CRPC to Share Latest Research and Programs with K-12 Teachers at SC97

Each year at Supercomputing, the CRPC participates in a computational science and math-oriented Education Program that offers K-12 teachers and administrators the opportunity to learn about the latest tools and techniques of high-performance computing and their applications in the classroom. At SC97, the intensive, three-day program begins on November 16 and will focus on "The Role of Technology in Life-long Learning."

Richard Tapia, CRPC Director of Education and Human Resources, and Cynthia Lanius, CRPC Manager of K-12 Programs, served on this year's Education Program Committee to help plan the program's content.

CRPC leaders will share the latest research and educational programs with the K-12 teachers who attend Supercomputing97. Cynthia Lanius, Manager of K-12 Programs, CRPC, will conduct two lab sessions on GirlTECH, a CRPC summer workshop for teachers. In this photo, 1997 GirlTECH/MCSA Workshop participants share ideas on how to encourage minorities and women to pursue mathematics and science careers. From left to right, Lucille Barrera, Bahiyyah El-Amin, workshop co-director Cynthia Lanius, and Isaiah Bromon. The June workshop at Rice University was co-sponsored by the Center for Research on Parallel Computation and the RGK Foundation of Austin, Texas.
(Image by Ewasko)

The SC97 program will consist of more than 50 presentations, workshops, hands-on labs, and panel discussions on such subjects as future educational paradigms, new software, new curricula, computational models, student projects, lesson plans, and more.

Tapia will make a special address on "Orchestrating Mathematical and Computational Sciences Instruction to the Needs of Science and Society." He will discuss the serious national challenges faced by today's educational community, including ineffective K-12 math education, the proper role of the computational sciences and technology in a K-12 environment, and the severe underrepresentation of various segments of the population. He will talk about the factors that impact these issues and the steps that can be taken toward improvement.

Lanius and CRPC researcher Geoffrey Fox of the Northeast Parallel Architectures Center at Syracuse University are participating in the Teacher Workshops and Hands-on Labs portion of the program. Lanius will present information on "GirlTECH," a CRPC program that teaches K-12 teachers how to use the Internet, publish and share lessons electronically, and consider gender and minority issues in the classroom. Fox will present a paper on "WebWisdom: Architecture of Web-based Training and Education System." (See "Emerging Web Technologies Used in New Distance Education Class at Syracuse," this issue.)

For information on the full SC97 Education Program schedule, see http://www.supercomp.org/sc97/proceedings/EDU/INDEX.HTM.