Integrating Parallel and Distributed Computing in Early Computing Classes

Parallel and distributed computing (PDC) has become pervasive in all aspects of computing, so it is essential that students include parallelism and distribution in the computational thinking that they apply to problem solving, from the very beginning of their computing education. With all computing devices that students use currently having multiple cores as well as a GPU in many cases, many students' favorite applications use multiple cores and/or distributed processors. However, we are still teaching them to solve problems using only sequential thinking. Why?

This hands-on workshop will demonstrate how easy it is to open students' eyes to exploiting concurrency in problem solving. You will participate in unplugged activities that will help students to recognize examples of PDC concepts and concurrency in the world around them. You will learn how freely available libraries can be used to exploit parallelism using shared memory parallel programming, using both plugged and unplugged activities that are usable in a classroom setting.

No equipment or prior experience is required, but a laptop that can run C++, Java, and Python is recommended for following along with some code examples. The activities and discussion models have been used successfully to teach PDC concepts in early computing courses and will be available after the workshop. Participants will receive a stipend of 400 to defray their cost of registration and one-night hotel stay. The CDER center will also have a booth in the exhibition hall for additional support.