BIRS Workshop on Computational Teaching and Learning in Mathematics

Banff, Alberta, Canada
May 23-25, 2025

Computational thinking is the process of formulating problems and their solutions in ways that a computer can implement, and computational teaching is the set of instructional practices designed for computational thinking. Computational teaching and learning have always been an important part of undergraduate mathematics education however student access to mathematical software and computational resources have been limited in the past.

Web-based, open-source mathematical software and computational resources are now more widely available than ever. Python is a general purpose programming language and Jupyter is a web-based development environment for creating computational documents. We propose to develop new modes of teaching and learning based on Python and Jupyter which promote computational thinking and which complement the current undergraduate mathematics curriculum.

See the BIRS Events Page for more info.

Objectives

• Outline a set of standards for computational teaching and learning in mathematics

• Provide explicit software training for instructors

• Create and share computational learning material and assessments

Organizers

• Shawn Desaulniers (University of Alberta)

• Katie Faulkner (University of British Columbia)

• Pam Sargent (University of Toronto)

• Patrick Walls (University of British Columbia)

Schedule

Date	Time (MT)	Description
May 14	11:00	Pre-Workshop Activities
May 23	14:00	Open Session: Set Goals, Brainstorm, Software Installation, etc.
	16:00	Check-in at Banff Centre
	17:00	Patrick Walls: Computational Teaching and Learning in Mathematics at UBC
	18:30	Dinner
May 24	07:00	Breakfast (courtesy of PIMS)
	09:00	Instructional Design for Computational Teaching
	10:30	Break
	11:00	Strategies for Implementation
	12:00	Lunch (courtesy of PIMS)
	13:45	Group Photo
	14:00	Working Groups
	16:00	Working Groups Progress Reports
	16:30	Break
	17:00	Danny Caballero: Supporting the Integration of Numerical Computing in Physics Education
	18:00	Dinner
May 25	07:00	Breakfast (courtesy of PIMS)
	09:00	Working Groups
	11:00	Break
	11:30	Working Groups Progress Reports
	12:00	Wrap-up and Lunch

Thank You

Thank you to the Banff International Research Station (BIRS) for hosting and supporting our event!

Thank you to the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) for providing funding for our event, for creating and maintaining Syzygy and for supporting computational teaching and learning in Canada!