academic support faculty

Subject: IT-140 Academic Support Resources for Students

Hi everyone,

As we begin the term, please remind students that several Academic Support resources are available to help with IT-140, including:

• IT Basics Office Hours for student-driven questions about coursework, assignments, projects, and course tools
• IT-140: Intro to Python Workshops for scheduled weekly review and practice of course concepts
• 24/7 Drop-in Tutoring for general Python and programming help
• Academic Resource Center resources for Python, student technology, Brightspace, and other self-help topics

This support can be especially important during Weeks 1 and 2, when students are learning both introductory programming concepts and the tools and processes they will use throughout the course. Students should plan for roughly 15 hours of course work each week, start their work on Monday, work consistently throughout the week, and seek help early rather than waiting until the weekend.

I created a student-facing Academic Support announcement template that you are welcome to copy, adapt, and post in your Brightspace section and/or send by email:

https://github.com/GC-STEM/it140/wiki/academic-support-announcement

The template is written especially for students who may be new to programming or apprehensive about the course. It explains how to choose among the support options and includes direct links to the current Office Hours and IT-140 Workshop schedules.

A few useful distinctions to reinforce with students:

• Office Hours are student-driven. Students with a specific question should attend live so they can ask it.
• IT-140 Workshops follow a planned weekly presentation. The workshops offered during the same week cover the same material, so students can book the first session of the week and retrieve the recording later if needed.
• Tutoring is available 24/7, but tutors may not know the specific IT-140 assignment or have access to our course content, so students should provide enough context when asking for help.

Please feel free to adapt the announcement to fit your section and teaching style.