Pathways from Oncampus to Distance Learning of Computational Science

1
Pathways from On-campus to Distance Learning of
Computational Science

• Experiment in progress
• by Gregory A. Moses
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• NPACI All-hands Meeting
• Session S9
• February 11, 2000 San Diego, CA
• Funded by NSF/NPACI and Sloan Foundation

2
Obstacles to Distance Learning

• Rewards
• No incentive for faculty to do it.
• Time
• Faculty see their time better spent elsewhere.
• Fear
• Foreign concept to faculty. Camera shy.
• Combativeness
• Administrators want it badly. So faculty do not.

3
Obstacles to Distance Learning

• Cost
• System not designed to handle it.
• Support
• No one to solve difficult problems.
• Add your favorite item to the list.

4
Alternate pathDo it on campus first.Case study
in progress

• Goal Improve undergrad performance in beginning
  computational science course.
• Content of CS 310 at U. Wisconsin-Madison
• Tools Excel, Maple, Matlab
• Methods root finding, symbolic computation,
  interpolation, integration, linear systems,
  ODEs, eigenvalues.

5
Educational technology enables a new feature.

• Reverse lecture-homework paradigm.
• Before
• Two large lectures per week on methods
• One lab per week on tools
• Homework at home
• After
• Lecture modules at home via the web (eTEACH)
• One discussion per week on tools
• One supervised lab per week for homework

6
Timeline

• Fall 1999
• Traditional format
• Spring 2000
• Traditional format, with .
• All lecture materials in electronic form
• Summer 2000
• Prepare eTEACH presentations in modules
• Build discussion classroom in team interaction
  layout
• Fall 2000
• Teach using revised format and facilities
• Formal evaluation by LEAD Center

7
Our real test for on-campus to distance learning
pathway

• Sloan Professional Masters Degree in
  Computational Science