There are, unfortunately,
no instructors available at this time for the courses. Limited technical
or other support is available via email. Civic-minded corporations that
might be interested in sponsoring this course should contact a staff
member at the Shodor Foundation.
Portland State University
recently contracted Shodor to use the Braille materials to create an
online textbook. The PSU Braille course will combine all three courses
into a single yearlong course.
Computational Atmospheric
Sciences
http://www.shodor.org/os411
This series of six sequential
courses was funded for development by the Air Pollution Training Institute
(APTI), an organization run by North Carolina State University under
contract to the Environmental Protection Agency. APTI contracted Shodor
to develop this comprehensive curriculum to prepare professionals to
work in the field of air quality modeling. In the typical "Shodorific"
manner, these courses were designed in such a way so they could be used
and understood by many others outside of the specialized field of air
quality modeling. Many of the models in these courses are also available
as part of the MASTER tool set.
Parts of these six courses
are now also being used as material for air quality modeling workshops
for middle- and high school teachers. Two pilot workshops were given
at East Carolina University and UNC-Asheville; based upon the success
of those workshops a new $25,000 proposal has been submitted to the
EPA to run the workshop six times across the state of North Carolina.
Materials for this workshop can be viewed at http://www.shodor.org/talks/aqm/.
Computational Chemistry
for Chemistry Educators
http://www.shodor.org/compchem
This fifteen-session course
on the technologies, techniques, and tools of computational chemistry
gives educators the opportunity to study chemistry in a manner different
from traditional teaching and education in chemistry. Most computational
chemistry studies are concerned with the area of quantum chemistry:
describing the chemical properties and behaviors of atoms and molecules.
This course is designed for enrichment for students and teachers of
students in advanced high-school chemistry, community college chemistry
courses, and undergraduate study at small colleges.
Chemistry Fundamentals
http://www.shodor.org/unchem/
Funded by the chemistry department
at UNC-Chapel Hill, this course offers a review of high school level
chemistry. The original goal of the program was to provide an introduction
or a review to freshman chemistry students on the basic mathematical
skills required to be successful in freshman chemistry. In addition,
the materials worked to introduce or review basic skills in the use
of a calculator.
Evaluations suggested that,
while the mathematics and calculator sections were useful, one of the
most appreciated benefits of the materials was the review of basic high
school chemistry. While maintaining the reviews of mathematics and calculator
fundamentals, the course was significantly expanded to review basic
chemistry. In addition, a number of advanced sections on the use of
numerical methods in chemistry were added.
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS
National Computational
Science Institute (NCSI)
http://www.shodor.org/scsi
Although NCSI is the newest
project pending at Shodor, it is the oldest in terms of the concept
it supports. Initially, Shodor was founded to train teachers and faculty
in computational modeling methods so they could in turn teach their
students these methods (think tetrahedron). NCSI is the planned expansion
of a smaller program, the Shodor Computational Science Institute, SCSI,
into a nationwide pedagogical effort.
The SCSI Project supports
teams of faculty at small-to-medium sized colleges and universities
to work together to enhance their professional standing through the
wider use of mathematical modeling and the tools of computational science
in their classrooms. This focus on modeling enables faculty to learn
computational science and how to teach it in engaging and enriching
interactive environments, incorporating the same tools, techniques and
technologies that characterize the modern practice of science and engineering.
Continuous support and follow-up, materials development, access to high
performance computing and visualization resources, and evaluation will
be coordinated and enabled by using collaborative tools and electronic
networks.
The NCSI Project is similar
to SCSI but larger in scope. Pending finalization of funding from the
National Science Foundation, NCSI will provide multiple workshops nationwide,
promote computational science and dozens of national discipline and
society meetings, and extend the number of online training opportunities
in computational science.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
If you are intrigued about numerical modeling in science and mathematics
education or have further questions regarding Shodor, please contact
the Foundation at (919) 286-1911. Shodor staff members are always responsive
to inquisitive people and proud to show off the Foundation. Most importantly,
Shodor is concerned with quality education and welcomes the sharing
of new ideas to involve modeling and visualization methods in education.
Please feel free to contact us or make an appointment to stop in and
visit.
· Dr. Robert M. Panoff,
Executive Director, Quantum Physics
rpanoff@shodor.org
· Robert Gotwals,
Computational Chemistry
rgotwals@shodor.org
· Dr. Dave Joiner,
Astrophysics
djoiner@shodor.org
· Cornelia Simons,
Biological Anthropology
cvmsimons@shodor.org
· Bethany Hudnutt,
Mathematics
· Garrett Love, Engineering
glove@shodor.org
· Kevin Rumsey, Office
Manager and Development
krumsey@shodor.org
· Alton Patrick, Computer
Science
patrickh@shodor.org
