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Pre session questions

The technical content (and general motivation) is borrowed from the Software Carpentry pre-Assessment questionnaire. Most of the early questions from that aren't needed as this training is for the PV CDT, so the information will be known.

Setup questions

  • What operating system will you use on the laptop you bring to the training?
    • Windows 7 or earlier
    • Windows 8
    • Windows 10
    • Mac OSX 10.8 or earlier
    • Mac OSX 10.9 or 10.10
    • Mac OSX 10.11
    • Linux
    • Other (please specify)
  • With which programming languages could you write a program from scratch that reads a column of numbers from a text file and calculates the mean and standard deviation of that data?
    • I do not use any programming language
    • C
    • C++
    • Fortran
    • MATLAB
    • Python
    • Java
    • Perl
    • R
    • Other(s)
  • What best describes how often you program?
    • I have never programmed
    • I program less than once a year
    • I program once a year
    • I program several times a year
    • I program once a month
    • I program once a week or more
  • What best describes the complexity of your programming? (Choose all that apply.)
    • I have never programmed.
    • I write scripts that are a few lines long to analyze data.
    • I write programs that are a page or two long for my own use.
    • I write programs that are many pages long for my own use and for others to use.
    • I am primarily a programmer.

Numerical Methods questions

In each of the following scenarios, please select the answer that best applies to you.

  • Given a matrix A, write a script that would calculate its determinant and inverse. Given a suitable vector b, write a script that would solve the linear system A x = b.
    • I do not know what this means.
    • I understand the task but could not complete it.
    • I could complete the task with help from documentation and search engines.
    • I could complete the task with little or no outside help.
    • I could complete the task with little or no outside help, using Python.
  • Given a function f of a single variable x, write a script that would find a root of the function - a point s such that f(x) = 0.
    • I do not know what this means.
    • I understand the task but could not complete it.
    • I could complete the task with help from documentation and search engines.
    • I could complete the task with little or no outside help.
    • I could complete the task with little or no outside help, using Python.
  • Given a function f of a single variable x, write a script that computes the definite integral of f using Monte Carlo integration.
    • I do not know what this means.
    • I understand the task but could not complete it.
    • I could complete the task with help from documentation and search engines.
    • I could complete the task with little or no outside help.
    • I could complete the task with little or no outside help, using Python.
  • Given an initial value problem y' = f(x, y), with initial condition y(0) = z, write a script that finds the solution y(x) for x between 0 and 1.
    • I do not know what this means.
    • I understand the task but could not complete it.
    • I could complete the task with help from documentation and search engines.
    • I could complete the task with little or no outside help.
    • I could complete the task with little or no outside help, using Python.