CPATH-1: Asserting Parallel Computational Thinking into Undergraduate 4-year Computer Science Curriculum

University Of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, San Juan PR

Investigators

Abstract

Technological advances enable creation of systems on such large scales that design, analysis, and implementation require expert skills. These skills must include analytical and algorithmic thinking, the ability to abstract complexity, and the capacity to understand concurrency. To strengthen these skills in graduates of the computer science undergraduate program offered at University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras, and to create professionals that are better equipped to face the new professional and academic realities, our program will be redesigned to incorporate Parallel Computational Thinking (PCT) concepts throughout most of its curriculum. The seven members of our faculty will undergo development in Computational Thinking (CT) and parallel concepts. This will empower us to redesign CS core courses by infusing PCT concepts. We will develop assessment tools that will measure student aptitudes and attitudes toward PCT. A parallel computation platform will be implemented locally and access to remote supercomputing centers will be established. Seminars on topics using CT and PCT will be sponsored and open to the general K-20 community. This project represents the first building block for the successful integration of CT into our undergraduate curriculum. Hence it provides a foundation for further growth toward a CT-centric and interdisciplinary Computer Science program. Our efforts will result in an undergraduate program that reflects current computational practice in academia and in the private sector, and that ultimately produces professionals better equipped to tackle technological and scientific challenges. All project activities will be documented and made publicly available through external publications and through the department web page. Therefore our experience will serve as an information source for institutions that consider similar changes to their computer science curricula.