A Daniel Webster College professor was recently named recipient of an $80,000 curriculum grant from Microsoft.

Dr. Thomas Goulding was one of six recipients out of a pool of more than 70 applicants awarded the Microsoft-sponsored Computer Gaming Curriculum grant.

Goulding has been with Daniel Webster College since 2000. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. Currently, he is also a nominee for the 2007 Stanley J. Drazek Excellence Award and Teaching Recognition Award from the University of Maryland Graduate School.

For the Microsoft curriculum grant, each applicant submitted a proposal to renovate computer science with gaming themes and technology. Goulding, who serves as the college's chairman of computer science, information systems and gaming simulations and robotics (GSR), submitted stating the decline of college students entering the field of computer science can be reversed by more GSR degrees.

The Microsoft grant will be used during the current and next academic years to develop and refine lab exercises, which will be used during freshmen computer science courses.

In computer science courses at Daniel Webster College, traditional programs have been replaced with a program aimed at recreating a professional software development environment where students are divided into teams to create an intricate game model.

Technology used in GSR software provides the basis for software used in other industries, such as military and defense, factory automation and aviation. Goulding said in a press release.

Students are assessed though lab assignments and performance reviews rather than through papers and exams. At the end of the course, students are surveyed on the self reliance, self confidence, teamwork and work ethic, which is used to evaluate their learning.

Transition from traditional assessment to that of a simulated software development environment has already exceeded his academic expectations, Goulding said. Other educational institutions wishing to recreate the Daniel Webster College computer science educational model will be able to follow its course template.