Selecting a Topic

INTRODUCTION

In teaching computational science, you will often have to deal with unfamiliar subjects. This may require you and your students doing extensive research in the early phases of project definition. The more you know about your topic, the more likely that you will create a satisfactory project.

It is  wise to be prepared to suggest topics to some students. More student interest will be generated if they develop their project on a topic they have chosen. However, this is difficult for some students because the quality of ideas and ease of composition are a natural consequence of the background work and depth of experience, and we know that this is limited for high school students. You will also want to keep copies of projects that were started by students and not completed so that subsequent years students may be able to work on them more. You may also get ideas from the on-line projects suggested on our website.

You will need to do three things in order to select a topic:
a) read published research on the scientific event that interests you;
b) make observations of the event, if possible; and,
c) think about how the event seems to occur.

This chapter should give you insight on how to do each of these.

OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this chapter you will be able to:

Selecting A Topic

How do you find a topic? Where do you start? Where do you look? These are the most frequently asked questions in project development. There is no simple, quick answer. Finding the right project takes time, patience, and research. Here is the process that has been used in many ASPIRE schools over the past several years:

  1. Select three different topics for possible projects;
  2. Prepare a two page report on each of the three topics chosen;
  3. From the reports and the research involved in the reports, the student will be able to choose a topic that offers an interesting area for research and investigation;
  4. Write a detailed report on the selected topic using at least three different references provided through a library search done at a nearby technical library or the library at a local college or your high school. Libraries at government facilities and at universities often have much more scientific information than city libraries. Talk to the librarians to find out what types of library searches are possible. Information can also be found using online sources and the Alabama Virtual Library.
You will need to do several things in selecting a topic:
  1. Read current scientific literature or newspapers for high interest topics. As an example, the impact of the comet Shoemaker-Levy on Jupiter could provide stimulus for projects dealing with orbital mechanics, impact analysis or a variety of other topics.
  2. Based upon your readings select some potential topics that could be studied within the time constraints of the project. The biggest problem will probably be narrowing down the topic to something that is "do-able" yet yield interesting results. Another hurdle is being able to redirect interest to topics which are more tractable from a computational viewpoint. For example, a student may be interested in black holes, yet it would be difficult to develop a meaningful model for that subject. A similar topic might deal with measuring gravitational attraction between bodies, which can be more easily addressed.
  3. Develop the topic in sufficient dept in order to 1) allow you to assess feasibility, and, 2) to form a basis for introducing the topic to your students.  Usually, a few pages will allow you to focus upon specifics and achieve the required level of definition.


It should be noted that these steps are highly iterative. Some projects that appear feasible aren't and vice versa. So have patience and flexibility and the number of good products you can find will amaze you!

Perhaps you are still puzzled about how to select topics. The following are suggestions for finding topics.

Read selectively. One of the first things to do is search  scientific articles or abstracts of projects that have been done in a general area. These can be found in scientific journals at the library, or often you can find these on-line. When you do your search, use key words in your general area of interest. If you are searching the network, start with the broad field and follow the path to a more specific area. Look under what is called review articles, review journals, and review books. Review articles organize a great deal of articles efficiently. They are topical reviews written by a scholar who has read about and argued specific topics. Review journals are helpful tools to give overviews of a specific topic.

Make observations. If possible make observations of the phenomena you are planning to research. Our method of project development involves modeling and computational science - "doing" the experiment by simulation. However, actual observations may help you understand the science involved in the problem.

Think and Analyze.  While reading and observing, take time to think and analyze. You will need quiet time to reflect on what you have read and observed. You need time to think about what can be made problematic among your interest. As you think and reflect, write down the questions that come to mind, then your reading and research will have direction. The combination of reading, observing, and reflecting are useful in generating research questions.

 The following is a small list of scientific applications areas you or your students may consider in deciding on a topic for a project.

Bioscience and Medicine

     Genetics
     Molecular Biology
     Drug Design
     Gene Mapping
     Molecular Dynamics
     NMR studies
     Virology
     Spread of Disease

Fluid Dynamics

     Airframe dynamics
     Wind tunnel simulations
     Ship Hull design
     Subsonic/supersonic flow analysis

Finite Element Analysis

     Structure analysis
     Metals casting
     Turboprop design
     Stradivarius analysis

Chemistry

     Reaction Analysis
     Molecular Analysis

Astrophysics

     Orbital Dynamics
     Impact Analysis

Environmental Science

     Pollution and the Ozone
     Acid Rain
     Weather Patterns
     Population Dynamics