Tasfia Mashiat, Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Computer Science, has been accepted into the Scholarly Teaching Program. The program recognizes faculty members committed to advancing the practice and scholarship of teaching and learning.
Mashiat earned her B.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering from Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET) in Bangladesh, before going on to complete her M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from George Mason University, where she studied under doctoral advisor Professor Sanmay Das.
Her research focuses on algorithmic fairness and AI for social good, with an emphasis on equitable algorithmic decision-making in societal resource allocation contexts such as homeless service delivery systems and eviction risk mitigation.
Before pursuing her doctorate, Mashiat served as Full-Time Teaching Faculty at Eastern University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. During her doctoral studies, she worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for several undergraduate and graduate courses at George Mason University's Computer Science department, earning the department's "Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant" award — a recognition that reflects her longstanding dedication to student success and effective instruction.
Her acceptance into the Scholarly Teaching Program continues that tradition, underscoring her commitment to not only advancing computer science research, but to fostering meaningful and equitable learning experiences for her students.
Dr. Mashiat is currently teaching Database Systems, as well as a CS:3980 (Topics in CS) course on Ethics in Computer Science. She will be teaching CS:1210 CS I: Fundamentals over the summer. In the fall she will be teaching Principals of Computing, Database Systems, and the first iteration of our new course: CS:1500 Computing, Ethics, and Society.
The Scholarly Teaching Program is a learning community designed to support teaching-focused faculty to attend a teaching conference. Participants will develop as scholarly teachers by engaging in peer discussion and exploring literature on evidence-based teaching practices within and beyond their disciplines. The program will also offer faculty opportunities to reflect on and enhance their teaching practices and materials while building a network of colleagues on campus and beyond.