An Active Mathematical Software Collection for Inquiry-based Computational Science and Engineering Education

University Of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville TN

Investigators

Abstract

This project is creating an active collection of high-quality numerical software for science and engineering education. It is intended to support a rich, highly interactive, and inquiry-based learning environment needed to enable learners at various levels to master the use of numerical methods and software libraries. The PIs argue that the emergence of scientific computing as a third scientific methodology on par with experimentation and theory-building, is placing increasingly greater demands on the ability of end-users to locate and determine the appropriateness of good algorithms for computing. This NSDL collection is based on Netlib, the on-line repository of choice for numerical software for science and engineering for the past decade and a half. This premier public collection of high quality mathematical software is maintained through the work of experts in the field who both moderate new submissions and organize and catalogue them with appropriate metadata for simple accurate searching. The collection is being extended and enhanced through the integration of two technologies: "NetSolve" and "Repository in a Box". NetSolve makes the Netlib's numerical software directly usable on computational servers over the network from a variety of familiar client interfaces (e.g. Matlab, Mathematica, Fortran, C), without requiring end-user downloads and installation of the software. An adaptive solver interface guides users in selecting appropriate software, in setting parameters correctly, and in interpreting numerical results. This interface is being further extended to provide more detailed feedback to users about the heuristics it uses and the decisions it makes in selecting and parameterizing software to solve a particular problem. The Repository in a Box (RIB) toolkit supports the creation of an interoperable network of software repositories through the use of an IEEE standard for software metadata. It is being used to catalog software from the Netlib collection and its installation on NetSolve servers, so that all project participants can selectively mirror the active software content and contribute to it. RIB's data model is being extended to allow cataloging of additional information about software and related resources, such as teaching modules, evaluations, and user interface modules.