Last week's boot camp at Macquarie University went well: I fumbled the introduction to Python on Friday morning (which I haven't done in a long time), but with a bit of help from Eli Bressert and great crew of helpers, we got the afternoon back on track. Here's the usual good vs. bad feedback:
Good
Bad
Understanding the syntax of Python
The stories
The flow of material
Cygwin
Linking programming to thinking
Understanding size of manageable tasks
Version control
Sticky notes
Embedding provenance in files
Database concepts
Learning good work habits
Coding with loops
Free!
Let people make mistakes and then correcting
Interactive nature of the learning experience
I got to show my work to real human beings!
Installation
The stories
Python introduction (Greg screwed up)
Some programs don't work on some people's computers
Air conditioning
Struggling to switch between languages
Bit more practice with coding
Python in Cygwin sucks
"You should only work eight hours a day" — yeah, right
Not enough on databases
Couldn't see the screen
Discovering R isn't as good as I thought it was
Not having enough examples
Originally posted 2013-02-08 by Greg Wilson in Macquarie Universty.