This episode features a conversation with Dr. Chuck Severance about making programming accessible to everyone, the importance of practical applications in learning, and the potential of remote internships in programming education.

Description

In this episode of Teaching Python, hosts Kelly Schuster-Paredes and Sean Tibor chat with Dr. Chuck Severance, widely known as Dr. Chuck, about his innovative approaches to make Python and programming accessible to everyone. They discuss Dr. Chuck's methods for engaging learners of all ages, the critical role of practical application in education, and how creating connections can help students retain complex concepts.

The conversation also delves into the potential for scalable, remote internships and how empowering students with programming skills at a younger age can have far-reaching effects on their future careers. Dr. Chuck shares his experiences, strategies, and vision for the future of programming education, making this episode a must-listen for educators and learners alike.

Sections

• Introduction
• Wins of the Week
• Guest Introduction
• The Making of a Viral Python Course
• Importance of Practical Applications
• Empowering the Future with Python
• Closing Remarks

Special Guest: Dr. Charles Severance aka "Dr. Chuck".

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Links:

• PY4E - Python for Everybody — This web site is building a set of free materials, lectures, book and assignments to help students learn how to program in Python. You can take this course and receive a certificate at: Coursera: Python for Everybody Specialization edX: Python for Everybody FreeCodeCamp Free certificates for University of Michigan students and staff CodeKidz
• PY4E - Python for Everybody — The goal of this book is to provide an Informatics-oriented introduction to programming. The primary difference between a computer science approach and the Informatics approach taken in this book is a greater focus on using Python to solve data analysis problems common in the world of Informatics.

Support Teaching Python

Support Teaching Python

Links:

• Online Python Tutor - visualize, debug, get AI help for Python, Java, C, C++, and JavaScript — Python Tutor helps you do programming homework assignments in Python, Java, C, C++, and JavaScript. It contains a unique step-by-step visual debugger and AI tutor to help you understand and debug code.
• Welcome - Barbara Oakley

Note: This is a shorter episode format that focuses on one specific topic, limited to 15-20 minutes.

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Links:

• Teams for Education - Replit — Tests and autograding Save time on grading. Free yourself up for more individual attention and increase student persistence by letting them test code before turning it in.
• PyBites Platform | Real World Python Exercises — Overwhelmed by tutorials? Stop consuming books and courses! The only way to really learn to code is to write a lot of relevant code. Our platform makes you a confident programmer fast.

Special Guest: Ines Montani.

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• ines.io — Hi, I’m Ines. I’m a software developer working on Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing technologies, and the co-founder and CEO of Explosion. We’re the makers of spaCy, one of the leading open-source libraries for Natural Language Processing in Python, and Prodigy, a modern annotation tool for creating training data for machine learning models.
• Explosion — Company co-founded by Ines, specializing in AI and NLP developer tools.
• spaCy · Industrial-strength Natural Language Processing in Python — A leading Python library for NLP, designed to help process and understand large amounts of textual data.
• Prodigy · Prodigy · An annotation tool for AI, Machine Learning & NLP — An interactive annotation tool for AI and machine learning, mentioned extensively in the conversation.
• MagicMirror² — The open source modular smart mirror platform
• Our Patreon — The Patreon page where listeners can financially support the podcast.

1. Personal Updates
   • Sean Tibor shares his excitement about meeting his overseas team members for the first time.
   • He also expresses pride at watching his first batch of students graduate and choose to study in computer science and related fields.
2. Future Learning Journeys
   • Kelly Schuster-Paredes reflects on the exciting learning opportunities the students will undertake.
   • She expresses hope that these students will return to share their experiences and insights (Teaching Python website).
3. Inviting Past Students on the Podcast
   • Both hosts discuss the possibility of inviting former students to the podcast as guests.
4. Current Students Excelling
   • Kelly shares an anecdote about a 6th grader surpassing her knowledge in Python's Turtle module.
5. Plans for the Podcast
   • Return in June with the first guest speaker of the year.
   • Considering a summer sabbatical to prepare for the upcoming school year.
   • Plans to enhance their Patreon community with exclusive benefits.
6. Reach Out!
   • Sean invites listeners to reach out via social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
   • He also encourages feedback on potential topics or guests for future podcast episodes through their website contact form.
7. Signing Off
   • The hosts sign off, promising more Python learning insights and experiences in the next episodes.

For more details, visit the Teaching Python Podcast website.

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Special Guest: Srivatsa Kundurthy.

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Links:

• Revolutionizing Education: How Python is Essential Beyond Computer Science - Srivatsa Kundurthy - EuroPython 2022 | July 11th-17th 2022 | Dublin Ireland & Remote — Python has had a transformational effect on countless fields so far, but its permeation can be accelerated through the integration of Python into non-computing coursework. Currently, Python’s presence within secondary and post-secondary schools varies greatly between different institutions, but the continuity in the lack of interdisciplinary coursework is a key limiting factor in the widespread growth of computing education.
• The Missing README: A Guide for the New Software Engineer: Riccomini, Chris, Ryaboy, Dmitriy: 9781718501836: Amazon.com: Books — Key concepts and best practices for new software engineers — stuff critical to your workplace success that you weren’t taught in school.
• srivatsa-kundurthy (Srivatsa Kundurthy)
• Teaching Python: Overview | LinkedIn — Our new Teaching Python LinkedIn Page!

Special Guest: Richard Culatta.

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Links:

• Digital for Good: Raising Kids to Thrive in an Online World by Richard Culatta — When it comes to raising children in a digital world, every parent feels underprepared and overwhelmed. We worry that our children will become addicted to online games, be victims of cyberbullying, or get lost down the rabbit hole of social media. We warn them about all the things they shouldn't do online, but we don't do nearly enough to teach them the skills of digital well-being.
• We are ISTE | ISTE — We help educators around the world use technology to solve tough problems.
• Circuit Playground Bluefruit - Bluetooth Low Energy : ID 4333 : $24.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits — Circuit Playground Bluefruit is our third board in the Circuit Playground series, another step towards a perfect introduction to electronics and programming. We've taken the popular Circuit Playground Express and made it even better! Now the main chip is an nRF52840 microcontroller which is not only more powerful, but also comes with Bluetooth Low Energy support for wireless connectivity.

Coming up with project ideas that are creative, engaging, and allow students the flexibility to explore is one of the most important activities that Sean and Kelly do daily. We love introducing many different aspects of Python and push the boundaries with our students. We often discuss and brainstorm ideas on how we can incorporate libraries that are new to us in the curriculum. Although we have used Pillow very briefly, with the help of expert Mike Driscoll, Sean and I will explore project ideas for using Pillow from 6th grade to developer.

Special Guest: Mike Driscoll.

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Links:

• Enter to win an eBook copy of Pillow Image Processing with Python — 3 winners will be selected on May 15 to receive an eBook copy of Mike's book, Pillow Image Processing with Python. Fill out this Google Form to enter.
• Kindle Version of Pillow: Image Processing with Python, Driscoll, Michael, eBook - Amazon.com — Pillow: Image Processing with Python is the only book that covers the Pillow package, the friendly fork of the Python Imaging Library (PIL). The first few chapters of the book will get you started down the path of knowledge and help you understand how to use Pillow effectively.
• Paperback Version of Pillow: Image Processing with Python: Driscoll, Michael: 9798585391583: Amazon.com: Books — Pillow: Image Processing with Python is the only book that covers the Pillow package, the friendly fork of the Python Imaging Library (PIL). The first few chapters of the book will get you started down the path of knowledge and help you understand how to use Pillow effectively. This book is printed in FULL COLOR.
• Leanpub Version - Pillow: Image Processing… by Michael Driscoll [PDF/iPad/Kindle] — The eBook on Leanpub or Gumroad supports Mike the most. Have you ever wondered how to use Python to process your images? Wonder no longer! The Pillow package is Python's Imaging Library. In this book, you will learn how to crop photos, apply filters and transforms, work with colors and much more!
• Gumroad Version - Pillow: Image Processing with Python — The eBook on Leanpub or Gumroad supports Mike the most. Have you ever wondered how to use Python to process your images? Wonder no longer! The Pillow package is Python's Imaging Library. In this book, you will learn how to crop photos, apply filters and transforms, work with colors and much more!

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Special Guest: Eric Matthes.

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Links:

• Python Crash Course, 2nd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming: Matthes, Eric: 9781593279288: Amazon.com: Books — Python Crash Course is the world's best-selling guide to the Python programming language. This fast-paced, thorough introduction to programming with Python will have you writing programs, solving problems, and making things that work in no time.
• Teaching Python Episode 33: Interview with Eric Matthes — Kelly and Sean interview Eric Matthes, author of Python Crash Course, about how he began programming, what led him to teaching, and the important lessons from Python to be learned both inside and outside of the classroom.
• Adafruit Matrix Portal Starter Kit - ADABOX 016 Essentials ID: 4812 - $69.95 : Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits — If you missed out on AdaBox016, it's not too late for you to pick up the parts necessary to build many of the projects! It doesn't come with tissue paper or the nifty extras, but it does have all the electronic goodies you need.
• Introduction to command line · HonKit — It's exciting, right?! You'll write your first line of code in just a few minutes! :) Let us introduce you to your first new friend: the command line! The following steps will show you how to use the black window all hackers use. It might look a bit scary at first but really it's just a prompt waiting for commands from you.
• Write once. Deploy everywhere.— BeeWare — BeeWare allows you to write your app in Python and release it on multiple platforms. No need to rewrite the app in multiple programming languages. It means no issues with build tools, environments, compatibility, etc.
• PREORDER: Beyond the Basic Stuff with Python: Best Practices for Writing Clean Code: Sweigart, Al: 9781593279660: Amazon.com: Books — Welcome to Beyond the Basic Stuff with Python. More than a mere collection of advanced syntax and masterful tips for writing clean code, you'll learn how to advance your Python programming skills by using the command line and other professional tools like code formatters, type checkers, linters, and version control. Sweigart takes you through best practices for setting up your development environment, naming variables, and improving readability, then tackles documentation, organization and performance measurement, as well as object-oriented design and the Big-O algorithm analysis commonly used in coding interviews. The skills you learn will boost your ability to program--not just in Python but in any language.

Using this tool, teachers and students can write Python programs directly in the web browser (without installing any plugins), step forwards and backwards through execution to view the run-time state of data structures, and share their program visualizations on the web. Over ten million people in more than 180 countries have used Python Tutor to visualize over 100 million pieces of code, often as a supplement to textbooks, lectures, and online tutorials.

Special Guest: Philip Guo.

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Links:

• Python Tutor - Visualize Python, Java, C, C++, JavaScript, TypeScript, and Ruby code execution — Python Tutor helps people overcome a fundamental barrier to learning programming: understanding what happens as the computer runs each line of code. You can use it to write Python, Java, C, C++, JavaScript, and Ruby code in your web browser and see its execution visualized step by step.
• Repl.it - The collaborative browser based IDE — Use our free, collaborative, in-browser IDE to code in 50+ languages — without spending a second on setup.

Arcade is a easy to use Python library that lets you quickly create games using OpenGL and a simple API that's perfect for beginners. Better still, the Arcade library includes a wide variety of sample programs and comprehensive documentation that is written for new programmers.

Whether you want to make a platformer, recreate the Asteroids games of your youth, or teach students how to make a roguelike adventure game, the Arcade library may be a great way to start.

Paul is the chair of the Computer Science department at Simpson College in Iowa. He started programming in Python more than 10 years ago and has used nearly every game library in Python to teach introductory programming.

Special Guest: Paul Craven.

Support Teaching Python

Links:

• Python for absolute beginners course - [Talk Python Training - Python tutorials and courses for developers] — Learning to program can be overwhelming. Concepts and facts come at you fast and most courses don't cover many of them at all or at a beginner's pace. This is not most courses. Python for absolute beginners is our premier course for beginning developers. We start at the very beginning, teaching you the big ideas and concepts covered in a CS 101 course. Then we move on to writing increasingly complex code and applications in Python.