Intro to Scientific Computing

Catalog description

Students will learn basic computer programming skills in Python with a concerted emphasis on STEM-related problems and applications. Basic programming skills covered include: variables, strings, booleans, conditionals, lists, tuples, dictionaries, sets, loops, and functions. STEM-specific skills covered include: Python's numpy module, file I/O, simple and advanced plotting, dataframes (python pandas), symbolic math (sympy), optimization algorithms, curve fitting, and Euler's method. Students will gain extensive experience working in jupyter notebooks and homework problem sets will involve introductory-level physics and mathematics. The course will also serve as an introduction to the physics major and the many career options that the degree offers. Students will gain confidence in their degree and start making educational plans to match their career goals.