Learning Dynamic Systems Through The Help Of Computer Programming

Dynamic systems are not easily understood by students entering college due to complexity of underlying concepts, which are frequently stated but not understood in early mathematics and science courses. Moreover, students majoring in disciplines other than computer science, such as biology or finance, are usually resistant to taking computing courses and view them as irrelevant to their field of study. On the other hand, it is nowadays practically impossible to study, understand, and analyze dynamic systems without help of computers. Computation for Science and Engineering (CompSE) is an introductory computer programming course that will be offered in the Spring 2010 with the new curriculum that is anticipated to attract STEM students to computation fields. The CompSE introduces programming concepts through study of dynamic systems taken from various fields such as finance, molecular biology, and environmental science. Moreover, CompSE introduces students to using computer programming and simulation to analyze systems that are hard or almost impossible to understand and model using only analytical methods. This course is expected to increase students’ interest in multi-disciplinary studies, which include computation and programming.