The semi-automatic parallelisation of scientific application codes using a computer aided parallelisation toolkit

The shared-memory programming model can be an effective way to achieve parallelism on shared memory parallel computers. Historically however, the lack of a programming standard using directives and the limited scalability have affected its take-up. Recent advances in hardware and software technologies have resulted in improvements to both the performance of parallel programs with compiler directives and the issue of portability with the introduction of OpenMP. In this study, the Computer Aided Parallelisation Toolkit has been extended to automatically generate OpenMP-based parallel programs with nominal user assistance. We categorize the different loop types and show how efficient directives can be placed using the toolkit's in-depth interprocedural analysis. Examples are taken from the NAS parallel benchmarks and a number of real-world application codes. This demonstrates the great potential of using the toolkit to quickly parallelise serial programs as well as the good performance achievable on up to 300 processors for hybrid message passing-directive parallelisations.

A blackboard architecture for a hybrid CBR system for scientific software

This paper describes the use of a blackboard architecture for building a hybrid case based reasoning (CBR) system. The Smartfire fire field modelling package has been built using this architecture and includes a CBR component. It allows the integration into the system of qualitative spatial reasoning knowledge from domain experts. The system can be used for the automatic set-up of fire field models. This enables fire safety practitioners who are not expert in modelling techniques to use a fire modelling tool. The paper discusses the integrating powers of the architecture, which is based on a common knowledge representation comprising a metric diagram and place vocabulary and mechanisms for adaptation and conflict resolution built on the Blackboard.

Using an interactive software environment for the parallelization of real-world scientific applications

The parallelization of real-world compute intensive Fortran application codes is generally not a trivial task. If the time to complete the parallelization is to be significantly reduced then an environment is needed that will assist the programmer in the various tasks of code parallelization. In this paper the authors present a code parallelization environment where a number of tools that address the main tasks such as code parallelization, debugging and optimization are available. The ParaWise and CAPO parallelization tools are discussed which enable the near automatic parallelization of real-world scientific application codes for shared and distributed memory-based parallel systems. As user involvement in the parallelization process can introduce errors, a relative debugging tool (P2d2) is also available and can be used to perform nearly automatic relative debugging of a program that has been parallelized using the tools. A high quality interprocedural dependence analysis as well as user-tool interaction are also highlighted and are vital to the generation of efficient parallel code and in the optimization of the backtracking and speculation process used in relative debugging. Results of benchmark and real-world application codes parallelized are presented and show the benefits of using the environment

Socialising young literacy learners into a discourse of failure: Dominant discourses in literacy teaching and assessment and their impact on the progression of young literacy learners into employment

This paper argues that contemporary literacy programmes are a mismatch for the expectations of both the government and employers as well as the goals of learners. It submits that the dominant discourses in literacy provision have led to the emergence of a learning culture which not only fails the learners but is also incapable of meeting the aspirations of both the government and employers. To support this argument, the paper reports a small scale research project that analyses the perceptions of learners, teachers and employers who were involved in a work placement scheme for young literacy learners in a college of further education. Data for the study were collected through focus group and face to face interviews and analysed using the framework of discourse analysis provided by Gill (2000) with findings codified and analysed thematically. The study found that teachers were aware that their learners were not adequately prepared for the world of work because of the demands of the dominant discourses of quality and performance measurement which were most obviously manifested in their assessment, teaching methods and the attitudes of learners. It found that employers perceive young learners as inadequate in terms of the workplace expectations. Learners in the study revealed that their workplace culture and expectations were totally different from the culture to which they had been socialised in their studies. The study concludes that unless the dominance of these discourses is ameliorated, young literacy learners will continue to be socialised into a discourse of failure.

'Bowing from the heart': an investigation into discourses of professionalism and the work of caring for students in further education

Since their incorporation in 1993, further education (FE) colleges in England have been responsible for their own staffing and, faced with funding constraints as well as recruitment and retention targets, some have introduced a new category of staff referred to here as 'learning support workers' (LSWs). Though their employment conditions and specific duties vary considerably, LSWs' work often includes providing individual care for students. In this small-scale study, using semi-structured interviews, the perceptions of some teachers and LSWs about the nature of their relationships with each other and with students are investigated. The study is set broadly in the context of debates about the impact of public sector reform on FE colleges and teachers. A discourse analysis approach is adopted in discussion of the data. The authors conclude that although they are differently positioned in relation to traditional discourses of professionalism, both teachers and LSWs are perceived to be carrying out what Hochschild termed 'emotional labour'. The contradictory nature of emotional labour is also highlighted. Some of the implications of employing a new group of workers in FE are discussed.