STEM AND THE COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE INITIATIVE – Bonnie Sutton (The George Lucas Educational Foundation), Ray Rose (Mentornet), Manorama Talaiver (Institute for Teaching Through Technology & Innovative Practices)

Why are we here? Learn about national, state and local initiatives that are using computational science to make a difference in the K-12 learning community.

PHYSICS: FROM SPREADSHEETS TO CLUSTERS – Robert Panoff (Shodor)

Using a few simple examples, we will explore both the physics of the one to the many, both from the standpoint of the size of the problem to be solved, and the power of the computer to solve that problem. From simple spatial analysis to more complex problems with particles and fields, we will explore the existing space of computational explorations and look ahead to new challenges in education. We will highlight material from the National Science Digital Library (nsdl.org) and its computational and physics pathway portals.

COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY EDUCATION (LEVEL 1, BEGINNER) – Clyde Metz (College of Charleston), Shawn Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University)

This session will introduce two educational paradigms: Computational (Chemistry Education) and (Computational Chemistry) Education. Examples of the two approaches will be discussed and some hands-on exercises that demonstrate these ideas will be provided. Different ways of incorporating computational chemistry into the curriculum will also be covered.

SUPERCOMPUTING IN PLAIN ENGLISH – Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma), Charlie Peck (Earlham College)

Supercomputing is hard. But it can be distilled down to two issues: the storage hierarchy and parallelism. In this talk, we’ll learn the basics of both, using analogies, storytelling and play, rather than jargon and deep technical discussions. In just one hour, we’ll learn everything important about supercomputing, with nothing left out.

INTRODUCING COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE IN THE UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING CURRICLUM – Steve Gordon & Ashok Krishnamurthy (Ohio Supercomputer Center), Steve Stevenson (Clemson University)

This session will review a draft set of competencies in computational science for undergraduate engineers. The competencies are the result of a pathways workshop on computational science and engineering held in April 2008. The competencies were divided into two parts: competencies applying to all engineering disciplines, and those applying to various specialties. The resulting draft competencies will be presented and comments sought from the session participants.

INTRODUCTION TO SCIENTIFIC VISUALIZATION - Jonathan Stuart-Moore (Shodor)

MANY BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS CAN BE TAUGHT FROM DESKTOP TO GRID - Jeff Krause (Shodor)

The practice and practitioners of biology have been changing in the past decade. The development of new measurement technologies has enabled us to gather data on large numbers of components of biological systems in a single experiment. This ability to monitor a significant proportion of the components of a living system has driven biologists to account for behavior at the system level instead of at the level of individual components. Because living systems are among the most complex systems we are aware of, computation has become an essential part of contemporary biology across many areas of study. In this session we will survey contemporary biology by looking at web-based resources that, while often developed for researchers, need to be a part of the education of future biologists.

EDUCATION PANEL: BUILDING ON SUCCESS - Wolfgang Christian (Davidson College), Jeff Krause (Shodor), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma), Susan Ragan (Maryland Virtual High School), Kent Robertson (Shodor), Shawn Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University), Joe Smith (Forest Hills Central High School)

Achieving excellence in an academic endeavor takes time, fortitude, patience and perseverance. In this session, representatives from established and excellent projects and programs will share their outlook on the future and perspectives on success.

PATHWAYS - Paul Gray (SC08 Education Chair, University of Northern Iowa)

One main goal of the SC Education Program is to make a significant impact on our curriculum. Making a significant impact on curriculum requires planning, evaluation, and development. It requires a road map; an identified “pathway” that leads us from where we are to where we would like to be. The purpose of this Pathways session is to examine ongoing Pathways efforts for topics represented here at this SC Education Program, to identify some of the landmarks that have been identified for the journey and to set the stage for continued SC Education Program endeavors. Following this presentation, groups will break to discuss existing and future Pathways efforts within their own topic areas.

K-12 EDUCATION PATHWAYS - Bonnie Sutton (The George Lucas Educational Foundation), Thomas Loughran (University of Notre Dame), Susan Ragan (Maryland Virtual High School)

COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS EDUCATION PATHWAYS – Dave Joiner (Kean University)

COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY EDUCATION PATHWAYS – Clyde Metz (College of Charleston), Shawn Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University)

PARALLEL, DISTRIBUTED & GRID EDUCATION PATHWAYS – Charlie Peck (Earlham College)

ENGINEERING EDUCATION PATHWAYS – Steve Gordon (Ohio Supercomputer Center)

LEARNING & PHYSICAL CHALLENGES PATHWAYS - Robert Panoff (Shodor)

COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY EDUCATION PATHWAYS - Eric Jakobsson (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, National Center for Supercomputing Applications), Jeff Krause (Shodor)