Testimonials

When asked to teach the class, I happily agreed, since I'd thought it'd be fun; and it has been. I hope you'll think so too. But it's also a most useful class. If you pursue STEM in college, you'll almost certainly draw upon the skills you'll develop here. I've often had past students contact me once they're in college and tell me how very glad they were that they took the course. Some examples:

"As I was finishing up my Python work for engineering it struck me how truly blessed I was to have your cs class last year. The Python we are doing now in class is incredibly easy for me while everyone else (even others who had taken python courses in high school) are struggling with some of our assignments. Thank you so much for building such an incredible foundation for my coding requirements now, I really appreciate it."

"Hello Dr. Mason I hope you are doing well! I’m in a MATLAB class this semester and it’s going really well, the syntax is a bit different than python but once you learn the logical reasoning of one language it’s way easier to learn a new language, it’s all the same. From my perspective going through your computer science program is extremely helpful for the introductory programming courses here, like not even trying to be nice, you taught me everything that I need to know for this course and more. I’m always the first one finished with my projects and assignments because your class drilled my brain with the concept of thinking functionally, and I think that’s honestly how you should approach programming, every task is just a series of individual tasks that you have to break it up into. You really taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for it!"

"I just wanted to let you know how beneficial taking your Python class in high school was. In engineering 133 right now we are doing a Python unit and a lot of students are struggling. Thanks to your class though, the unit has been a breeze and I did very well on our first exam without having to study much. The way you taught it and the content included was amazing."

"Personally, you were instrumental in both discovering my passion for computer science as well as providing me with a knowledge base that is invaluable in college.  In the case of Purdue, students are thrust into programming without fully understanding what it is they are doing. In my opinion, your course is an absolute necessity in the education of a computer science student. Your tests are thought-provoking and always course-relevant. Lectures contain the essence of a topic, and in-class work allows the students to dabble to better understand the material. "