K-12 Outreach Programs
PSC presents programs for high school science teachers in western Pennsylvania to prepare them to become leaders in the effective use of simulation and modeling tools in the classroom.
Current PSC K-12 Outreach Programs include:
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CAST - The Computation and Science for Teachers program introduces computational thinking and computational tools into the high school science curriculum in western Pennsylvania. The program includes a week-long summer workshop plus four quarterly meetings throughout the school year.
CMIST - Computational Modules in Science Teaching brings modeling and simulation into secondary school classrooms. Program content focuses on integrating computational biology, physiology, mathematics, and biophysics. Specific modules are introduced in 2-hour workshops throughout the school year.
BEST - Better teachers of Science for Tomorrow exposes teachers in all science disciplines to modern molecular biology concepts. A draft curriculum is under development.
CompEx - Computation Exploration is a high performance computing teaching module designed to be incorporated into existing curricula in high school computer science classrooms. This program teaches high school students the basics of parallel programming and guides them through the development of their own parallel programs.
SAFE-Net - Safety Awareness For Everyone on the Net focuses on raising the awareness of students, parents, and educators about cyber threats, measures of protection, and cyber ethics. The SAFE-Net web site provides materials to teach parents, teachers and students about cyber security issues.
CI JumpStart - Introduces computational science and high performance computing to high school and undergraduate students. Workshops can be held at the school, or at PSC.
PSC Science Fairs Resource - PSC encourages middle and high-school students competing in their local of regional science fairs to consider projects that use computational thinking and tools. Resources and more information are available on the PSC science fair resource page.