Coding for Medicine for High School

Feedback from our Intermediate Coding for Medicine modules (Summers of 2020-2024)

"It was exciting being able to see myself actively learn and get the hang of things."

"It is fun to apply coding in the context of biology as it provides a different perspective on it, while also opening up many more possibilities in the field."

"It was inspiring because it taught me a lot about biology and showed me a new and interesting aspect of it"

"Using coding is fun since it tested my coding skills while giving me a goal to work towards and learn new biology concepts."

"Yes it was, the problems were interesting and required thinking to solve rather than blindly applying whatever you had taught us."

"The course was exciting. I liked learning about the genes and the sequences and the functions in biopython"

"Yes, I got to expand my knowledge of Linux with medicine."

"It's pretty exciting, school never gave me this kind of experience."

"Yes, it was very exciting because we were constantly given new challenges and we kept building on previously solved problems which felt interesting. Additionally, we engaged in a variety of different content, with research papers and videos."

"yes the code was just the right amount of challenging because the solutions weren't out right given to me from the beginning. It required connecting my previous knowledge of coding and biology with new knowledge to create a solution."

"It was exciting because got to learn about all the new tools that could be used to study biology with python."

"Definitely challenging. I am more of a biologist than a programmer, so it was challenging to be able to creatively find ways to solve problems using Python. But after all this, I can feel my Python and CS abilities have definitely improved."

"Yes, I had to learn new skills like use of the Biopython library, biology concepts, linux, and other programs such as blast, muscle, etc."

"Yes, the course was definitely challenging. I think that this course required less knowledge of coding and more application of coding. I knew all the functions, but putting it together to create an algorithm that would do what I want was harder than I expected. I found that using loops was much more powerful than I previously thought and the thought process that goes into solving these problems are important"

"Yes, the course was challenging because there were several solutions to some of the problems, and it required some out-of-the-box thinking to solve them."

"Yes, most coding classes at school focus on coding in the context of software development, and not a lot of light is shed on bioinformatics. This was a really unique way for me to explore a field that intersects both of my interests and opens up opportunities for me to explore this as a future career field."

"It was a really fun way to learn coding, because biology is more interesting than lists of random numbers and strings :)"

"Yes, most coding classes at school focus on coding in the context of software development, and not a lot of light is shed on bioinformatics. This was a really unique way for me to explore a field that intersects both of my interests and opens up opportunities for me to explore this as a future career field."

"yes, because it requires understanding the biological concepts and PROVING you understand them through your code"

Feedback from our Advanced research modules (Summers of 2020-2024)

"I enjoyed learning about the new tool which didn't have many resources to look at. I think it was fun to learn about it together and use the tool to put the paper together."

"I liked the mini challenges in creating the phylogenetic trees or organizing the data."

"It might be hard, I might have forgotten some things, but with some help I can do it!"

"A determined mindset to keep working even if you're not sure if you're right or not"

"They should be open to learn about new topics and be ready to solve problems and fix problems that they encounter along the way"

"I love that we got to work with and learn about things that we won't have the chance to learn typically in high school or even college!"

"Looking at different sequences and using different commands to analyze them. Plotting in R was also fun as well."

"How we can incorporate coding skills into the real world problems and apply them to look at high-level research topics"

Feedback from our Calculus Meets Coding modules (2020-2024)

"It was exciting animating although that didn't fully work out I learned a lot more important calculus concepts"

"it was exciting to see how things could be animated through equations and matrixes"

"It's exciting because it contains both calculus concepts and r programming."

"Yes it was exciting because I learned how to apply these math concepts into coding and making an animation."

"The topics selected were great and the instruction about them was clear."

Feedback from our Statistical Concepts Meets Coding modules (2020-2024)

"R was great! It was hard at first due to it being a new language but after some practice it makes sense."

"Yeah I liked it because it's very different from the other coding languages but it's very useful"

"I liked R. It was simpler to python in some ways, though I had a bit of trouble finding things out without a for loop."

"Yes, I always been confused by data and this course made it easier to visualize and use for me making it easy and fun for me in a good way."

"I would say it has. An interesting part of learning R was about how useful vectors can be when manipulated in the right way."

"R has been fun to learn. It's different from Java, the language I already know, but there are similarities. It's also cool that there are commands that let you quickly plot graphs and stuff."

"R seemed easier, but a lot of the problems were harder to solve because I was used to doing it in other programming ways."

"I enjoyed the course and learning about statistics and R and figuring out the problems."

"The course was very interesting and introduced many new concepts I hadn't learned from my previous experience with R."

"the course was really helpful in helping me learn how data science/statistics relate to code"

"It was exciting; I like learning new things and this course helped me in doing that."

"It was exciting because we got to learn a lot about statistics concepts and I got to learn a new and different programming language."

"It was exciting to see how data could be manipulated using various r functions."

"It was interesting because one of the majors I'm considering is informatics"

Feedback from our three R Coding Camps in Texas and Seattle (Summer of 2018)

"I initially thought R was a very complicated languages (in terms of syntax). However, I found it quite easy to learn." - A.S.

"I especially liked how it is very easy to pick up. It is very helpful." - J.M.

"I was surprised at what R could accomplish." - H.R.

"I enjoyed the very fast paced lessons in which we learned a lot" - A.C.

"R was so efficient and easy to use" - A.M.

"I enjoyed how the instructor individually helped us if we had trouble" - S.B.

"This is my first real experience with a programming language outside of robotics and I really liked the seamless connections to biology and data science. I also liked using real data like the Pokemon and World Cup stats." - R.K.

"I enjoyed learning about what code is. I have never touched coding before this....I was surprised at how I was able to code complicated things without having any prior knowledge." - E.T.

"It was very enjoyable sequencing DNA and making calculators.....It was a pleasant surprise to know everything you could do with R." - V.A.

"This course was challenging because I had not had experience with programming before, I most enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment as I got better with R....I found it quite uprising that the course began to feel easier after progressing pass the second day. R strikes me as a fantastic tool to make long work easier." - B.A.

"This course was fun, especially because R was challenging but not too hard so it was easy to make progress. It was also really fun being able to choose our own projects based on what we were interested in.....I was surprised by how easy R was to learn and remember." - E.D.

"Yes, it has been a very fun course. I enjoyed the graphing in ggplot and data table analysis the most....I enjoyed the simpleness of R compared to other languages and the vast variety of things you can do in it." -A.P.

"I was surprised with how powerful R was, especially with the ggplot functions." - M.M.

"It was better that what I had in mind.....It made me love programming even more." - D.P.

"R was more intuitive than I expected." - I.H.

"It was challenging the first day due to my lack of experience with coding. However, Dr. Samanta was an incredible teacher and made the class very fun and easy to comprehend." - L.M.

Feedback from students after 2017 sessions

"Yes I most enjoyed programming challenges in Python and how it connected to bigger projects (like RNAse P)."

"It was challenging and exciting and I enjoyed incorporating genomes into the programming."

"Its more meaningful than pretty much anything else available to HS kids. Excellent!"

"Yes It seems to be an incredible new field with countless things to research."

"I loved the assembly of genomes and just coding and learning more about genetics."

"I have previously looked at coding from a video game perspective but now I see other uses for coding."

"It was really Challenging and I loved the part when I finally found the solution."

"I really enjoyed learning about new technologies like CRISPR and organoids."

"I was interested in coding and biology and I took basic biology and coding in school . I wanted to go more in depth and this course has made me even interested in the fields."

Feedback from parents after 2017 summer sessions

"Thank you so much! P*** really enjoyed the course and was very motivated and curious about the content. He did not have any previous coding experience and enjoyed it immensely."

"M*** really enjoyed this class. I heard about it with enthusiasm every day….."

"Thank you for organizing the camp and Dr. Samanta for teaching the kids interesting bioinformatics knowledge. My son F*** enjoys the camp."

"My son enjoyed the advanced course a lot and was talking about it at home (unusual)."

"I am very glad that S*** took the class and she seemed to like it. She has had very little computer experience up until now (one other summer camp experience) and I think it was an excellent prelude to the AP Computer Science course that she will be taking her senior year at International School. Now she is not going into that "cold". Also, she is very interested in biology and genetics, so the class was a very good experience for her. –---- Thank you!"

"J*** enjoyed the camp and thought it was a great experience :)"

"Really interesting class with focus on exposing kids to emerging fields to explore and think of for future educational and career choices."

"The exposure was wonderful for B***."

"Very well organized and communication was really good."

"Liked the challenge of solving the problems."

Feedback from students after 2016 summer sessions

"This class has gotten me re-excited about coding mostly but biology is also super-cool"-BP (8th Gr)

"Bioinformatics has piqued my interest because I did not realize how computer programming and biology go hand in hand"- MF (9th Gr)

"It has piqued my interest because I was comfortable with biology but being able to learn programming while applying it to biology was a terrific experience" – JN (11th Gr)

"I found the class challenging and interesting! I loved the debate and biology research pieces and Burrows-Wheeler puzzles" – RH (9th Gr)

"I enjoyed the learning experience in the biology area so that it could prepare me for my upcoming sophomore year"- AA (9th Gr)

"I most enjoyed learning about the several different applications to modern biological issues with the knowledge of coding and analyzing genes” -AR (8th Gr)

Feedback from parents after 2016 summer session

"Thank you so much for teaching such a wonderful class! Every day B*** has told us about the things she is doing with an excitement and understanding that is really impressive. She is learning such amazing skills, as well as why they are useful and important. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm for data science with these young students!"

"We were really happy to see a dedicated individual do this for the same of the genuine interest and in the process influence the younger generation towards solving important and tough problems."

"I just want to say "thank you" again for this wonderful camp. A*** has learned and practiced a lot, and we all felt fantastic to work with a real scientist -- not only learning the knowledge but also learning how to plan and conduct a research! It is especially touching that both of you have enthusiasm about educating young students."

Feedback from students after 2015 summer session

"Yes the course challenged me everyday as we learned new code and techniques daily. I enjoyed working on the large project the most so we can apply our skills to a large problem."-VC (9th Gr)

"Yes ! Although programming may not be my thing, this class reinforced the fact that I really want a scientific career."- MS (11th Gr)

"I was surprised by the amount of coding needed for this class. It was not difficult but I had no idea how important a role computers played."-YS (10th Gr)

"Yes, I love this course. I will definitely recommend to someone interested in this field." - JC (11th Gr)

"Yes, it has. I have developed skills in coding and programming that I can use for jobs and internships."-GC (11th Gr)