Computation and Computer-Based Instruction

The 2008 Gordon Research Conference on Physics Research and Education, the fifth in this series of conferences, will focus on the expanding and deepening role of computers in physics research and instruction, with particular emphasis on undergraduate education. The purpose of this conference is to survey how computational physics is currently being used, to identify problems where computation helps students understand key physics concepts, and to assess the effectiveness of computational-physics instruction. The conference will highlight current efforts to incorporate computational physics and other computer-based methods (such as simulations and visualizations) into the physics classroom. The format of the conference - which includes invited sessions, contributed poster presentations, and generous amounts of unscheduled time for informal discussions - is specially designed to promote dialogue and cross-fertilization of ideas between educators and researchers at the forefront of their fields, including researchers in physics education. College and university faculty, research associates (postdocs), computational-physics textbook authors, curriculum and educational software developers, and graduate and undergraduate students will participate.

The generosity of the contributors listed below has allowed us to provide partial support for junior faculty and students attending the 2008 Physics Research and Education GRC.