dplyr join lesson in leue of dplyr+sql

[sdtaylor]

We did a workshop recently with an experimental setup where lessons were spread out in 2 hour sessions over 7 weeks instead of 2 days. the page for it was is https://ufrmeetup.github.io/2018-01-18-UF-R/

As part of this we thought it would be hard to do the sql material since it would likely involve two 2-hour sessions. So we opted to teach the same ideas of joining using the dplyr functions. I wrote a lesson for this that uses ideas from the sql one and just wanted to share it in case anyone is interested.

https://github.com/sdtaylor/R-ecology-lesson/blob/dplyr_join_lesson/xx-dplyr2.Rmd

The earlier dplyr lesson hit the 2 hour mark before we got to the spread/gather section. So the join material here + spread/gather fit into another 2 hour session very nicely.

[aurielfournier]

Oh very neat. Thanks @sdtaylor for that update.

We are always glad to hear about the new ways that folks are teaching these lessons.

[katrintirok]

Hi, I think joining two datasets is one of the common and important things to do when working with data in R. I always kind of missed this part in the current dplyr lesson. One not always gets to do SQL in a workshop ... Adding joining to the the dplyr lesson (or as extra lesson) would be a good thing from my perspective, although it would make the material even longer (but this also depends on the audience, and I always point people to the online lesson to work on even after the workshop).

[tobyhodges]

Thanks everyone for contributing to this discussion. The lesson underwent a major update and reorganisation when https://github.com/datacarpentry/R-ecology-lesson/pull/887 was merged. The new content does not cover joining data frames, so this discussion may remain relevant. However, it should be noted that the lesson has now diverged significantly from the version @sdtaylor adapted in the lesson shared above.