Teaching Python

In episode 138 of Teaching Python, hosts Sean Tibor and Kelly Schuster-Paredes welcome Pamela Fox, a Principal Developer Advocate at Microsoft, to discuss the dynamic world of teaching, coding, and creating. Pamela shares her experiences working with Python in the cloud, emphasizing the various applications from serverless functions to web application backends using frameworks like Flask and Django. This episode provides a comprehensive look at how cloud-based environments like GitHub CodeSpaces and CoLab make programming more accessible and reduce the friction often associated with setting up development environments.

Pamela dives into her approach to teaching and the unique challenges posed by different educational formats. Drawing from her work at institutions like UC Berkeley and her development of AP Computer Science Principles content for Khan Academy, she highlights the importance of making learning engaging and personalized. Pamela shares insights into the design of interactive and project-based curricula, touching on how tools like Parsons problems can scaffold learning effectively and make complex concepts like recursion more approachable.

The conversation also explores the significance of visualizations in learning programming, as exemplified by Pamela's recursion visualizer tool. The episode concludes with reflections on the breadth of topics covered in AP CSP and the value of exposing students to a wide array of programming experiences. Listeners gain a deeper understanding of the balance between teaching fundamental concepts and encouraging creative expression through code, along with practical tips for educators at all levels.

Special Guest: Pamela Fox.

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Links:

• GitHub - pamelafox/recursive-visualizations: An online tool to visualize recursive JS functions step-by-step as a tree. — A way to visualize the call graph of recursive functions. Uses Pyodide to run rcviz.py and then a WASM PyDot/GraphViz port to build an SVG graph. Finally, some JavaScript adds a slider for stepping through the calls.
• GitHub - pamelafox/faded-parsons-static: A way to run Python Faded Parsons problems entirely in the browser. — This website allows you to run Faded Parsons Problems in the browser. It uses Pyodide for executing Python doctests and localStorage for storing user progress.

What are the best editors for teaching in Python? In this episode, Kelly and Sean examine a variety of different environments for students to learn to code Python. Should it be online or local? Paid or free? Simple or full-featured? An editor or an IDE?

Here's what made our list:

• Mu Editor
• Visual Studio Code
• PyCharm Edu
• python.microbit.org
• Repl.it
• Jupyter

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Links:

• Code With Mu — Code with Mu: a simple Python editor for beginner programmers.
• Visual Studio Code - Code Editing. Redefined
• PyCharm Edu: The Python IDE to Learn Programming Quickly & Efficiently — An Easy and Professional Tool to Learn & Teach Programming with Python
• Pandas for Everyone: Python Data Analysis (Addison-Wesley Data & Analytics Series) 1, Daniel Y. Chen, eBook - Amazon.com — Today, analysts must manage data characterized by extraordinary variety, velocity, and volume. Using the open source Pandas library, you can use Python to rapidly automate and perform virtually any data analysis task, no matter how large or complex.
• Python IDEs and Code Editors (Guide) – Real Python
• Welcome To Colaboratory - Colaboratory
• Thonny, Python IDE for beginners
• Our Patreon -- support us with a few dollars a month
• Micro:bit - Python editor
• Effective PyCharm: Learn the PyCharm IDE with a Hands-on Approach (Treading on Python): 9781095212530: Computer Science Books @ Amazon.com

This week we are joined by Philip Guo and Sam Lau, researchers at the University of California, San Diego. Philip and Sam have recently published research on how computer science instructors use artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot in their classrooms. Join us to learn more about the data behind how generative AI is changing the way we teach computer science and coding.

Special Guests: Philip Guo and Sam Lau.

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• sam lau
• AI Code Generation Tools Study — From "Ban It Till We Understand It" to "Resistance is Futile": How University Programming Instructors Plan to Adapt as More Students Use AI Code Generation and Explanation Tools such as ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot
• Pandas Tutor: Using Pyodide to Teach Data Science at Scale | Pyodide blog — Hi, we’re Sam Lau and Philip Guo, and we teach data science classes at UC San Diego. In this guest post we’ll tell you about our free educational tool, Pandas Tutor, that helps students learn data science using the popular pandas library. The above screenshot shows how you can use it to write Python and pandas code in a web-based editor and see visualizations of what your code does step-by-step.
• Pandas Tutor - visualize Python pandas code — Pandas Tutor lets you write Python pandas code in your browser and see how it transforms your data step-by-step. (If you use R, try Tidy Data Tutor. To visualize general Python, Java, C, C++, and JavaScript code, try Python Tutor.)
• Teaching Programming in the Age of ChatGPT — How computing instructors plan to adapt to ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and other AI coding assistants (ICER 2023 paper)
• Real-Real-World Programming with ChatGPT — Taking AI Far Beyond Small Self-Contained Coding Tasks

This week, we're discussing how to use a very old programming tool to teach modern concepts. That's right, it's the return of the Turtle tool! Kelly and Sean will explore why this Python 2-era library based on a 53-year old concept still works so well to teach fundamental programming concepts.

Want to learn how we use Turtle in the classroom? Kelly and Sean will go through our best practices, preferred starting points, helpful resources we've used, and desired outcomes for this tool.

Support Teaching Python

Links:

• MarineLab: Marine Science Education in the Florida Keys — MarineLab is the education arm of Marine Resources Development Foundation (MRDF), a 501(c)3 organization founded in 1970 in the US Virgin Islands. After years of conducting research and developing underwater research stations and the technology for living and working in the sea, MRDF's founder Ian Koblick turned his eyes towards Florida and expanding MRDF's activities to include education.
• Math Adventures with Python: An Illustrated Guide to Exploring Math with Code, Peter Farrell, eBook - Amazon.com — Math Adventures with Python will show you how to harness the power of programming to keep math relevant and fun. With the aid of the Python programming language, you'll learn how to visualize solutions to a range of math problems as you use code to explore key mathematical concepts like algebra, trigonometry, matrices, and cellular automata. Turtle section starts on Page 3 and evolves into Processing, a program for visualization that can leverage Python.
• Amazon.com: Teach Your Kids to Code: A Parent-Friendly Guide to Python Programming (9781593276140): Bryson Payne: Books — Computer programming, or coding, is a crucial skill every child should be learning. From 3D printers, to mobile apps, to robots, to drones that deliver pizza, the world around us relies on code more than ever before. Coders get to solve problems and do interesting, fulfilling work, and the time to start learning to code is now!
• Python for Kids: A Playful Introduction To Programming: Jason R. Briggs: 9781593274078: Amazon.com: Books — Python for Kids brings Python to life and brings you (and your parents) into the world of programming. The ever-patient Jason R. Briggs will guide you through the basics as you experiment with unique (and often hilarious) example programs that feature ravenous monsters, secret agents, thieving ravens, and more.
• Grok Learning | Learn to code from your browser — Learn Python through self-paced lessons
• 2D Shapes using Python Turtle | 101 Computing
• 3. Hello, little turtles! — How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning with Python
• Code! .. Draw! .. Stitch! / TurtleStitch - Coded Embroidery — not python but Snap! is a visual, drag-and-drop programming language that allows students to create interactive stories, animations, games, and more, while learning about mathematical and computational ideas. Snap! was inspired by Scratch, but also targets both novice and more advanced students by including and expanding Scratch's features.

With our campus closed due to COVID-19 and distance learning in full swing, Kelly and Sean discuss the brighter side of all these sudden changes to education.

The sudden shift to distance learning for much of the world has introduced more than a few challenges, but many opportunities arise as well. Kelly and Sean talk about the importance of using online tools to capture attention, to shift learning from synchronous to asynchronous delivery, and even how to ask questions of your students that engage their learning.

We'll be recording from home, so you may hear quite a bit of background noise as we record amongst our busy families. Thanks for your patience and understanding!

Support Teaching Python

Links:

• Seth's Blog — The conversation A short manifesto about the future of online interaction
• Repl.it - Multiplayer — Never code alone Code live together with a solid community of programmers, in public and private repls.
• Harkness table - Wikipedia — The Harkness table, Harkness method, or Harkness discussion is a teaching and learning method involving students seated in a large, oval configuration to discuss ideas in an encouraging, open-minded environment with only occasional or minimal teacher intervention.
• Platformer Tutorial — Arcade 2.3.9 documentation — In this tutorial, use Python 3.6+ and the Arcade library to create your own 2D platformer. Learn to work with Sprites and the Tiled Map Editor to create your own games. Add coins, ramps, moving platforms, enemies, and more.
• Getting Started with Breakout Rooms – Zoom Help Center — Breakout Rooms allow you to split your Zoom meeting in up to 50 separate sessions. The meeting host can choose to split the participants of the meeting into these separate sessions automatically or manually, and can switch between sessions at any time.
• If Corona doesn't kill us, Distance Learning will - YouTube — Fantastic Israeli parent's response to all the Distance Learning thang! Words and rant by Shiri Keningsberg Levi. Translated by Robbie Gringras for Makom.
• Remember, Online Learning Isn't the Only Way to Learn Remotely - Education Week — This time of school closure provides a magnificent opportunity for us to envision a kind of learning that is different from what happens in our classrooms. We can invite students to learn something that they are curious about or practice a skill that is important to them, and we can connect their learning back to our educational standards. Students may not learn all the content that we had thought we would cover this month. But that loss can be balanced by tremendous benefits.
• 9 Apps for Parents | Project Zero — Nine easy discussion starters for parents of the App Generation:
• J o n a t h a n on Twitter: "If you see me talking to myself next week, don’t worry.. im just having a parent-teacher conference" / Twitter — If you see me talking to myself next week, don’t worry.. im just having a parent-teacher conference