School of Information Sciences

Wickes to speak on Python education at PyCon 2018

Elizabeth Wickes
Elizabeth Wickes, Lecturer

During the 2018 Python Education Summit, held in conjunction with the PyCon 2018 conference, Lecturer Elizabeth Wickes will discuss how to help new Python learners be successful. PyCon, an annual gathering for the community using and developing the open-source Python programming language, will be held May 9-17 in Cleveland.

Wickes will give the presentation, "Hard Shouldn't be Hardship: Supporting Absolute Novices to Python." She will suggest methods that instructors can use to help learners succeed in intensive programming courses, such as making their expectations clear, helping students recognize when and how to ask for help, creating a positive emotional atmosphere in the classroom, and providing help efficiently.

"An instructor's expertise can become a blind spot," she explained. "We've learned what is normal through experience and can easily forget that we didn't know it from the start."

Wickes teaches programming and information technology courses at the iSchool. She was previously a data curation specialist for the Research Data Service at the University Library at Illinois and the curation manager for Wolfram|Alpha. She currently co-organizes the Champaign-Urbana Python user group and is a Software Carpentry instructor.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

iSchool researchers present at CSCW 2025

Several faculty, students, and recent grads will present their research at the 28th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2025), which will be held October 18–22 in Bergen, Norway. The online portion of the conference will be held on October 10. 

iSchool faculty and staff present at AISLE annual conference

Join the iSchool for the Association of Illinois School Library Educators (AISLE) annual conference, held October 5–7 at the I Hotel and Conference Center in Champaign, Illinois. The theme for the conference is “Libraries Build Connections.”

Downie appointed executive associate dean

The iSchool is pleased to announce that Professor J. Stephen Downie has been appointed executive associate dean. In this role, he will work closely with Interim Dean Emily Knox to realize the iSchool's strategic goals and objectives. He also will provide leadership for the internal administration of the School, coordinate the work of associate deans and assigned staff, and facilitate faculty affairs.

Stephen Downie

Join the iSchool at the 2025 ALISE annual conference

Join iSchool faculty, staff, and students for the annual conference of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE), which will take place from October 6–8 in Kansas City, Missouri. The theme of the 2025 conference is "Decolonising Pedagogies: Agency, Identity, Practices."

School of Information Sciences

501 E. Daniel St.

MC-493

Champaign, IL

61820-6211

Voice: (217) 333-3280

Fax: (217) 244-3302

Email: ischool@illinois.edu

Back to top