I taught the introduction to python as part of a 2 day SWC bootcamp held at SFU on June 6th and 7th. I introduced some very basic concepts about types, variables and basic arithmetic. (I taught a few other little sections, but will focus my blog post on this longest section). I taught this section in Ipython notebook and after we got the requisite install bugs out of the way this was a good way to go.
Things that went well:
- My pace allowed enough time for everyone to be on the same page.
- I tried not to lose less advanced student by by typing, pausing for a second to discuss talking about what we expect to get when we run this command and an explanation of the syntax.
- I gave lots of little exercises for the students to practise the concepts. People liked the change of pace and as a little break in between the concepts.
Things I didn’t do well:
- I did not provide enough context for why we are learning these things. I tried to talk about the why overall you would want to learn python, but missed the relevance to scientists’ daily work.
- People were confused about why we were using ipython notebook instead of the command line or the plain python interpreter. I made the mistake of showing the python interpreter and then quickly switching to the Ipython notebook with not enough explanation as to why we weren’t using it.
- I tried to tie in the work we had done that morning to the work we had done in git the previous day, but I don’t think that I was clear enough in my instructions or motivations because people seemed confused and/or disinterested.
- After the session was over I felt I could have made it more interesting andr used more metaphors to help explain the concepts.
Feedback I got:
- Could speak louder. I now realize that be heard well in a classroom setting I need to feel like I am almost yelling. I will need to keep reminding myself of this one.
- I could have used more advanced examples that built on all the concepts I was going through. My exercises were meant to be quick and basic, but some more challenging ones mixed in would have gone over much better for the mixed levels of experience in the room.
- I spent too much time on very basic things that maybe weren’t necessary for learning python (e.g. type). I could have gone more quickly through this part and pushed forward to more fun/interesting/relevant things that would pique students’ interest more.
- It was not as clear exactly where the session was going. I found this a bit challenging since I felt I was just introducing material that would be built on by other instructors, but it is important to know why you are learning something and how the material will be related.
- Pace was ok for some and too slow for others. Most found it clear (but perhaps at the expense of not being very exciting).