Basics in Programming Y1 (Summer course)

Learning outcomes

After the course a student can implement small programs in the programming language Python and can apply basic programming concepts to solve small programming tasks. After the course the student understands the basic functionality of a computation device and how one can control it with programs.

Content

Functionality of a computation device. Basic programming tools and structures, such as variables, loops, conditional statements, reading from and writing to files, functions, and classes. Simple algorithms for common tasks. 

Teacher

Arto Hellas, Juho Leinonen

Study material

Course material and online programming exercises. Details will be provided in MyCourses.

Workload

Contact teaching 48 h, Independent learning 75 h. The course has an exam.

Prerequisites

Recommended prerequisites: The ability to use a typical personal computer and basic applications such as e-mail. No prior programming knowledge is required.

Evaluation

Assessment consists of weekly programming tasks, and an individual programming exam.

Teaching time and location

The teaching time and the location of the course can be found at Sisu information system

1. The link leads to Completion methods tab of the course page
2. From the top of the page (Version drop-down menu), check that academic year 2025-2026 is selected  

3. From the blue bar, click Lecture and open the Groups and teaching times tab to see the teaching time and the location of the course. Exam times can be seen by clicking Exam.
    

   Exam instructions at the Open University

The teacher has four (4) weeks to grade the exam submissions starting from the exam date.

Online learning environment for the course  

Online learning environment for the course

MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching.

Digital workspace of the course:
MyCourses

More details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.

Registration and course fee

Registration and course fee

Registration for Open University courses is done via the link below: 
Course registration

Registration for this course starts on 1.5.2026 at 9.00  
Registration for this course ends on 1.6.2026 at 23.59

It is not possible to register before the registration period has started or after it has ended.

This course is organized by the Aalto University School of Science.

The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules

Activating Aalto ID and Multifactor Authentication

Activating Aalto ID and Multifactor Authentication

You can activate your Aalto User ID the day after the registration and you should activate it no later than the day before the start of the course.
Instructions for activating your Aalto user ID

Once you have activated your Aalto user ID, also enable multifactor authentication. Some of Aalto University's services require multifactor authentication.

Instructions for using Multifactor Authentication