XSEDE & UC Berkeley Offer Online Parallel Computing Course

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classThe XSEDE project and the University of California, Berkeley are offering an online course on parallel computing for graduate students and advanced undergraduates. The course includes online video lectures, and autograded quizzes and homework assignments with access to free accounts on the NSF-supported XSEDE supercomputers. Last year the course included participants from 14 different institutions with students from a variety of backgrounds that successfully completed the course.

This class and the resources provided filled an unmet need at Oklahoma State U that could not have otherwise been offered,” said Dr. Dana Brunson from Oklahoma State University. “Students from multiple departments gained expertise (and course credit) in parallel computing that they are actively applying to their research endeavors. The challenging nature of the material stretched the students far beyond what they thought they were capable of.”

Participating institutions will need to provide a local instructor that will be responsible for advising the local students and officially assigning grades. Students will complete the online course quizzes and exercises as part of their grade and can then undertake a final group project supervised by the local instructor. The course will begin on January 20, 2016 and end on May 8, 2016. Course materials are available online.

The XSEDE and Berkeley staff will meet with local instructors online every two weeks and also answer student questions using an online forum. Local instructors may design their own group project or choose from a number of projects that have been undertaken by students in the past.

The opportunity to participate in the Applications of Parallel Computing course provided my students with access to world-class material, challenging assignments, supercomputing resources and interactions with students and teaching assistants at other institutions that a small college such as The Citadel could not otherwise provide,” said Dr. George Rudolph from The Citadel.

XSEDE is seeking additional university partners that are interested in offering the course for credit to their students. Instructors interested in the collaborative class should contact Steve Gordon, lead for the XSEDE education program at sgordon@osc.edu.

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