In response to student feedback from previous runs of the first-year undergraduate SEMS mathematics module, Dr Rehan Shah in conjunction with three former students (Mr Muhie Sultan Faisal Al Haimus, Mr Yash Vaghela and Mr Ilanthiraiyan Sivagnanamoorthy) from his modules who are part of his research group, have co-created a Python Common Errors and Practice Questions toolkit guide to help new incoming first-year students studying EMS412 Computational and Mathematical Modelling 1, who may need additional guidance and support with Python, particularly those with no previous programming experience.

The Common Errors toolkit serves as a supplementary resource for students to use alongside their existing Python tutorials on Jupyterhub and documents the standard errors that students most often make, along with ways to rectify these. They have also compiled a set of additional practice questions and Python exercises covering module content from the first few weeks to give students a chance to hone and refine their programming skills.

The toolkit has been deployed for all 400 first-year students in EMS412 this semester and following dedicated student survey feedback, will be refined for an iterated implementation for 350 second-year students in EMS506 next semester. The complete set of gathered student feedback will also inform revisions for subsequent versions of this toolkit, aimed at increasing student engagement and proficiency in Python within core undergraduate SEMS modules.

The toolkits will be featured on the new Education Resources section of the SEMS EDI website and the new QMPlus course page for other staff to make use of within their own modules as necessary.