Initial Publication Date: August 28, 2025

Pre-Work for the 2025 Teaching Computation with MATLAB (and GenAI) Workshop

To prepare for the workshop, you need to do a little setup and become familiar with some software tools.

Log in to Your Workshop Accounts

During the workshop, we'll use various online platforms. Below are instructions for making sure you have working accounts on those.

1) Log into your SERC Account and Access the Workspace

During the workshop you will work in a private workspace. A SERC account is required to access the workspace. Once this is set up you will be able to access discussions, action plans, and other workshop outcomes that will be recorded and saved in these spaces.

Step 1: Create a SERC Account. Go to https://serc.carleton.edu/account and complete the fields to set up an account if you do not already have one. Be sure to use the same email address you used to register for the workshop. This is the email address that the system is expecting from you.

Step 2: Confirm your Access. Once you have a SERC account, visit the private Participant Workspace to make sure you can access it.

Step 3: Update your Bio. Add a photo and a brief biography to your SERC account so other participants can get to know you. Include your professional background, areas of expertise, and any current projects or interests. This will help facilitate networking and collaboration during the workshop.

If you have problems creating an account or accessing the workspace, contact Mitchell Bender-Awalt (mawalt@carleton.edu).

2) Access MATLAB Online

At the workshop we'll use a dedicated cloud version of MATLAB Online. This pre-work step ensures you test your access before the workshop.

To access the MATLAB Online trial, go to:
https://www.mathworks.com/licensecenter/classroom/4962050/

You will be prompted for your MathWorks Account or asked to create one. If you already have one (e.g., associated with your university account), use that one rather than creating a new one. Creating a duplicate could cause issues later. You want 1 ID only.

Open MATLAB Online. If you have any issues starting the software, please let Lisa know (lisak@mathworks.com).

Feel free to explore MATLAB features once you're in MATLAB Online.

Learn MATLAB and Teaching Tools Basics

3) Complete the MATLAB Onramp

  • MATLAB Onramp - a self-paced, online series of tutorial demos in MATLAB Online
    • If you are relatively new to MATLAB, this training will help you ramp up quickly, in preparation for developing curriculum at the workshop.
    • If you ARE comfortable in MATLAB but have not used MATLAB Onramp, complete a chapter or two. Many educators assign it as homework to students. Consider how you can best incorporate MATLAB Onramp into your courses.

Note that there are many MATLAB Onramp flavors, from Curve Fitting to Signal and Image Processing to Machine Learning.

Access other Onramps »

4) Sunday Pre-Workshop Sessions

On Sunday, October 26th, there's an optional pre-workshop session from 2 - 4PM. It's an opportunity to meet with mentors 1-on-1. In addition, there will be sessions dedicated to learning via self-paced tutorials on the topic of your choice. You're welcome to participate in one or both types.

Sign up for a Pre-Workshop Session »

Possible goals for your 1-on-1 mentoring session:

  • Curriculum Planning: Seek advice on refining your curriculum
  • Teaching Activities: Discuss your teaching activity and gather feedback
  • Teaching Tools: Get tips on using MATLAB teaching tools effectively
  • MATLAB and Application Areas: Explore new areas of MATLAB and computing.

5) Teaching with GenAI in MATLAB

To learn about teaching with new GenAI tools in MATLAB with MATLAB R2025a (released May 2025), visit Teaching with MATLAB Copilot

6) Try MATLAB Live Script Notebooks

Live Scripts are great vehicles for sharing computational content with students, submitting homework, and doing research.

Any MATLAB script can be converted to a Live Script, and vice versa.

7) Develop and Submit Your Teaching Activity by September 29

In preparation for the workshop, you'll develop and submit a teaching module that captures an effective teaching approach (something you already do, or something new). Your submitted activity will be reviewed by a group of peer editors and then published in the MATLAB Teaching Activities collection.

You can view the guidelines for developing a MATLAB teaching activity.

Share a Teaching Activity »
by September 29

Additional Resources

To learn more about teaching with MATLAB and available tools, you can explore these topics: