R workshops for teaching staff

September 28, 2021

Since the start of last academic year (2020-2021), the BMS bachelor programmes are making a gradual transition from SPSS to R. In September 2020, R was introduced to the first year of the bachelor study programmes and the second and third years follow in this year 2021 and 2022, respectively. This has serious consequences for those who teach and supervise bachelor students.

For a smooth transition to R, the BMS section CoDE (formerly OMD) organizes workshops on R for teaching staff in the coming weeks. These workshops are expressly intended for teaching staff involved in first-year and second-year bachelor modules that need some knowledge about R in their interaction with students. Teaching staff involved with more senior students can be admitted depending on availability.

Depending on prior knowledge of R, two types of workshops will be offered:

Workshop 1: “Introduction to R for absolute beginners”

23 and 25 November

This workshop is a two-hour very first, interactive introduction to R and RStudio with a focus on reading in data files, data types, descriptives, plotting data, and analyzing data. The tidyverse way of coding in R will be used, similar to what is taught to students.

Workshop 2: “What we teach BMS students: tidyverse and linear models”

13 and 28 October

This is actually a series of workshops taught by Martin Schmettow. They provide interactive overviews of how BMS students will work with R (using the tidyverse, including ggplot2) and how data analysis is taught to students (linear models, linear mixed models, generalised linear models). In these workshops we assume the participant already has some prior experience with R. Prior experience with tidyverse or ggplot2 is not necessary.

Following these workshops, participants are provided with self-study material, after which they can prepare their own course material for 2022-2023. A helpdesk service will be available for this cohort. We invite eligible BMS teachers to participate in either Workshop 1 or Workshop 2. You cannot participate in both workshops. Participants in Workshop 1 can participate in Workshop 2 next year.

Which workshop is for me?

In order to help you decide whether to go to Workshop 1 or Workshop 2, a tool was created. This self- assessment tool can be found on the Canvas course site “Teaching using R at BMS” which is open for enrollment. If the link does not work, go to canvas.utwente.nl, click on “courses”, go to the bottom and click “all courses”, click “Browse more courses” and type “Teaching using R at BMS”. Enroll and do the self-assessment.

Where do I sign up?

You can communicate the workshop you want to participate in by sending an email to Jasmine van der Weerd & Ellen Hofstede (for workshop 1) and Martin Schmettow (workshop2). General questions about the workshops can be directed at Stéphanie van den Berg.

Send your request as soon as possible, preferably before 29 September. Workshop 1 for beginners will be organised on 23 and 25 November. The Workshops for more advanced learners are listed in the attachment.

Depending on the number of participants, a number of workshops will be scheduled for which you will be then invited to register.