UNDERGRADUATE INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAM IN COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCES AS A WAY TO REALIZE UNIVERSAL DESIGN IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Much of our scientific endeavor has been centered around observation and experiment. However, often there are situations where direct observation and experiment cannot be done because they are impossible or impractical. Computational sciences or simulation-based science and engineering under various circumstances can provide useful insights to the problems especially in earth sciences. These days when we talk about computational science, it is not just about the traditional fields of numerical analysis and computing algorithms in applied mathematics. It includes the fast-emerging fields of data science (such as bioinformatics and so-called ‘big data' applications) and high-performance computer graphics as well. Thus it is no longer the sole domain of traditional physical scientists and engineers and encompasses social sciences and arts. In recent years, the development of the various user interfaces and interactive tools for computers and mobile devices is offering new capabilities for students with disability to navigate around in the cyberspace. At Seoul National University, we recently established a new undergraduate interdisciplinary program in computational sciences (http://uipcs.snu.ac.kr/main.php) to show that when the right tools and resources are given students with disability can enjoy and make successful careers in science and engineering. The program, as part of Quality of Life Technology (QoLT) program funded by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy in Korea, is still new and therefore it may be a bit early to evaluate the success or effectiveness. However, the program has already shown that, when we adopted new accessibility features and provided supplementary learning materials to everybody taking the course, it has aroused not only the interest of the students with disability but also been able to attract the attention of the students from outside science and engineering majors who had shunned away from science and engineering because of their fear and perceived weakness in math and computer. We believe that this computational science program can be a model of universal design in higher education where providing access to the disability community opens the door of learning to many more others in the society.