The IPython environment lends itself to teaching and learning:
- immediate feedback,
- flexible visualisation,
- easy access to docstrings and
- ability to explore modules.
The release of the IPython Notebook in 2011 made it even more attractive as an eLearning tool, by providing browser-based access to an iPython environment with the ability to share notebooks with others, embed output products and annotate code.
With the launch of the project Jupyter last July, it went a step further, enabling the evolution of the language-agnostic parts of Python (R, Julia, Ruby, etc.) into an open platform for interactive education.
Within the School of Geosciences of the Univeristy of Sydney, we think that Jupyter/IPython could give both teachers and students new tools to communicate with and document good code practices as well as subject matter in fields such as
- Math,
- Physics,
- Social Sciences,
- Earth Sciences,
- Medical Sciences or
- Economy.
Since the beginning of the first semester of 2015, I have been starting to create interactive IPython teaching notebooks in some of our Units of Study:
- MARS5001: Coastal Processes & Systems
- GEOS3102: Global Energy & Resources
As a quite recent IPython user, most of the materials from these notebooks are inspired from the work of others... Some of these notebooks could be used with the RISE slideshow extension for lecture presentation, where others are more for practice.
So far, I've been using the Amazon Web Services cloud infrastructure and Dropbox to deploy and share my modules and notebooks through the Web with the students.
For an introduction to IPython, I will recommend this book from Cyrille Rossant.
- Overview — nbviewer
- Ocean Radar Data Query — nbviewer
- Historical records and past models — nbviewer
- Access data from Forecast Model — nbviewer
- Compute Ekman current from wind data — nbviewer
- Overview — nbviewer
- Shallow Water Equation 1D — nbviewer
- Using XBeach to analyse wave propagation — nbviewer
- Hands-on exercise with your own profile — nbviewer
- Overview — nbviewer
- Shallow Water Equation 2D — nbviewer
- Sydney Coastal Region Bathymetry — nbviewer
- Coupled ocean circulation wave model on real topography — nbviewer
- Coupled ocean circulation wave model for Offshore Sydney — nbviewer
- Prac: Exploring grain settling — nbviewer
- Prac: Global variation in submarine channel sinuosity — nbviewer
- Diffusion equation in IPython — nbviewer
- Prac: Digital Well Log Analysis — nbviewer
- Quantitative interpretation: Synthetic data from well log — nbviewer
- Prac: Read Seismic Line (SEG-Y) — nbviewer
- Slice Seismic Volume — nbviewer
- Synthetic Seismogram 1 — nbviewer
- Synthetic Seismogram 2 — nbviewer
- Export SRTM dataset and create shaded relief map — nbviewer