swcarpentry
Suggestion for Introduction to R and RStudio - Using R as a Calculator
The Introduction to R and RStudio of R for Reproducible Scientific Analysis introduces arithmetic calculations as the simplest way to use R. I think the section Using R as a Calculator can be improved further:
- The section says: ``And R will print out the answer, with a preceding “[1]”. Don’t worry about this for now, we’ll explain that later. For now think of it as indicating output.'' It might be nice to give a hyperlink for the lesson that covers this information for more experienced students.
- Also, there is another section stating the following: "Like bash, if you type in an incomplete command, R will wait for...'". Since this is an introduction, it might be nice to refrain from using bash as an example here. Some R users might not be familiar with Unix Shell and how bash works. Instead, this section can be rephrased: "If there is an incomplete command, R will wait for you to complete your command. If you are familiar with Unix Shell's bash, you will realize that this is something common in both R and Unix Shell."
Thanks for these suggestions, @ozlemtuncel . I wonder, where does the lesson explain the indexing :thinking: ? For the second point, users in a Software Carpentry workshop should have already seen bash in use, given the structure of a SC workshop, so I don't think we should drop the mention of bash (it's an opportunity for reinforcement). Your suggestion with the language "For those who have used bash..." would be a nice addition (and Instructors would be able to adapt language as appropriate, if they are teaching in a workshop that did cover bash already).
Hi, @jcoliver! Indexing is first mentioned briefly in "Data Structures" and again in "Exploring Data Frames". The concept is really drilled down in "Subsetting Data" but the concept of indexing is never actually explained.
I noticed from other open issues that this part of the lesson is under construction. I am happy to update the text, if needed. Please advise!
I think the two things that could be addressed are:
- Add a parenthetical note in the lesson indicating that indexing will be discussed in Subsetting Data (episode 6), with a link to the episode.
- Update the language around bash as suggested in OP point 2, above.
The section says: And R will print out the answer, with a preceding “[1]”. Don’t worry about this for now, we’ll explain that later. I would remove the statement and replace it with "[1] is the index of the first element of the line being printed in the console. For more information on indexing vectors see the link www.thomasleeper.com/Rcourse/Tutorials/vectorindexing.html"
