Testing the waters
Students dive into math and computer science
By Anne Gibson Ph.D. '95 Photo by Rob Carlin
The water is fine in Clark's new Diving into Math and Computer Science Research Seminars, now in their second year. You don't have to be a math or computer science major--or even have experience with computer programming--to participate. This course is for any Clarkie (first-year students especially welcome) who wants to develop the logical thinking skills characteristic of math and computer science and apply them to a variety of problems.
Perhaps you remember as a kid trying to solve a tangram, an ancient Chinese puzzle consisting of seven geometric shapes that can be configured to replicate a variety of silhouettes. Imagine trying to program a computer to perform the same task. That's one of the problems that challenged students in professor Li Han's 2005-06 Diving into Research seminar.
Han's research specialty is robotics, and she set her students to explore motion planning, which involves moving a system from its current configuration in space to a different configuration. The "system" could be as relatively simple as a tangram, or as complex as a surgical robot or an unfolding strand of protein.
Han emphasizes the broad applicability of math and computer science experience. "Computer applications are everywhere," she explains. "Computation is used throughout all fields. If students can get some experience and learn some computation skills, it will help them even if they decide to pursue other fields. Then they can work with computer scientists because they have a common language by which to communicate."
Skills in problem solving
In fact, a key objective of Diving into Math and Computer Science Research is to show students that exposure to mathematics and computer science can provide them with the skills to solve problems in a wide range of fields. For example, professor Ping Xuan, whose research area is artificial intelligence, challenged his students to think like trading agents. A trading agent is a computer program that acts on online markets on behalf of one or more clients, trying to satisfy their preferences. Xuan explains that this kind of application can be designed to arrange travel plans, manage an investment portfolio, handle online auctions--even do everyday shopping.
Professors Lee Rudolph's and Jerry Breecher's students are grappling with problem solving in psychology and sound, respectively. Rudolph's students are looking at how new kinds of geometry can be used to help psychologists understand and model "emotion space" which can range from the ways adults react to whining children to why even very simple cartoons can convey happiness, sadness or anger.
Breecher's students, most of whom have some music experience, are experimenting with how sounds are generated, recorded, stored and played by a computer. For Breecher, the Diving into Research seminars exemplify Clark's emphasis on learning through inquiry.
"Clark talks about students getting involved in research and hands-on learning," Breecher notes. "This course is perfect for that, and for bringing it to first-year students."
One of those first-year students, Sara Greenberg '09, says the course "can be a really good learning tool, because you’re active and you're getting involved in the subject material." Now a sophomore, Greenberg is planning to major in environmental science and policy.
Because many of the students in Diving into Math and Computer Science Research have little or no programming experience, the emphasis of the course is more on understanding how to solve a problem than on learning a particular programming language.
Xuan explains that the steps needed to solve a problem must be thought through before coding can begin. "That's what I tell my students," says Xuan. "The program is inside your head. It's not something that you can just type out when you're sitting in front of the computer."
Relevance of math and computer science
Xuan explains that the Diving into Math and Computer Science Research seminars were developed, in part, as a response to a nationwide trend in declining enrollment in computer science.
"Part of the reason is the breakdown of the software industry and the dot-com bust, explains Xuan. A lot of students have hesitated about choosing computer science. Would they face massive layoffs in the future?"
By demonstrating the relevance of math and computer science skills to a wide range of fields, the department hopes that the Diving into Research seminars will help boost enrollment in related courses.
Several students from the 2005-06 seminars returned to participate again this year. Monty Kaplan '09, who first took Xuan's seminar and is now exploring sound in Breecher's course, says participation in these courses has helped him.
"Having the experience in this course gives me the confidence to try to solve other problems in other courses--to think about things and plan them out," Kaplan explains.
Premed student James Wilson '09 understands the relevance of math and computer science skills to the medical field. There are direct applications, such as biostatistics and motion planning," he notes. "A lot of pharmaceutical research involves computer modeling. Right now my plan is just to be a doctor, but a background in math shows you can analyze situations well." Wilson took Han's seminar last year and is in Rudolph's course this semester.
Reducing research anxiety
Diving into Math and Computer Science faculty want to reduce the anxiety students often feel when wading into the unknown waters of research. To this end the course is conducted on a pass/fail basis and spread out over the course of a full academic year. Students meet once a week and earn a half credit per semester. Enrollment to date has averaged about six students per course, insuring individual attention and an opportunity for students to share ideas in a more intimate setting.
Computer science major Ihar Valodzin '07 had been assisting Rudolph and Han with their research for a summer when Han asked if he would be interested in being a group leader in her Diving into Research seminar. Valodzin agreed.
"With the small class size, we were able to give students personalized tasks and make interesting content for them to work with," he notes. We tried to stimulate their interest in research and the fields of math and computer science in general. It was very interesting--it wasn't mundane work. The students got to do research in certain areas and in the end apply it to a hands-on project."
To emphasize the broad applicability of math and computer science skills, Breecher suggests a metaphor: "Software engineering is life engineerin. It's all about taking a big problem and breaking it down."
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