Advice on giving a python course
Jeffrey P. Sandys
sandysj at asme.org
Tue May 2 14:51:27 EDT 2000
"Richard P. Muller" wrote:
>
> I will be giving a short course on Python to my research group
> (computational chemistry and materials science). I would like to raise
> the average level of programming ability in our group, so that more
> people can take on the "hard" programming projects that until now have
> only been undertaken by a few of the better programmers.
>
> I had anticipated having 5-6 people show up in the group, but was
> overwhelmed with 20 people responding, which is both exciting and
> intimidating.
I think you will find python gaining popularity especially in the group
you are trying to reach.
>
> Since I'm sure other people on this list have taught similar courses, I
> was wondering if I could get some helpful suggestions, and/or feedback
> on the way I've structured the course.
I was a student in Harry George's (see other reply) class and it went
very well.
>
> The web page for the course is at:
> http://www.wag.caltech.edu/home/rpm/python_course/
>
> The slides for the first lecture are at:
> http://www.wag.caltech.edu/home/rpm/python_course/Lecture_1.pdf
>
> I wanted to give the students as much instant gratification as possible,
> which is why I introduced the Gnuplot module and NumPy in the first and
> second modules, respectively.
Python is good at instant gratification and think you have the right
approach.
>
> Any help, suggestions, criticism, or pity will be gratefully received.
Your slides are very nice looking, a good introduction.
On some of the slides you use the back-quote, (probably a PowerPoint
formatting feature), to start a string, as in:
myotherstring = `this is also a string'
This input will cause an error. And it is hard to tell PowerPoint
that what you really meant is:
myotherstring = 'this is also a string'
>
> Rick
> rpm at wag.caltech.edu
Thanks,
Jeff Sandys
sandysj at asme.org
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