Last year, In 2024 I took over the responsibility to teach a university course for the first time. Was it overwhelming? Without a doubt! Sure, I have been using python for almost 15 years, but condensing all that experience into a structured course … was definitely challenging. Fortunately, i had a solid plan for the teaching process.
Drawing from my own experience and from teaching shorter workshops (like the Summer School for Astrostatistics in Crete from 2019 up to 2024, or even a much earlier workshop in 2016) I relied heavily on a hands-on approach. I used exclusively Jupyter notebooks that seamlessly blend theory with live examples. So, the students were exposed to these ideas and methods directly. After all programming is best learnt by writing code (regardless of whether you use ChatGPT or other AI tools).
I stayed up late (or … didn’t sleep at all) numerous times through the semester in order to study and prepare the material. But, the enthusiasm and positive feedback of the students provided me with the much needed boost.
Now, I am more than excited to be teaching “Introduction to Python for Physicists” (F-254) again the the summer semester of 2025. This time, things will be a bit more relaxed. The core material is already in place, so I will have the opportunity to refine, update, and enrich the content.
Let’s get Pythonic!
