Community Data Science Workshops (Spring 2014)/Reflections: Difference between revisions

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== Session 0: Python Setup ==
== Session 0: Python Setup ==


The setup curriculum was adpated from BPW. We ran into the following challanges:
Challenges:


* Users on Windows struggled to get Python setup.
* Users on Windows struggled to get Python setup and added to their path.
* Users had different (and often older) version of Python which became a bigger issue when we began using URL parsing libraries.
* Users had different (and often older) version of Python which became a bigger issue when we began using web libraries.
* Mac users struggled with — and generally did not like Smultron.
* Mac users struggled with — and generally did not like the Smultron text editor that we recommended.


Proposed changes:
We proposed the following changes:


* Use Anaconda for getting Python install like SWC does
* Use [https://store.continuum.io/cshop/anaconda/ Anaconda] for getting Python installed (following SWC)
* Use a different text editor for MacOS. TextWrangler was suggested
* Use a different text editor for MacOS. [http://www.textwrangler.com/ Text Wrangler] was suggested.
* http://repl.it looks intriguing but perhaps not either ready enough or "real" enough
* In browser Python (e.g., http://repl.it) is intriguing but perhaps not either ready enough or "real" enough.
* Emphasize more strongly that Windows users ''need'' to come to Session 0.
* Emphasize more strongly that Windows users ''need'' to come to Session 0 to se up
* Change the Code Academy lessons to remove and change the HTML example. Users that knew HTML already were often confused because printing "<b>foo</b>" did not result in actually bolded text. This was just the wrong choice for a simple string concatenation example.
* Change the Code Academy lessons to remove and change the HTML example. Users that knew HTML already were often confused because printing "<b>foo</b>" did not result in actually bolded text. This was just the wrong choice for a simple string concatenation example.
* Add some text to emphasize the difference between the Python shell and the system shell. Students were confused about this until the end.
* Add some text to emphasize the difference between the Python shell and the system shell. Students were confused about this through the very end.
* Add a new check off step that includes the following: create a file, save it, run
* Add a new check off step that includes the following: create a file, save it, run it.


== Session 1: Introduction to Python ==
== Session 1: Introduction to Python ==