Cordelia Brown

Introducing Parallel Programming in Undergraduate Curriculum

This paper summarizes our experiences and findings in teaching the concepts of parallel computing in two undergraduate programming courses and an undergraduate hardware design course. The first is a junior-senior level elective course Object-Oriented Programming using C++ and Java. The second is a sophomore-level required course on Advanced C Programming. The third course, Introduction to Digital System Design, is also a sophomore-level required course. We will describe how parallel concepts have been integrated in the courses, the assessments, and the results.

Work in progress - educational classroom technology: what works best in the engineering context

Since PowerPoint was introduced in the late 1980s, this presentation software has attracted its share of advocates and detractors, both in industry and academia. Although PowerPoint is widely used, it may not be the best fit for all purposes in the engineering classroom, and there are many other classroom technologies available to supplement or use in place of it. An innovative survey of engineering faculty at a large public research university in the Midwest reveals which educational technologies they use in their classrooms, the reasons for their choices, and any technological limitations they believe need to be addressed to help faculty present instructional content as effectively as possible. Future work may include a review of new and additional technologies available to complement or replace existing educational technology in the engineering classroom.