Search for: All records

We introduce an unplugged activity designed for CS1 students to explore fundamental parallel computing concepts. The activity requires only gridded paper and basic coloring tools, such as pens, markers, crayons, or colored pencils. It was piloted in CS1 courses across six universities, where faculty successfully incorporated the activity into various CS1 curricula taught in different programming languages. Learning outcomes were assessed through surveys and examination of student work product. Student engagement was measured using a survey that evaluated participants’ perceptions of engagement (enjoyment, participation, and focus), understanding (comprehension of the material and computing concepts), and instructor effectiveness (preparedness, enthusiasm, and availability). Qualitative student feedback was favorable, and survey results suggest the activity effectively introduced parallel and distributed computing concepts. 

Not AvailablePeachy Parallel Assignments are assignments on parallel computing topics that have been tested in a classroom, are designed for easy adoption by others, and are “cool and inspirational” for students. They are published so that others can benefit from the authors’ assignment-creation work, raising the overall quality of assignments given in our area while also saving instructors time. The assignments are selected competitively at the Edu* workshops. This article presents two assignments selected for presentation at EduPar 2025: one that has students use the MapReduce framework to resize images using the 2D discrete Fourier transform and one that has them parallelize an agent-based model to simulate a zombie outbreak. 

The Computational Infusion for Missouri Undergraduate Science and Engineering (CIMUSE) consortium has been formed for integrating high-performance computing into the undergraduate curriculum at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs). This consortium is between Missouri Western State University, Southeast Missouri State University, Truman State University, and Webster University. The consortium has received an NSF CC* Regional Grant to purchase an HPC system to be hosted by the University of Missouri – Columbia. The plans, activities, and challenges of the consortium will be described.