Every Boilermaker Engineer Codes (EBEC)
CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Important Dates
- Spring Registration Opens
-
September 25th, 2023
- Spring Start Date
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January 8th, 2024
- Spring Late Registration Deadline
-
January 22nd, 2024
- Spring End Date
-
May 4, 2024
- Fall Registration Opens
-
May 22, 2024
- Fall Start Date
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August 19, 2024
- Fall Late Registration Deadline
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September 2, 2024
- Fall End Date
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December 14, 2024
Course Info
The College of Engineering is offering Entry-Level Programming in Python to help you build your skills and your resume. The course is open to anyone with a Purdue account, and no previous coding experience is required.
This course uses Python to introduce fundamental procedural and object-oriented programming concepts. Amongst the many topics covered are such diverse elements as variables, data structures (lists, tuples, dictionaries, and sets), file handling, decision structures, loops, functions and modules, as well as classes and objects, data attributes, and methods.1
The course content is split over 13 units with each containing reading assignments, recorded lectures, programming exercises and a quiz. The last unit focuses on a comprehensive multi-week final project. Passing typically requires about 6 hours of work per unit. We cover one unit per week in spring and fall semesters, and 2 units per week in the summer semesters. Help is provided through multiple virtual office hours and multiple in-person sessions every week. Learners who successfully complete the course requirements will earn a certificate issued by the College of Engineering.
Familiarity with intermediate algebra and a personal computer on which you can install software are required.
During the fall and spring semester, this course is offered as a free non-credit course to all Purdue students, faculty, and staff. This is a low pressure, no stress version of the course. It will not appear on your transcript or affect your GPA, but learners who successfully complete the course requirements will earn a certificate issued by the College of Engineering.
Due to resource limitations, EBEC will not be offered during summer 2024. We expect to resume the summer offering in 2025.
The summer offering is open to everyone as a 1 credit hour course at the regular tuition rate per credit hour. Current Purdue students can register for the summer semester through the Scheduling Assistant. Others may take this course in the summer by first applying to Purdue as non-degree student, and then registering through the Scheduling Assistant. Application details for non-degree seeking students can be found here.
Who can enroll in this course?
This course is open to anyone with an active Purdue account. This includes students from all schools and majors, graduate students, faculty and staff. Others may take this course in the summer by first applying to Purdue as non-degree student. Application details for non-degree seeking students can be found here.
How does the certificate work?
Each certificate has the Purdue College of Engineering logo, the recipient's name, the name of the course, the month and year it was issued, and will be signed the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education and Prof. Cole. Certificates are issued as a link to a university hosted certificate image. You can share this link on social media or with anyone who would like to verify your achievement. You can also download and print your certificate if you prefer a paper copy. A QR code on each certificate links back to its Purdue hosted image for verification purposes.
Will this course appear on my academic transcript?
In summer, this course is offered for 1 credit hour. When taken for credit, it will appear on your academic transcript and influence your GPA. In the fall and spring semesters, this is a non-credit course that will not appear on your transcript or affect your GPA.
How much prior programming experience do I need?
None. This course is designed for beginners.
How much time will this course take?
The course assignments are divided into units. In the fall and spring, we complete one unit each week concurrently with the regular 16-week semester. In summer, we complete two units each week during the first 8-week summer module. Most students who complete the course spend between 5 and 6 hours working on each unit. However, some students spend as little as 1 hour per unit, and others spend over 10 hours.
When and where is class?
There are multiple virtual office hours and multiple in-person sessions on Purdue University's West Lafayette campus throughout each week. The schedule of times and locations depends on how many students register, and will be made available to registered students before the start of class. You may attend any or all of the sessions that work with your schedule. Attendance during the in-person sessions is encouraged, but is not required. All the course content will be available through Brightspace.
In addition to regular in-person sessions, there will be multiple orientation sessions on the first day of class. Since the capacity in the orientation sessions is limited, session choice takes place on a first come, first served basis.
Is there a remote option?
Yes. You may work remotely, in-person, or switch between modes as needed. Lecture videos are made available before class so that in-person sessions can be used to work through programming exercises. If the in-person session schedule does not work for you, several virtual office hours are also available throughout the week.
Is there a higher level version of this course.
Not yet, but an intermediate level of this course is in the early stages of development. Any news related to the development of higher level courses will be posted on this webpage. In the meantime, here are some additional resources you might be interested in:
- The projects in the second part of our course textbook. Digital access is available FREE from Purdue libraries.
- Official Python documentation
- Fluent Python book by Luciano Ramalho
- Python Testing with pytest book by Brian Okken
- Talk Python To Me podcast
- Real Python online tutorials
- The list of awesome python projects
What should I do if I need to drop this course?
If you are taking this course for credit, follow these instructions provided by the registrar to drop this or any other course. If you are not taking this course for credit, just send me an email from your Purdue email address saying that you need to drop and why. If you do decide to drop, please allow up to a week to be completely disenrolled from the course.
Prof. Cole (he/him/his)
jhcole@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Lafayette, Indiana
- Degrees
- BSEE, PhD Electrical Engineering
- Fun Fact
- Dog dad to Beau and Bear
AJ (he/him/his)
ajawaji@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Mumbai, India
- Major
- Mechanical Engineering
- Fun Fact
- I like playing chess and watching anime!
Steph (she/they)
closes@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Albany, New York
- Major
- Computer Engineering
- Fun Fact
- I use python as an art medium. Over the last couple of years I've used it to develop image-based and user-interactive projects.
Alex (he/him/his)
green450@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Washington, D.C., USA
- Major
- Civil Engineering
- Fun Fact
- I'm a certified pilot of the Boilermaker Xtra Special!
Lili (she/her/hers)
lbrush@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Davis, California, USA
- Major
- Computer Science
- Fun Fact
- I run half marathons!
Hanna (she/her/hers)
hletzrin@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Waterville, Ohio, USA
- Major
- Electrical Engineering
- Fun Fact
- I played the clarinet for 8 years.
Jeremy (he/him/his)
jtschuma@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Chanhassen, Minnesota, USA
- Major
- Mechanical Engineering
- Fun Fact
- Plays guitar and can solve a Rubix cube in under 2 minutes.
Kanari (he/him/his)
hirano0@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Lexington, Kentucky, USA
- Major
- Cybersecurity
- Fun Fact
- I make the captions for the videos.
Tyler (he/him/his)
tsiverts@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Noblesville, Indiana, USA
- Major
- Computer Engineering
- Fun Fact
- I love puzzles and math, the more complex the better.
Ruth (she/her/hers)
rsugiart@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
- Major
- Computer Engineering
- Fun Fact
- I was born on Star Wars Day!
Alex (he/him/his)
akmetko@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- Major
- Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering
- Fun Fact
- I have a large sweater collection.
Casey (they/them/theirs)
ward284@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
- Major
- Physics and Math
- Fun Fact
- I am an artist.
Trang (she/her/hers)
do47@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Major
- Data Science
- Fun Fact
- You can't spell awesome without me.
Kiley
kosswal@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Westfield, Indiana, USA
- Major
- Biomedical Engineering
- Fun Fact
- I have a black lab.
Jack (he/him/his)
jscarfo@purdue.edu
- Hometown
- Smithtown, New York, USA
- Major
- First-Year Engineering
- Fun Fact
- I like to read Sci-Fi books.