Computation across the curriculum: What skills are needed?

Marcos D Caballero

doi:10.1119/perc.2015.pr.015

Abstract

Computation, the use of a computer to solve, simulate, or visualize a physical problem, has revolutionized how physics research is done. Computation is used widely to model systems, to simulate experiments, and to analyze data. Yet, in most undergraduate programs, students have little formal opportunity to engage with computation and, thus, are left to their own to develop their computational expertise. As part of a larger project to study how computation is incorporated in some undergraduate physics programs (and how it might be incorporated further), we convened a mini-conference and conducted a series of interviews with industry professionals, academic faculty, and employed bachelor's graduates who make use of computation in their everyday work. We present preliminary results that speak to how participants developed the requisite skills to do professional computational work and what skills they perceive are necessary to conduct such work.

Highlights

We present our interpretation of the common computational skills discussed by conference participants and interviewees along with some of the observed nuances
We collected diverse ideas presented by conference and interview participants into several preliminary categories of computational “skills.” As discussed
III), we have taken a broad view of computational skills

Summary

INTRODUCTION

While computation has revolutionized modern science research [1], much of the undergraduate physics curriculum remains as it was in the 1960s [2] – e.g., emphasizing the construction of analytical solutions to long-solved problems. This study makes use of field notes and interviews, and analyzes this data from a phenomenongraphic perspective to represent diversity of participants’ views while seeking coherence among those views [11]. This preliminary study acts as a starting point for developing more concrete curricular and pedagogical structures for teaching computation in physics courses. One-hour interviews were conducted with two employed physics bachelor’s graduates (Britta & Annie), two academic faculty who advise doctoral candidates on computational physics research (Frankie & Jeff), one industry professional (Pierce), and one academic faculty who develops instructional materials for physics courses (Leonard).

ASSUMPTIONS AND METHODS

COMPUTATIONAL SKILLS

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS