Creating a Sustainable High-Performance Scientific Computing Course

Purpose of research. The purpose of the paper is to describe the possibilities of including tasks for the design, development, use and experimental evaluation of “inverted” educational resources in the professional training of future teachers of mathematics and computer science for the development of their subject-methodical readiness. The formation and development of subject-methodical readiness is the main goal of professional training of future lecturers at a pedagogical university. The process of creating “inverted” educational resources requires from their author quite serious subject and methodological training. Potentially, the inclusion of tasks for the design, development, expertise, practical use and evaluation of “inverted” educational resources in the professional training of future teachers of mathematics and computer science can create conditions conducive to the formation of competencies of future teachers to create a comprehensive educational process in a digital environment. Since, on the one hand, in such didactic means, the educational content should be presented systematized and structured, have logic and hierarchical connections. On the other hand, the problematic issues included in the resources should reflect specific subject educational results in accordance with a given taxonomic model in the curriculum.Materials and methods. Based on the analysis of theoretical and methodological sources, the article substantiates the relevance of the problem of finding new ways and means of implementing additional subject training in mathematics and computer science for both schoolchildren and future teachers in the context of digitalization of education. The analysis of examples of “inverted” educational resources, which are the results of the implementation of project tasks by undergraduate students of the Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after V.P. Astafiev, is presented. Through theoretical and methodological substantiation, the main possibilities of including tasks for working with such resources at different stages of professional training of future teachers of mathematics and computer science at a pedagogical university are synthesized.Results. In this study, the problems related to the possibility of including “inverted” educational resources as digital didactic tools in the training programs of future teachers of mathematics and computer science were updated. The authors’ position on the issue of the purpose of such teaching tools in the context of the digitalization of education is presented and substantiated. Examples of the results of the implementation of project tasks by senior students during the 2021-2022 academic year were demonstrated. The key didactic and information technology features, possible tools for creating “inverted” educational resources are given. The definition of the subject-methodical readiness of the future teacher of mathematics and computer science as an essential component of professional readiness is concretized. The possibilities of strengthening subject-methodical training by including tasks for work with “inverted” educational resources are described: analytical – in junior courses when mastering disciplines related to the use of digital technologies in education; project – in the middle courses when mastering methodological disciplines; experimental and expert - in the senior courses when passing industrial (pedagogical) practice and mastering the final disciplines of the professional educational program of higher pedagogical education.Conclusion. On a final note, the results and conclusions obtained in the paper are summarized; the key positions of the authors on the inclusion of “inverted” educational resources in the professional training of future teachers of mathematics and computer science are given. The materials of the article may be of interest to lecturers of pedagogical universities who train future teachers, representatives of schools cooperating with organizations of higher pedagogical education, researchers in the field of digitalization and digital transformation of education.

This article presents two case studies aimed at exploring the use of self-explanations in the context of computational science and engineering (CSE) education. The self-explanations were elicited as students’ in-code comments of a set of worked-examples, and the cases involved two different approaches to CSE education: glass box and black box. The glass-box approach corresponds to a programming course for materials science and engineering students that focuses on introducing programming concepts while solving disciplinary problems. The black-box approach involves the introduction of Python-based computational tools within a thermodynamics course to represent disciplinary phenomena. Two semesters of data collection for each case study allowed us to identify the effect of using in-code comments as a self-explanation strategy on students’ engagement with the worked-examples and students’ perceptions of these activities within each context. The results suggest that the use of in-code comments as a self-explanation strategy increased students’ awareness of the worked-examples while engaging with them. The students’ perceived uses of the in-code commenting activities include: understanding the example, making a connection between the programming code and the disciplinary problem, and becoming familiar with the programming language syntax, among others.

This panel will discuss the various programs of the National Science Foundation dealing with Computer Science Education and Research. These include programs on basic research in computer science, research in computer science education and various programs designed to increase the quality of science education, especially where computers can plan a significant role in the educational process.

Little is known about how K-12 Computer Science (CS) teachers use technology and problem-based learning (PBL) to teach CS content in the context of CS Principles curricula. Significantly, little qualitative research has been conducted in these areas in computer science education, so we lack an in-depth understanding of the complicated realities of CS teachers' experiences. This paper describes the practices and experiences of six teachers' use of technology that was implemented to support PBL in the context of a dual enrollment CS Principles course.

In the quest to study and deliver Computer Science (CS) education reform, attention to gate-keeping teacher characteristics is imperative. Broad research in teacher education has demonstrated that teacher dispositions are an important driver of teacher motivation, professional choices, and classroom practices. Identification and measurements of teacher dispositions enables further analysis of how teacher beliefs may support or hinder effective practice in CS instruction, how teacher populations may differ, and how identified dispositions may change with exposure to various CS learning experiences. We analyzed 17 key documents produced by 12 national CS organizations using a grounded theory methodology to identify desirable attitudes and beliefs associated with CS and the CS education reform movement. The documents included standards, corporate research reports, advocacy tools for CS education, and organizational documents of professional associations for CS and CS Education. The analysis yielded several important dispositional targets for description and measurement in the area of teacher attitudes and beliefs. An analysis of 98 coded segments related to dispositions yielded consensus attitudes and beliefs. Professional documents in CS highlight an equity orientation, a teacher growth mindset, and identify key beliefs regarding (career) outcomes and epistemology of CS. It is possible, based on this analysis, to create a profile of a teacher who demonstrates the attitudes and beliefs of a reform-aligned CS teacher, the CS "Champion''. Instrument development along these factors is an important next step towards unlocking the analytical power of teacher attitudes and beliefs.

Combinatorial Scientific Computing explores the latest research on creating algorithms and software tools to solve key combinatorial problems on large-scale high-performance computing architectures. It includes contributions from international researchers who are pioneers in designing software and applications for high-performance computing systems. The book offers a state-of-the-art overview of the latest research, tool development, and applications. It focuses on load balancing and parallelization on high-performance computers, large-scale optimization, algorithmic differentiation of numerical simulation code, sparse matrix software tools, and combinatorial challenges and applications in large-scale social networks. The authors unify these seemingly disparate areas through a common set of abstractions and algorithms based on combinatorics, graphs, and hypergraphs. Combinatorial algorithms have long played a crucial enabling role in scientific and engineering computations and their importance continues to grow with the demands of new applications and advanced architectures. By addressing current challenges in the field, this volume sets the stage for the accelerated development and deployment of fundamental enabling technologies in high-performance scientific computing.

This paper explores the potential of virtual education options to fulfill policies designed to broaden participation in computer science (CS) education. Virtual education platforms inherently offer access to a wider range of students than traditional brick-and-mortar schools. Access does not preclude the various socio-economic challenges to engaging these platforms, but this format could be used to mitigate barriers to reaching groups of students that have historically been marginalized in CS courses. In 2019, Georgia passed legislation that requires all middle and high schools to offer CS courses by 2025. The legislation also allowed for virtual courses to satisfy the requirement. While the legislation is intent on broadening participation in CS education, it specifically incorporates a virtual option, making it novel among similar legislative actions across the country. In this context, we examine whether virtual CS courses increase access for marginalized student populations. As such, we explore (1) to what extent do the disparities in CS education found in brick-and-mortar classrooms also appear in virtual settings and (2) to what extent is there an association between modality and rurality on CS course enrollment. Using district enrollment data from 2012 to 2019 for CS courses in Georgia, we calculated the percentage of students in marginalized groups that enrolled in physical courses across the state compared to the percentage enrolled in statewide virtual courses to illuminate existing disparities in enrollment. We conducted this analysis at the district level to highlight variability in representative disparity and the underlying structural differences that might contribute to these disparities. Our analysis provides insight that incorporates the different levels of representative disparity districts have overall. As an early adopter of virtual CS education, the Georgia model provides valuable information for states interested in policies to broaden participation in CS courses.

Background & Context Continuously developing teachers’ knowledge, practice, and professional identity is one of the key standards for effective computer science (CS) teachers. Objective This study aims to understand the landscape of CS teachers in the United States, the professional identity they hold, and how their background and teaching context are associated with their CS teacher identity. Method Using data of 3540 teachers, we performed a two-step cluster analysis to reveal homogeneous subgroups of CS teachers. The relationship between teachers’ backgrounds and their CS teacher identity was also assessed. Findings This study identified four profiles of CS teachers based on their professional identity. . CS teacher identity is strongly associated with teachers’ Computer Science Teachers Association membership, teaching responsibility, teaching experience, and their exposure to CS coursework. Implications More professional support is needed for CS teachers, especially for early-career CS teachers, elementary school teachers, and teachers with multiple responsibilities and little CS background.

This study focuses on gender issues in terms of participation, achievement and duration of studies at the Tertiary level of education in Computer Science and Engineering (CS&E). For this reason, 1957 degrees earned by Computer Engineers were studied. These diplomas cover a 21 year period of graduation at the Computer Engineering and Informatics Department (CEID), University of Patras, Greece. The analysis of the data shows that: a) male graduate students outnumbered the female ones by three to one, b) in terms of achievement, no significant differences exist between male and female graduate computer engineers, and c) female students complete their studies earlier than their male counterparts.

K-12 computer science education utilizes a variety of tools and resources that make significant contributions. Tools such as unplugged computer science tools, block-based computer science tools, text-based computer science tools, physical computer science tools, robotic kits, artificial intelligence, etc. have an important place in K-12 computer science education. It is crucial to incorporate computer science instruction into the basic courses of K-12 students, as well as to incorporate these tools into the curriculum. Worldwide resources have a significant impact on the enrichment and dissemination of K-12 computer science education. The content and resources created by platforms like Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE), etc. contribute significantly to K-12 computer science education. Websites such as K-12 Computer Science, CS for ALL, Teach Computing, Code.org, Scratch, etc. are also important platforms that have become learning communities in computer science education.

Text mining has been successfully used to discover interesting patterns and extract useful information from analyzing massive text data exists on the internet, books and other text sources. Computer science education has become an initiative for The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the United States. Finding the right tools and technologies that can support that initiative and help students succeed and do well while studying computer science is a plus. Although the literature is rich with research for computer science education, there is no clear guide on the use of learning theories to design educational games to teach computer science. Text mining can analyze the literature to find trends for designing educational games for computer science education, in addition to identifying existing gaps. The paper presents the results from analyzing 204 papers to discover the current state of research related to computer science education, using Voyant, a text mining tool. Analysis of results should provide an insight on how learning theories have been considered/used in computer science education and guide future research through identifying what learning theories need to be considered in designing educational games to teach computer science topics, such as data structures.

Online training has been growing in popularity, and offers many advantages for both trainers and learners. Assessing the usage and impact of online material can be difficult, especially if content is made available to anyone and is not part of a course requiring formal enrollment. The Cornell Virtual Workshop (CVW) first offered online training on topics in high-performance computing and computational science in 1994, and ten years ago we began logging usage. We are now performing our first in-depth analysis of those log data to identify patterns in usage, so that we can better understand how users access the material, which types of topics and materials result in the greatest impact, how topic usage changes over time, and what types of presentation format might be preferred. While the CVW is built around a cohesive, sequential narrative for each training topic, we find that many users access our content in a more targeted fashion, suggesting that we rethink how we package our material. We anticipate that ongoing analysis using data science and machine learning methods will enable us to produce more useful training materials, and provide the educational community with valuable information about patterns in online material usage.

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Attracting and Retaining Women in Computer Science and Engineering: Evaluating the Results Abstract Computer science and engineering communities have been exploring a variety of activities and techniques to attract and retain more students, especially women and minorities, to computer science and computer engineering degree programs1. This paper briefly describes the efforts and results of a plan for actively recruiting young women into undergraduate computer engineering and computer science programs hosted by the University of North Texas (UNT). It also describes a series of activities aimed at improving the retention rate of students already in our programs, particularly during the freshman year. Such recruitment and retention efforts are critical to the country’s efforts to increase the number of engineering professionals, and are a priority for the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Department at UNT. We initially designed a three-part plan to achieve our recruitment and retention goals: • Sponsorship of portable and mobile summer computer engineering robotics camps for middle and high-school women students, coordinating with the regional Girl Scouts councils and other organizations to help with the recruitment; • Creation of an Ambassador program using young women currently enrolled in the upper division of current computer science and computer engineering programs as a form of outreach to area high schools and junior colleges; and • Expansion of our successful undergraduate mentoring program by using the Ambassador cohort mentioned above as mentors for incoming freshman and first-year transfer women entering our programs. This paper will focus primarily on the summer camp program and present an analysis of the results we have seen to date after 2 years of camp activities. Results from student surveys and parent surveys will be presented. The paper concludes with recommended changes and improvements in the program, as well as a discussion of adaptations that would create programs suitable for implementation at other institutions as well as programs aimed at a different target population. The three phases previously enumerated each build upon currently accepted educational practices. The robotics summer camp in particular used problem-based learning approaches, similar to those described in The Power of Problem-Based Learning2. This study clearly demonstrates the significant benefits of teaching students how to think by using a problem-based approach. We also developed a mobile laboratory so that the summer camp can be held at several locations, thus broadening and expanding the reach of the camps to traditionally underserved populations and geographical regions. Similarly, both the ambassador and mentoring programs derive from research showing how the recruitment and retention of women in engineering- related fields can be increased by providing opportunities to develop student-to-student relationships3, 4.

Computer science is a higher education domain that still show a significant male dominance. Many research studies have highlighted the importance of diversity and gender balance in computer science related areas such as software engineering and system development. However, there is still a well-identified problem that university programmes and courses on computer science fail to attract the female audience. The objective of this study is to investigate the concept of gender-inclusive computer science (CS) education with the aim of broadening participation in CS courses and programs. This is conducted through a literature study, initially focusing on keywords and research areas, and subsequently searching into existing research. The research question that guided the study was: "What concepts can be found in literature to make computer science education more gender-inclusive?". Data were analysed thematically in a two-step analysis process inspired by the grounded theory methods of Open coding and Axial coding. Findings suggest that there is significant room for learning in this field, particularly from Critical CS education studies. The Open coding analysis showed that the findings can be categorised into eight main themes. In the Axial coding the themes were merged, refined, renamed, and centred around the main axial theme of 'Epistemological pluralism'. Other essential themes that all are related to the axial main theme were: 'Design and creativity', 'Bias awareness and ethics', 'Collaboration and communication', 'Self-regulated learning', 'Real-world applications', and 'Role models and mentorship'. The result of this study is presented through a visual model that illustrates essential aspects of inclusive computer science education. The paper also proposes various directions for future research.

This panel will report the results of a workshop and symposium on the technological literacy of undergraduates convened at the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) on March 26-27, 2007. The NAE advocates that all Americans become more knowledgeable about technology. Here technological literacy is defined as the broad understanding of all types of technological devices and process not just computers. The opportunity to utilize undergraduate education to further technological literacy of all students must not be neglected. Educators in computer science, engineering and technology have a responsibility to educate all students not just those intending technical careers. Despite the need for all Americans to become technologically literate, technical literacy is not likely to gain wide acceptance until the scholarly community develops standard courses that are supported by textbooks and other course materials. This National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored workshop sought to identify and define several models of technological literacy courses. In this FIE panel, short presentations about these models will be made by participants in the NAE/NSF symposium. This will be followed by a discussion with the audience. A goal of the discussion will be to seek the input from FIE participants on the technological literacy course models.