Promoting Undergraduate Education with Agent Based Laboratory

Background

With the fast innovation of computer and communication technologies, computer curriculum is being adapted to accommodate teaching modules that enhance teaching effectiveness by utilizing frontier technologies. For example, the Department of Computer Science, University of Houston-Downtown (UHD), is building Information Technology (IT) option, which consists of courses in modern computer technologies defined by the current industrial desires, in its Computer Science degree program, to respond the increasing need for effective convey of the knowledge of current technology to students to equip them for a career in the modern fast-changing computer industry. One of the most important parts of this project is designing labs that can be performed through the Internets. Our first step is implementing lab packages for our parallel computing and computer networking courses in a grid that encompass lab facilities centered at a Beowulf cluster. We will then extend our lab environment to include other CS and Mathematical courses.