CyberTraining: CDL: iPDC - Summer Institute for Integrating Parallel and Distributed Computing in Introductory Programming Classes

Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville TN

Investigators

Abstract

The computing landscape has been changed in recent years due to the pervasive shift to multicore and GPU-based computer architectures. The current and future generations of our computing workforce will require the acquisition of a broad parallel and distributed computing (PDC) skill set, to enable the effective utilization of existing and emerging computing devices and cyber infrastructures. The current undergraduate computer science (CS) and computing engineering (CE) curricula, in most cases, do not integrate PDC concepts as required topics. The overall goal of the project is to prepare CS, CE, and Engineering undergraduate students for their future careers in light of this technological shift towards parallelism by improving faculty expertise in PDC through a series of week-long training workshops and by providing them with the resources to integrate PDC topics into introductory programming classes. This will enable the future workforce to contribute effectively in the emerging technological ecosystem, promoting the progress of science and advancing the national health, prosperity and welfare, which serves the national interest, as stated by NSF's mission. Based on the training of the trainer model, this project will be conducting a series of week-long workshops for non PDC CS1 and CS2 instructors through whom the project will be able to reach a larger audience of CS and CE undergraduates. The project will leverage existing PDC educational resources to enact a two-phase plan. The first phase is to conduct a preliminary planning workshop to plan and develop a faculty development workshop and the IPDC toolkit. The IPDC toolkit will be an all-inclusive resource repository for the easy integration of PDC topics in introductory programming class without much effort required from the instructor. In the second phase a series five training workshops will be conducted over three years. These intensive faculty development workshops will include: 1) introduction to PDC concepts, 2) developing parallel programs using libraries and tools like Open MP, Java, and Mat lab, 3) PDC concepts through unplugged activities, 4) hands-on programming modules, 5) access to tools and information beyond the scope of IPDC. Continuous improvement through assessment and evaluation will be an integral part of the project. The projects goal is to reach seventy-five faculty over 3 years period who in turn will introduce PDC concepts and topics to over four thousand undergraduates per year. The participants selected for the project will come from institutions primarily involved in teaching but lack research infrastructure and PDC resources. Beyond the NSF funding cycle, the project will continue to provide online faculty development workshops and mini-workshops, using the IPDC toolkit, at CS and CE education conferences.