Designing B-Course: observations from educational point of view (http://b-course.cs.helsinki.fi)

B-Course is a web-based interactive tutorial on Bayesian modeling, in particular dependence modeling. Alternatively it can also be viewed as a powerful free data analysis tool with a very comprehensive step-by-step tutorial interface. B-Course is an attempt to offer a multivariate modeling method that can also be understood by applied practitioners and encourages users to use their own data as example data for the tutorial. Teaching the topic of probabilistic modeling for audiences with varying backgrounds from computer science to social sciences is a challenging task. In this paper we discuss some observations based on user-feedback and teaching experiences after the initial design of B-Course. The discussion will focus on the educational aspects and their impact on the design decisions made, not on the technical issues or research underlying the data analysis engine.