Abstract:
Most modern scientific research problems are complex and interdisciplinary in
nature. It is impossible to study such problems in detail without the use of computation
in addition to theory and experiment. Although it is widely agreed that students should be
introduced to computational methods at the undergraduate level, it remains a challenge to do
this in a full traditional undergraduate curriculum. In this paper, we report on a survey that
we conducted of undergraduate physics curricula in South Africa to determine the content and
the approach taken in the teaching of computational physics. We also considered the pedagogy
of computational physics at the postgraduate and research levels at various South African
universities, research facilities and institutions. We conclude that the state of computational
physics training in South Africa, especially at the undergraduate teaching level, is generally weak
and needs to be given more attention at all universities. Failure to do so will impact negatively
on the country's capacity to grow its endeavours generally in the field of computational sciences,
with negative impacts on research, and in commerce and industry.
