A Curriculum Initiative on Parallel and Distributed Computing - Toward Core Topics for Undergraduates

并行和分布式计算(PDC)现在渗透到大多数计算活动中。这项技术在日常生活中的渗透导致了普通用户对其有效性和可靠性的依赖。家庭和办公室PC和笔记本电脑中多核和通用图形处理器的大规模营销，甚至有可能使普通用户成为技术贡献者。当然，即使是基本的程序员也不再仅仅掌握传统的编程技能。所有这些现象表明，需要在不同级别的并行和分布式计算中传授广泛的技能集，影响计算机科学(CS)和计算机工程(CE)程序以及相关的计算学科。然而，计算硬件平台和设备、语言和支持编程环境的快速变化，以及研究的进步，比以往任何时候都对教育工作者提出了前所未有的挑战，要求他们决定在任何一个学期教授什么。学生和他们未来的雇主在什么是基本专业知识方面面临着类似的挑战。我们的愿景是将所有利益相关者专家聚集在一起，定期为与并行和分布式计算相关的各种课程和模块的标准课程重组提供指导。直接的好处将是为CS/CE学生及其讲师提供定期指导，说明在哪些课程中应涵盖哪些方面。大学(国内和国际)的新项目将在设置课程和/或在计算机科学或工程或计算科学课程中整合并行性方面得到指导。雇主会很好地定义学生对PDC技能的期望。这将同样有助于现有专业人员的再培训和资格认证。作为背景准备，2010年2月举行了一次规划讲习班，探讨并行和分布式教育的课程状况，评估需求，提供行动计划，并就如何最好地满足短期和长期课程需求提出建议。规划工作坊及其相关活动吸引了来自不同利益攸关方的专家。主要任务是为CS/CE学生的本科课程提出一套并行和分布式计算的核心主题。对于编程、算法和体系结构这三个子领域的不同主题，预期的交付内容是(I)学习结果，(Ii)覆盖程度(Bloom的分类)，以及(Iii)如何教授每个主题的示例。在2010年夏季，我们的目标是公开发布初步课程，收集各利益攸关方的反馈，并确定和招募将在2010年秋季和2011年春季试行拟议课程的同事。随后，在这两个学期中，活动将包括监控和支持课程以及从教师和学生那里收集反馈。我们更大的目标是使学生能够根据多核和图形处理器的技术变化和大规模营销为他们未来的职业生涯做好充分准备，并对包括雇主、作者和教育工作者在内的所有利益相关者产生真正的影响。这一课程指南及其轨迹，以及定期反馈和其他有关采用和使用的评估数据，也将有助于指导公司招聘学生和实习生、硬件和软件供应商，当然还有作者和研究人员。

Parallel and Distributed Computing (PDC) now permeates most computing activities. The penetration of this technology in the daily lives has resulted in common users relying on its effectiveness and reliability. The mass marketing of multicores and general-purpose graphics processing units in home and office PCs and laptops has a potential for empowering even common users to become technology contributors. Certainly, it is no longer sufficient for even basic programmers to acquire only the conventional programming skills. All these phenomena point to the need for imparting a broad-based skill set in parallel and distributed computing at various levels, impacting Computer Science (CS) and Computer Engineering (CE) programs and related computational disciplines. However, the rapid change in computing hardware platforms and devices, languages, and supporting programming environments, and the research advances, more than ever challenges the educators in deciding what to teach in any given semester. Students and their future employers face similar challenges on what constitutes basic expertise.Our vision is bringing all stakeholder experts working together and periodically providing guidance on restructuring standard curriculum across various courses and modules related to parallel and distributed computing. Immediate benefit would be providing CS/CE students and their instructors with periodic guidelines on which aspects to cover in which courses. New programs at colleges (nationally and internationally) will receive guidance in setting up courses and/or integrating parallelism in the Computer Science or Engineering or Computational Science curriculum. Employers would have well defined expectations from students on PDC skills. This will similarly help in retraining and certifications of existing professionals. As background preparation, a planning workshop was held in Feb 2010 to explore the state of curriculum in parallel and distributed education, assess the needs, provide action plans and recommend mechanisms for how best to address the curricular needs in both the short and long terms. The planning workshop and its related set of activities have drawn experts from various stakeholders.The primary task is to propose a set of core topics in parallel and distributed computing for undergraduate curriculum for CS/CE students. For various topics in the three sub-areas of Programming, Algorithms, and Architecture, the expected deliverables are (i) learning outcomes, (ii) level of coverage (Bloom's classification), and (iii) examples of how to teach each topic. In summer 2010, we aim to carry out a public release of preliminary curriculum, collect feedback from various stakeholders, and identify and recruit colleagues who will try out aspects the proposed curriculum during fall 2010 and spring 2011. Following these, during these two semesters, the activities will include monitoring and supporting the courses and feedback collection from instructors and students.Our larger goal is to enable students to be fully prepared for their future careers in light of the technological shifts and mass marketing of multicores and GPUs and to make real impact on all the stakeholders including employers, authors, and educators. This curricular guidance and its trajectory, along with periodic feedback and other evaluation data on adoption and use, will also help steer companies hiring students and interns, hardware and software vendors, and, of course, the authors and researchers.