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Fowler School of Engineering
Fundamentals of Computing with Python

»Fundamentals of Computing with Python

Fundamentals of Coding with Python is a free, 5-week online course. It is offered exclusively to Chapman’s admitted and incoming undergraduate students for fall 2020 or spring 2021. All majors are welcome. No knowledge of computing or programming is required to join.

Getting Started

To join, please submit a Computer Fundamentals Interest Form. We’ll add you to the course roster and send you the link to join our online classes.

Course Details

You can view the course syllabus here. Below are key details for interested participants: 

  • Beginning April 15, we will broadcast class meetings live every Wednesday for 5 weeks from 4-6 p.m. PDT. The course will run from April 15-May 3, 2020.
  • Each class will have approximately 90 minutes of lecture and 30 minutes of Q&A. Classes will also include current engineers at companies such as Microsoft, Google and Boeing.
  • The total expected time commitment for the course, including lecture and independent work, is 3 hours per week or less.
  • We will use an online interactive textbook for readings which can be completed independently, and includes a built-in development environment for writing code. This has been made possible through the generosity of zyBooks, who have agreed to make the text available free of charge.
  • All are welcome, whether you've been coding for years and want to major in computer science or you just want to try something new.
  • There is absolutely no cost to participate in this course. We will not be issuing grades, and you will not receive official course credit. This is just an opportunity for all of us to interact and learn some things together while we wait for life to get back to normal.

Course Instructors

photo of Erik Linstead

Erik Linstead

Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Faculty Development - Fowler School of Engineering
Dr. Linstead is the Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Faculty Development in the Fowler School of Engineering, where he holds an appointment as an Associate Professor. Dr. Linstead has been teaching at Chapman approximately 17 years. His research is in the broad areas of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Outside of academia, he spent 12 years at Boeing as an embedded software engineer, and is currently a consulting senior engineering specialist at the Aerospace Corporation where he provides subject matter expertise in deep learning and computer vision.
photo of Elizabeth Stevens

Elizabeth Stevens

Director of Engineering Faculty - Fowler School of Engineering
Dr. Stevens is the Director of Engineering Faculty for the Fowler School of Engineering, where she holds an appointment as an Assistant Professor. She is also the course coordinator for the introductory programming sequence required of all majors in the School of Engineering. Dr. Stevens has been teaching at Chapman for approximately 5 years. Her research is in data science, with applications to psychology. Prior to joining the Chapman faculty she worked for Standard and Poors as a senior research assistant.

Contact the Instructions

The instructors can be reached at computerscience@chapman.edu.

Please begin your subject line with "FCP" so the instructor knows it pertains to the Fundamentals of Computing with Python course.