Applied Computer Science

by Shane Torbert

Overview

Applied Computer Science presents a unique approach for introductory courses that will engage students with relevant topics from a variety of disciplines, encourage their natural creativity, and prepare them for independent projects. Lab assignments are accessible and carefully sequenced for maximum impact. Students are able to write their own code in building solutions and Python is used to minimize any language barrier for beginners. Problems involving visualization are emphasized throughout with interactive graphics, image files, and plots of generated data. This text aims to establish a core learning experience around which any number of other learning objectives could be included. The text is presented in seven (7) chapters where each chapter contains three (3) problems and each problem develops five (5) specific lab assignments, plus additional questions and discussion. This approach seeks to leverage the immediate feedback provided by the computer to help students as they work toward writing code creatively. All labs will scale to available hardware and free software could be used for the entire course, if desired.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319308661
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
Publication date:	06/01/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Dr. Shane Torbert holds a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Virginia, and an M.Ed., M.S., and Ph.D. from George Mason University where he conducted research in the Center for Computational Fluid Dynamics.  He has been at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology since the summer of 1999 and full-time since 2001, having taught all levels of Math and Computer Science. Since 2004 he has been lab director of TJ's Computer Systems Lab.  He was a consultant for the College Board in Computer Science, served as a grant review panelist for the National Science Foundation, and has given presentations at the local, regional, state, and national levels including JOSTI, NCTM, NCSSS, and CSTA.  He has run workshops for Computer Science teachers sponsored by both Google and ACM.  Introductory materials developed by Dr. Torbert are used continually by beginning students each year.  
At the advanced level, his post-AP elective courses attract talented high school Computer Science students with a research interest in algorithms, optimization, agent-based models, search, parallel programming, computer vision, and machine learning.  Students from the lab have consistently placed well in Science Fair and contests including Intel, Siemens, and ISEF.  In addition, each fall Dr. Torbert coordinates the research efforts of TJ students working at external sites for a substantial portion of their school day, and directly alongside professional mentors from academia and industry.

Table of Contents

Simulation.- Graphics.- Visualization.- Efficiency.- Recursion.- Projects.- Modeling.- Postscript.

Editorial Reviews

From the reviews:

“There are many graphs and pseudocode listings in C++, Python, Fortran, Java, and other programming languages. … Teachers could use these to teach students the basics only, or they could add methodology to show students how to address a specific problem. Readers will find many numerical analysis examples that make the book friendlier to tactile learners who absorb knowledge by exploring the physical world around them. … high school students studying engineering, future graphic designers, and students … will benefit from reading this book.” (Jolanta Mizera-Pietraszko, ACM Computing Reviews, June, 2012)

From the Publisher