Content update: New units added to our Python course!

Alex G

If the Python course has been fully uploaded, are there no articles or videos in Unit 6, Lesson 4 & Lesson 5?

[first posted July 1, 2025, ~3pm Pacific Daylight Time; edited at 3:25pm to tag Alex G]

Alex G

I'm confused. Your post currently starts "Now complete: Intro to Computer Science – Python adds two new units
We’ve just added the final Units 5 and 6 to Intro to Computer Science – Python, completing the course with a full semester's worth of foundational programming content. "

Is the course complete?  If not, the headline needs to be changed.
If it is not yet complete, is the entire post premature, since the bones of Units 5 & 6 have been up for weeks or months?

Also, was a new module "How to debug a Challenge" just added to Unit 1 Lesson 6?
Was a Challenge in Unit 4 changed?

Is there any place Python users can subscribe to find out about such changes as they get made?   

Hi Janice,

We do not have a running list of changes made to specific courses. It's an interesting idea however.

Alex G

I asked several questions.  You only responded to the last one.  [originally posted July 2; #1 edited on July 15 to reflect changes in the situation]
I repeat the other questions in hope of a response to at least #1.

1. Why did you ignore my request to make the headline at the top of the post accurate? If you disagreed, I would have appreciated a response.  The course was incomplete for 6-14 days from the time you made the post. During that time, any users who had been waiting to complete Unit 6 might assume from the first 2 sentences of the post that all the videos & articles have been uploaded, then wonder why they don't have the knowledge and skills to complete the challenges in Unit 6 Lessons 3 & 4 [I thought it was Lessons 4 & 5 that were incomplete, but either I was wrong or the numbering changed] -- I and others often can go through a unit in a day or two.
   I devote 5-20 hours most weeks helping others to learn course content, and I often take time to alert KA staff to parts of the website that have mistakes or are broken.  I keep being told that my contributions are valued.  Being ignored doesn't feel like I'm being valued.  I saw that you made other posts between July 2 and now.  Is there something I should have done differently?
   
   
2. Was a new module "How to debug a Challenge" just added to Unit 1 Lesson 6?  If you cannot answer that, is there a way I can find out?  It could be a very useful module, but those who have already finished Unit 1 are unlikely to go back and see it if they are not made aware there is a new module.
   
   
3. Was a Challenge in Unit 4 changed?  If you cannot answer that, is there a way I can find out?

By the way, it is now July 19, and there are still multiple videos in the Intro to Python course without transcripts, such as the very first video in Unit 1 Lesson 1, and Unit 6 Lesson 1 "Dictionary hashing".  I hope the transcripts appear soon -- I first started reporting the missing transcripts to KA over 2 months ago.

Evan Lewis,

Here's another example of lack of response from KA staff when I am trying to get things fixed that are wrong in the course content or information about the courses.
The Python course was announced complete July 1, but 2 Lessons from Unit 6 were still incomplete until 6-14 days later.  During this time, the post was misleading and might have caused serious frustration to people who read

Now complete: Intro to Computer Science – Python adds two new units
We’ve just added the final Units 5 and 6 to Intro to Computer Science – Python, completing the course with a full semester's worth of foundational programming content. 

I twice asked Alex G to fix the claim that the course was complete.  After my first ask, he left the beginning but added a final easily-overlooked sentence 'Note: Consider this course, especially the new units as "under construction". More to come!' to the end.
I again asked him to change the beginning, and he has never responded by either doing so (for the 5-13 days after my 2nd request that the course was still incomplete) or by addressing my questions about why he did not change the beginning.  

Hi JaniceHolz,

Community feedback is valuable and always welcome. I'm sorry this thread was ignored. I know how it feels when concerns I’ve communicated are met with silence. No excuses from me, I can do better!

When writing these announcements, I am trying to find the right blend of information to inform our community as efficiently as possible as was the case here. When writing this particular post, I knew that the final updates were incoming. You’re right, the headline was not 100% accurate. That being said, we can consider the Python course complete.

Regarding video transcripts, I went through the entire course and identified 2 missing transcripts. I let the content team know about this and hopefully we will see those up soon!

Thanks for your contributions Janice, I truly appreciate it!

Alex

Thank you for responding and taking responsibility.  Rather than just saying that you're going to do better, what I most want is to know what will be different in the future such that KA users are less likely to get misinformed like this again:

Next time will you either wait on the announcement until all the updates are finished or write an accurate announcement that the course will be finished soon (rather than publishing an announcement that says the course is complete when the final updates have not yet been uploaded)?

JaniceHolz I can't promise any specific course of action at the moment. However, striving for accuracy is what I will be doing. That may surface as noting when/if something is not yet complete or it may involve me waiting until the course is entirely completed.

Either would be terrific.  Thank you.

Hi! I see that Computational Thinking — a subset standalone course from the larger Python course — has unit and course mastery.

I'd love to see mastery enabled for the main Python course too. I understand that it won't cover programming projects but it certainly helps in assigning unit tests and goals for the practice exercises.

Alex G

I see that the course "Intro to computer science - Python" now has what looks like a complete Unit 7 available.  Is there going to be more added to the course?  If not, is there going to be a Content Update post here in the Support Community that the course is complete?

Hi Janice

Thanks for noticing! There's been rolling updates to Unit 7. Once I've confirmed that they are all done, I will make an announcement.

Thank you for your response, and for making sure you have accurate information before making an announcement.

While Unit 7 is under construction, it would be helpful to have that as a note somewhere so that users can check to see that it is not yet completely uploaded.  One possibility would be in the "About this unit" section on the Unit 7 page

I'm actually confused that another unit was added after you made this announcement last summer, since the first sentence of the announcement is "We’ve just added the final Units 5 and 6 to Intro to Computer Science – Python, completing the course with a full semester's worth of foundational programming content."  I think that the verb "completing" strongly implies that no additions were planned.  
If the content team is planning to add more content in less than a year, I'd be grateful if a phrase other than "completing the course" were used.

Thanks,
Janice

Hi JaniceHolz,

FYI, we can consider Unit 7 of the Python course to be complete. We have no plans at the moment to make additions or changes.

I appreciate the feedback about the language we used and we will do our best to be as accurate and transparent as possible in our announcements. Oftentimes, additional content is is planned and added after we get feedback from our community or if our content team sees an opportunity.

Thanks for your feedback and patience!

Best,

Alex

Thank you for the update.  I appreciate the information both about the course being complete and why the previous premature announcement may have happened.  I am grateful any time someone is transparent and takes my thoughtful feedback seriously.

Perhaps if the content team has told you to announce a course is complete and then decides to add to it, they could tell you and you could make an addendum to the original announcement.  

There are so many times on Khan Academy when individual parts of a course get uploaded with no indication that there are more parts to come in that same lesson or that the course is under construction.  That happened with the Python course as Unit 7 was being uploaded piecemeal -- I don't think there was any announcement or note anywhere that Unit 7 was not complete.  I've also seen it on various math courses.  I often see frustrated questions from other users because they have no idea (and no way to tell) that the course is not yet complete.
Is there any way that Khan Academy would be willing to consistently mark courses or lessons that are under construction, preferably in a way that is obvious to anyone going to any part of the course that is still under construction?  That seems like a reasonable request of an organization with a mission of "a world-class education" who can afford to pay 12 employees over $300,000 per year.