Rensselaer is developing a series of cross-disciplinary activities at the science/computer interface for use in the basic science courses at Rensselaer and other universities. These materials will allow the introductory courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, engineering, and earth/environmental science to reinforce one another through shared topics and activities. The materials will also have the effect of encouraging the instructors of the introductory courses to work more closely together than has, in the past, been traditional at most universities. The materials to be developed will include text materials, computer based problem-solving materials, simulations, microcomputer based laboratory activities, and video materials. These materials for topics relating to nonlinear phenomena are being developed as a first step toward full implementation and as a demonstration of the feasibility of this approach. The project centers on use of these workstations in university level freshman and sophomore courses. It rests on a major university initiative: the 4500 undergraduates have unlimited access to 500 state-of-the-art scientific workstations. Of these, over 320 are earmarked for the exclusive use in freshman and sophomore courses. Rensselaer is preparing to educate students in the basic sciences at the science/computer interface. The structures of existing courses are being modified in order to allow students to confront developing interface technologies. These include nonlinear modeling, scientific computation, statistics, geometric modeling, and algorithm issues, each from a multidisciplinary vantage point. Nonlinear modeling has been selected as the initial project.
