The instructors certainly learned more about the issues, identifying some areas for more research, others as hopeless, and maybe even shed a little light on some. We should be better able to teach the course next time around, and are currently incorporating our improved understanding into the next round of the course.
The students managed to apply the methods they learned in class to their projects, which were often elements of their theses, implying that the tools presented met some of their needs. Certainly their efforts were more focused on the patterns in their data rather than the processes giving rise to these patterns. The problem of deducing process is much harder than that of detecting pattern; in some cases, we have come to the conclusion that it is, in fact, impossible!
It is clear in the case of several students that the course served them, and will continue to serve them, in their work. On the other hand, certain students were evidently somewhat bewildered by the plethora of techniques, methods, data file formats, etc. which they encountered, and would not have the confidence or ability to undertake a problem entirely on their own. Rather than discouraging us, this information has helped us to plan for our next offering of the course. We have identified areas in which the students needed expert assistance and are endeavoring to reduce their dependence on us in these areas by increasing the amount of help available. The BioMedware software is being revised to deal with many of their concerns. In the end, we can say that the experience was certainly positive for the students and for us professionally, and for BioMedware commercially.