Thinklets

Integrating Java into the Curriculum

Bert G. WachsmuthSeton Hall University

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Seton Hall University

Catholic University in New Jersey, next to New York City

10,000 students total 4,500 Undergraduate students Mission: “…to prepare students to be servant

leaders who will make a difference in the world …”

In short: mid-size, private college with high degree of Information Technology

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Information Technology at SHU

On of the top 30 Most Wired Campuses nationwide Mobile Computing Program (5,000 laptops on 2-year

leases for UG students and faculty) Wireless Campus State-of-the-Art Gigabit backbone Reasonable Internet, (soon) Internet 2 connectivity Extensive buy-in by upper administration 5 year strategic plan implemented, second strategic plan

approved Approximately 10% of University Budget

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Support for Teaching/Learning

Extensive Blackboard use (every class automatically available and populated)

Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center (also Telecom, Media Center, Networking, PC Support)

(almost) 24 x 7 Help Desk and Laptop repair Reasonable technology Assessment

implementation Extensive Software Package (Office, FrontPage

+ Server Extensions, SPSS, Maple, Notes, etc.)

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Pilot Projects and Grants

CDI: Curriculum Development Initiative(Multi-year technology grants to maximize impact on students)

FIG: Faculty Innovation Grants(Small grants to support individual faculty projects)

Lila: Linux Laptops(Dual-Boot Windows and Linux Laptop with functionally equivalent software for both OS)

SHUTAP: SHU Tablet PC’s(Investigate potential impact of Tablet PC’s on Teaching and Learning)

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

So, what’s missing?

JAXP? WSDL? WSRP? BPEL? JSR? WS-I? MEP?Certainly - but I want to focus on …

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Thinklets

A Thinklet is a small, focused program that runs inside a web browser and helps visualize or utilize concepts in areas useful for academic disciplines

Thinklets are developed "in house" as cooperation between a content specialist (faculty), one or more student programmer(s), and a coordinator.

Thinklets are available for free for educational institutions; source code is available upon request

What was missing: create not only consume

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Stand-alone Thinklets

PopDynamics: illustrates predator-prey relationships (biology, dynamical systems)

Sorting: illustrates/compares many sorting algorithms (computer science)

FFT: shows how analog signals are decomposed as Fourier Series (math, networking)

HypoTester: illustrates how hypothesis testing works (statistics)

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

General Purpose Thinklets

SyncStream: lets you create slideshows that are synchronized with a Real video stream. Comes with a stand-alone editor and an (independent) SyncStream applet. Does not require special server software

Jadis: A dictionary program that can help translate web pages and lets you upload “translated” web pages. Several dictionaries available (of varying quality)

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Integrated Thinklets

IRA: An online text book on Real Analysis (Advanced Calculus) that integrates several Thinklets into a coherent, large-scale project

PsychoQuiz: An applet that uses JDBC technology to test student’s knowledge of standard terminology in experiment design and hypothesis testing. It is integrated into a large-scale course re-design project in Psychology.

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Thinklets with Servers

Asset: A Servlets-based project to create, deliver, and evaluate web-based surveys. Can also be used as a voting tool with LDAP-verified voter lists.

ChatterBox: A complete client/server chat solution with features such as password protected rooms, auditorium mode, web page pushing, etc.

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Thinklets with Maple

(supported by a grant from Waterloo Maple) JCalc: Maple with a custom-made user

interface for mathematics up to Calc 3 JGJ: Learn how to solve a system of Linear

Equations or to invert a square matrix ZMap: Visualize the (4-dimensional) graph of

a complex function

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Thinklets Framework Student Programmer:

Most Thinklets are created by, or with the help of, one or more student.

Content Specialist: Most Thinklets are created with the help of, or with ideas from, a

faculty member. Coordinator:

Analyzes faculty suggestions for feasibility, moderates content/programmer interaction, and helps with programming aspects

Resources Required: Supported by TLTC money and external grants Close cooperation with Comp. Sci. department to find student

programmers Requires 1 Intel-based multi-processor Linux server and some

cooperation from IT professional department

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Thinklet Advantages “Low-tech” and focused: can create a “small” Thinklet in about 2

months No competition with “professional” IT developers Benefit for Student Programmer:

interesting on-campus job portfolio piece integrating software into larger project

Benefit for Faculty: relatively quick turn-around time cheap easy “presentation material”

Benefit for Coordinator: Gets to travel to Florida in the Winter

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Thinklet Successes Asset – widely used at Seton Hall and other institutions

(and presented at JA-SIG 2002) ChatterBox – frequently requested by small web site

operators Jadis – presented at Russian Language Conference SyncStream – written up in the “Chronicle” PopDynamics – presented at “Biology and IT” conference IRA Thinklets – several thousand people signed

guestbook

Jobs – all programmers who worked on Thinklets and graduated got decent jobs.

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Thinklet Failures

Unclear Concept: Trig FunctionsIf it is not immediately clear how a Thinklet works and what it is supposed to illustrate, it fails.

Too Simplistic: Projectile MotionIf the concept a Thinklet illustrates is so simple that students understand it already, it fails.

No support: PsychoQuizIf a Thinklet requires extensive user support but the original collaborators are not committed or unavailable, it fails.

External Reliance: SyncStream Support to maintain Thinklets is minimal. If a Thinklet relies on external technology that is too complex or changes too quickly, it fails.

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Thinklet Web Site

For additional information, please visit

http://www.cs.shu.edu/thinklets/

You can view, download, and optionally register for our Thinklets

Source code is available upon request (for most Thinklets)

JA-SIG – December 2003Bert G. Wachsmuth

http://pirate.shu.edu/~wachsmut

Thinklet Contributors Brian Borowski  Michael Bosco William Daly Patrick Fineza Paul Ladny Brad Lepre Rehan Malik Robert Moore Steve O'Brien Joseph P. Ptaszynski Sam Shiffmann Bert G. Wachsmuth Huang Shon Wen (Sam)

(Thinklets existed from about 2000 – now)