UIUC Beginning of Semester Administration Tasks for Iode

Send email to manager@ews.uiuc.edu requesting that faculty accounts be set up for all new Mathematics Department instructors who will be teaching with Iode in the EWS labs. These faculty users need to be authorized to create temporary student accounts (through TAtools) for non-engineering students in their classes.

Include in the message the names and NetIDs of the new instructors, and cc the instructors on this message.

Ask the EWS Manager whether since last semester they have made any significant changes/upgrades to their Matlab installation or to the hardware in their labs.

Ask Peter Brinkmann (brinkman@math.uiuc.edu) to add all Iode instructors to the current semester anonymous Iode feedback page at the Iode website (http://www.math.uiuc.edu/iode/eval.html). Brinkmann will need to know the instructors' email addresses and their section numbers.

Point out Laugesen' class website (www.math.uiuc.edu/~laugesen/285/syll.html) to all new instructors. They are welcome to copy it or use it as a resource. In particular, instructors can copy and modify the anonymous student feedback page (www.math.uiuc.edu/~laugesen/285/eval.html), which is a good safety valve for the students. Note: after installing the feedback page on his or her website, each instructor will need to send the URL of the page to Tori Corkery (corkery@math.uiuc.edu) and ask her to activate the form. Then the instructor should send a test feedback message!

Email the following information to all Iode instructors

Lab information

Useful webpages are:

• Iode main page:http://www.math.uiuc.edu/iode/
• Iode FAQ:http://www.math.uiuc.edu/iode/faq.html: The first two items on this FAQ page might trip up some of your students, in the first few weeks. Please be aware of these items, and the fixes available.
• EWS Homepage: www.ews.uiuc.edu/
• EWS Reservations: www.ews.uiuc.edu/ews/resrv/. Labs should be reserved at least a week ahead of time.
• EWS TA Tools: https://www-s.ews.uiuc.edu/ews-s/TAtools/. Use this webpage to create accounts for non-engineering students (you will need your own NetID and the student's NetID).

The DCL Linux and Sun labs (in Digital Computing Laboratory room L426) are currently the best equipped and largest labs. The Engineering Hall Linux Lab (in room EH406B1) and Grainger Basement Sun Lab are also very good.

Instructors should try out Iode themselves in the labs before taking a class there!

On the second day of class, instructors should hand out copies of the "First steps" handout http://www.math.uiuc.edu/iode/ewsstart.html, which explains the steps students should take to set up their EWS account with Iode, before the first lab day. It is a good idea to have an experienced Iode instructor with you at that first lab day!

The labs are not big enough (and don't have enough chairs!) to successfully accommodate more than one student per machine. So when taking a large class to the lab, we recommend that the instructor break the class in two and ask half the students to come back in the late afternoon. (This does require some extra time from the instructor.)

Syllabus information

See the Math 385 (IODE version) syllabus at www.math.uiuc.edu/Bourbaki/Syllabi/syllabi.html, which also contains many hints on the practicalities of using Iode at UIUC.