Suggest moving use of str() in Episode 2 setup to a place where it feels more natural

[nicole-a-moore]

How could the content be improved?

In Episode 2. Data visualization with ggplot2, the Setup section jumps right into teaching the learner the ?help function, the View() function, and the str() function, but without really showing when you would use each. Then, in the next section, when building the first ggplot it isn't really clear how we know that the variables weight and hindfoot_length exist as columns of the complete_old dataset.

I think the flow of the lesson could be improved and the utility of the str() function better communicated if we teach the str()function later. In the Setup section, I suggest teaching how to use the ?help and View() functions to get an initial idea of what the complete_old dataset looks like. Then, in the Plotting with ggplot section, we can show how to use the str() function to quickly see which variables of the dataset we can map onto our ggplot.

Which part of the content does your suggestion apply to?

https://datacarpentry.org/R-ecology-lesson/visualizing-ggplot.html#setup

[doujouDC]

Hey Everyone,

I have been traveling a lot this summer so I have been neglecting the edts that have been coming in. Is this more of an issue for the curriculum committee?

On Tue, Aug 20, 2024 at 10:17 AM Nikki Moore @.***> wrote:

How could the content be improved?

In Episode 2. Data visualization with ggplot2, the Setup section jumps right into teaching the learner the ?help function, the View() function, and the str() function, but without really showing when you would use each. Then, in the next section, when building the first ggplot it isn't really clear how we know that the variables weight and hindfoot_length exist as columns of the complete_old dataset.

I think the flow of the lesson could be improved and the utility of the str() function better communicated if we teach the str() function later. In the Setup section, I suggest teaching how to use the ?help and View() functions to get an initial idea of what the complete_old dataset looks like. Then, in the Plotting with ggplot section, we can show how to use the str() function to quickly see which variables of the dataset we can map onto our ggplot. Which part of the content does your suggestion apply to?

https://datacarpentry.org/R-ecology-lesson/visualizing-ggplot.html#setup

— Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/datacarpentry/R-ecology-lesson/issues/904, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABRKTFDLKDTH3WCR372MW6DZSNFZPAVCNFSM6AAAAABM2AO27OVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ASLTON2WKOZSGQ3TKNZYGE4DEOI . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: @.***>