• State of the arts

In an effort to prepare students to solve highly complex problems in all disciplines through the effective use of information technology, Wittenberg’s natural and social science departments and math and computer science departments have joined forces.

The result is the first computational science course titled “Computational Models and Methods.”

The course is a reality thanks to a $10,000 grant from The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges and serves as a first step toward a possible computational science program at Wittenberg.

A five-credit course, the class introduces students to the principles and approaches of computational science, including the understanding, development and use of mathematical models as well as their effective computer implementation.

The course aims to teach students how computing and mathematics can be used for modeling in the sciences and related disciplines. At present, 15 students are enrolled in the course, which debuted this spring.

“The idea is that what they learn in this course will apply to other courses, especially in the sciences,” said James Noyes, professor of computer science and computational science program project director.

Designing the actual course and the proposed computational science program required faculty members from six departments (biology, chemistry, computer science, geology, physics and psychology) to produce two to four models from their respective disciplines using a detailed set of modeling guidelines and documentation standards.

Faculty members included Noyes, Margaret Goodman, assistant professor of biology, Amil Anderson, associate professor of chemistry, John Ritter, associate professor of geology, William Dollhopf, associate professor of physics, and Clifford Brown, professor of psychology.

Computational science models proposed include biology and genetics, chemistry and biochemistry, geology and environmental science, physics and engineering, and psychology and human factors.

Periodic meetings and review sessions allowed the group to fine-tune each model and determine the pilot course topics.

Final syllabus topics include the study of science, an introduction to computational science, problem-solving paradigm, elements of modeling, characteristics of models, analysis of errors, use of Mathematica (copyright symbol), and data presentation and visualization, among others.

Currently, all students must take one mathematical reasoning-intensive course at part of the University’s core curriculum. However, Noyes noted that not all of the natural science majors are required to take mathematics courses, and even fewer are required to enroll in computer science courses.

As a result, it is possible for some natural science majors to graduate from Wittenberg with limited computing experience, particularly in the areas of modeling and simulation.

Conversely, computer science majors, who have sufficient background in both computing and mathematics, often lack experience in modeling and solving scientific problems.

“Courses like the above, plus additional ‘computational components’ being added to the regular science courses can help rectify that situation,” Noyes, said.

Upon completion of the pilot test course, the course materials, syllabi, lesson plans, modeling exercises, assessment results and proposed computational science program will be shared with other colleges via Wittenberg’s World Wide Web site.

The pilot program could demonstrate how a small, liberal arts college could begin an integrated computational science program.

Because of Web access to the materials, the proposed program could also foster inter-institutional collaboration in using course materials, scientific models and other resources.