Test all lessons

[cforgaci]

• [x] @cforgaci tests Sessions 1 and 4
• [x] @ClementineCttn tests Sessions 2 and 3
• [x] @alwil tests Sessions 2 and 3
• [x] @aecryan tests Sessions 1 and 4
• [x] @dcannatella tests Sessions 2, 3 and 4

[cforgaci]

Having familiarised ourselves with each other's lessons beforehand, on the 3rd of October, we can focus on:

• solving issues that arose during testing
• checking links between the four parts of the workshop

[cforgaci]

Let's carry out the tests until 1st of November.

[aecryan]

@alwil Aleks, I just finished reviewing your lessons for Session 1. Here are a few thoughts:

• I think to save time your idea to skip the Rstudio intro is fine, maybe a quick mention of that nice analogy "email" and "text" is sufficient :)
• to save time/errors typing, send data file before workshop and pre-save in data folder during project directory setup
• mention that run command shortcut is "command + enter" on Mac
• will you spend time discussing difference between data frame and tibble? when I run str(gapminder), I see the word tibble at the top, maybe students will have question about what that means
• "Note that the calling a column with a $ sign will return a vector, it’s not a data frame anymore." Could require more explanation? Explain that it is "detached"? Copy paste, vs cut and paste? I might wonder as a beginner if this means I have removed the column from the data frame.
• For the challenge re: life expectancy per country. Did it with dplyr (arrange). Is this how you would have students do it? Or something else?
• (Pending time availability) Could be interesting to do something with the aus dataset that you save at the end, make a plot perhaps? Show how/why it saves time?

[aecryan]

@ClementineCttn @cforgaci I'm running into a host of errors trying to install the package sf on my Mac. It seems like it's necessary to install gdal via homebrew first, and then make sure sf is linked to the correct version (see here: https://github.com/r-spatial/sf/blob/main/README.md). Do you plan to cover these installation steps for Mac users prior to the workshop? I'm still working on troubleshooting.....any advice is welcome lol

[alwil]

@aecryan Thanks for testing!

• Maybe it's a good idea. I think it's useful to have a overview of what's what, but maybe I can do it along the way.
• Yes, I think this is how it should be done @ClementineCttn @cforgaci please let me know once you decide upon the dataset you will be using and we can create a data package to be downloaded by the learners.
• Yes, will do :), I will added to the notes.
• I was planning to say that a tibble is a synonym of a data frame used in tidyverse.
• Good point about the detaching. I will think of how to phrase it not to make it confusing. originally i was juxtaposing it with data['var_name'] - which creates as 1-column data frame, but I have caught it out
• I don't have a preference about challenge solution ( i think in the lesson min() and max() are used). But I think I will add some hints here to make it easier.
• It's a good point and I thought about it. But I think I will do something else. I will ask them to save the dataset that was used in the final visualization. I think then the value of saving adapted data is clearer.

[aecryan]

@ClementineCttn I just finished going through your lessons for Session 4, and here are a few comments (I am on a Mac, btw, so potentially some of these geospatial packages/bindings are weird for me :) ):

• installing packages took several minutes (10)
• for installing sf and rgdalwhen it asks to install binanry versions, say NO
• suggest to install packages from the GUI in RStudio (from binary)
• a few error messages you may take the chance to explain:
  • message bb_poly has more than one polygon; the first will be selected.
  • although coordinates are longitude/latitude, st_union assumes that they are planar
• mention that the rendering of some figures will take some time (for me, some took ~5 mins)
• suggest adding a (pre-workshop?) step where to download the data for 4c, unzip completely and place in the data folder

looks great!

[cforgaci]

@aecryan thanks for reviewing Session 4. I will have to cover most of your comments in the previous parts as we start working with sf in Session 2. Also, it is important that we send out detailed instructions about installation and data download.

[ClementineCttn]

@aecryan Hi Ashley Thanks a lot for reviewing lesson 4. It does take some time. I hope it won't be too much and I plan on explaining some things while it runs... as for 4c, I agree. Although the data won't stay the same. It is dependent on what @cforgaci uses in lesson 2 so I will update the lesson in time...

[cforgaci]

Tested lesson 1, looks good @alwil! Testing lesson 4 today + tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

[cforgaci]

@ClementineCttn, I reviewed lesson 4. Looks great and well balanced in time as well.

I updated lesson 4c with the data I selected. I created a PR with the proposed changes, with some comments there, so it should not be much work for you. Please check that it also works on your end.

There is some repetition with the material I show in lesson 3, but I will remove those parts from there, which is great because my part was already a bit too long.

Thanks!