A Study on Variation Technique in Courses on Scientific Computing

Abstract:
The background of this study is a project aiming at assessing the quality of teaching and learning in scientific computing in different cultural settings. This, we hope will lead us to constructing standards, which can provide outcomes of comparable quality in scientific computing in different countries and societies. Specifically we want to gain insight which quality benchmarks are suitable for the project. The tool we use in teaching is a set of variation techniques.

The presented pilot study aims at the examination of the role variation theory for the quality of elementary courses in scientific computing. Earlier studies by others confirmed that variation theory offers a comprehensive set of variables characterizing teaching, well described and easy to follow and measure and which can result in improving teaching. The main data for this investigation was collected via interviewing students.