Easy as Py: A First Course in Python with a Taste of Data Analytics

Python is a popular, general purpose programming language that is gaining wide adoption in beginning programming courses. This paper describes the development and implementation of an introductory Python course at a business university open to students in a variety of majors and minors. Given the growing number of career opportunities in analytics, the instructors felt that including a module on Data Analytics would add relevance and interest in the course. A survey given at the end of the semester shows students found this topic to be relevant to their future uses of Python. The paper also discusses challenges in teaching a first programming course to students with varying levels of programming experience.