Killer Lab: Flow Simulation and Lead Poisoning Study James Heliotis, Computer Science Carl Lutzer, Mathematics Rochester Institute of Technology

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop2 RIT’s Organization Quarter System Mandatory co-op Shared 1st-year curriculum in computing: Computer Science Computer Engineering Software Engineering

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop3 Our Introductory Course Curriculum: Year 1 CS1: Computing/Programming intro CS2: "Engineering": inheritance, library use, GUI, threads, networking, design patterns CS3: "Computer Science": recursion, time complexity, data structures, design patterns

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop4 Our Introductory Course Curriculum: Year 2 CS4: UML, Design, C++, Team projects SE1: Development Methodology / Process, Larger Project, design patterns

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop5 Learning Communities Pilot program at RIT Small (~20) group of students stick together as a group for several of their courses. Our L.C.: Writing/Lit.(2Q), Calculus(3Q), CS(3Q), First Year Enrichment(2Q)

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop6 Our LC Not a lot of shared curriculum! Coordinated by: Ensuring multiple tests did not occur on the same date Discussing issues with particular students

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop7 Things We Did Together All profs attended showing of movie to be discussed in literature course. Math prof donated initial chapters of fiction novel in progress to be critiqued. CS prof participated in writing an ode to his computer along with his students. Shared project in math and CS courses…

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop8 Calculus Project …One of the principle questions in the community at large is whether people can recover from prolonged exposure to toxic elements. This will be quite impossible unless the body is able to fully flush the toxin from the system. Suppose a community is exposed to high quantities of lead. The lead is absorbed into the body at a rate of 49.3 micrograms per day and is transported to bones, tissues and organs via the blood. …lead is transferred between blood, bone and tissue at a rate that is proportional to the amount present.

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop9 Given Transfer Rates

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop10 The Problem Domain Flow of material through conduits into and out of reservoirs ingestion Blood Bone Tissues sweat glands renal system

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop11 The Analysis Pattern A network of nodes A node represents a reservoir of material. Each edge is a conduit; its weight is the k ij transfer rate. Nodes come in three variations: input input internal internal output output

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop12 How the Project is Structured Students are assigned the project in their Calculus class and begin to solve it. Students are assigned a graph implementation lab in CS. Students are assigned the "blood" project in CS.

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop13 What It Teaches Reinforces graph theory. Graph implementation trade-offs. Graph traversal algorithms. Analysis pattern: Conduits & Reservoirs The Two-Phase Discrete Simulation design pattern: a specialized application of the Template Method

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop14 2-Phase Discrete Simulation For each node n in the graph, do: Compute n's new value based on edges' and neighboring nodes' values. Store n's new value in a temporary area. For each node n in the graph, do: Reveal the new value of n as the true value of n.

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop15 Advantages of a Collaborative Project Students get more exposure to the problem. better comprehension better discussions Learn connection between mathematics and computer science, and the differences in approaches. "Answers" from one project can be checked against those from the other.

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop16 Advantages of a Project in an Application Area Students can relate abstract CS ideas to real-world problems. Students learn the challenge in designing the API for a graph class. Operations needed are heavily dependent on application. Needed operations must be made efficient.

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop17 Possible Additions Add a follow up to that uses the same template method for a different purpose, e.g. digital circuit simulation neural network …

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop18 More Specific Ideas The Geneva NY Splash Park Incident Directed-Graph Epidemiological Models of Computer Viruses J. Kephart, S. White, IBM TJWRC Modeling Functions for Evaluation and Differentiation Just polynomials General functions w/ inheritance, genericity Composite pattern

October 2005Killer Examples Workshop19 Where to find it newproj02/writeup.html newproj02/writeup.html My