Hi Andrea, The R-Users group at UC Davis have a “Meet and Analyze Data” group that is as you described. A regular place and time where people come to sit, work on stuff in a shared coding atmosphere.
At Chico State we call it “Community Coding”. It has had a slow growth, but has worked great for two of the faculty that participate (both from Statistics) to serve as an extra set of Office Hours. It worked best for us when we had regular seminar/workshops going on at the same time/place. I.e. we host community coding from 2-4pm on Tue & Thu. Last Spring we held seminars and workshops nearly weekly during 1 of those 4 hours. Where we’d like to improve · Get faculty from CS (and in general all over campus) to advertise and participate more. · Offer light refreshments (snacks) – but our location is all the way across campus from offices where the goodies would be held, making transportation a pain. · Creating a “class” out of it (1 unit credit/no credit) just like we have for our Math Tutoring lab. I.e. you show up for like 10 times during the semester and you get credit. This helps with habit forming. · Solidifying the space. We have a pretty good room in the Library (centrally located, open work tables, large monitors at each table that people can connect into and share their screen) , but we have to ask each semester to reserve it, it’s not guaranteed, and it’s not confirmed/open to us until the 2nd week of the semester. I think a potential barrier to students is the impression/idea that they’re just going to work among other students, and if they get stuck there’s no one to help them. I think a big bonus/pull (at least for us) is to say that yes, there will be someone there who can help. Perhaps not directly on the coding problem you have, but more in general. e.g., I don’t know C++ but I can help you think through a problem, or help you google an answer. So I would say yes, having an “expert” present for at least part of the event time I think Is pretty critical. Peers learn best from other peers, but until you build habits and word of mouth that this is a good resource, you need to have “expert” backup. Good luck! -Robin Robin Donatello, DrPH Assistant Professor Holt 202 Department of Mathematics and Statistics California State University, Chico www.norcalbiostat.com<http://www.norcalbiostat.com/> CSUC Data Science Initiative http://datascience.csuchico.edu<http://datascience.csuchico.edu/> From: Denton, Andrea Horne (ash6b) <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, November 26, 2018 11:37 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [discuss] Hosting a code-in? Hi all, Wondering if anyone has experience, especially in an academic environment, in hosting an event where people gather to work on their own code. We would provide the setting (quiet space and access to coffee and snacks) and timeslots for people to “get away” to get work done. This would not be a shared coding project, but rather people working on their own, with perhaps some networking breaks where people could share their projects, goals, challenges, and accomplishments. We’re also wondering if coding support could or should be a feature of this event (e.g. from our data specialists). Anyone done this, and if so, what worked and what didn’t? Thanks, Andrea Andrea H. Denton, MILS Research & Data Services Manager Claude Moore Health Sciences Library PO Box 800722 University of Virginia Health System Charlottesville, VA 22908-0722 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> 434-924-9985 The Carpentries<https://carpentries.topicbox.com/latest> / discuss / see discussions<https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss> + participants<https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/members> + delivery options<https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/subscription> Permalink<https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/Tec4f62b8959dc111-M7dbcbb599ef4ca032ae7a621> ------------------------------------------ The Carpentries: discuss Permalink: https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/Tec4f62b8959dc111-Maecffe3ad6d8f68fe8f8e53a Delivery options: https://carpentries.topicbox.com/groups/discuss/subscription
