Topic & Goal
I chose the Command Line and wanted to both get novices comfortable, able to solve their own problems, and provide moderate users with new powerful techniques. I chose to take some ideas from SW Carpentry and add my own with some rearrangement to emphasize basic commands along with detailed explanation and liberal use of man pages for learning and problem solving.
Structure & Attendance
I decided to do a completely hands-on session and use etherpad to facilitate the time. Etherpad helped with dissemination, record of what I’m doing, as well as provide the students with a place to take shared notes. At the beginning I used a raise-your-hand on-the-spot questionnaire to assess the skills of my audience.
Unfortunately, I only had 4 students show up, but that just made it friendlier.
Was Good
Etherpad was great for giving the “syllabus & a few links.” Students also made great use of the area for notes. Etherpad also proved useful for me to log commands so students behind could catch up at their own pace.
I was fairly on the ball about constantly checking in for understanding, making sure font was big enough, and speaking loudly. This was a personal best from previous sessions I’ve given where I have just assumed students would ask questions if they needed to.
Was Bad
2 of my students showed up a little late and were using Windows. This is not bad, but I was unprepared and that is bad. I expected Windows, but I didn’t expect the students would need as much general computer guidance as they did. We were already using the HPCC to demonstrate certain things when they arrived and it became too difficult for the Windows students to join in with Putty due to what I can only guess is a conflict of software kicking them off their connection very often. Eventually I had them install Cygwin, but by the time that finished we had lost a good amount of time they could have been learning.
Next Time
What I would do different is to use Google Forms for skills assessment as well as feedback. As it was my system of raising hands and emailing me was kludgey. I would also have a local copy of Cygwin to share via something like woof (python) so students could install very quickly. HPCC live demos turned out to only be beneficial in few circumstances. Next time I’ll restrict the session to mostly local terminals. Also having a small outline to show at the beginning or during each exercise would help students follow along.
Feedback 1
I really liked that the workshop covered the most useful and basic commands. I feel like I can remember everything when I am listening to it but I always have hard time to try to remember it. I saved the commands you showed us then I could use them later. Also, sharing TINY [they mean etherpad - I had used tiny url] was better for both instructor and learner than showing powerpoint or something else.
It was a bit faster for me to catch up. It might be because either I got lost to get access to HPCC or you tried to cover as many things as you could for a limited time.
Feedback 2
Likes: Neat use of the notes sharing site! I also liked the example we followed all the way through, using real data for chemical names and properties. This session was good practice for my command line skills, and I learned a few new useful tricks. My favorite part was learning how to use and navigate manual pages.
Improvements: It would be great to have an outline of what we were going to do with the chemical properties. I think it would also be best to run this workshop on the standard terminal, rather than through the HPCC, which seemed to take a lot of time to get everyone set up with.
Feedback 3
Likes: 2) I liked that the course was tail[or]ed based on need and that you were willing to address specific problems if necessary. 3) Using “real” examples was useful 4) I learnt a few things about the command line that I didn’t know and can use with my own data. 5) I also liked that it was informal and you tried to explain jargon. Most of these command line based classes are taught by computer scientists who assume that the students know a lot of the jargon or that it is intuitive.
Things that could be improved: Material for downloading and potential incompatibility problems maybe worth addressing earlier. For instance it maybe a good idea to send out a protocol ahead of time so people can read things, know what to expect and perhaps download necessary files before coming to the workshop. This might help use time more efficiently.
Personally, I would have liked more biology/ecology examples but I understand that it’s too much to ask. If you plan on conducting a longer workshop I find that in-class assignments help a lot too.
Feedback 4
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