Along with a series of six Project SUCCEED Saturday Explorations workshops beginning on October 18 in Durham, NC, Robert M. Panoff, Shodor Executive Director, and staff members will also offer parallel workshop sessions on “Computational Thinking–Sources and Resources for Quantitative Reasoning in Math and Science Education.” These workshops are being offered to math and science teachers in multiple locations in Illinois, and Georgia this month including one at the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) in Asheville, NC which is being jointly sponsored by NSDL. This professional development workshop for math and science teachers in a 16-county western region of North Carolina, will explore a variety of free and low-cost sources for modeling tools from the Computational Science Education Reference Desk, a Pathways project of the National Science Digital Library (NSDL).

Panoff explains, “Computational science continues to advance the accurate description and prediction of the dynamics of the world around us. Moving “beyond PowerPointless-ness,” we have the opportunity to help students see that computing really matters. Computing “matters” because quantitative reasoning, computational thinking, and multiscale modeling are the intellectual “heart and soul” of 21st Century science and therefore are the essential skills of the 21st Century workforce. Computing “matters” because it moves students others have identified as “at risk” to students self-identified as “capable, motivated, and employable.” Computing “matters” because we can demonstrate the power of interactive computing to help students and teachers reach a deeper understanding and application of math and science. Computing “matters” because the computational tools integrated with curriculum are both the content of education and the most effective method.”

More information is available here.