We expect that all students will need help at some point in this course. If you find yourself needing help, this is not cause for embarrassment: it is completely expected, and our goal is to ensure that you are able to receive the help you need. A good rule of thumb is that if you spend an hour on the assignment without making any progress, seek help! Please be sure to seek help early and often through any (or all!) of the following resources:
-
Skills Lab Sections Every week, our wonderful Ungergrad Teaching Assistants (UTAs) will run skills labs. They will give a lesson on some new tools and skills that allow you to put all the big ideas we cover into practice. They will then help you with the skills lab assignment that is due that week. Skills lab meetings are also the best place to get help if you can't install python, git, etc. The bottom line is that coming to skills lab will save you a lot of time and sleep.
If possible, please attend the your assigned skills lab section. This will prevent overcrowding in any one section. But if necessary, you may attend a different one.
-
Your Study Group Building a support system of friends with whom you can struggle and work through the challenges you encounter is one of the best ways to seek help. You will quickly learn how much you can figure out working together!
-
Discord: I have created a discord server that you can use for any questions related to course logistics, material, or assignments. You can get coding help through discord, or just use it to get to know your classmates better. Please use discretion and don't broadcast your code in a way that other students can easily copy it. Posting code snippets is fine, but if you are going to cost a large segment of code please send a private message to me or the UTAs. The invite link for the server is here.
-
Student Hours: The instructor and the UTAs are always willing to help you during our student hours. Please make frequent use of these times! Even if you don't have specific questions, you can come to student hours just to work until you do have a question.
Note: Even though the instructor does not cover skills lab material during lecture, you are allowed - and in fact, encouraged - to come to the instructor's student hours to get help with the skills labs. On the flip side however, you shouldn't come to the UTA's student hours to get help with written assignments. They UTAs are only responsibility for teaching and helping you with skills labs.
-
Email: Please send me emails as often as you need! But note that in my class, you are never allowed to apologize for sending an email or asking for help, and you are not allowed to dismiss your own questions as "dumb".