A Course in Computational Physics

 

Now comes the hard part, comparing one's behavior to one's sermon. I will describe the Computational Physics course we have developed at Oregon State University. The objectives of this course, which reflect what I believe should be contained in computational science, are:

• To teach through direct experience the use of high performance computers in thinking creatively and solving problems in physical science.
• To advance the development and organization of thinking about physical systems in a manner compatible with advanced computational analysis.
• To use the graphical capabilities of advanced workstations to visualize numerical solutions in highly interpretable forms.
• To instill attitudes of independence, personal communication, and organization, all of which are essential for mastery of complex systems.
• To understand physical systems at a level often encountered only in a research environment.
• To use programming to deepen the understanding of physical systems.
• To understand why hard work and even properly functioning and powerful software and hardware do not guarantee meaningful results. To always be aware that there are limits to the accuracy possible with finite machines and to the applicability of our models.
• To instill in students the scientific and objected-oriented view towards problem solving encapsulated by the Undergraduate Engineering and Sciences Project[1] (UCES) paradigm:

This paradigm clearly distinguishes the different steps in scientific problem solving, the use of the best or the available tools, and the value of continual assessment (the double-headed arrows). We incorporate this paradigm in each project to further emphasize the balanced view of the computer as part of scientific problem solving.