  The paper describes two general problems encountered in computational
assignments at the introductory level. First, novice students often treat
computer code as almost magic incantations, and like novices in many fields,
have trouble creating new algorithms or procedures to solve novel problems.
Second, the nature of computational studies often means that the results
generated are interpreted via theoretically devised quantities, which may not
meet a student's internal standards for proof when compared to an experimental
measurement.
  The paper then offers a lab/programming assignment, used in a calculus-based
physics course, which was devised to address these problems. In the assignment,
students created a computational model of the heat flow involved in heating an
iron rod in a blacksmith's forge. After creating the simulation, students
attended a blacksmithing seminar and had a chance to work with iron and take
data on its heating in a coke-fueled forge. On their return to campus, students
revised their computational models in light of their experimental data.
