From fad29a36bc2cfc4da69342bbc0949078bae7131d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Richard Darst Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2023 21:24:13 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] content/2023/kickstart-2023-wrap-up: Blog post (very old draft) - Draft post I found uncommitted in my working directory. Did a bit of fix-up and PRing. - Review: give it a good read and add more opinions to it. --- content/2023/kickstart-2023-wrap-up.rst | 156 ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 156 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/2023/kickstart-2023-wrap-up.rst diff --git a/content/2023/kickstart-2023-wrap-up.rst b/content/2023/kickstart-2023-wrap-up.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c361bb6 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/2023/kickstart-2023-wrap-up.rst @@ -0,0 +1,156 @@ +:blogpost: true +:date: 2023-06-08 +:author: Richard Darst +:category: teaching + + +Kickstart 2023 wrap-up and thoughts for the future +================================================== + +Our `kickstart course +`__ came and +went with very few problems. This post summarizes our general +thoughts on the course and its format. + +If you want to join the course next year (as an attendee, or as an +organization who will send your learners to us (and maybe co-teach) +`follow us on Mastodon `__. This +is the third year we've done the livestream format, and it's not +likely to stop anytime soon. + + + +General feedback +---------------- + +Our general feedback remains quite positive. Our streaming + +coteaching + collaborative notes format is still well received, and +there seems to be little reason to go back for courses of smaller +scale. Reading + livestream + videos is a good combination. + + + +Not enough time +--------------- + +There is never enough time - not much else to say. + + +Reduce repetition +----------------- + +Repitition is good, but not when it's a sign that we can't stop +talking and keep saying the same thing over and over. The best +lessons seemed to be the ones that were taught most quickly, since it +has a high density of new information. We should strive to make more +lessons faster, and leave details to the reading. + + + +Integrated support and teaching +------------------------------- + +Because the teachers also do support, for anything difficult, we can +easily tell learners: "Do what you can, come by our +:external:ref:`SciComp garage ` to ask for help with anything +else. This overall reduces the demands from teaching: a person +doesn't have to know everything, but know enough to get started and to +know when they may need more help for more advanced tools. This +really is good for both of us. + + +Linux shell and other prerequisites +----------------------------------- + +As usual, we expected our learners to read our `shell crash course +`__ in advance. We also had +a new tutorial on :external:doc:`using the cluster from the shell +`. This helped some, but it was still a +problem. + +Reflection: this will always be a problem in any course that has a +wide enough audience. We should accept and provide positive support +for those not ready, and not try to exclude them. It's OK to see a +course and then strive to get the prerequisites later. + + + +Divide the course into two +-------------------------- + +Internally, we had this thought of dividing the course in two: a basic +part at the start of the summer, and an advanced part at the end - +since brand new researchers may have trouble understanding +everything. On the other hand, the fact we have videos means that +people can come back and review the material when they are ready. So +in some sense, learners can divide the course however they would like +by stopping when they think it's no longer necessary and coming back. +This could be mentioned more explicitly in our introductions. + + + +Attendance +---------- + +Attendance goes down day-by-day. This is definitely OK - it doesn't +hurt anyone. It's expected that day 1 was suitable for the most +people (even those not doing HPC work), and then the course topics got +continually more specific as we went further and further. + +As mentioned above, this is even be expected and encouraged - better +to have someone attend day 1, than not. + + + +Exercise level +-------------- + +Our exercises are quite basic overall, but we got few complains about +this. Basic exercises are better than something too advanced or +realistic, that requires many things to come together. + +This year, we tried to have a complete solution for every exercise +(script and/or commands), even if it's directly said above in the +lesson. This seemed to be good, since for people very short of time, +they still have some chance to copy and paste and do the exercises. +For those passively following, they can at least see what would have +been done. + + + +Other feedback from the notes +----------------------------- + +Day 3 / end of course feedback positive feedback (``o`` is the way a +person votes for/agrees with that option: + +- it’s great that the material is so easily accessible also after the + course to go through things in my own pace again oo +- Really good format with the streaming and the shared document for + questions. ooooo +- The cat kept me focused in the lecture +- Live interaction with the instructes were very helpful and excercises were nice +- I really appreaciate the instructors took the time to explain the + jargons, instead of just letting them fly around. o +- The fact that the instructors were really nice contributed to the + good course experience. Thanks for that! o +- (day 1) After studying remotely for 1,5 year and having lots of + online classes, I highly appreciate the amazing audio quality + here. Many thanks for that! +- (day 1) The framework is better than any other workshop I’ve ever + attended - in terms of interaction and audio quality. HackMD is + great. +- (day 1) The (twitch) vertical screen thing is genius and should be + used in way more (online) lectures o + +Most common negative feedback: not enough time! In fact, that's +almost only thing to improve. Except we can't, so I think we win +pretty well. And videos/material allows follow-up. + + + +See also +-------- +- `Summer kickstart + `__ +- `How we did summer kickstart 2021 `__