2016-03-29 00:00:00 Introduction to Python by Peter Dawyndt

Below we have listed a sequence of tasks in preparation to each of ten series of exercises dedicated to a specific programming technique. This includes the chapters in the course book that relate to the topics covered in the exercises, additional assignments in preparation of solving the programming exercises, and a selection of exercises that allow you to practice the programming technique. Please note that the solutions to the ISBN exercises can be found on Zephyr. Use the scoresheet menu item to check the selected exercises for which you have already submitted a (correct) solution.

Before you can start submitting solutions to Pythia, you must first register to this online learning system. The info section outlines the registration procedure that needs to be followed, and it is also explained in this video tutorial (Dutch only). You should only create a single account on the Pythia platform. Students that already registered on the Pythia platform should reuse their account. Use the my account menu item to update the email address of your account.

series 01: variables, expressions and statements

series 02: conditional statements

series 03: control loops

series 04: strings

series 05: functions

series 06: lists and tuples

series 07: advanced functions and modules

series 08: sets and dictionaries

series 09: text files

series 10: object oriented programming

2015-09-20 06:00:01 overview tasks: first evaluation series by Peter Dawyndt

Below we have listed a series of tasks assigned to each week of the semester. This includes the chapters in the course book that must be read in preparation of the lectures, additional assignments in preparation of solving the programming exercises, and a list of mandatory exercises that must be submitted before the weekly deadlines on Tuesday evening 22:00. Please note that the ISBN exercises are also included in the mandatory exercises, and must be submitted as well before the weekly deadlines on Tuesday. Use the scoresheet menu item to check the mandatory exercises for which you have already submitted a (correct) solution.

Before you can start submitting solutions to Pythia, you must first register to this online learning system. The info section outlines the registration procedure that needs to be followed, and it is also explained in this video tutorial (Dutch only). You should especially pay attention to fill up your UGent email address in the information form. You should only create a single account on the Pythia platform. Students that already registered on the Pythia platform should reuse their account. Use the my account menu item to update the email address of your account.

week 01: variables, expressions and statements

week 02: conditional statements

week 03: control loops

week 04: strings

week 05: functions

week 06: first evaluation (series 01-05)

  • evaluation (Friday 30 October 2015)

week 07: lists and tuples

week 08: advanced functions and modules

week 09: sets and dictionaries

week 10: text files

week 11: object oriented programming

week 12: second evaluation (series 06-09)

  • evaluation (Friday 11 December 2015, 13:00-15:00)

2015-09-20 06:00:00 calculation of the examination mark by Peter Dawyndt

In computing the final score for the Computational Biosciences course, we take into account both the permanent evaluations (20%, 4/20) and the periodic evaluation (80%, 16/20). The permanent evaluation has two components that both influence the score for the permanent evaluation.

For the first part of the permanent evaluation, the students have to work on a series of 60 mandatory exercises. Based on the covered programming techniques, these exercises are subdivided into 10 series of 6 mandatory exercises each. The first exercise of each series always is a variation on the manipulation of ISBN numbers. A sample solution of this exercise is available from Minerva, and in an accompanying instruction video we explain how we came to this sample solution. As such, the ISBN exercises explain how the new programming technique from the series can be brought into practive. After this preparatory steps, students are ready to apply the new programming technique themselves in solving the other five programming exercises from the series. Students must submit their solutions of the mandatory exercises in each series (including the ISBN exercise) through the online learning environment Pythia before a set deadline (deadlines always fall at 22:00 on the Tuesday that follows the hands-on session dedicated to the series of exercises). Students can use the Pythia scoresheet to get an overview of the exercises for which they have already submitted a correct solution. The scoresheet provides a nice overview of the mandatory exercises in each series, the submission deadlines, the current status of each exercises, and the time a first correct solution was submitted for the exercise.

For the second part of the permanent evaluation, we organise two evaluation sessions during the hands-on sessions that follow after five exercise series. During these evaluations, students have to solve two new programming exercises within the time frame of two hours. It is allowed to make use of the Pythia platform during the evaluations, so that students can check the correctness of their solutions at all times. The submitted solutions for the evaluation exercises are manually evaluated by the lecturer or the teaching assistants and scored based on correctness, programming style used, choice made between the use of different programming techniques and the overall quality of the solution. The level of difficulty of the evaluation exercises is lower than that of the exercises that need to be solved during the periodic evaluation (exam), as we mainly want to check at this time during the semester if the students master the basic programming skills. In addition, these evaluation sessions follow the same procedure that is also used during the periodic evaluations, so that students can use this experience to adjust their approach towards the exam.

The score for the permanent evaluation is determined using the formula s * c / a, where s is the score a student has obtains based on his submitted solutions for the evaluation exercises (expressed as a score out of 20), c is the number of mandatory exerices for which at least one correct solutions has been submitted before the weekly deadlines, and a is the total number of mandatory exercises (30 per evaluation series). A student that for example has obtained a score of 16/20 for his evaluation exercises and that has submitted correct solutions for all 30 mandatory exercises before the weekly deadlines, obtains a score of 16 * 30/30 = 16 out of 20 for the evaluation series. If that student still had obtained a score of 16/20 for his evaluation exercises, but only submitted 18/30 correct solutions for the mandatory exercises before the weekly deadlines, he sees his score for the evaluation series reduced to 16 * 18/30 = 9.6 out of 20.

Students will receive an email with their score for the evaluation series as soon as possible after each evaluation session. During the next hands-on session, students can collect their submitted solutions that will have been annotated with feedback that indicates where they can improve their code. They can use this feedback in solving other programming exercises.

It is not possible to retake the permanent evaluation during the second examination period. To compute the score for the second examination period, we compute two scores. One score takes into account the score for the permanent evaluations (with weight 20%, as was done during the first examination period). The other score ignores the score obtains for the permanent evaluations, and is only based on the score for the periodic evaluation. The final score for the second examination period is the maximum of these two scores.

During the periodic evaluation (exam) students are given 3.5 hours to solve three programming exercises. It is allowed to make use of the Pythia platform during the periodic evaluation, so that students can check the correctness of their solutions at all times and receive immediate feedback on the correctness and the programming style of their submitted solutions. To determine the score for the periodic solution, the submitted solutions are manually evaluated by the lecturer or the teaching assistants and scored based on correctness, programming style used, choice made between the use of different programming techniques and the overall quality of the solution.
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