Evaluating the acceleration of typical scientific problems on the GPU
- Authors: Tristram, Dale , Bradshaw, Karen L
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/477607 , vital:78103 , ISBN 9781450321129 , https://doi.org/10.1145/2513456.2513473
- Description: General-purpose computation on graphics processing units (GPGPU) has great potential to accelerate many scientific models and algorithms. However, some problems are considerably more difficult to accelerate than others, and it may be difficult for those new to GPGPU to ascertain the difficulty of accelerating a particular problem. Additionally, problems of different levels of difficulty require varying complexities of optimisations to achieve satisfactory results, and currently there is no clear separation between the different levels of known optimisations, which would be helpful to new users of GPGPU. Through what was learned in the acceleration of three problems, problem attributes have been identified to assist in evaluating the difficulty of accelerating a problem on a GPU. We envisage that with further development, these attributes could form the foundation of a difficulty classification system that could be used to determine whether GPU acceleration is practical for a candidate GPU acceleration problem, aid in identifying appropriate techniques and optimisations, and outline the required GPGPU knowledge.
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First year student performance in a test for computational thinking
- Authors: Gouws, Lindsey Ann , Bradshaw, Karen L , Wentworth, Peter E
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/477618 , vital:78104 , ISBN 9781450321129 , https://doi.org/10.1145/2513456.2513484
- Description: Computational thinking, a form of thinking and problem solving within computer science, has become a popular focus of research on computer science education. In this paper, we attempt to investigate the role that computational thinking plays in the experience of introductory computer science students at a South African university. To this end, we have designed and administered a test for computational thinking ability, and contrasted the results of this test with the class marks for the students involved. The results of this test give us an initial view of the abilities that students possess when entering the computer science course. The results indicate that students who performed well in the assessment have a favourable pass rate for their class tests, and specific areas of weakness have been identified. Finally, we describe the plan for a follow-up test to take place at the end of the course to determine how students' abilities have changed over a semester of studies.
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