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Lecture slide: writing a new function, with the function name, parameters, rule and indentation labeled on the code, and its expected outputs.

Intro to Python Programming

Four days that took incoming Illinois Tech freshmen from saving a file and opening a terminal to writing their own Python functions and if/else logic.

Year
Summer 2026
Role
CS Lead
Audience
Incoming Illinois Tech freshmen
Tools
Python, VS Code, Terminal, Google Classroom

01 The Context

Week 2 of the Exelon Summer Institute was the coding foundation for incoming Illinois Tech freshmen, most of whom had never written a program. Before any Python, they needed to be comfortable with their own computer: saving files, unzipping a folder, using the terminal. Then, one idea a day: variables, functions, and if/else logic. I wrote the slides, fifteen practice files, a step-by-step computer skills guide, and a teacher's guide with speaker notes, timing and answer keys for the two TAs.

The Week 2 schedule from the course syllabus: AI workshop, setup and intro to variables, variables and data types, functions, and if/else statements.
Week 2 at a glance, from the course syllabus.

02 My Approach

= means SET, not equals. The single most important idea of the week. x = x + 5 looks impossible in algebra, so we read every = out loud as "set to" until it sticks.

Read code like a computer. One line at a time, top to bottom. Every practice file is solved by tracing the value of each variable after each line.

Use it before you build it. Students call built-in functions as black boxes, judging them only by input and output, before writing a function of their own.

Practice right after every idea. Each concept is followed by a numbered practice file with a time estimate and difficulty level, and TAs coach students to explain their thinking instead of handing out answers.

03 The Lessons

6 lessons, one new idea each. Pick one.

Slide: Topics covered, from screenshots and file compression to installing Python and VS Code and running a Python script.Page 1 of the Computer Skills Checklist assignment.

Lesson 01 · Day 10 · Tue Jul 14

Computer skills first

Before writing a line of code, everyone practiced the basics they would need all summer: screenshots, saving from the browser, zipping and unzipping files, flash drives, navigating the file system in the terminal, and installing Python and VS Code. A checklist and a step-by-step guide for both Windows and Mac walked them through it.

  • Terminal
  • File system
  • Setup

04 The Outcome

Four days of material that a new instructor could pick up and teach: a 58-slide deck, fifteen practice files from tracing variables to a small game, a computer skills checklist with a Windows and Mac guide, and a teacher's guide with what to say, how long to spend, common mistakes and an answer key for every file. The same if/else lesson came back the next week, when students planned their portfolio wireframes.

Practice files and teaching guides

  • Cover of the teacher's guide and speaker notes for Days 11 to 13. TA names are blocked out.

    Teacher's guide

  • A page of the teacher's guide for Day 12, functions, with timing, speaker notes and answers.

    Speaker notes + answers

  • The functions practice documentation handout.

    Functions handout

  • The practice file 02_FunctionsAndVariables1.py, with an example and questions that call functions on variables.

    02_FunctionsAndVariables1.py

  • The practice file 00_Initialization.py.

    00_Initialization.py

  • Practice slide: variable initialization, 00_Initialization.py, five to ten minutes, beginner level.

    Practice: beginner

  • Practice slide: expressions, 01 and 02_Expressions.py, five to ten minutes, beginner level.

    Practice: expressions

  • Practice slide: writing simple functions, ten to twenty minutes, medium difficulty.

    Practice: medium

What I'd change: I kept the practice files but not the students' finished versions. Next time I'd collect one traced file per student each day, so I could see where the SET operator still tripped people up.

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