University of Wisconsin-Madison N ATIONAL P ARTNERSHIP FOR A DVANCED C OMPUTATIONAL I NFRASTRUCTURE Pathways from On-campus to Distance Learning of Computational Science “Experiment in progress” by Gregory A. Moses University of Wisconsin-Madison NPACI All-hands Meeting Session S9 February 11, 2000 San Diego, CA Funded by NSF/NPACI and Sloan Foundation

University of Wisconsin-Madison N ATIONAL P ARTNERSHIP FOR A DVANCED C OMPUTATIONAL I NFRASTRUCTURE Obstacles to Distance Learning Rewards No incentive for faculty to do it. Time Faculty see their time better spent elsewhere. Fear Foreign concept to faculty. Camera shy. Combativeness Administrators want it badly. So faculty do not.

University of Wisconsin-Madison N ATIONAL P ARTNERSHIP FOR A DVANCED C OMPUTATIONAL I NFRASTRUCTURE Obstacles to Distance Learning Cost ‘System’ not designed to handle it. Support No one to solve difficult problems. Add your favorite item to the list.

University of Wisconsin-Madison N ATIONAL P ARTNERSHIP FOR A DVANCED C OMPUTATIONAL I NFRASTRUCTURE Alternate path: Do it on campus first. Case study in progress Goal: Improve undergrad performance in beginning computational science course. Content of CS 310 at U. Wisconsin-Madison Tools: Excel, Maple, Matlab Methods: root finding, symbolic computation, interpolation, integration, linear systems, ODE’s, eigenvalues.

University of Wisconsin-Madison N ATIONAL P ARTNERSHIP FOR A DVANCED C OMPUTATIONAL I NFRASTRUCTURE Educational technology enables a new feature. Reverse lecture-homework paradigm. Before Two large lectures per week on methods One lab per week on tools Homework at home After Lecture modules at home via the web (eTEACH) One discussion per week on tools One supervised lab per week for homework

University of Wisconsin-Madison N ATIONAL P ARTNERSHIP FOR A DVANCED C OMPUTATIONAL I NFRASTRUCTURE Timeline Fall 1999 Traditional format Spring 2000 Traditional format, with …. All lecture materials in electronic form Summer 2000 Prepare eTEACH presentations in modules Build discussion classroom in team interaction layout Fall 2000 Teach using revised format and facilities Formal evaluation by LEAD Center

University of Wisconsin-Madison N ATIONAL P ARTNERSHIP FOR A DVANCED C OMPUTATIONAL I NFRASTRUCTURE Our real test for on-campus to distance learning pathway Sloan Professional Masters Degree in Computational Science