Physics students grok that they need computing

Danny Caballero has started a blog at Boulder, and a recent post describes a survey he took of upper-division undergraduates in Physics.  They definitely grokked that they need computing in their education.

59 students responded to the survey. Most students were juniors and seniors. That’s because we targeted upper-division courses like Classical Mechanics, E&M and Stat. Mech.

Here’s a brief summary with more details located here:

75% of students said that computational modeling is “Essential” or “Important” to their development as a physicist.

Students mentioned these characteristics would be important for the tool they might be taught to use (in decreasing order): ease of use, support/resources for learning, efficiency and power, flexibility and adaptability, well-accepted in the field.

Students were neutral about using open-source software, but stated that it was important for the tool be free or cheap after they graduate.

As far as implementation, students wanted to see computational modeling as a complement to analytical problem solving task. Ideas included solving more complex problems, helping with algebra and visualizing problems.

via Think like a physicist… | Ideas and thoughts from an underpaid fool.