although he has some difficulties giving students confidence in being more creative, he feels students are enthusiastic, which he appreciates. Dr. Colchao conveyed that he is not only growing himself personally a lot as well as growing professionally by working in Mason Korea.

Written by Sunbin Kim | staff writer

Revised by Yu Bin Kwon | Managing Editor