Re: Edu-sig digest, Vol 1 #531

Just joined list and haven't taken the time to read the archives yet, so maybe this is a silly post, but I thought it worth putting out there that I will be teaching an Introduction to Programming for non-computer science majors at Wesleyan University this fall, having just taken a position there as a visiting professor. I've convinced the other Computer Science faculty involved to abandon their attempts to make this course work with C++ and Java and to use Python instead.

As part of the preparation for my introducing Python at Wesleyan I put together a web page with arguments for using Python (and URLs for more), information about where to find Python tutorials, installations, additional modules, tools, books, etc., and some recommendations on how to get started for different audiences, including people new to programming, experienced programmers, and people in fields such as Biology and Chemistry who need to do some practical programming without become serious programmers.

You can find this web page currently at http://homepage.mac.com/MLMConsulting/PythonStart.html. I am likely to drop this site soon and move its contents to my personal site, http://homepage.mac.com/MitchellModel/, so if you don't find it at the first URL, look for it somewhere under the second.

I think I've done a pretty thorough job of exploring existing resources. Some I've omitted simply because they are too old to be of much use to people new to Python. Others because I thought the ones I listed served my purposes better. I would be delighted to hear recommendations for other books, papers, URLs, software, IDEs (especially), etc. that would be good to add to the page.

I plan to use the textbook Learn to Program Using Python (http://www.aw.com/catalog/academic/product/1,4096,0201709384,00.html), with the Python Essential Reference (http://newriders.com/books/product.asp?product_id={2DF0A321-D759-44A9-8DC2-1900CC090956) as an optional resource. I'll also point students to the online book How to Think Like a Computer Scientist : Learning with Python (http://www.ibiblio.org/obp/thinkCS.php).

Since I'm new to the list and plan on keeping the list informed of my experiences introducing Python to the Wesleyan introductory programming course, let me point you http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?MitchellModel as one place you can find out more about me. In addition to teaching computer science courses at Wesleyan I will be working with the science faculty as part of a new interdisciplinary program in Integrative Genomics to develop and teach informatics modules for their genomics-related science courses. (You can read more about the program at http://www.wesleyan.edu/argus/archives/aa_archive_dec072001/dateyear/n2.html and http://www.wesleyan.edu/hughes/ (though the latter is two years old).

I am about to install a Wiki (cf. http://homepage.mac.com/MLMConsulting/WhatsWiki.html for introductory information and links about Wiki if your not familiar with the concept or technology) at Wesleyan to facilitate interdisciplinary resource pooling, discussion, and planning. I'm tempted to use the Python-based Moin Moin implementation, but have decided on the Perl-based (sorry) TWiki because it appears to be the most mature and featureful Wiki that is freely available and can be installed and run without a lot of hands-on effort, while still being quite customizable and able to support enterprise-wide activity.

I look forward to sharing my experience in these efforts and hearing opinions from others heading, or thinking of heading, in the same direction. Having taught many introductory and computer science courses in many languages to many different kinds of audiences, I find myself thinking that all undergraduate computer courses, whether for majors or not, and whatever the level, should be done in Python. (Of course I've said that about Smalltalk for many years, but Python is less of a leap for the mainstream world:-).