57,308 research outputs found
Pervasive Parallel And Distributed Computing In A Liberal Arts College Curriculum
We present a model for incorporating parallel and distributed computing (PDC) throughout an undergraduate CS curriculum. Our curriculum is designed to introduce students early to parallel and distributed computing topics and to expose students to these topics repeatedly in the context of a wide variety of CS courses. The key to our approach is the development of a required intermediate-level course that serves as a introduction to computer systems and parallel computing. It serves as a requirement for every CS major and minor and is a prerequisite to upper-level courses that expand on parallel and distributed computing topics in different contexts. With the addition of this new course, we are able to easily make room in upper-level courses to add and expand parallel and distributed computing topics. The goal of our curricular design is to ensure that every graduating CS major has exposure to parallel and distributed computing, with both a breadth and depth of coverage. Our curriculum is particularly designed for the constraints of a small liberal arts college, however, much of its ideas and its design are applicable to any undergraduate CS curriculum
Developing High Performance Computing Resources for Teaching Cluster and Grid Computing courses
High-Performance Computing (HPC) and the ability to process large amounts of data are of
paramount importance for UK business and economy as outlined by Rt Hon David Willetts
MP at the HPC and Big Data conference in February 2014. However there is a shortage of
skills and available training in HPC to prepare and expand the workforce for the HPC and
Big Data research and development. Currently, HPC skills are acquired mainly by students
and staff taking part in HPC-related research projects, MSc courses, and at the dedicated
training centres such as Edinburgh University’s EPCC. There are few UK universities teaching
the HPC, Clusters and Grid Computing courses at the undergraduate level. To address the
issue of skills shortages in the HPC it is essential to provide teaching and training as part of
both postgraduate and undergraduate courses. The design and development of such courses is
challenging since the technologies and software in the fields of large scale distributed systems
such as Cluster, Cloud and Grid computing are undergoing continuous change. The students
completing the HPC courses should be proficient in these evolving technologies and equipped
with practical and theoretical skills for future jobs in this fast developing area.
In this paper we present our experience in developing the HPC, Cluster and Grid modules
including a review of existing HPC courses offered at the UK universities. The topics covered in
the modules are described, as well as the coursework projects based on practical laboratory work.
We conclude with an evaluation based on our experience over the last ten years in developing
and delivering the HPC modules on the undergraduate courses, with suggestions for future work
Англійська мова для студентів електромеханічних спеціальностей
Навчальний посібник розрахований на студентів напряму підготовки
6.050702 Електромеханіка. Містить уроки, що структуровані за тематичними
розділами, граматичний коментар, короткі англо-український і українсько-
англійський словники та додатки, які спрямовані на закріплення загальних
навичок володіння англійською мовою. Акцентований на ɨсобливості
термінології, що застосовується у науково-технічній галузі, зокрема, в
електромеханіці та виконання запропонованих завдань, що буде сприяти
формуванню навичок перекладу з англійської та української мов, сприйняттю
письмової та усної англійської мови, вмінню письмового викладення
англійською мовою науково-технічних та інших текстів під час професійної
діяльності, спілкуванню з професійних та загальних питань тощо
Improving the Quality of Technology-Enhanced Learning for Computer Programming Courses
Teaching computing courses is a major challenge for the majority of lecturers in Libyan higher learning institutions. These courses contain numerous abstract concepts that cannot be easily explained using traditional educational methods. This paper describes the rationale, design, development and implementation stages of an e-learning package (including multimedia resources such as simulations, animations, and videos) using the ASSURE model. This training package can be used by students before they attend practical computer lab sessions, preparing them by developing technical skills and applying concepts and theories presented in lecture through supplementary study and exercises
An Introduction to Programming for Bioscientists: A Python-based Primer
Computing has revolutionized the biological sciences over the past several
decades, such that virtually all contemporary research in the biosciences
utilizes computer programs. The computational advances have come on many
fronts, spurred by fundamental developments in hardware, software, and
algorithms. These advances have influenced, and even engendered, a phenomenal
array of bioscience fields, including molecular evolution and bioinformatics;
genome-, proteome-, transcriptome- and metabolome-wide experimental studies;
structural genomics; and atomistic simulations of cellular-scale molecular
assemblies as large as ribosomes and intact viruses. In short, much of
post-genomic biology is increasingly becoming a form of computational biology.
The ability to design and write computer programs is among the most
indispensable skills that a modern researcher can cultivate. Python has become
a popular programming language in the biosciences, largely because (i) its
straightforward semantics and clean syntax make it a readily accessible first
language; (ii) it is expressive and well-suited to object-oriented programming,
as well as other modern paradigms; and (iii) the many available libraries and
third-party toolkits extend the functionality of the core language into
virtually every biological domain (sequence and structure analyses,
phylogenomics, workflow management systems, etc.). This primer offers a basic
introduction to coding, via Python, and it includes concrete examples and
exercises to illustrate the language's usage and capabilities; the main text
culminates with a final project in structural bioinformatics. A suite of
Supplemental Chapters is also provided. Starting with basic concepts, such as
that of a 'variable', the Chapters methodically advance the reader to the point
of writing a graphical user interface to compute the Hamming distance between
two DNA sequences.Comment: 65 pages total, including 45 pages text, 3 figures, 4 tables,
numerous exercises, and 19 pages of Supporting Information; currently in
press at PLOS Computational Biolog
Effects of Automated Interventions in Programming Assignments: Evidence from a Field Experiment
A typical problem in MOOCs is the missing opportunity for course conductors
to individually support students in overcoming their problems and
misconceptions. This paper presents the results of automatically intervening on
struggling students during programming exercises and offering peer feedback and
tailored bonus exercises. To improve learning success, we do not want to
abolish instructionally desired trial and error but reduce extensive struggle
and demotivation. Therefore, we developed adaptive automatic just-in-time
interventions to encourage students to ask for help if they require
considerably more than average working time to solve an exercise. Additionally,
we offered students bonus exercises tailored for their individual weaknesses.
The approach was evaluated within a live course with over 5,000 active students
via a survey and metrics gathered alongside. Results show that we can increase
the call outs for help by up to 66% and lower the dwelling time until issuing
action. Learnings from the experiments can further be used to pinpoint course
material to be improved and tailor content to be audience specific.Comment: 10 page
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