Two things happened this week that should significantly decrease the logistical issues in the weeks to come. First, the cluster software and hardware configurations finally appear to be running smoothly (huzzah!). And second, the add/drop deadline has passed; and while some people will undoubtedly still drop, my level of uncertainty about who is in the class has significantly decreased.
There are still some students who have not figured out how to submit a
pull request, but almost everyone seems to have at least figured out
the basics of using Git and GitHub to access the course materials.
And I know how to grab all the pull requests programmatically using
the hub program for OS X. I just wish I knew how to read and write
pull request comments from the command line!
Eric and Colin have both provided a lot of help in dealing with student questions and in helping with the matrix multiplication assignments and the pre-class questions the past week. And now that I am not spending all the time that I can spare for the class locked in combat with the cluster, I’ve been able to spend a little time getting on top of the course materials, a process that I hope to continue. I recorded the lectures for the coming week this afternoon, and have also posted pre-class questions (and associated codes) in the lecture repository. This coming week represents a significant pivot in the class after a couple architecture-heavy weeks, and I’m looking forward to the change.
The plan for the coming week is to spend more time on in-class group work, and to call on students at random (with the option of passing) in order to try to get more uniform participation. Given that the pre-class questions are finally up adequately in advance, I hope we will have a good discussion.