Learning goals

After each week you should be able to achieve following learning goals.

Class Learning goals
  • Explain the basic concepts of a
    1. computer,
    2. a program, and
    3. a programming language
  • Define & use variables
  • Describe the concept of a data type
  • Know how to determine a data type in Python
At the end of class 2 you should be able to:
  • Access your user space in Github.com
  • Explain the concept of an index value
  • Use Spyder IDE to create, edit and test scripts
At the end of class 3 you should be able to:
  • Create a for loop and use it to repeat a section of code
  • Use if, elif, and else statements to make decisions in their programs
  • Explain how values can be compared using comparison operators
At the end of class 4 you should be able to:
  • Explain how functions are used and why they are so useful
  • Create your own functions to calculate an output value based on an input value
  • Save functions to a script file for future use
At the end of class 5 you should be able to:
  • Explain what a Python module is and how they can be used
  • Read data into a program from a .csv text file
  • Do simple data analysis using Numpy and/or Pandas
At the end of class 6 you should be able to:
  • Analyze tabular data in Python (using skills you have learned)
  • Understand common Python errors
  • Follow a simple set of guidelines to debug programs efficiently
At the end of class 7 you should be able to:
  • Make basic x-y plots of data
  • Manipulate plot formatting
  • Save plots as image files