9523481 Lipson This project will create a Metacenter Regional Alliance between the Cornell Theory Center and the Northeast Parallel Architectures Center (NPAC) and the Department of Physics at Syracuse University, to develop interactive multimedia educational modules incorporating advanced scientific simulations. These will be integrated into undergraduate courses, and then into K-12 curricula, to enhance the teaching of general science courses. The project will combine leading-edge technologies in high-performance computing and communications, a high-speed network serving as a testbed for the National Information Infrastructure, and advanced client/server technologies such as the World Wide Web, VRML and Java, to produce and deliver these simulations and educational modules. An important aspect of this project is the conversion of computational science simulations into interactive educational modules. Four simulations are proposed: fluctuating membranes, fluid dynamics, crack propagation and structural failure, and avalanches. The researchers will utilize three different methods to provide these simulations in the classroom: annotated digital video on demand; partially interactive exploration using multiple video streams; and fully interactive simulations on demand. Hypermedia navigation based on the concepts of the World Wide Web will be used to impose a coherent interface to these different simulations, and to provide educational information about the concepts illustrated by the simulations.
